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Hip Hop: Free Spirit vs Luxury Fashion

By Celia Pavlaki

"She got a thing for that Gucci that Fendi that Prada, that BCBG, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana" raps hip-hop artist 50 cent in what sounds like a Harvey Nichols advert. As a matter of fact, the lyrics of his greatest hits are an ode to luxury goods, with a record of 31 brands mentioned in six songs, followed by Lil'Kim with 15 brands in two songs, Jay-Z with 14 brands in three songs to mention only a few. And while busy serenading designers, many hip-hop names are also busy designing their own urbanwear lines of highstreet status. Is this all a new hip way to hop into our pockets?

Hip-hop as we know it now is the result of a constant evolution in the rhythm and expression of black lyrics and first emerged as 'rap' in street parties at the New York suburb of Bronx. Street style researcher Takamura points out that rap became CNN in the sense of an educational institution. The issues it dealt with were everything from politics to women to dreams, things that mattered in the lives of young inner city Americans.

Ideals-based as it sounds, the spirit behind hip-hop makes it hard to comprehend the embrace of all things posh. With 84 luxury brands mentioned in 111 songs which entered the Top 20 Single's Billboard since last March, even the queen of the kind J.Lo, feels like getting things straight every now and then: 'don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got, I'm still Jenny from the block' (lyrics).

Or is she? Appearing in designerwear -Versace and Valentino to name a few- posing for one of Louis Vuitton's recent campaigns and giving her name to her very own girlie fashion brand and perfume, do not exactly bring in mind the urban character in sports gear and social sensitivities. Neither does the style of her fashion line, which could be called anything else apart from 'active urban wear' as she chooses to see it. 'Fetish' by Eve Jeffers is a similar case of a hip-hop line that with Eve's signature being the only hip-hop thing about it.

The boys could not resist either the temptation of creating their own cool clothing, but as they stayed loyal to the 'urbanity' of it all, creating Phatfarm and Babyphat (Def Jam Recordings), Vokal (Nelly) and Rocawear (Jay-Z & Damon Dash) sported by the looks of Posh Spice-Beckham (relation to hip-hop: once being hip and now able to hop?)

It seems that some feel they can sell to us more than their music. What about all those fashion brands they incorporate in their lyrics? 'And others couldn't figga how we and my Hilfigga used to move with vigga' prides rapper Q-tip, summarizing the notion that once chosen by the urban 'hero', the brand becomes more than part of his outfit, it transforms into a personal characteristic. The American Brandstand research for 2003, reports that hip-hop culture uses brands as metaphors, in the same way that society does nowadays in order to defy status and explains that those appearing in songs already have a prestigious heritage (i.e. Gucci, Burberrys).

Facts show that an is able artist to both 'sell' fashion, and 'make' fashion, Following the appearance of Snoop Doggy Dog on Saturday Night Love in 1994, the talk on everyone's lips was his head-to-toe Tommy Hilfiger outfit. That year Hilfiger's sales increased by $90 million dollars. On the other hand, after Jay-Z wore a No. 33 Redskins football jersey for his 'Girls-Girls-Girls' video-clip in 2001, the manufacturer M&N was bombarded by orders for the $225 non-designer item.

Orsalia, a fashion designer with 30 years experience on the mainstream market talked us through the phenomenon: "At the moment hip-hop is hot, these artists are cool and in the eyes of the consumer they are the face of fashion. It is nothing new, think of Beatles in the sixties, Abba in the seventies, Madonna in the eighties. The fad will fade and then you can guess what is going to happen to all the brands based on it". Well maybe we would ask Beyonce Knowles, as she is about to launch her own brand and swears by its originality and success.

Fashion has always been related to and supported by the world of music. After all, both fashion and music are fed by creative explosions of artistic minds. Seeing hip-hop video clips stylistically saturated by Gucci bikinis though raises questions on every fashion observer. Should "urban" ever be referred to as "the new chic"? Do social sensitivities evolve around luxury in our days? In the end, it is up to you. As for your dress-sense, I can only offer this simple advice, free-spirited like hip-hop: enjoy the trend and as all the artists mentioned in this article claim, wear what makes you be yourself.

Celia can be contacted at:celia.pavlaki@gmail.com