Viewers of the recent Netflix documentary Jeen-Yuhs probably found themselves missing “Old Kanye”. What might also have stood out is that, back in Mr Kanye West’s The College Dropout days, the polymath’s accessory of choice was so remarkable that it came to signify this new branch of hip-hop: backpack rap. Which could seem a little odd today, in an age when there is always a new Ye album, or an old one that he’s still fiddling with, and the backpack has become almost ubiquitous.
We get it. We all need to lug around a lot of stuff these days. If you’re hybrid working, that probably includes a laptop, which might explain why, somewhere between “Jesus Walks” and the post-divorce messiah complex, the backpack has become the norm for commuters. But that doesn’t mean yours has to be standard.
Below are some upgrades of the bag once favoured by hikers and students, suitably elevated and erudite, which, hikers and students will still appreciate (and no doubt rappers, too). They’ll have your back, even when it all falls down.
