And lo, Kanye dropped an A.P.C. collection and for a few brief minutes, my Twitter timeline forgot about the legalisation of homicide toward young black males who’ve committed the crime of sauntering. Where’s the inflammatory raps (shouts to Jeezy though)? People love the 1992 shoes, but they seem less keen on retroing the righteousness that drew me to hip-hop in the first place. No compilation mixtures? No 15 minute coast-unifying posse tracks? Not a solitary Zimmerman threat on MP3? Wow. I guess those headphone deals get nulled if anyone starts calling for destruction. Rappers can hop on an instrumental and add a fake-freestyle verse to a hit in a couple of hours but can’t react to that case? These are strange days. Maybe hip-hop needs to spawn a reactionary sub-culture against itself.
On the A.P.C. front that collection brings back the plain white tee as the Hip-Hop t-shirt and it’s a borderline tall tee too. That’s not to say the tall tee ever went away. Under Rick Owens, it blacked out and scooped, but now the tall tee has gone white on us again – Storm Shadow to previous seasons’ Snake Eyes in the urban ninjitsu stakes. Tall tees were always a big look, so I look forward to the legions of clone brands and individuals pushing that look hard this summer. Kanye makes this stuff look good and I respect the commitment to fleece and cotton basics as well as the indulgences in fit that will make it a troubling wear if you’re not Kanye West. After ‘Ye pointed out that J-Kwon’s Tipsy was good, will that reappraisal of fun club music reach the finger-snapping lows of seven years ago when Dem Franchize Boyz had hits? When Dem Franchise Boyz – qualified to be reviewing plain t-shirts on the strength of 2004’s White Tee – reviewed white tees in Vibe magazine all those summers ago it was one of the last great fashion features in a hip-hop magazine, dismissing transparent shirts, luxurious fabrics and packets in favour of Finish Line talls in 5XL. I once tried a white shirt roundup on here, but this feature was always far better…
I forgot to include these 1989 New York Subway ads in my Guardian Angels blog from last week. I like the whole “Come back on the trains! You won’t get murdered!” sentiment of it, plus the amusing approach to graffiti in the copy.
GWARIZM 
Mo’ Money, Less Problems. It’s far too easy to get called out for being ignorant or poorly informed if you speak your mind on social media with regards to anything even slightly controversial. Self preservation is full effect. Until we all make a stand and fight for the rights of EVERYONE not individual groups then I don’t know if I can blame people for looking after what’s theirs and not taking risks. I respect people’s opinion and feelings even if I don’t agree, because I won’t allow it to affect my life. As far as I can tell there are lots of people seeking justice for TM and less publicly defending GZ. The justice would be the situation not having occurred in the first place, to that end there really can be no justice. Neither person can make a change in their lives now for the better in the minds and voices of the loudest/most visible (not necessarily the majority). I want a united stand as ONE PEOPLE against ASS HOLES. Then we’d be able to call people out and put them on trial with no fear whatsoever of hidden prejudices or agendas. The people in power, the rich, the untouchables are the only ones benefitting from this sick world we live in.
Well spoken sir.