You down with ODB?

No. Not me.

Driving from class one morning in the ‘hood’ of Williamsburg, VA, I stop at the red light at KFC. To my dismay, I look to my left and what a disturbing scene I am confronted with: the likes of Ol’ Dirty Bastard:

A young man, probably mid to late 20’s stands still in the middle of an accident. The police are there, the entire department, and the man with whom he was in the accident with (white male, middle to late 40s - most definitely a tourist), stands with his digital camera, slighting bent to get the perfect angle – capturing the prison stance image of the offender – a black male, loose white wife-beater, sagging pants and Jordans – fresh Jordans. 

The light turns green and I shake my head in disbelief and disgust. Passing Wendy’s now, I quickly glance over and two black males, also to the likeness of the late ODB are sitting on the tables in the front. Not eating, perhaps waiting for the bus, but still. WHY must you look like that? Seriously.

Now I understand that once, maybe not that long ago, it was cool to imitate the styles of famed rappers such as TuPac, Biggie, Snoop, Dr. Dre – their sagging pants, baggy clothes and tall tees were the thing of the times. But we often fail to touch on the origin of these trends.

SN:  Sagging pants was never meant to be fashionable. Prisoners wear their pants this low because belts are a popular way to commit suicide by hanging oneself, to hang others, or to use as a weapon in fights. Prisoners are also not allowed to have shoestrings for the same reasons. But there is an even more obvious reason why pants are sagging in prison. If the pants are below a man's bottom, it is to introduce to other men that he is homosexual. As Eazy E once said about women in skirts, "For easy access, baby." - Is this what they want to portray? How many times can you recall a father asking his boy where his belt was, and a mother telling her son to pull his pants up. Belts are luxuries. You better be thankful. lol

Currently, clothing is more tailored for men and women.

 

I have only ONE major pet peeve – don’t wear a loose v-neck. Like extremely loose – you look frail and sick and I’m always trying to determine if I saw you on a latenight/earlymorning, BET feed the children promo. You are defeating the purpose.

And like Jay said – “I don’t wear skinny skins, cuz my knots don’t fit." Whatever ‘knots’ he was talking about, it’s nothing more unattractive than a guy whose jeans are tighter than yours. 

Take heed gentlemen and thank you.