It’s a well-known fact that Rick Owens is into his music in a big way. From his appearance on self-proclaimed drag terrorist Christeene’s ‘anal liberation anthem’ “Buttmuscle”, to the time he enlisted Estonian heavy metal band Winny Puhh (which translates to Winnie the Pooh, FYI) to live soundtrack his SS14 menswear show, for Owens, music and fashion are inextricably linked – as he surrounds himself with artists that are just as inventive, as radical, and (in the best possible way) as weird as he is.
Now, the iconic designer has gone one step further and lent his actual voice to a new track by everyone’s favourite Estonian rapper, Tommy Cash. Entitled “MONA LISA”, the song appears on Cash’s long-awaited debut album ¥€$, which finally dropped this morning, and sees Owens deliver a series of short, abstract monologues. “Black… Magic… Fuckboy… Necromantic Savage… Wasted aesthetic emotion… Supernatural distortion,” he muses in his distinctive Californian drawl. Others who worked on the album alongside Cash include Danny L Harle, Amnesia Scanner, A.G. Cook, and MC Bin Laden.
“Tommy’s music is intimate, raw, modern, and weird. I wish I was him” – Rick Owens
This isn’t the first time the two have worked together. Back in June, Owens recruited Cash to model in his SS19 menswear show at Paris’s Palais de Tokyo, as well as create the soundtrack to it (an exclusive remix of “Pussy Money Weed” and “Leave Me Alone”, FYI). Speaking after the show, Owens explained the reason behind his choice: “Tommy’s music is intimate, raw, modern, and weird. I wish I was him.”
Since then, Cash has been cultivating an intimate relationship with high fashion, with posts on IG showing him wearing 90s-style tribal printed Dior tailoring and pieces from Gosha Rubchinskiy’s adidas collab. He’s also channelling some heavy Gucci vibes in the recently-released video for single “X-Ray”, which sees him gain an extra eye and start his own cult. 10/10 would join, tbh, and when you hear the new album, it’s likely you would too.
Listen to the full album below.