The Garment District: A Word On Shady & Pictures Of Balls
Published: Thursday - October 25, 2007
Words by Arnold T. Pants
I've been gone for a minute, and it seems a lot has happened in the world of garments. First off, I want to say a little something about the Shady/LRG issue/video (see "LRG Jacks Hoodie Idea From Shady LTD?"). To be blunt, when I saw the Shady joint at Magic in February, I thought it was garbage. Poor construction, poor detailing, even a poor idea. Coming off of LRG's popular Dead Serious joints, I saw Shady (and many other lecherous "urban" brands) looking to capitalize off of hype culture. Shady is a clothing company completely lacking integrity. It epitomizes the type of company out simply to make a buck and not to foster credibility in the community. With LRG (a company I will admit to hating 90% of the time), at the very least the owners, Jonas and Robert, have a passion for fashion and street culture at large. As far as the claim of biting, please, nobody gives Shady a passing eye on the design tip. There are similarities for sure, LRG's is undoubtedly better, and in the end, they develop their lines well in advance of release. I find it laughable that a company created to feed off celebrity resorts to this when that man's cultural relevance is at a lull. Anyone wearing Shady is probably happy enough to wear bootleg clear Air Jordan 7s and still thinks Coogi is the jump off. In short, both sweatshirts are crap.
Secondly, here's what has held my interest:
The African Nations Cup is set for January and February of 2008 with Ghana hosting. Adidas just released the official game ball, based on Ghana's flag.
What does this have to do with hip-hop? Well, on the surface nothing. But, football, according to Leeds bred legend Braintax is hip-hop. Once he said to me, "There's some parallels there for sure: the importance of integrity, creativity, playing from your heart and soul, not cheating..." Too right!
Creativity has also driven Adidas in ball design. Apart from new technologies, Adidas has skillfully melded the local and global flair of the game into their balls for world cup competitions over years. Brother Gritz recalls the Aztec ball from the '86 cup in Mexico. (How Gritz? You were three years old!) I am partial to the design from the 1998 French hosted tournament.
Gritz used to wear these shorts based on some of the early Adidas footballs. He looked ridiculous, but claimed they were "the jam." (Coincidentally, claiming things are "the jam" is his M.O.). Did this strike a death blow for football related fashion in hip-hop culture? Could Gritz really have this power? No.
Only a few MCs have been brave enough to rep their squads heavy. Rodney P (like me) is an Arsenal man. Not only does he rock the team shirts regularly, he also has recorded one of the greatest footballing anthems in the history of hip-hop (check it here). "Been A Gunner Since 79" is classic Rodders. The song both bigs up a great team, ARSENAL, and saves hip-hop from falling into a quagmire of being represented footballing wise by the untalented John Barnes, his disgustingly short shorts and one of the worst rap songs in history, "The Anfield Rap."
In my memory, the only other MC to rock a football shirt in public was J-Ro of the Alkaholiks in a video shot for my man's at Dark n' Cold. He reps Brazil. Standard.
Tune in next time when my friends J-Zone and Jed Bronstein join me to talk jerseys. The NBA is coming folks… as well an album from some dude named Jigga.
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