OSD™: Something old and something new

Well, as you can see that this week's theme has been about music, racism, homophobia and other issues that plague the world. The interesting thing is that I've had a couple of people call or email me directly asking the question, "What does all of this have to do with sneakers?" The short and quick answer is that they have nothing to do with sneakers and everything to do with sneakers. I hope you understand that statement.

You see, sneakers mean alot to me and many others that have been into sneakers for a very long time and eventhough the 'Game' is really messed up right now, come on, if you're a sneakerhead you're thinking to yourself that the quality on the retro Jordan 4s and 5s is garbage, but you still buy them because they look hot and you were never able to get them when you were younger. This is a story that many people can relate to and has been told in many interviews by the likes of Bun B, Fat Joe, Terrence Blanchard and Spike Lee, to name a few.

Before being a 'sneakerhead' was fashionable, people would tease, chide and even mock me because I had sneakers that matched my clothing and not just a couple pair, I had many pairs of sneakers. If the flavor of the season were pinstriped Lee jeans or the two-tone Lee jeans that had to be tapered so that I had to squeeze my foot through the tight-ass barrel of the pants, to the neon-everything phase where I wore the Blue Brothers-like sunglasses to shield my eyes, to the polka dot days of Kwame, to the acid washed jeans and t-shirts with accompanying leather Africa pendant ala De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest and then moving onto Polo before cats like Grand Puba and others started wearing it, to flipping the script to rockin' Tommy Hilfiger when Tommy was just a neophyte to the fashion world and there were only two places to buy Tommy gear in New York; this was long before Snoop wore a Tommy rugby; I then moved onto Cross Colours "Clothing Without Prejudice" with the ill colors. I rocked them all!

The music, the culture and more importantly, people have influenced me. I've taken my fashion ques from the Cherokees, the West Indians, Africans, Europeans, and the Aztecs. There is something beautiful about the various 'tribes' that influence me and many others. That's the beauty of what God has created. We're all different shapes, sizes, colors and certainly mindset. That is a beautiful thing. I love people and people love me and for that I am eternally grateful.

Something Old:
'Paper Thin' was MC Lyte's first music video in 1988.

Something New:
I know it's been a couple of month's since MC Lyte opened her boutique in California, but here's a good video highlighting the boutique directly from Lyte herself. Congratulations Lana!