There are Hip Hop and R&B fans who long for the musical stylings that permeated in the 1990s, and the influence of the era is still felt today. It wasn’t just sounds coming from the genres that influenced worldwide mainstream cultures; streetwear took over the fashion world as rappers were creating new styles emulated across the globe.
As he chatted with Complex for their series The Blueprint, Jermaine Dupri spoke about a trend that he believes should be credited to him and his hitmaking, iconic duo, Kris Kross.
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Kris Kross, which consisted of friends Chris Kelly and Chris Smith, dominated decades ago as rapping kids who wore their clothes backward. They were known for wearing oversized sports jerseys with their flipped ensembles, and Dupri believes they were the catalyst of making the trend fashionable in the Rap game.
“You can’t think of nobody else in hip-hop in ’92 that was wearing baseball jerseys. So, that means that after 1992, wearing baseball jerseys, football jerseys, basketball jerseys, all of that came from me and Kris Kross,” said the hitmaking producer. “But the industry that we in, they don’t actually frame it up like that. We don’t get the credit that we supposed to.”
“That’s kind of what André 3000 was saying at the Source Awards, when he said, ‘The South got something to say.’ He felt that same energy that night. I’ve been feeling that same energy my whole life.” Also in the interview, Dupri speaks about being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and details working with Da Brat, mentioning that he did not necessarily want to take on a woman rapper at the time.
Watch the clip below.
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