Hip-hop has been intwined with fashion for decades. Young rappers experiencing the rich life for the first time like to flaunt their wealth, and expensive clothing is a great way to do it. This idea has been taken to its extreme in the past few years, giving birth to a dopey, thinly veiled man-child of a creature known as the Hypebeast.
The excess of the Atlanta scene was in the spotlight for a long time in the 2010's. Conservative estimates place the beginning of this new focus on Atlanta around 2011, with the rise of Future and Migos, and continues on to this day, although clearly in decline, peaking somewhere around the release of 21 Savage's first album. Now of course the Atlanta scene existed and thrived long before this. Gucci Mane is still influential to this day, and he's being representing Atlanta long before Lil Yachty was even born. Popular culture really started to accept the style of Atlanta rap during this timeframe though.
These rappers will wear outfits that cost more than most people's house: thousand dollar gucci fanny packs, shoes made from rattlesnake, and jewelry that rivals the Royal family. All in the name of showing off their wealth and success.
This luxurious style was turned up to eleven when the South Florida scene started gaining traction. The fashion of the South Florida scene could be accurately described as the Atlanta style on Steroids. And Coke. Couple Percocets maybe. Lil Pump would record himself wearing three diamond watches, standing on the table in the middle of the Gucci store whipping his friend with a $600 belt. The style has become so outrageous and over the top that it acts like a satire of itself; meta is so in right now.
These rappers are not the culprits here though. They come from a place of sincerity with there style at least. They are showing off their success and wealth because they came from nothing. They worked from the bottom and are proud of how far they've come. They may look like fools but at least their intentions are pure.
It's their fans that are the problem.
Hip hop has become quite ubiquitous in pop culture thanks to the internet. Rappers are the new rockstars, and everybody wants to be a rockstar. Fans can go onto their favorite artist's instagram and see them draped in Gucci from head to toe surrounded by beautiful women, money, and drugs and think "I want that, maybe if I dress like that I'll get it". Advertisers know this, brands know this, and they give these artist's products to sell, taking advantage of this insecurity. Car shows have been pulling this same scam for years.
So naturally Fans will seek to emulate these rappers. They'll buy Gucci sweaters, Rolexes, and anything with a Louis Vuitton logo on it. While the rappers wear this shit with pride, the hypebeast wear it as a thin layer of armour, shielding the world from seeing their true self. What's worse is they will spend their hard earned money in this pursuit. The hypebeast is not a well off creature, they don't have that kind of money to waste. Why pay rent when you could be wearing a $2000 jacket with a tiger on it?
At that point their style has become a pathological and has transformed into something more than just clothing. If a fancy sweater or a nice pair of shoes gives you confidence and makes you feel good then great, I'm all for it. But there are better, more long-term solutions to these problems. And $2000 could go a long way in finding them.
The easiest way to spot a Hypebeast is the presence of any Supreme logos on their clothing or accessories. The hypebeast loves Supreme. While brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton are perceived as this staple of affluence and luxury, Supreme doesn't really have the same pedigree as those companies. Don't forget they were originally a skate company.
Because of this they were able to take the strategy discussed above and apply it in a more varied fashion. They understand that exclusivity is what gives something value. A Gucci suit is far more unique than something off the rack at Sears. So by building hype around their brand by gifting products to famous celebrities and then making a limited supply of unique products, Supreme has been able to successfully sell bricks to fans which are now worth hundreds of dollars. Bricks. Like a Rock. And the hypebeast will buy it with pride. Mostly the specialty items like bricks and axes and canoes and punching bags are only bought by Diehard collectors, much like a comic book nerd. The hypebeast usually just sticks to clothing.
The Hypebeast approach can actually be quite effective, which only strengthens its allure. Dressing like Lil Pump is a great way to get attention, that's for sure. This only makes the hypebeast even harder to spot; they are masters of camouflage, we must be ever vigilant.
It seems like the Hypebeasts are dying off though. The spotlight of hip hop is shifting away from the drug addled excess of Atlanta and South Florida and starting to shine more and more on the gang cultures of places like Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Who's to say what kind of creatures will come out of this.