Lish 2X Reveals Disrupshion Magazine Cover in Harlem

Jstar Photography

NEW YORK — If you’re going to reveal a magazine cover in Harlem, you might as well give people something to look at.

That was certainly the case when Lish 2X unveiled her new Disrupshion Magazine cover during an all-black affair at Native Harlem, located inside the Magic Johnson theater complex. The evening brought together familiar faces from New York’s music, media, fashion and business circles for a celebration that felt polished without losing its uptown personality.

Cameras were already working before the night’s main festivities began. Media interviewed guests along the red carpet, photographers moved through the room and attendees shared their thoughts on Lish 2X’s latest milestone.

There was plenty of love in the building, too.

Jstar Photography

Fellow artists SUZI, and Steph G came through to support, along with reality personality Holiday The Goldenchild, business mogul Kevin McGovern, celebrity entertainment attorney Bob Celestin and FM Hip-Hop’s MUVA Cherry Martinez. A mix of creatives, executives, friends and supporters showed up in the best way.

Photos by Stefan Bunbury

It was the kind of New York room where several worlds could comfortably overlap.

For Lish 2X, that’s increasingly the point.

More Than a CoverGirl

Disrupshion’s accompanying feature is appropriately titled “Lish 2X: More Than a CoverGirl.”

The story examines a career that has never fit neatly inside one box. Music has always been part of Lish 2X’s identity, but so have journalism, fashion, modeling, entrepreneurship and media.

Those different lanes are beginning to look less like separate careers and more like pieces of the same puzzle.

Long before becoming the subject of magazine profiles, Lish 2X was the person holding the microphone and asking the questions. Her work in media has included covering artists, events and cultural moments while developing her own platform, Witnessed By Lish.

Now the lens is increasingly turning in her direction.

That doesn’t mean journalism disappears because music gets louder, or fashion becomes less important because there’s a record to promote.

Quite the opposite. The fashion and the music matters. As does the way everything is packaged.

In an era where audiences can usually tell when an image has been manufactured in a conference room, authenticity might be the most valuable piece of branding an artist has and Lish 2X is a brand to watch.

Ron Dyce Dresses the CoverGirl

Fashion wasn’t treated like an afterthought for the Disrupshion shoot.

Luxury designer Ron Dyce dressed Lish for the cover and accompanying editorial, beginning with a white silk jacquard tuxedo accented by crimson satin lapels and piping.

photo by Obreezy

The princess-cut tailoring gives the tuxedo shape while maintaining its menswear influence. Crimson continues from the lapels into Lish’s coordinating head covering and footwear, making coverage an intentional part of the styling rather than something the editorial needed to work around.

Look down and there’s another detail: Ron Dyce’s patented 24K Gold Leather soles.

That’s the type of fashion flex you may not catch until the shoe moves.

Inside the magazine, white tailoring gives way to black lambskin leather.

A structured Ron Dyce mini dress features diamond-quilted side panels, princess seams, utility-inspired pockets and an exposed brushed-gold center zipper. The dress is finished with silk charmeuse lining and a custom RD monogram belt featuring embossed crocodile leather and brushed-gold hardware.

It’s tough. Feminine. Covered. Sexy. Luxurious.

None of those things have to cancel the others out.

That’s particularly relevant to the image Lish 2X has been developing as a Muslim woman who enjoys fashion but has become increasingly intentional about covering her hair and navigating modesty on her own terms.

The clothes don’t hide that evolution.

They make it look good.

It Takes a Team to Make a Cover

The person on the cover gets the headline. The people standing just outside the frame help make the photograph possible.

Obreezy photographed the Disrupshion editorial, while Chavoynne Artistry handled makeup. Dorian Jihad led PR and creative direction, helping connect the imagery with the larger story being told around Lish’s evolving career.

Behind the scenes, J Flames of Yaga Filmz documented the process through photography and video, preserving the moments between the finished frames.

With Angel Neal at Disrupshion Magazine, those pieces ultimately became the editorial readers now see in print.

That collaboration deserves attention.

Hip-hop and fashion history are filled with iconic photographs, but the person standing in front of the camera is never really standing there alone. Somebody found the clothes. Somebody did the face. Somebody created the lighting. Somebody had the vision. Somebody knew when to press the shutter.

The final image belongs to the team.

From the Disrupshion Magazine Page to Harlem

The cover story eventually made its way from the page to Native Harlem, where guests arrived dressed in black and ready for cameras.

There was a natural warmth to the evening that couldn’t be reduced to a step-and-repeat.

People who had known Lish through different stages of her career spoke about her on the carpet. Others embraced her as they entered, posed for photographs or offered congratulations away from the cameras.

Later, pre-ordered copies of Disrupshion Magazine became keepsakes as Lish signed issues for guests.

One of the night’s more striking scenes found her seated at a table with the magazine in front of her and an enlarged version of the cover behind her. Photographers surrounded the table. Guests stood nearby. Flash after flash went off.

For someone who has spent plenty of time covering other people’s moments, there was something fitting about watching the press gather around hers.

Of Course, There Was Music

You can’t talk about Lish 2X without eventually getting to the music.

The cover reveal coincided with COVERGIRL: A Covered Girl, a four-track EP whose title makes the connection difficult to miss.

That project deserves its own conversation, but its presence during the evening illustrated something more interesting about how Lish is building.

Instead of treating fashion Lish, journalist Lish and recording artist Lish as three separate products, the goal appears to be creating one recognizable world.

A magazine cover has a soundtrack with songs that has a fashion language. An interview adds context to both.

That approach came alive when Lish hit the stage for “Covered Girl (IRL)” with her dancers, The Solanges. Dèja Destinèe later joined her for their collaboration, “L’Oréal.”

For a few minutes, the editorial was no longer sitting on a magazine page.

It was moving.

The Packaging Matters

There’s a temptation with independent artists to treat presentation as something to worry about after the music catches on.

That’s backwards. Hip-hop has never only been about what comes through the speakers.

We’ve always cared about the clothes. The album covers mattered. The cars and videos, contributed to slang culture. The photographers and other visual artist. The parties and personalities standing beside the artist and, yes, who showed up when it was time to celebrate!

Presentation doesn’t replace talent. It gives people context for understanding it.

That’s where the Disrupshion Magazine moment becomes bigger than simply landing another magazine placement for Lish 2X.

The white Ron Dyce tuxedo matters. Just as the black leather dress chosen by Dorian Jihad matters.

Media platforms interviewing guests matters and was a testament to the work leading to that moment.

Even choosing Harlem as the event location matters.

Together, those details tell an audience something about who Lish 2X is before anyone has to deliver a long explanation.

Building the Lish 2X World

There is still plenty left to build.

That’s probably what makes this stage interesting.

Lish 2X isn’t abandoning journalism to become an artist or leaving fashion behind to focus exclusively on music. The more compelling possibility is figuring out how all of those experiences can strengthen one another.

A journalist knows how to find a story, while a performer knows how to hold a room. The Model understands the importance of an image.

An entrepreneur eventually learns that none of it survives without a business underneath it.

Put those lessons together and the path becomes considerably more interesting than choosing one title.

Disrupshion Magazine called its Lish 2X feature “More Than a CoverGirl.”

After a night of fashion, cameras, music and plenty of Harlem love, that title felt right at home for Lish 2X.

Creative Credits

Cover Star: Lish 2X
Fashion Designer: Ron Dyce
Photography: Obreezy
Makeup: Chavoynne Artistry
PR & Creative Direction: Dorian Jihad
Behind-the-Scenes Photography & Videography: J Flames / Yaga Filmz
Disrupshion Magazine Founder: Angel Neal
Featured Performer: Dèja Destinèe
Dancers: The Solanges