Gangster disciples, their Jewish swag and Rick Ross
For the April issue of our column at Dazed & Confused, we put the emerging Jewish symbolism in hip hop and the Rick Ross issue under scope. The question still remains: Did the star of David get rap’s biggest rapper shot?
In the recent months, we have all been entertained with shivers down our spines by the worst kept secret in the rap world, the dispute between Rick Ross and the Chicago-based gang the Gangster Disciples. On October 29th, GD released a YouTube threat for Rick Ross, concerning the Star of David on his mixtape. After that, on 28th January 2013, Mr. Ross crashed his Rolls Royce after another vehicle fired shots at him as he drove home from his birthday party at the famed Miami nightclub LIV. As expected, this shooting alluded to Hebrew-fanatic gang Gangster Disciples, flaunting their sense of humour by shooting him on his birthday. On the other hand, according to reports allegedly “dozens” of rounds were fired at Ross’s car in the drive-by which made 50 Cent speculate that Rick Ross staged his own shooting. Meanwhile, we were bewildered by this Jewish swag which has been the centre of this gangster gossip.
Hip hop and occult visual imagery is like caviar and vodka: a classic. Especially the speculative masonic Illuminati looks of our favourite Givenchy boys, Jay-Z & Mr. West. Writing an opinion about a subject which is a combination of Jewish symbolism, street gangs, African-Americans and hip hop, while not having a background in any of them and getting away with it is not easy, but the question remains… Why on earth would a street gang associate itself with Judaism? And why is the Star of David the go-to rap symbol of choice?
Folk Nation is an alliance of street gangs based in Chicago and Gangster Disciples is its strongest sub-gang – also one of the most violent gangs in the USA. It is estimated to have over 600,000 members worldwide. The gang uses the Star of David, a pitchfork, 360, GD (their initials) and number 74 (the places of their initials G and D in the alphabet) as their symbol and they are known for carrying a black flag (bandana). Allegedly, the Star of David in the GD pays respect to David ‘King David’ Barksdale who was the original leader of multiple Folk Nation gangs among Gangster Disciples. The letters on the points of the star stand for Love, Life, Loyalty, Understanding, Knowledge and Wisdom.
The video that Gangster Disciples uploaded on Youtube showing their feelings towards Rick Ross about the Star of David on the cover of his mixtape, The Black Bar Mitzvah, has a history. It has been said that Rick Ross disrespected GD for dropping the name of their leader Larry Hoover in the song “B.M.F.” as a street swag booster which made him millions, as well as for using the Star of David (which is the gang’s major symbol) on the cover of his mixtape, The Black Bar Mitzvah.
The gangster gossip surrounding Rick Ross’ marketing strategies stretches to world-renowned cocaine king-pin Freeway Ricky Ross. First named ‘Teflon’, the Miami MC Rick Ross is currently being sued by Freeway Ricky Ross for using his name.
After the shooting in January, the ex-correction officer Rick Ross is currently being protected by actual police force. It can’t be fun to be Rick Ross right now.
This entry was written by , posted on April 13, 2013 at 9:33 pm, filed under Dematerialization, Fashion, Ghetto gold, Glam Chaos, Lifestyle, Music, P&V for Dazed Digital, Trending. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Sneakerslaves
In our 2nd column @ DazedDigital we wonder about sneakerslaves, a very particular sort of shoe fetishism; men that are licking and sniffing high tech sportswear in the dark corners of the internet.
Extraordinary fanatical identities, lifestyle desires and corrupted commodities are some of our biggest inspirations. As artist and designers we’re always attracted by cultural excesses. That’s where the beauty and the horror of present time shines out in it’s optimum. This time we found beauty behind the hidden doors of the booming world of sneakers, one of the lasting veteran icons of American consumer culture.
When I meet an attractive boy, his shoes are the first thing I look at. We all know that you can tell so much about a person by what they wear on their feet. Apparently I’m not the only one. Shoes carry sexual connotations in mainstream culture. There is nothing scandalous about stilettos being marketed as sexy.High heels are a widely accepted vanilla expression of shoe fetishism.
Yet the persuasive power of sports footwear has caused the rise of darkrooms within sneaker culture. In the dark zones of the sneaker cult, fanatics enjoy intimacy with stylish kicks on their feet and in their mouth. The iconoclastic twist of a sneakerhead making love to his sneaker could be the ultimate case of a shopper and a product becoming one, surrendered in manic mutual adoration.
We were introduced to the term sneakerslaves via a friend. After a little bit of XX-browsing we found the Tumblrs Sneaker Fetish, Sk8terboy and a Dutch sneaker fetish wikipedia page. The page informs us that most trainer fetishists, gay men and straight men, are based in France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. Common forms of sneaker fetishism are worshipping, licking and sniffing sneakers. Shoeslaves also swap each other’s sneakers, or eat food out of their kicks.
These fetishists provide images that make our hearts beat faster. For once the bad boys – always dressed to kill – aren’t depicted in the expected realm of a street fight, a shady strip club, or in a sweaty six-pack workout scenario. In these counter-glamour images of tough boys showing their soft side, while sensually sniffing their pricey sneakers with attention and adoration.
These boys show that shoe fetishism goes beyond thigh-length leather boots, killer heels and kinky combat boots. A special place in this list is taken by our daily hot kicks, the training shoe. Thanks to the mixture of pop culture, nostalgia, strong brand-creation, high tech designs and constant launch of new models, the sneaker reached a popularity that crossed all the lines of race and economic classes. A niche of consumers turned into sneakerheads, and a niche of sneakerheads turned into sneakerslaves.
The affection of urban youth for their sneakers is one of true love. One of the reasons they love their kicks so much is that the footwear embodies cultural and personal transcendence. The right pair of sneakers associates the wearer with extraordinary athletic accomplishments while exclusive special editions seem to have the power to establish an identity in a world where all the same things seem to be available everywhere. Rare models encourage the sneaker freaks to compete with each other. The shoes seem worth the investment. They have the ability to retain or increase in value despite being used. Actually, many sneakerheads don’t mind rocking some classics that look a little worn-in. This kind of tolerance and compassion for a pair of shoes can flame up to an extreme. The look, the feel and the smell of brand new and/or worn sneakers, can cause an adoration that blurs out the line between sneaker freaks and sneaker fetishists.
This entry was written by , posted on January 2, 2013 at 8:42 am, filed under P&V for Dazed Digital, Pinar&Viola, Published, Subculture and tagged Dazed & Confused, fetish, Nike, sneaker, sneakerfreak, sneakerhead, sneakerslaves. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
We have a new monthly Dazed Digital column
Our dear friends in Dazed invited us to be a guest contributors to their blog. From November on, we’ll have a monthly post about digital folk. As our first, we present you Turkey’s anti-evolutionist showgirls. An Islamist fringes wraps its hard anti-Darwin message in skin-tight Versace, drag-queen make-up and po-mo posing.
For November, we briefly present a female creationist ensemble from Turkey. These girls have proven that Islam, sexual objectification, passion, belief, tabloidization, manipulation, anti-Darwin and Versace can come together. Five Turkish bombshells, they are often referred as the girls, angels or kitten of Adnan Oktar, a self-taught Islamic preacher who gained respect for his fervent Creationist teachings. He presents his beliefs as a reformed and urbanized versions of Islam, where he clearly states Muslims, Christians and Jews should unite against the corrupting influence of Darwinism. He is also the author of the books Atlas of Creation Quadriology, an anti-evolution, Islamic-saga bouillabaisse. It displays a stunning ignorance of basic biology, and 6 legged humans skeleton visualizations are among the arguments that are employed to contradict Darwin.
This fabulous five consists of Gülşah Güçyetmez, Ceylan Özbudak, Ebru Altan, Damla Pamir and Aylin Kocaman. They are the bewildering accessories of the TV Show Adnan Oktar Chat Time at the religious channel A9. Every night these blazing women come together with the Islamic Creation packmaster Mr. Oktar. They hold discussions about Islam, pseudo-insta-fossils discrediting evolution and their favorite topic: Mr. Oktar.
This surreal set-up might be hard to grasp for a non-Turkish person. (One half of Pinar&Viola is Turkish). These woman contradict the terrorized image of Muslims used in the global press, while going completely against all the hardwork feminist activists have been battling over the years. While the restrictive state of Turkish journalism grows into a national shame, scandal and sensation still makes up a huge part of the Turkish media. Five voluptuous ladies with a combination of Zentai-tight, now-in-style Versace garments and make-up capable of making drag queens jealous, rubbing shoulders with religious sisterhood, and many references to history’s matriarchs.
These five women state they behave following the ethics of Kur’an, where it’s written the ones Allah guides look alike, as a reaction to questions regarding their similar looks. All of these girls have their own individual social media stardoms where they make loud manifestations adding to their media attention.
It’s not the first time that sensationalism, lies and cheap entertainment have been used to boost the ratings of a TV program, especially not in Turkey. That’s why the educated, intellectual, secular part of the Turkish population became completely immune to this first-degree propaganda. Their solution is simple, and troublesome – make fun of it.
This entry was written by , posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:05 am, filed under Decadence, Dematerialization, Fashion, Folk, Friends, Ghetto gold, Glam Chaos, Other ecstatics, P&V for Dazed Digital, Persona, Pinar&Viola, Published, Various, Visual ecstasy. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.