Harlem rappers Mankind have teamed up with Brooklyn StartUp MVGEN to create a visual album for their cartoon-themed project Flying CarTunes. MVGEN, a GIF-based music video generator, has matched Mankind’s themes, lyrics and titles with GIFs to create a visual experience that captures Mankind’s complex metaphors and political themes with GIFs from cartoons and across the internet.

 
On “Dexter’s Lab,” Mankind contrasts the children’s cartoon with police brutality and government corruption, and on “Inspector Gadget,” they take on American foreign policy. The album was entirely produced by DJH2 and features guest appearances from frequent Mankind collaborators Charles Hamilton, CityTheKing and Mighty Casey as well as fellow New Rap Order members DeSpize and Supanova.
The Harlem rap group has already released 11 projects in 22 months and have amassed a strong following through grassroots and social media.
MVGEN and Mankind have created a visual artform known as GIF Hop in which hardcore hip-hop is matched with GIFs that relate to the music. Other artists who are included in the visual genre include Denmark Vessey, Charles Hamilton, Mighty Casey, Supanova and Roc Marciano. Combining classic hip-hop with their new take and style and MVGEN’s future technology, Mankind has created something that has yet to be seen or heard in hip-hop.
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