Category: Blog

This generation of hip hop is notorious for being fashion-forward and a little out there. This trend began around the early 2010s, during the same time that social media began to integrate itself into pop culture. There are two artists that specifically spearheaded this movement; A$AP Rocky and Tyler, the Creator. Rocky’s fashion killa flare and Tyler’s straight up weirdness allowed rap culture to develop into something more than gangsta rap. But; who had a bigger influence? Before A$AP Rocky, wearing designer clothes as a male in hip hop was seen as gay. The farthest rappers would go as far as fashion was BAPE, which is a street-wear brand. When Rocky came out, he was so suave and charismatic, that everything he did was admirable, including being into fashion. Essentially, he made being a pretty boy cool for the first time ever. Because of his influence, we see all notable rappers rocking designer clothes regardless of what they’re wearing. Some (like Young Thug for example) have even modeled on the runway as thousands of fans watched in admiration. Though this is a pretty big contribution, the impact that Tyler, the Creator is pretty large as well. Though people don’t like to admit it, Tyler, the Creator was the first weirdo in rap to personify his odd sense of self through his music and be successful. His lyrics were wild and out of pocket yet, he became an admirable figure in the culture as he represented the purest form of authenticity. He made being weird cool. Before he was introduced into the scene, you had to wear Jordans and Polos and Nike socks to be in the in-crowd. Because of his influence, however, the in-crowd was redefined to shine a light on the kids who actually used to be considered weird. Vans, skating, graphic tees, and wearing a wide array of colors, became ‘it’ and dressing and acting like everybody else became lame. Though his influence is very vast, I still can’t discern whether he or A$AP changed the culture more. What do you think?

It was back in 2017 at the Carolina Rebellion that I met Jose Mangin. Who is he you ask? Mangin is SiriusXM’s Metal Ambassador and hosts SiriusXM Liquid Metal and Octane. Like myself, Mangin has been a metalhead his entire life. He is married and has 2 daughters. He is also a businessman! Sponsored by Mexican beer maker, Modelo, and co-owner of Riazul premium tequila, and rock ‘n roll clothing company Affliction.

He attended chemistry classes at the University of Arizona and attended the University of Tennessee for graduate school, pursuing a pharmacy degree. He began his radio career in college while working at his college radio station. He won an award for his on-air skills, and soon he left graduate school and moved to New Jersey to begin his new career.

I had not come up with the idea of The Saw, yet, when I met Mangin. I was still just a fan of metal, and Mangin has always been one of my favorite DJ’s because of his love for metal. I saw him on the ferris wheel and I waited by the exit so I could meet him. He was really cool and talked to me about metal music for a couple of minutes. I met him very briefly, but I remember that day as if it was yesterday.

I look up to Jose Mangin for many reasons. I see myself in him because we both grew up metalheads and have loved metal our whole lives. How we both got started in radio is similar, too, because I am now working at my college radio station. He gets to interview, see, and hang out with bands/artists that I have been a fan of for years. He has shown me that with hard work, I can achieve my dreams and continue The Saw’s Butcher Shop even after college.

One day I hope to see Jose Mangin again and tell him about my show and possibly interview him. I would love to sit down and talk to him about all things metal.

Who is your role model? Have you ever met them?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW

Throughout all of hip hop history, there are only a few artists that fans will identify as the GOAT (greatest of all time). For this generation, the most widely agreed upon of these artists are; Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Gucci Mane, Kid Cudi, and Young Thug. Of these four, Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne undoubtedly have the most influence on today’s rap culture, but who has more? Lil Wayne is notorious for his cultural impact. In fact, on his latest album, The Carter V, the song Dedicate boosts some of his most notable achievements (in terms of influence) including both his physical and lyrical impact. The most apparent impact Lil Wayne has given to the culture is his name. Though Lil Wayne was actually the second rapper to put ‘Lil’ in front of his name (proceeding Lil Troy by only a year), he is definitely the reason behind the large population of ‘Lil’ rappers today which include; Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Baby, Lil Pump, Lil Yachty, and countless others. Wayne was also one the first to make gang life cool (Behind Snoop Dogg). As bad as that sounds, before him, rappers did not often shout out gangs. Nowadays, there are thousands of rappers, underground and mainstream, who actively rep a gang whether they belong to it or not (like Young Thug for example with his constant mention of “Slime”, which is actually a gang reference). Wayne is also one of the first rappers to build a collaborative label run by artists in which all artists are successful (Young Money), which is seen now in labels like Quality Control and Bad Boy. More things that Wayne is credited for are; integrating face tats into rap culture and having merch develop into its own brand. He was notably also the first rapper to buy a Bugatti. This may seem like a lot of contributions yet when compared to those of Gucci Mane, it is hard to determine who had more. Though Lil Wayne is credited with integrating face tats into rap culture, Gucci Mane is credited with integrating face tats into pop culture. Before him, only gangster rappers would dare to tattoo their face but, after his notorious ice cream tattoo was displayed to the world, artists and icons everywhere seemed to start to get tattoos on their faces. Gucci’s largest contribution to the culture is Trap music. Gucci single-handedly created the Trap genre through rapping about trapping and making it sound cool for the first time. He also created the trap sound, emphasizing heavy beats and lyrics rather than melodies (you know what I’m talking about). Now don’t get me wrong, there was gangster rap before Gucci but, the act of trapping was never discussed and definitely never glorified. Through glorifying trap, Gucci inspired a new wave of artists to get rich through trapping and spend the money on a studio and other things to enhance their upcoming career. Gucci is also one of the first to make ad libs popular in rap culture. Through the iconic “BRR!”, we now have “SQUAD!”, “Thugger Thugger baby” and all of Migos’ various adlibs to name a few. Therefore, without Gucci, there would be no new wave of Atlanta music that hip hop is so fond of today. There would be no Young Thug, no Waka Flacka., no Young Nudy, no Migos, etc. So who had the bigger influence? Gucci or Wayne? I honestly have no clue.

-Lul Bulma