Gold Dookie Rope Chains Of Respect
If you look at some recent
hip-hop videos, or even pictures from parties and
concerts, you'll notice artists such as Lil Jon, Nick Cannon, Kanye West,
Pharrell Williams, Nelly and
Nas bringing back the world-famous gold Dooie Run DMC rope chains
— or as they were christened in the '80s,
dookie ropes (also known to some as dookie rolls). It's a trend that's making MCs think about the true-school
innovators like Run DMC who first wore them and what gold ropes symbolized back in the day,
as well as what these classic chains mean today.
Urban Definition
Has the time come for MCs to put their platinum chains on ice? Not ice as in
diamonds - they've been doing that for years. This time we're talking about
rappers setting their platinum down on the shelf for a returning favorite that's
old school to the heart like a ducky rope chain.
It's my way to pay homage, says Cannon, whose new publicity shots show him
wearing no shirt and a dooky gold rope à la LL Cool J circa '87. Back in the day, most
gold Run DMC chains were hollow. I had to go [with] the official one. Everybody been
rocking platinum; you can't tell platinum from stainless steel right now.
Hip Hop Fashion History
Platinum chains are wack, unless it's a rope, asserts Kanye West, who debuted
his new heavy thick fat dooky gold rope in the video for Drive Slow. I'm not trying to dis nobody's
chain, it's just wack to me. Maybe you can get away with it if you have it
tucked, with it just peeking up out the top of your T-shirt.
Like Cannon, Kanye says gold dookie Run DMC ropes chains are appealing because they're a nod to the
past. History repeats itself, Ye says. It was throwbacks [jerseys], my album had
the Tribe [Called Quest] sound. Now it's gold ropes. And it's dope for black
people to wear a lot of jewelry — it was always in an African's blood to rock
gold. So we rock gaudy duckie chains. It's not ostentatious; it's an African thing.
Lil Jon agrees with Ye's theory about throwing it back. We love the old school,
he says. Everybody got pleasant memories of the '80s. That's when hip-hop was
fresh and new, it was like a baby. All those pleasant memories, we trying to
bring back. I grew up seeing the Slick Ricks, Run DMC ducky and Big Daddy Kanes dooky, but I was a
kid — I couldn't get no big-ass rope chain. I'm grown, I can do that now.
Even on my iPod, I only listen to old-school sh--, whether it's hip-hop,
dancehall, reggae, rock. For me, I want to bring little things from the old
school back, Jon continues, referring to 1980s fashion fads. Gazelles
[eyeglasses], I was looking for them for awhile. Members Only jackets are coming
back. Shell-toe Adidas never went out of style. Everybody wants to accessorize
themselves with stuff they grew up with, whether it be sh-- they wanted and
couldn't have, or sh-- they used to rock.
Things that are really authentic always return, says original dookie-rope-rocker
DMC Run DMC , one of hip-hop's earliest innovators on the mic and in the jewelry
department. It ain't a mere thing of just bringing the gold rope back. It means
something.
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