Pretty Boy Flacko

I can distinctly recall a moment of time in 2017, in which I would be transitioning to my junior year of high school by summer's end. I came home from a day at the lake with my friend's, all cool and tired. I proceeded to take off my Stefan Janoski's, all scuffed and rugged, and some standard Levi's you'd find in any department store. I move to take off my over-sized Primitive T-Shirt, before pausing in the mirror. I took a long look at myself, comparing how I'd see me as a creative, unique, outcast kind of kid, and yet dressed in the most generic type of pre-teen misfit chic since stalagmite spikes for haircuts. I was no renegade, there was no charm. I was creatively starved, and uninspired. I wanted something more, some type of dress to own, and wear my own Scarlet A, rather than cloud my insecurity in the generic, mass-fashion, or lack of it. And then, A$AP Rocky entered the scene, and saved my life. Or at least, saved me from a life of no drip. One in the same.

Since the inception of his career, and seemingly even before, Rakim Mayers had a flair for being a renegade in the entertainment industry, specifically music and fashion. Born October 3 of 1988, in Harlem, New York, Rocky had been dealt his hand and lived on throughout his childhood in the tough and gritty mud of Upper Manhattan. He would see his father be incarcerated for drug charges, and vanish from his life at the age of 12, with his older brother also being murdered just a year later. He had began rapping at the age of 8, and by 2007, he would join a hip-hop collective named the "A$AP Mob". A$AP meaning "always strive and prosper". Young Rocky would go on to have one of his earliest releases, "Peso", enter the U.S R&B charts, an impressive accolade for the young gun in 2011. After releasing a video for his alternate track, "Purple Swag", he would be approached by numerous prestigious record labels, and ultimately sign with Sony/RCA records.

Rocky never considered himself to be a New York Rapper. As all mavericks do, young Rakim would trail-blaze his own effects on the hip-hop industry, with the fresh, nameless face of Long.Live.A$AP, his debut album. A fiery tracklist with the fine luggage and accessory of seemingly endless inspiration and postcards from all over the hip-hop world. Assured, straight-forward, and toned by narcotics, Rocky delivers a confident, boastful flow, all the while discussing the hot subject of new money, new drugs, and new women. Slick and suave, this confident record would indicate Rocky's deep understanding of his self-worth, and reflect short bursts of deep intimacy in the young outlaw's creative mind. Then, in 2015, a lush, psychedelic album named At.Long.Last.A$AP, had hit the airwaves. Rocky's sophomore project would cement his legacy in the pantheon of rap, with a consecutive #1 on the Billboard Hot 200, and platinum certification. A name and personality that was here to stay, Rakim had seemingly not quite exerted all the influence he sought to garner over the industry. Going from a wild young cowboy on the corners and hops of Harlem's very own, Rocky would transition, more-so intertwine, the world of fashion with his hip-hop engagement.

I find Rocky's contribution to fashion to be the driving force of his impact in black business, and culture in general. For me, personally, it was a point of massive inspiration when I had watched the music video for A$AP Mob's "Raf" in 2017. I was struck with a great epiphany. Up to that point, I had never taken a notice or contemplation of fashion, and what it means to the common man. Figured it was as simple as putting a decent arrangement on your body and you're out the door for the day. But the video showed me something more. I saw a collection of guys oddly strutting across a screen, in the most bizarre, peculiar clothing. Over-sized hoodie's while wearing no shoes, overly knitted, cat-lady like fuzzy sweaters in lime green, trench coats paired with floral prints and white skinny jeans. While not exactly my taste, I was dumbfounded at the complementary nature, the boldness of the dress and the impression and swagger it commanded. It was like saying "I'm right f*cking here, and I'm here to stay", all via stitch and fabric. It also allowed me to escape the confines of labels and perception. I didn't have to be a poor, brown kid, as some would assume. I could be Jace, and generate whatever I pleased with that. There was no longer a quota or permission slip involved, it was a canvas, a slate for my vision, and who I wanted to be, and choose to become. Anyway, this wouldn't be the first evolution of A$AP's fashion pioneering. Since 2013, many of it's members would be seen in eastern-stylings, with silk doo-rags, babushka's, Japanese and other foreign pieces and influence. Young Flacko had casually mastered the art of menswear, and became the bread and butter of dress, whether it's street, casual, formal, or whatever the f*ck the man really pleases. He would be featured in Dior Men's fashion show in 2016/2017.

In an interview with HypeBeast, when asked about how Rocky knows if a trend or outfit works for him, he responded "That’s an individual thing. Everybody has their individuality, so you just gotta make it work for you. I no longer concern myself with what everybody’s doing and how they do it. I don’t even care anymore." "The best thing to do is stick to your guns. I remember being poor and thinking, man, I wish I could afford those clothes that Pharrell is wearing, or Kanye’s wearing. I couldn’t afford it, so I would get a girlfriend to do it, or I would hustle. All I cared about was my clothes."

I believe Rocky's thinking and expression when it come's to his style is a great reference for fashion and identity of all of us, as individuals. To look for what's hot, and what's not, is like buying your water instead of building a well. It's transient, and hollow. It doesn't do anything more for you than to fit the minimal expectations of today. To command an identity, and a sense of dress, I've found that it opens up the world, in all truth and honesty. No longer would I be labeled as something I wouldn't desire, nor couldn't control, but rather I'd boast the name-tag everywhere I'd go. And I believe that's the critical importance of fashion. For all men and women. Reflect who we are in stitch and fabric, so at the end of the day, there's less room for bullshit, confusion, and misconception. Hence why Rocky's outlaw pioneering was so inspiring to me, it wasn't a bare minimum effort, or some camouflage, or any kind of permission slip. It was an assertion, and bold expression of all he is, as it should be. Reflect what is inward, outward, and let any world, professional, athletic, creative, and the sort, that your more than meets the eye. A harmony within to produce a hurricane without. A hurricane with class, style, or whatever you please.