Posted by Alex Catarinella on 07/16/2012 at 10:28 AM Style

The Popdust Files: azealia banks, lana del ray, rihanna, soulja boy

News flash: The classic snap-back has undergone a major facelift as of late, with many a pop starlet taking note by crowning their dip-dyed extensions. There are a few options in the upgraded snap-back world, like the S&M-meets-tennis-game hats, which include Rihanna and Cassie as super fans. For an even louder look, Azealia Banks, Soulja Boy and Keyshia Cole are all over nameplate snap-backs, specifically the Joyrich x Chris Habana collab complete with chunky carved acrylic words that so subtly reads/screams things like “BONE” and “RICH.” Lucky for y’all, you’ll only have to be rich-ish for some of said hats, as you’ll see with our favorite picks.

 

RIHANNA

Peace out Von Dutch/Ed Hardy trucker hats circa 2007, and HAY leather snap-backs. A sartorial supporter of bananas ’90s-tinged patterns and high-waisted shorts, Rihanna knows a thing or two about toughening up her feminine look. At the Wireless Festival, Rih Rih worked the stage in a snap-back… with a slithering gilded serpent chilling on the brim. It’s pretty amazing. But good luck finding this one–it’s said to be custom made by designer Michael Schmidt.

 

KAT GRAHAM

Kat Graham’s signature towering pony-tail is winning the hair game, and we have a feeling she knows it. And Kat also knows that snapbacks are totally in, recently rocking a patent leather Alife cap, and, duh, leaving some room for that hair-whip-friendly tight pony. Game over.

 

KELLY CLARKSON

Leave it to those fashion-y folks at Elle to get Kelly Clarkson to spice up her whole Texan jeans-and-tees mess with this awesome leather cap by Stetson, which, holler!, we found for you for just $59.95.  (http://www.amazon.com/Stetson-Leather-Baseball-Cap/dp/B005P00ZS2)

 

GRIMES

Grimes is the leader of the DIY indie-laptop-created-synth-beats-and-squeaks clique. She recently performed at London’s Field Day Festival and hid her choppy bangs under a B&W snapback hat from the recently-resurrected and uber-trendy Boy London.  (Snap that up for $58: http://www.patriciafield.com/boy-london-boy-snap-back-cap.aspx)

 

AZEALIA BANKS

Azealia Banks’ hat situation is inappropriately kinds of amazing. Proof: We may or may not have experienced serious hat envy/droolage over her PAPER Magazine-starring cover in which she squats while showing off her golden Mickey Mouse purse and more importantly, every club kid’s current obsession, the RICH hat from the Joyrich x Chris Habana collab.

We had to give the budding style maven another shout out regarding a Year Zero snapback (AND paired with a bejeweled devil horn headband by Jennifer Behr. NBD.) from her recent V magazine shoot, which was obviously styled by the mastermind behind basically every Lady Gaga cray creation, Nicola Formichetti.

 

KEYSHIA COLE

Rafter-reaching soulful crooner Keyshia Cole is also a Chris Habana for Joyrich believer. So much so that she Tweet-bragged a pic of her sartorial-saluting the RICH hat. Godspeed trying to get your hands on one of these perpetually sold-out pieces of amazingness, though.

 

SOULJA BOY

As for the dudes, surprise surprise!: Soulja Boy also loves him some Chris Habana for Joyrich, lighting up the Red Carpet by sporting the golden YES hat. You go, boy. Here’s a treat from Chris Habana, who told us his inspiration behind the successful collab: “When I first created the WORK!, RAD, and SNAP hats in 2009, the original idea was to give an homage to 90′s urban subculture, the Vogue-ers, the BOY LONDON wearers, the Ballroom kids… And When Joyrich approached me with the idea of collaborating with them, we came up with RICH, JOY, BONE, and YES designs. I had no idea that they would take off the way they did.” Congrats Chris!

 

THEOPHILUS LONDON

With an affinity for Givenchy, DIY-shredded Ksubi jeans, and Jordan high-tops, we sometimes forget that Theophilus London’s main gig is being a singer. Apologies, Theo. In a video shoot for StyleLikeU, Theophilus reveals his to-die-for closet, including an LVRS hat by Fresh.i.Am, which we need in our lives. We’d kindly ask you to help us out on that front, but the $50 hat is sold-out. WAH.http://freshiam.net/gg$/