Martorial elegance # 40

The Rappaz R.N Kardeez edition.



Suede-front cardigans were almost as ubiqitous as Puma clydes and John Motson sheepskin coats in them old Jamal Shabazz and Martha Cooper photographs of Bronx dudes from the late seventies/early eighties, but, aside from a recent dabbling by Yo Gotti, the only rapper to treat the cardigan as a wardrobe staple is the always dapper Slick Rick. Jay-Z was spotted wearing one in Europe once (a man's gotta have something non-threatening to wear for those evenings parlaying with Chris & Gwynie in the backstage area at a Killers show), but since he took a good year or so of ruthless zings from Dipset for wearing open-toed sandals that time, you imagine he daren't be seen sitting courtside at MSG in a Norse Projects effort or Supreme's classic Chico suede-front lest Capo unleashes a slew of Val Doonican/Mr Rogers photoshops on him; and while both POLO and RRL make some nifty cardigans which range from simple zip-ups to more ostentatious David Starsky type shawl collared affairs, even a more *cough* adventurous dresser like KanYe has only experimented with the cardi' a couple of times, most notably when he wore that hot-salmon Jeremy Scott one with the poodle motif on the back which had fellow Chi-Town knitwear enthusiast stepping his game up by getting his Ronnie Corbett on :



So, we should praise Dru Down for not only sporting a cardigan back in the Can You Feel Me? video in 1994 when west coast rappers were usually decked out in Pendleton flannels, Dickies shirts, and POLO or Carhartt jackets, but for also managing to wear a v-necked, button-up one and not look maaaaad Talib Kweli shopping for jasmine scented candles and Dr Stuarts peppermint-tea in it. We got ourselves a top five rap video outfit of all time right here :



Dru Down - Can You Feel Me?



Will all y'all Bay mavens start wishing I get robbed and stomped in the supermarket like Yukmouth if I say that I prefer Dru's outfit here to Can You Feel Me itself? I'm more of a Explicit Game-era Dru Down kinda guy, personally :

Dru Down - Pimp Of The Year