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Page 1
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"I think it's time to show these boys how to dress," Andre 3000 says ...
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Page 2
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Dupri says stop dressing like Bow Wow and start rolling like Mr. Drummond ...
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Page 3
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Cam'ron scoffs at the dandies, Farnsworth balks at the
velour ...
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"Something I definitely want to get across right now," hisses Bentley, taking time out from picking benchmade shoes and silk knots for a shirt, "I denounce the term 'metrosexual.' Metrosexual is a term that was invented to get people away from saying 'gentleman.' Metrosexual, they say they get their manicures, they are into their clothes and the decor of their house. They take care of their skin and their hair. When you say metrosexual it just puts the focus on yourself, you lose all the chivalry. A gentleman does all those things that a metrosexual does but he also opens the door for the lady. He also has the handkerchief to wipe the lady's blouse when she drops something on herself. Be a gentleman — it's way sexier."
While the most popular hip-hop uniform is still a pair of Nikes, an icy white T-shirt and jeans, rappers are taking it a step up these days. Instead of a jersey on top, they're wearing button-up shirts and cuff links. ("That separates you from the guys that just wear buttoned-up shirts," Loon advises. "You might be able to get a $200 or $300 button-up and be poppin'. But $1,000 cuff links that go with that are saying something.")
As gung-ho as the man some have labeled the hip-hop Fred Astaire (because of his style, not his dancing) is about guys going from thugged-out to sophisticated, Bentley will concede that he has to get his peers to take baby steps before they can run a marathon. Nonetheless, he's delighted to see them upgrading their wardrobe.
Jay-Z, seen at last year's MTV Video Music Awards wearing a button-up and on his 2003 Rock the Mic Tour in suits, says dressing a little more maturely reflects his growth. "I was doing throwbacks [back in '92]. If y'all pull up the 'I Can't Get With That' video — that was my first video — I had on a Reggie Miller jersey. But we can't stay in the same place with a bunch of numbers on our backs. That starts looking crazy after a minute."
Hov hasn't been as vocal as Mr. Bentley or even Kanye West — who's been proclaiming the death of the throwback era during promotional appearances for his album — about the rise of the gentleman's movement, but perhaps his words have resonated the loudest in the hip-hop community.
"I don't wear jerseys, I'm 30 plus," he raps on "What More Can I Say" off The Black Album. "Give me a crisp pair of jeans, n---a, button-ups."
Just as he influenced the switching up from gold to platinum jewelry, Hovi has played a big part in what's in a lot of people's closets.
"Jay is like a walking poster child with anything he says or brings light to," Loon says with a smile. "He brought light to the button-ups and getting suited up. People are hearing that and it's starting to register. We got to start cleaning up our act."
"It's time to grow up," Jay rationalized of his lyrics and his attire choices. "You gotta go in them offices and look presentable, get a couple of checks. One thing, I just don't want people to not be able to grow up in hip-hop. That'll destroy it. We just can't go to 24 or 18 [years old] and stop."
"You see a dude that is 40 years old in a jersey and a fitted cap, you know he's trying to be young, that's what it is," laughs 31-year-old Jermaine Dupri. "Why are you trying to look like Bow Wow? Put on a little shirt or something. Cuff links come into your life when you get past 25, 30 years old."
Dupri feels that MCs should start clothing themselves in accordance with their status.
"If you're living like Mr. Drummond [from the '70s sitcom 'Diff'rent Strokes'], dress like Mr. Drummond," he says. "This is something we always dreamed of. We always dreamed of being able to live life to the fullest."
"You look at a lot of your favorite artists," Loon says, "and you know that at some point in their careers, they're sitting in with these corporate-structure guys. You start to notice what [they are wearing]. We gotta start rockin' like businessmen because we are businessmen. Some of us are CEOs of major companies, clothing lines, things of that nature."
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Photo: Walik Goshorn
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