On The Coolhunt

On The Coolhunt

Through the decades, cool has often been used to describe the most popular trends of that time. In the 70's disco was cool. In the 80's, Prince, or the Artist formerly known as Prince or the symbol he changed his name to, was cool. The idea of cool however took a turn in the early 90's. The idea of cool was centered on the emerging music genre of rap. The attitudes of these rappers became the voice of the youth and therefore the voice of cool. The clothing styles began to tie directly into what NWA and Public Enemy wore. Even the activities that these entertainers took part in began to come more noticeable in popular society. This is the trend of cool, do what they do. By "they" I mean those in the public eye.

Today being cool is not only described through the appearance of a person but through their demeanor. On my cool hunt, I asked my friend Richard Miller what he thought was cool, he replied "that cool was when you care about something but you don't show it." My next question asked him could he think of any one that personified this characteristics and he replied, "two words, Lil' Wayne."

Being a fan of Lil' Wayne I could see where Richard came to that conclusion. Lil' Wayne is arguably the best rapper alive and taking that title includes also receiving "diss" (disrespect) records from many other artists. Instead of reacting with a reply diss, Lil' Wayne is one of few rappers who won't reply but instead lets the beef run its course until it burns out.

Though this was quite a definite answer, I felt I should have some reciprocity, and I asked my brother Xavier what he thought was cool. "Confidence is what cool is all about. I'm talking about borderline conceited."(Being that this is my brother and he is very self-centered and conceited) My interpretation of this is that arrogance is cool. I asked him about a public figure and he stated rapper 50 Cent before I could finish my question. "50's dat deal and he know but he gotta let everybody know it too." This attitude is portrayed with songs like "I Get Money" and "Straight to the Bank" which main purposes are to show everyone that he is incredibly wealthy. A trend such as this is like a fire in a forest, it tends to spread relatively quickly amongst the general population of an area especially amongst ignorant people. This trend is not really cutting edge but it seems to have been a lasting characteristic of celebrities and entertainers and with the way that the general population idolizes people in the public eye, the trend is mimicked constantly.

As one who is constantly checking Foot Locker.com checking for a pair of shoes that I may purchase, I identify with the trend of constantly buying shoes. This trend again started with entertainers, the most known being Nelly with his 2002 hit "Air Force 1's". This not only reintroduced the popular 80's shoe back into the public market but it created another trend. Not only limited