American Apparel Ad

I found this very early American Apparel advertisement from 1997. I thought I would share it.

Past-Rocking Redux

I'd like to piggy-back from the previous post. E. mentions sampling as the future of hip hop. In this sense, sampling accounts for the cross-section of hip hop's interests and effects, but in another sense, sampling is also hip hop's past. 

In the 1997 film Men in Black, Will Smith played a NYPD officer turned secret government agent who investigates alien activity on earth. We can see a direct link between a string of hits Smith had in the 90's made popular by obvious and easily identifiable sample material and the classic line from the film that Smith says, "I make this look good."

While Will Smith's early career can be defined by his ability to use comedy to soften hip hop's hard edge, I'd like to define his later career by his use of sampling and how he, "makes this look good." His first album, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper, took the urban soundscapes of LL Cool J and Run DMC and catalogued them to a more relatable suburban experience. "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" are two examples of Smith's comedic sensibility and skill at hip hop storytelling. By the time Men In Black was in theaters, Smith was a television and movie star. His comedic outlets allowed him to explore other areas of his music. This is to say, as Smith became an actor, his music became less cinematic. This shift is characterized by an emphasis on style not substance. The song "Men In Black" keeps the entire chorus of Patrice Rushen's "Forget Me Nots" in tact and "Just the Two of Us" samples the Bill Withers song and includes lyrics from the original. 

The obvious reference to sampling in the 90s as an example of hip hop's style and sophistication is Puff Daddy. From a stylistic standpoint, his use of other people's music borders on bricolage. But in the case of Will Smith, he truly does make this look good.

Like the Will Smith quote suggests, sampling, is not about music, it's a stylistic choice. That is why when we talk of sampling, we should not only discuss melodic elements in hip hop, but what designer Kanye West chooses to wear, what producer Rihanna chooses to work with, or who is going to direct OutKast's next video.

A Few Words On Hipster Hatin'

I’m tired of articles, written in hopes to defame, discredit, and respond to hipsters mucking up the world. All of those correspondents from the realm of "in the know” are repulsed by the cultural void of the world that they are privileged with the journalistic duty of guarding yet through some lapse in consciousness or better judgment you let the all encompassing title of "hipster culture" and its leaching lifestyle slip through your fingers? Taste makers, fuck off!

You made this reality a horrid nightmare. You propagated the look, sold your ad space to clever sales teams who are capitalizing off of and study decisively the next trend, and are clipping every organic we try to produce. Now through the symbiotic nature of capitalism, the artistic fulling the trends of popular culture, we are left with what you equate to uninspired mongers of society. So, please tell us what did you expect?

In a time where everyone wants to report on things that aren’t news, or important, or even interesting, this bastardization of a lifestyle that magazines and the internets helped create, how can you simply abandon it because it is vapid? You, an army of marginally educated scenesters, took hold of everything that was deemed cool, and raped it- rode it bare back until it was lifeless, dour, and trite, and then refuse to take blame for what you consider an uninspired aggregation of youth trends. If you're seriously tired, and not just jumping on the bandwagon of deadbeat artist wannabe corporate bedfellows, stop writing about hipster’s and let it fall out of favor. Then ditch your ad-riddled publication of choice for something that doesn’t propagate a look you don't feel represents the "real"; one you helped create, yet despise. And if that’s not possible, deal with the reality that with every word you write about how much you hate hipsters, you just hate on your uninspired life and want for change.

The Biggest Perpetrators:

Ad Busters

The Independent

Hip-Hop Flip Flops Past Rocking Only High Tops

The “Everybody” Video for Fonzworth Bentley is an example of the transformation of Hip-hop, and coincidently, it’s battle with maturity. And we’ve (those who care about the gene’s development, not so much it’s exploitation) been saying it for years, that its high time that hip-hop stops trying to combat certain elements of high fashion, and the result is a progression into middle age which has presented an inverted perspective on mid-life crises. If you adjust your scope to circa 1999, Outkast were the progenitors of the Southern Gent meets dough boy sophisticate look, and that has spread, interestingly enough, to Chicago.

I’ve made the claim before that the south is where hip-hop’s soul lives, but Chicago is where it’s heart and future is currently residing- so it’s only right that Mr. Fresh-to Death West help progress both the music, and it’s appeal. However, the most interesting angle at which to look at this growth, is not from its maturity, but from its second generation, where an infusion of different cultures is cluster fucking both the scene and how hip-hop is captivating our minds. Populated by a larger sampling of, well, everyone, will definitely help change what we see as street culture and create some interesting moments as well.