We hate to sound like grandpa hip-hop, but remember when hip-hop used to be affordable?
Back in the day, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a couple grand and not worry about people laughing at you because you didn’t have Cherokee.
You could even go to the mall, buy a t-shirt with the name of your crew airbrushed across your chest and still look fly. Today, you’re thinking about buying a plain ol’ white tee that costs one grand.
1980s money went a long way, especially if you weren’t making any.
After the break, take a look at when hip-hop was affordable.
Above: Lee Jeans!
- “Cause Calvin Klein’s no friend of mine/Don’t want nobody’s name on my behind/It’s Lee on my leg, sneakers on my feet.” ― RUN-DMC “Rock Box”
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- “We got all the lines, and all the rhymes
- We don’t drive dimes, and we don’t do crimes
- We bake a little cake with Duncan Hines” ― RUN-DMC
You could go to KeyFood and cop a box of cake mix for $1.99. Nowadays, you pay three bucks for a cupcake.
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- “Go into the store to buy a Kangol
- I took out my wallet and my fat money roll” ― Dana Dane “Delancey Street”
In 1980s money, a Kangol hat cost you fifty bucks. Today, only Sam Jackson rocks a Kangol. Everyone else is wearing $400 snapbacks.
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- Whip out the jammy and flat blast both of you
- But I ain’t wanna mess up this thirty-seven-hundred dollar lynx coat” ― Oran “Juice” Jones “The Rain.”
OK, $3700 wasn’t cheap for people in the ’80s, but a lynx coat today costs over five grand.
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- “My Adidas
- walked through concert doors
- and roamed all over coliseum floors
- I stepped on stage, at Live Aid
- All the people gave and the poor got paid
- And out of speakers I did speak
- I wore my sneakers but I’m not a sneak” ― RUN-DMC “My Adidas”
$30 for adidas in the ’80s, but a pair of kicks today? $1500 if you’re into Louis Vuitton and Kanye.
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- “My body tone, is like throne
- Wearin Calvin Klein Obssession Cologne
- Etc, etc, in a cashmere sweater
- I’m in a Cherokee, Chill Will in a Audi” ― Doug E Fresh 7 the Get Fresh Crew “Keep Rising To The Top”
The Audi wasn’t cheap in the ’80s, but we sure as hell can’t afford one now.
