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How is that culture holding up in Boston now? The DC culture took a huge hit in the mid 2000's beginning around 2005-2006. Wale found a way to break through the GoGo glass ceiling as a Hip Hop artist and won DC over by rapping over hit GoGo songs. Long story short, Hip Hop in DC hasn't looked back since. Hip Hop killed the real DC. These three songs by Wale below were the beginning of the end of DC culture..
Yes, GoGo is still king in DC, but Hip Hop has made headways into the culture and is slowly killing the city. It's sad really. But, this is the new DC. Anywhere USA like every other city NYC, LA, ATL etc. The youth even stopped wearing the local black clothing lines and put most of them out of business. That DC is a memory now.
OH, no worries that culture holds up just fine in Boston. Its black population is far more local and less transient than DC. The Adidas thing is mostly people 30+ and living in Boston City proper though. But local Rap and Dancehall reign supreme.
As someone that cherishes our history, it is messed up when the youth chooses the Euro and other mainstream brand over locals who were successful
I remember going away to college and coming back home wondering what happened. People started wearing the preppy look and stopped supporting the black businesses that defined DC. That era was the beginning of the end for all those black clothing entrepreneurs in DC.
Funny enough, I was at the most influential GoGo show for bounce beat on 08/02/2002 at the Hot Shop club. TCB hit the very first "Make That A$$ Clap" and just like that, an entire new genre of GoGo was born. I didn't know I was witnessing history, but the club went crazy!!
OH, no worries that culture holds up just fine in Boston. Its black population is far more local and less transient than DC. The Adidas thing is mostly people 30+ and living in Boston City proper though. But local Rap and Dancehall reign supreme.
Dancehall is West Indian so that isn't going anywhere. That connection is rooted in national pride. That's how DC used to be until social media started making the youth feel like they wanted to be something else. The infection spread like Corona Virus and what you see today in DC was influenced by those moments in history. Wale/Hip Hop, preppy gear, social media etc. etc. It was a perfect storm and now you can't tell whether someone is from Atlanta, NYC, LA, DC, or Chicago. Anywhere USA...
I remember going on college visits and seeing slouch socks and City Life or Madness T-Shirts thinking, oh he is from DC. Seeing girls wearing straight leg stretch jeans (parasuco jeans, sergio jeans, LVLX jeans) when girls in other cities were wearing flare jeans back in the early 2000's. I knew those girls were from DC.
I never associated the prep look with DC. Foams, Dreads, New Balance, Nike Boots, are all I've associated with DC. I knew the prep look came from somewhere towards the south but it never got to popular in Boston. I associated it with TI and Jay Z..'change clothes'
Social media (and low cost of travel) have weakened local identities for sure. Id imagine in a Black Mecca its moreso the case due to the mobility socially and physically of the black populace. But yous till cant get that GO-GO influence, im sure.
That DJ Select Serato is kind of the perfect music for when I think of when I was clubbing or partying in Boston its like mix of Dancehall/Soca and uptempo/rhythmic hip hop or even Dominican/PR music (Timbaland, Bad Bunny, Crazy Design, Biggie, Justin Timberlake, Wale, French Montana, Doja Cat, Fabolous) blended with heavier dancehall segments through the night and a few local anthems or top hip hop hits. Local radio is somewhat a reflection of that.
Personally I think Dancehall music generally makes for more dancing and a more festive party than rap. While rap is popular on the car ride there... it’s considered kind of weird or almost anti social to play a lot of it at a party in Boston.
DC has analogous mixes but they seem not to be very common. I do hear people in DC talk about gogo and they listen to it. They used to play it in my uber...some of the new stuff was awful. I much better tolerate older/more classical GoGo. My brother liked the GoGo scene when he came to DC in 2010.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 05-25-2020 at 08:50 PM..
I never associated the prep look with DC. Foams, Dreads, New Balance, Nike Boots, are all I've associated with DC. I knew the prep look came from somewhere towards the south but it never got to popular in Boston. I associated it with TI and Jay Z..'change clothes'
Social media (and low cost of travel) have weakened local identities for sure. Id imagine in a Black Mecca its moreso the case due to the mobility socially and physically of the black populace. But yous till cant get that GO-GO influence, im sure.
That DJ Select Serato is kind of the perfect music for when I think of when I was clubbing or partying in Boston its like mix of Dancehall/Soca and uptempo/rhythmic hip hop or even Dominican/PR music (Timbaland, Bad Bunny, Crazy Design, Biggie, Justin Timberlake, Wale, French Montana, Doja Cat, Fabolous) blended with heavier dancehall segments through the night and a few local anthems or top hip hop hits. Local radio is somewhat a reflection of that.
Personally I think Dancehall music generally makes for more dancing and a more festive party than rap. While rap is popular on the car ride there... it’s considered kind of weird or almost anti social to play a lot of it at a party in Boston.
DC has analogous mixes but they seem not to be very common. I do hear people in DC talk about gogo and they listen to it. They used to play it in my uber...some of the new stuff was awful. I much better tolerate older/more classical GoGo. My brother liked the GoGo scene when he came to DC in 2010.
The prep look hit DC in 2003. Then in 2005, people started wearing chains and heavy metal rocker fashion. All this came from somewhere else and was the beginning of the end. Yeah, DC isn't what it used to be. I don't really know the new DC. It feels like being in Atlanta or NYC. That was never the case back in 1985 - 2004. Now, it's just another watered down city listening to Hip Hop and wearing the same clothing as everywhere else. It's sad, but everywhere is the same now I guess.
Well I think it's the general consensus that over a broad spectrum of characteristics the nation's capital is shaped by people from culture from elsewhere. But Go-Go is homegrown and one of the remaining local traits the city really has to hold on to. Atlanta too has people from elsewhere shaping it's culture and is almost as transient as DC.
And GoGo shows were held in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. It was everywhere. I remember everyone used to drive all over the region to see GoGo shows. I was at this all ages welcomed GoGo show in Rockville back in 2003. BYB, NEG, Raw Image, and some other bands played there. I'm in the crowd below:
The prep look hit DC in 2003. Then in 2005, people started wearing chains and heavy metal rocker fashion. All this came from somewhere else and was the beginning of the end. Yeah, DC isn't what it used to be. I don't really know the new DC. It feels like being in Atlanta or NYC. That was never the case back in 1985 - 2004. Now, it's just another watered down city listening to Hip Hop and wearing the same clothing as everywhere else. It's sad, but everywhere is the same now I guess.
Dc still set footwear trends in the 2010s everyone else (most places) is wearing DC not the other way around.
But also I just think GoGo doesn’t sound good unless you were introduced to it in a GoGo club/party. I don’t like it and that’s what everyone tells me. Rising rents force local establishment to close their doors. And then yea you all have so many NYers coming down and so much overlap with Atlanta... I have a friend from Newark New Jersey I was talking to a few days ago and he told me new likes Memphis and DC rap so I guess that’s what you’re talking about.
More isolated places like Oakland and to a lesser extent LA seem to have been able to better retain local culture. I love Bay Area music because it sound so different than what you hear most places. DC rappers sound super southern to me. And IDK about Quiet Storm and soul in DC nowadays...
Dc still set footwear trends in the 2010s everyone else (most places) is wearing DC not the other way around.
But also I just think GoGo doesn’t sound good unless you were introduced to it in a GoGo club/party. I don’t like it and that’s what everyone tells me. Rising rents force local establishment to close their doors. And then yea you all have so many NYers coming down and so much overlap with Atlanta... I have a friend from Newark New Jersey I was talking to a few days ago and he told me new likes Memphis and DC rap so I guess that’s what you’re talking about.
More isolated places like Oakland and to a lesser extent LA seem to have been able to better retain local culture. I love Bay Area music because it sound so different than what you hear most places. DC rappers sound super southern to me. And IDK about Quiet Storm and soul in DC nowadays...
This is 100% accurate. GoGo isn't designed to be listened to outside of a club unless you're a hardcore GoGo fan. It's live music and it's not the same when you're not listening to it live with a packed club full of people dancing. Go to the 6:30 minute mark of the video I just posted in Rockville and look at the crowd. That's why people like GoGo.
FYI, I love dancehall. On a sidenote, have you been to the Caribbean Wine Festival in Linganore, MD? If not, you have to go.
How is that culture holding up in Boston now? The DC culture took a huge hit in the mid 2000's beginning around 2005-2006. Wale found a way to break through the GoGo glass ceiling as a Hip Hop artist and won DC over by rapping over hit GoGo songs. Long story short, Hip Hop in DC hasn't looked back since. Hip Hop killed the real DC. These three songs by Wale below were the beginning of the end of DC culture..
Yes, GoGo is still king in DC, but Hip Hop has made headways into the culture and is slowly killing the city. It's sad really. But, this is the new DC. Anywhere USA like every other city NYC, LA, ATL etc. The youth even stopped wearing the local black clothing lines and put most of them out of business. That DC is a memory now.
This was inevitable. With the internet, social media, mass media, etc, there's a lot of homogenization taking place. But even aside from that, hip hop was simply too powerful of a force to have left DC untouched.
It was a perfect storm and now you can't tell whether someone is from Atlanta, NYC, LA, DC, or Chicago. Anywhere USA...
You still have the local accents. Those have been influenced a bit by mainstream urban culture as well but not entirely.
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