Polo and Hip-Hop, an Oral History [Pt. 2]

 •  Hip-Hop Fashion  •  by Adam Fleischer  •  19 Comments

10 Notable Polo Namedrops:

• “The mall was closed/So I spin into Macy’s and get some Guess and Polo” – Zhigge, “Rakin’ In The Dough”
• “Pimp C, P.A. Trill nigga/Polo, fuck that Hilfiger” – Pimp C, “Get Throwed (Remix)”
• “Trickin’ these ho’s in Polo clothes, life as you conceived it” – Big Boi of OutKast, “Jazzy Belle”
• “Mo’ betta’, Mo’ cheddar/Fo’s knock the man off ya Polo sweater” – Jay-Z, “You, Me Him and Her”
• “It’s time to switch it up so I’ll breeze back to the rest/Put on some Polo gear and a baggy pair of Guess” – Grand Puba, “That’s How We Move It”
• “Chick said I needa stop wearing so much Polo, man. She said I be horsing around too much, man” – Young Dro, “Dro Speaks Interlude”
• “Polo Rican! From the cradle to the precincts/Holdin’ noise, mug shots, the Polo-roids”– Thirstin Howl III, “Polo Rican”
• “Standin’ on the wall with my polo on/Talkin’ to the girl with Liz Claiborne” – Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, “We Can Get Down”
• “For all the girls I might take home/I got the Johnson’s Baby Powder and the Polo Cologne” – Slick Rick, “La Di Da Di”
• “A young youth, yo rockin the gold tooth, ‘Lo goose…My life got no better, same damn ‘Lo sweater/Times is rough and tough like leather” – Raekwon, “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)”

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  • http://www.jcalderon.com J.Calderon

    Trick Daddy: Are those Burgle Boy jeans you’re wearing? Hell no Ho, you know they’re Polo.

  • JAFFEjoe

    lol my nigga 88 keys a fool for that poncho story… hahahahaha

  • http://www.poloparties.ning.com POLO PRINCE SEMINOLE SEMI-LO The Big Bad woLf LOsceoLa Sport

    aLL You been had POLO Dudes are Funny! Get your LO up b4 You Show up. 2Ls up & 2nd to NONE, AhhWooo!

  • Father AL

    C’mon son! Nobody said P-wing?!?! Stadium ?!?!

  • Smear

    good shit. XXL NEEDS to follow this up with a feature on the Lo-Lifes: Thirstin Howl III deserves his shine as does up and comin Lo-Life Mehyem Lauren. For that “been had Polo” dude and YoungDro they need to see the true heat the Polo-Rican and Meyhem keep in their closet. Just Blaze and Dallas are crazy with that shit too…… I’d kill for their collection… or Just’s Bank balance.

  • dutchmaster

    what a good article….im coming up in the late 80s, 90s just at the end of the good era (wu-tang, grand puba) to the mid/late 90s…..i remember really being into nautica and tommy….when that shit came out about him being racist, he definitely took a hit, i only bought a little bit of nautica and mostly polo from then on…..and i can’t remember when i’ve bought any other kind of high designer “hip hop” brand other than polo

  • Suicide Kobain

    No mention of Grand Puba?

  • http://www.spag-lo.com SPAG-LO

    AS STATED BEFORE AND I’M GONNA SAY IT AGAIN..THIS MOVEMENT IS DEEPER THAN POLO, NEW JACKS NEED TO FALL BACK….

  • http://www.spag-lo.com SPAG-LO

    >>>> @SpagLO <<<

  • http://www.showyalo.com Wiggz-LO, Extraordinaire

    Amen brotha Spag…once again, the ball has been fumbled in the red zone. I def. applaud the effort and the nod, but the execution was all wrong. With all the fly visuals floating around online, I can’t seem to understand why this didn’t come out better than it did. I used to have a lot of respect for XXL as a magazine, but even that went from sugat to sh*t over the years. Money that obviously did these got hype off the “POLO” remix and decided to whip something together before the competition could get the proper shine. If he really knew the time, he would see it goes much deeper than the brand…hell, even Thirst and Rae kept making references to the sh*t that set it off for Ralph to do what he did, yet all the focus gets put on the overly hype-beasted Snow Beach pully and some clown wit a corny youtube video…man, let me fall back….WWW.SHOWYALO.COM…the real headz know what it iz….

  • http://www.twitter.com/mdmamusic Victorious

    eh’ they tried. i dont know why some people were in the interview but im sure there are a lot of things i dont know .
    the piece vado mentioned was Rugby. not polo. there is a difference. but not everybody know the difference. not everybody gonna care either.
    it is what it is..
    i reached out to one of the brothers in the interview. and connected him up. stay tuned.
    peace to Lo Lifes.
    victorious lo.
    flatbush..

  • The Nite Shift

    The Pimp C Reference is originally from Pimp C, but on a song Called “Doin’ the fool” E40 feat. Pimp C, to Short and Pastor Troy

  • Real Nigga 365

    Yall niggas still hating on Jose Hustle ? Seems like alot of yall old heads got offended from the young nigga’s video. Its was entertainment, do something with your life besides collecting clothes for nothing. He’s working on a degree from an HBCU im pretty sure he couldnt give 2 fucks who got vintage polo or who’s a real OG. He’s mentioned with the greats so let the lil nigga get his shine, fall back.

  • http://youtube.com/youngsheed1 Jose Hustle

    Much Luv to all the supporters and haters. I never thought I’d be mentioned with the Polo ambassadors above. Check out my video blog Jose Hustle TV on youtube, much more than Been Had.

    ** Yall so called Lo heads need to grow up, if your collection was soooooo dope as yall claim, You’d be in the article too

  • http://www.luckylogan.com Logan P. McCoy

    I liked Part 1 a whole lot better. I’m biased, sue me. “Guess and lo from head to toe to let you know, who got the props”. Come on… is it because he didn’t say polo in that song. You figure out what song it was.

  • Goose

    Why are you asking Vado and Young Dro’s opinion?? None of these have history with Lo.. Wearing a rugby from 2009 ain’t shit.. New jacks looking like idiots. Let The Lo Lifes tell this story.. Nice one XXL you screwed this story.

  • Young Bodybag

    What is this bullshit? Just Blaze and 88 Keys sucking their own dicks yet DCV gets minimal shine? This piece can’t even be thoroughly appreciated due to the underuse of potential with the interviewees. Dallas Penn, Thirstin Howl III, Ving, Rae and Sean P could’ve done this interview solo.

  • Brass Tacks

    Dro been rocking POLO! The South been rockin POLO! Get the hell outta here with another N.Y. made shit hot first write-up. The whole prep look was in style in GA back when another coast seemed more comfortable in timbs and a bubble down goose necked whatever the fuck Eskimos wear to keep warm in the antarctic. Please stop swinging from NY’s Hang low every time something that’s universally HIP-HOP. Gets written about!

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