OT - The decline of And1 and streetball culture

[almatic]

confirmed to being someone who knows nothing of the genre

Hip Hop at the moment is at its strongest in terms of quality and diversity

Edit: Proof hip-hop and rap today is atrocious? Psy's Gangnam Style being #1 on Billboard Hot 100 Rap.

You DO know that Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby" was a #1 Billboard Rap single too right?
Using freaking the freaking Billboards to show about todays hip hop??? Come on, I guess you don't know how the media works.

And the fact you discredit Kendrick kinda cancels out your credibility on the topic, it just really looks like you won't like ANY new rapper regardless of talent, just based on the fact that they're not old school. Kendrick just takes Andre 3000's flow? It's rap! It's pretty hard to find a unique flow anyway unless you're gonna go like a Dizzee Rascal route.

I'd even go as far as to say you just overvalue old school just based on nostalgia.
2Pac wasn't THAT much of a greater rapper than Kendrick, like bar for bar. He just gets the whole nostalgia aura to enhance himself a bit.

[Jeffrey]

confirmed to being someone who knows nothing of the genre

Hip Hop at the moment is at its strongest in terms of quality and diversity

lmao hip-hop today is at its worst ever. You are probably young so I will forgive you for saying that.

If look at how hip-hop evolved in say just the 6 year period between 1992-1998 it is amazing. The way it progressed, and all the different artists that came out at that time, in all different genres with so many different styles is incredible in retrospect. Look at hip-hop in just the past 6 years and very little has changed.

The fact that today's hip-hop relies on 40 year old versions of Jay-Z and Eminem to "save hip-hop" is a testament to how bad it is today and how good it was in the '90s. The "heavy-hitters" of today can't hold a flame to those of the 90's.

Outkast, Nas, Biggie, Pac, Mos Def, Eminem, Dre, The Pharcyde, The Wu & a million other stars >>>>>>>>>>>>>Drake, Macklemore, J. Cole, Wale, Mac Miller, Kendrick (just jacks Andre 3000's style/flow but is still very solid), Lil' Wayne, A$AP etc.

Lauryn Hill & Missy Elliot are better MC's that almost every major rapper today.

Edit: Proof hip-hop and rap today is atrocious? Psy's Gangnam Style being #1 on Billboard Hot 100 Rap.

Waiting for that poster that lived through the 80s and complain about how the current hip hop sucks, the 90s hip hop sucks and 80s had great rappers.

[bigbreakfast]

How exactly did the NBA dress code kill And1? Still waiting for an explanation.

If your brand of basketball needs a loud ass dude with a microphone running courtside to keep fans engaged.....

And1 was a fad, it came and went.

[old rem]

And1's marketing was based on Hip Hop and streetball, tied together. In a way, they did go hand and hand considering both came from the "ghetto" neighborhoods. Hip Hop grew exponentially in the late 90s, early 2000s and the NBA entered an era of flashy basketball players like Iverson, Jason Williams, Vince Carter, Francis, ect. Hence why And1 blew up. Eventually NBA implemented the dress code and Hip Hop had lost some of its popularity edge due to other genres. Also, flashy players became the norm since the sport has become so athletic. Behind the back passes and monster dunks are expected instead of wished for.

Thats just my opinion.

Uh huh...that. It was a marketing -hype thing. No-Name (or technically...nicknamed) guys who didn't MAKE IT...playing an exhibition...no-D game vs some local amateurs? What was up? Who kapt track of wins, stats? Where was it going? It kind of resembled "Rassln" in that it was more show than sport. So...for awhile it filled a spot on sports cable but...it soon got old. Seen one...seen em all.

The NBA is the real deal. Period. The next level is college ball...and then there's D League...even high school...with SOME aspects of team play....

In THOSE...it's got some BASE in reality...meaning...a goal.

So...some uncontested dunks by guys with funky nicknames and some guy on the mike acting like these guys are Dr J and Steve Nash and....well...whatever. Kind of a sideshow act.

[VC-INJURY]

confirmed to being someone who knows nothing of the genre

Hip Hop at the moment is at its strongest in terms of quality and diversity

Edit: Proof hip-hop and rap today is atrocious? Psy's Gangnam Style being #1 on Billboard Hot 100 Rap.

You DO know that Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby" was a #1 Billboard Rap single too right?
Using freaking the freaking Billboards to show about todays hip hop??? Come on, I guess you don't know how the media works.

And the fact you discredit Kendrick kinda cancels out your credibility on the topic, it just really looks like you won't like ANY new rapper regardless of talent, just based on the fact that they're not old school. Kendrick just takes Andre 3000's flow? It's rap! It's pretty hard to find a unique flow anyway unless you're gonna go like a Dizzee Rascal route.

I'd even go as far as to say you just overvalue old school just based on nostalgia.
2Pac wasn't THAT much of a greater rapper than Kendrick, like bar for bar. He just gets the whole nostalgia aura to enhance himself a bit.

I'm not even a huge Pac fan, but 99% of fans are going to disagree with you on that. Pac was dead by 25 whereas KL was just starting to get major recognition at 25.

I said KL is good, but he's not doing anything original. Just go listen to ATLiens and Aquemini and you'll see how heavily influenced he is by early Andre 3000.

[Jody_HighRoller]

THE PROFESSOR!!

[Gmoney3]

What I'm surprised or maybe I'm more proud of is that the young generation of 7 to 15 year olds right now arent watching the AND1 circuit. I know I was usually bored after 3 minutes of watching that stuff as a kid and I was an absolute basketball junky.


Its not surprise that most the message board doesnt watch AND1 anymore because we grewup, most this board was probably teens or pre teens when the AND1 was dominating.

For AND1 to stay alive they needed to bring in the next wave of viewers that are the preteens and teens of now to keep rolling because not many 30 year old men want to watch AND1.

But it seems this generation of preteens are not interested.

[Senor Chang]

Im guessing after we lost in the world championships to greece in 2006 streetball hasn't been as popular in the US. then again i was never into it myself so i wouldn't know

[Ditchweed]

Streetball is garbage, just a form of showman hot dogging and is not nor never ever was basketball. It was more related to the Globetrotters clown stunts than anything else. It was inevitable it would lose popularity.

[litex]

Rap and Hip Hop are no longer primarily associated with the street and ghetto culture. The most successful and recognizable rappers these days are dudes like Kanye West, who never really had street cred to begin with, and is far more known for innovative production and crazy fashion than he is for being remotely "gangsta." Even someone like Jay Z, who in the late 90's and early 00's was all about touting his hood bona fides every chance he gets, has turned into a super successful mogul who hangs out with the president and has his songs played on commercials--half the audience at a Jay Z show is gonna be over 30 at this point, and most of them won't even be a little bit street (my mom, a Jewish lady in her 50's, recently told me that she likes Jay Z. that shows you where he is in the culture at this point).

In part because of this, in part because of the dress code, and in part because the game has become much more international, the NBA has evolved beyond all the "gangsta" stuff as well. The biggest players dress like Carlton from Fresh prince. Lebron runs in the same circles as Kanye and Jay Z, and acts accordingly. Even Chris Bosh interned at Google. Someone like Iverson, who was basically seen as the coolest guy in the league during his prime, would stick out like a sore thumb today. Not just for his dress style and manner, but also for his play--low efficiency, high volume shooters have gone out of fashion as teams have realized how important efficiency is.

And1 really just wasn't built to take advantage of modern NBA culture. The best and most exciting young players aren't playing streetball, they're playing AAU. Hyperathleticism is the norm, rather than an exception. And flashy play is respected only to the extent that it goes hand in hand with winning, efficient basketball.

[Sofia]

I think the final tipping point for me was a dude making a layup and just hearing game caller (his uncle I think) repeatedly shout "THE PHARAMACIST THE PHARMACIST THE PHARMACIST".

Yeah sick move baller, you made a right hand layup on the left side.

[mid-post]

AND1 started out well, but then fell off because they played in gyms and not on the assfault anymore. No more millions of people. No more pets.

Yeah what happened to this?! I was expecting to see some fierce battle between And1 ballers and the elementals

I had these shoes in baby-blue, back in highschool (2001-2002 not sure about the exact year). They were freakin head turners. The ladies loved them as well. I got a lot of play out of them (not actual basketball play), looked great with jeans. Wish I could find the picture with them in baby-blue.

Gotta rock them with some sweet-ass jorts. Pussy magnet.

For real though, fashion during that era was atrocious.

[Donald Kaufman]

When AND1 was big, NBA players dressed like this:



Now they dress like this:



It's the Rise of the Hipster taking over popular culture and the NBA. So AND1 saw a decline in sales, however skinny jeans and non-prescription glasses sales have increased exponentially. Swings and roundabouts. Sunrise and sunset. Malcolm Gladwell should write a piece on it.

[Manhattan Project]

A lot of great points already mentioned in this thread, here's another string of thought.

And-1 did evolve and change with the time, it just became AAU ball. The play style, the traveling and the making a name for yourself on the court. Now of days you don't need to make a tape, Youtube has changed everything. Between Hoopmixtapes/Ballislife you can find any highlight that you want.

However the culture is still going strong.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nILTtwCgII8[/youtube]

[Donald Kaufman]

Isn't that film 4 or 5 years old by now?

[Manhattan Project]

Isn't that film 4 or 5 years old by now?

Yeah, it came out in 2008. However it's no different from the Jordan Brand Classic/McDonalds High School American games. The movie is about the Elite 24 and the players that get invited to that.

[makegreatpets]

I had these shoes in baby-blue, back in highschool (2001-2002 not sure about the exact year). They were freakin head turners. The ladies loved them as well. I got a lot of play out of them (not actual basketball play), looked great with jeans. Wish I could find the picture with them in baby-blue.

I had a pair of those, too. Completely useless for playing ball. Try to make a lateral move and you end up shoeless. Of course, the lack the laces should've been a dead giveaway, but I'm not that bright.

[Mamba Venom]

The new generation of players didn't embrace it.

LeBron, Wade, CP3, Dwight, Durant, Westbrook,Blake...

AI was the culture, Kobe went to Rucker, it was a different culture back then. I miss it.

Things are different now. The current generation is into wearing non prescription glasses and hipster clothes that frankly are inspired from golf attire. Would the And1 hip hop culture athletes ever wear 'golf suits' the answer is a heck no. I cant picture AI wearing a Westbrook golf suit.

[Kahn]

It's the Rise of the Hipster taking over popular culture and the NBA. So AND1 saw a decline in sales, however skinny jeans and non-prescription glasses sales have increased exponentially. Swings and roundabouts. Sunrise and sunset. Malcolm Gladwell should write a piece on it.

[Mamba Venom]

When AND1 was big, NBA players dressed like this:



Now they dress like this:



It's the Rise of the Hipster taking over popular culture and the NBA. So AND1 saw a decline in sales, however skinny jeans and non-prescription glasses sales have increased exponentially. Swings and roundabouts. Sunrise and sunset. Malcolm Gladwell should write a piece on it.

I didnt see this post when I made my post. I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees it. These 2 pics illustrate what happened to the And1 culture 10 years later.