The producer-turned-art-mogul took his “Creative 100” vision to 30,000 feet, debuting a custom livery with a flyover witnessed by David Beckham, Kevin Hart, and Jessica Alba.
In the Venn diagram of Formula 1, high-altitude luxury, and contemporary art, the overlap is usually small—typically reserved for a sponsor logo blurring past at 200 miles per hour. But at the Lusail International Circuit during the Qatar Grand Prix, that overlap just got significantly larger, louder, and harder to miss.
Qatar Airways, the title sponsor of the Grand Prix, teamed up with hip-hop super-producer and art collector Swizz Beatz to unveil something slightly heavier than a new track: a custom-designed Boeing 777-300ER.
The aircraft, sporting a “Creative 100” livery, made its public debut not on a runway, but directly over the start/finish line. The flyover occurred just before the race action on day one, offering a thundering introduction to the weekend’s festivities. It was a spectacle of altitude and attitude, witnessed by a paddock of heavy hitters including David Beckham, Kevin Hart, Novak Djokovic and Jessica Alba, who were on the ground to watch the crossover of motorsport and aviation.
The Art of Altitude
For those following Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean’s trajectory, this move shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Through The Dean Collection, he has spent years positioning himself as a serious patron and visionary in the art world. This project, however, scales that ambition up to a wide-body jet.
The design wasn’t just a paint job; it was a technical feat. To translate Swizz Beatz’s creative direction onto a 242-foot-long fuselage, the project enlisted aviation designer Aurora Saboir. An inductee of the “Creative 100″—the global initiative launched by Qatar Airways and Swizz Beatz at Art Basel Paris this past October—Saboir is best known for bespoke private jet interiors. This marked her first commercial exterior project, requiring a translation of artistic “vibe” into the precise, aerodynamic language of commercial aviation.
The “Creative 100” Era
The custom 777 serves as a massive, airborne billboard for the Creative 100 initiative, a multi-year collaboration intended to spotlight global talent. By treating a commercial airliner like a limited-edition sneaker drop or an F1 special livery, the collaboration signals a shift in how corporate giants are approaching design. It’s no longer just about branding; it’s about curation.
As the jet banked over the Lusail circuit, it provided a rare moment where the engineering marvels in the sky briefly upstaged the engineering marvels on the track. For the VIPs in the paddock, it was a reminder that in modern Formula 1, the show is everywhere you look—even if you have to look up.
