Slate‘s Jonah Weiner not only identifies rap’s fascination with Contemporary art but–if you click through to the entire story–makes some interesting connections between rappers like Jay-Z and artists like Hirst and Murakami:

This is not the first time Jay-Z has made an art-world reference in his work. For several years, he’s mentioned Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat in his rhymes, discussed Hirst in his interviews, and put pieces by Hirst and Takashi Murakami on conspicuous display in his videos and stage sets. Nor is he the only hip-hop star to do so: Kanye West and Pharrell Williams have collaborated with Murakami on videos and sculptures, and West has blogged enthusiastically about Jeff Koons and Urs Fischer, among other artists; Swizz Beatz, who produced “On to the Next One” and who appears in the video wearing a jacket painted with a Keith Haring design, has rapped about collecting Basquiats, and he Twitters regularly about such Chelsea-centric matters as hanging out with Larry Gagosian.

Hova Goes MoMA (Slate)