I was checking out M.Dot’s blog and listening to morning talk radio and it spurred my thoughts about things I’ve already thought before. Just to forewarn you it’s not going to be a indepth look at hiphop, capitalism, buisness, and black folk using charts, graphs, and vin diagrams. No. Only a real look at the things that matter to real people…the money coming out of their pockets.

When I first heard the Shop Boyz and “Party like a Rockstar” I knew that the style was about to change. I knew that when Kanye started sampling Daft Punk that the clothing inside Up Against The Wall was going to change. I knew that when I made an ignorant comment about the Ice Cream Princess I waas going to get backlash from a lot of hipsters.

You get the point. I’ve always dressed like a preppy skater. It’s been my MO. When I came to college (an HBCU) I got called out becasue I dressed like a “white boy”. But now those same people are dressing like how I used to. (To all those haters out there who told me I dressed weird who’s really fresh to death…yall just comin to the party when I already left). I’m not gonna hate on them, to each their own. But here is my issue and here is where hip hop and capitalism collide. Why are the clothes in the “urban stores/markets” so expensive?

Let’s look at some of the brands that I see bein rocked in such fashionable places (ie: Downtown LockerRoom, Up Against The Wall, and Last Stop): DC, Famous Stars and Strap*, and Vans. There’s probably more but I’ll stop there. Becasue I mainly see those three…especially Famous. Let’s check out the brands being sported on the other side of town: DC, Famous Stars and Straps, Vans…oh wow. The same frickin thing. But I’ll tell you what’s not the same. The price that you pay at the stores. I’ve seen DCs at the “urban markets” selling for close to $100 but the same shoe across the street at Pac Sun is $40 - 60. Famous shirts are the same deal with a $10 - $15 difference depending on the store you go to.

Call me a conspirator but I’m a firm believer that the “suits” are out to rob those gualliable people swallowing everything that 106&Park shoves down their throat. A Bay Bay, why don’t we wise up and see that we are being used for our capitol. We don’t have to buy everything we see on tv. Capitolist are laughing at us and how we choose to spend our money buying depricative items. I’m not going to go deep into it. But come on.

I can understand looking young, fly, flashy, and fresh. But I can’t understand being used as the gullable fool…