In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Teen Vogue unveiled images from its December cover shoot with Alabama rapper Chika. And while every photo looked insanely beautiful, there was one shot, in particular, that had us mesmerized: a still of the “Can’t Explain It” artist rocking a braided crown.
The visual, captured by photographer Kelia Anne, gave us nostalgic feels. Upon laying eyes on Chika with her braided crown cocked to the side, we were instantly reminded of an iconic photo of Christopher Wallace, the late and great rap legend who is better known as Biggie Smalls or the Notorious B.I.G. Coincidentally, the braided crown was inspired by the rap icon.
Celebrity hairstylist Lacy Redway, who created the cool crown says Chika is about to take over the rap game.
“I guess I was subconsciously channeling Biggie from that [iconic] photo,” Redway told ESSENCE. “I dreamt up the crown, and I thought that I wanted to crown her the queen of the rap game. So I decided to make this crown.” Redway says Chika is one of the greats to come. We would have to agree.
And if you need more braided crown inspo, we’d be remiss not to shoutout the regal style that hairstylist Nai’vasha crafted for our cover story with Tracee Ellis Ross. Time to crown yourselves, ladies!