Hip Hop, in every one of its art forms, is all about stylistic expression. It's no surprise then that fashion, as an outward expression of style, is so embraced by the Hip Hop generation to connote culture and identity. It's about reppin' who you are and where you're from.
The glocalized Hip Hop community here in Paris and France puts its own twist on that concept and the outfit trends from the US. Sure, the fitted caps, baggy pants, and fly sneakers remain a staple, but here young people spice up their wardrobes with a smattering of ethnic and religious roots.
Then there's the case of my friend Sam. I've seen him all of twice and both times he's worn the same t-shirt. Either that I always catch him around the same time as his laundry cycle, or he reserves this shirt specifically for Hip Hop gatherings. The shirt reads, "Algerien Pur Souche," basically "Pure Strain Algerian."
"What's your ethnic background?"
"Huh?" (His english is not that advanced)
"Where is your family from?"
"Algeria. I'm Algerian."
"But you don't look Algerian." (so insensitive, I know, sigh)
"My mother is French but she grew up in Algeria where she met my father."
"Ahaa!"
This need to assert ethnic and religious identity in these Hip Hop spaces is interesting because mainstream American Hip Hop can sometimes be so devoid of it. For example, the Caribbean heritage of icons such as DJ Kool Herc, Notorious BIG, and Busta Rhymes is not very well known. Neither is the Islamic faith of rappers such as Mos Def. In an America that's wrapped up with racial consciousness, these other forms of identities take a backseat to blackness.
France, on the other hand, frames it's own issues around otherness along the lines of immigration and Islam. The sentiment then is not so much racist as it is xenophobic and islamophobic best represented by Sarkozy's most recent efforts. No wonder then that the Hip Hop heads in France resist by asserting ethnic and religious pride.
It didn't matter what country, ethnicity, or religion you came from; the culture and the experience is always the same. Street is Street. What's important is drowning out marginalization through unity and solidarity through the language of Hip Hop.