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Fat Joe, Embrace the Truth: Latinos Did Not Partly Create Hip-Hop
A vintage photo recalls how young Puerto Ricans embraced an already present black subculture
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” goes the short version of a famous quote attributed to the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde.
I found myself reminded of the quote recently while once again thumbing through Back in the Days (2001), the landmark photography book by Jamel Shabazz that documents the “cool style” of a then-still emerging hip-hop subculture in New York from 1980 to 1989.
Actually, I was reminded of the quote before I’d even opened the book.
On the cover of Back in the Days is a handsome old photograph taken by Shabazz sometime in 1981. Recorded within its aged borders are two young Puerto Rican teens posed on a Manhattan ave wearing three of the early cultural identifiers of hip-hop fashion.
The items include colorful Kangol caps, a pair of semi-matching green suede Puma ‘Clyde’ sneakers worn by the teen on the left, and a pair of white Adidas Superstar sneakers, with matching Burgundy laces, worn by the young teen on the right.
