Maino: “I don’t know what metrosexual is!”
Maino
Brooklyn-born rapper Maino is the quintessential man’s man.
He recently sat down with our friends at HoneyMag.com for a humorous interview; here’s an excerpt where he shares his thoughts on what’s really going on with rappers and their growing “metrosexuality”.
Now a lot of new rappers are more about their shopping sprees than women…a lot of pretty boy shit. Do you think hip-hop is missing more of that street aspect?
“That is definitely something I see happening. They have a different look and a different style and you see that as becoming something that’s trendier than a rapper with a bandana on. Realistically, the way the rappers dress now is the way gays dress. No disrespect to gay men. That’s just they way they dress. The way rappers dress now is the way gay men dress.”
With that being said, does that take rap into a different direction of what it was intended to be?
“Well, I mean, to each his own. I really don’t know. I guess it’s just a sign of the times. Maybe this is what people are going with. It started out with a word called ‘metrosexual.’ Next thing you know, everyone had tight pants on. I see men with red skinny jeans. And I had never seen men with red skinny jeans before unless he was gay.”
So can a street dude be metrosexual? How about someone like you?
“Let me just tell you something. I to this day don’t even know what metrosexual is! What the fuck is that!? How they going to make up a term out of nowhere?”
I believe it’s basically a straight guy that tends to take care of himself to the capacity that your average woman would. He might spend an hour getting dressed, hit up a manicurist; go to a spa or something…does Maino do those things?
“Um, that’s funny. I just got dressed right now as I was speaking to you. It was that fast. (laughs).”
Does that mean no?
“Nah, that’s just not who I am. I don’t disrespect no one who does do that, I just think it’s a word…it’s like men who are heterosexual, but dress like they’re homosexual. How ’bout that?”
What are your thoughts on Maino’s “metrosexual” stance?
Maino’s debut album If Tomorrow Comes is out now; check out his full interview on HoneyMag.com.
The Re-Up" class="left" width="80px" height="80px" />
in my opinion i dont think that there is anything wrong with a rapper who isnt always talking about having sex with a woman or with many women. maino as well as other rappers who have been in the game for a while feel that it is gay for rappers now or men in general to wear skinny jeans because it portrays them as gay. but when you look back to whenrapping first began, not everybody had large baggy jeans and tall tees. some rappers found that very different but the rapping game or hip hop industry has evolved over time. so skinny jeans are a start of evolving. plus maino doesnt seem to respect gays whether he believes that being gay is right or not. its pretty evident that he doesnt have respect for gays even though he seems to try to deny or hide it.lastly to maino, as a leader in the rap game to these young upcoming rappers i think you should teach about making it in the rap industry and becoming a successful rapper instead of downgrading the way some cats today dress.
Sincerely,
Bree
He’s right and this has been going on for a while now. There’s upkeep but damn homie there’s a line.
I’ll be damned if I ever get a facial, manicure, pedicure etc. I got nail clippers, lotion and a facewash. I take pride in my callouses and rough feet. But I will not be like ashy larry. I’ll be damned if I wear some skinny jeans, or low rise jeans or overly tight shirt. Trust me females will see the build through a shirt. It’s not even GQ anymore. It’s like your trying out your sister’s clothes.
It’s real bad over here. I see that shit at the gym now too. Dudes are just trying waaaaaay too hard. It’s sad, it’s like these girls are with a bff that has a penis.
the term isn’t made up
and I actually hated that style until this
The way gay people dress I find fashionable I’d never wear some of the things though.
what I think is some rappers are scared that hip hop is changing from their style.
So they go against it saying the worst about it.Because if their style doesn’t change the rappers who dres”gay” will get all the record sales.
If you like my views suscribe to my skit/Vlog on youtube .
It comes in september get ready.
http://www.youtube.com/flyspades11
My opinion is it’s partially evolution and partially preference. Case in point, just the other day i was watching “true” old school videos of RunDMC, Kool Moe Dee, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, Kurtis Blow, NWA, ICE T, Africa Bambata etc. All of their fits were tight. Mind you, this was pre-loose fitting-baggy jean days when if your clothes didn’t fit you were looked down on as if your gear was second-hand-thrift-store-hand-me-downs. The transition from “tight”(Lee and 501 jeans)to “loose” fitting (Cross Color/Karl Kani)back then was met with much resistances. However, loose fitting prevailed because rap was evolving from “party-people” to “black conscience” and “gansta rap”, a-la NWA and a host of other notable rappers. Urban fashion evolved into a sort of rebellous, f*ck the police, prison kinda swagg that rappers adopted (i.e.,inmates wore loose clothes w/no belt, so their pants sagged and their shoes were without laces. There’s nothing new under the Sun, its all recycled with a few bells and whistles scattered about, but believe its all been done before.
Thats Stupid. They Cn Dress How They Like To, Hes Saying Rapper Have To Dress A Certain Way. Rappers Can Dress How They Like, If They Want To Be Different They Can, He Just Wants All Rappers To Fit A Certain Stereotype. You Look In Your Average Rappers Closet/Wardrobe What Do You See: White Tee’s, Timbs, Sneakers, Baggy Jeans, New Era Caps, A Load Of Long Overly Encrusted Diamond Jewelry. Thats Like Saying An Asian Person Or Any Kind Of Person Who Traditionally Wears A Certain Kind Of Clothing, Should Sick To Their Traditional Attire. Also Not All Gay Men Dress In Skinny Jeans, Quite A Few Do, But Just Because Gay Men Wear Skinny Jeans Does Not Mean Rappers Or Any Other Men Cannot Wear Them. To Be Quite Honest I Thing Some Men Look Good In Skinnys For Example Legacy From Newboyz. Maybe It Is Time For A Change. So No Maino, Rappers Are Not Dressing Like Gay Men, They Are Dressing In A Different Style To What Is Probbably Expected From A Rapper, And Not Being Held In That Group Of Rappers That People Sterotype.
Its Not Even Evolution In Hip Hop. When Hip Hop First Began Rappers Were Not Sportin Baggy Jeans. So Really History Is Just Repeating Itself.
(Love My Jeans)
plain and simple–any dude wearing tight jeans that a girl would wear is straight homo. and then they bust the tight sag–lol. yeah back in the day we didn’t even know what baggy jeans were–but that was then this is now.. you can tuck anything in some tight jeans. lets take it all the way back and start smacking dudes in the face for looking at you wrong;lmao one.
Yo have you guys heard Def Jam’s new artist Mr. Finley yet… dude sounds like he’s the truth and he’s from Vegas.
Check out his video intro:
http://www.imeem.com/mrfinley/video/lN6aJNcD/mr-finley-video-intro-music-video/
I heard his new album “The Talented Mr. Finley” going to be hot!
Listen to his new track “Any Night Of The Week.”
http://www.imeem.com/mrfinley/music/SCLV2dCb/mr-finley-any-night-of-the-week/
http://www.myspace.com/mrfinleymusic
well my problem is the guys that just a measly two years ago any guy they saw wearing that stufff they would clown them and call them gay. now those sames guys are dressing like that. i cant stand posers.
They think they sweet and i see right through them and sometimes i just laugh cause i know and they know that once that trend is over they just gonne move over and follow the next one. and they call themselves trendsetters…Nah they are followers.
But they can wear the skinny jeans if they want on some guys i perfer that look instead of the baggy look. but if you gonna wear skinny jeans why would you sagg them.? that dont make since to me either. some dudes say its cause they balls too big so they cant pull them up all the way…No sweetie its cause they too skinny.just go one size up.If i can wear a niggas jeans and they fit me like they are mine…then we have a problem. or if a guys jeans are tighter than mine…then we have a problem.
Most of yall missed the point. SKINNY JEANS IS JUST A PART OF IT. Dudes is coming in with facials, pedicures, manicures, shaped eyebrows, waxes & stuff. Then there’s the way they actin too. Their ready time is as much or more than a girls. Dudes need to stop being so damn similar to girls before they lose a chromosome.
There’s more looks than just skinny jeans & baggy. Honestly when your looking like the girl 2 steps ahead of you it’s rediculous. Now that I think about it I haven’t seen any gay dudes wear skinny jeans. A straight guy with great fashion sense/real gay/non flamboyant (yeah I know I’m going to get shit for this lol) dude will know what works, what doesn’t and the reasons why etc. They go beyond matching and 2 color coordinating. They don’t wear girl shit. This isn’t back then this is now. There’s no excuse to wear that with everything that’s out there.
skinny’s are only hot if they are the tires on you car.
preferably i rock straight fitted jeans that are lose enough to look good standing with a sag (yeah and I’m not stopping anytime soon) and look clean and pressed sitting not hanging over the edge of the seat. to me skinny’s are the absolute worst thing on a grown man. its so terrible to see a dude and his girl at the mall and you can’t tell the difference between the two. I’ve had enough with with the way metrosexual guys walk, with the hips and the swaying, it’s just disgusting. and some of these dudes even try to adopt a feminine voice to go with the whole ensemble.
you dudes need to grow up and act like real men y’all need to stop acting like some pampered lil’ princess’s. drop the manicures, quit complaining and get real jobs and quite trying to work at the hollister store
Fashion is what it is, im not a fitted dude myself but i prefer my gear a comfortable size not tight not huge. I let the kids do the skinny look. Fashions just goin threw it cycle again.
ok now, don’t hate on maino, for what he said, he’s entitled to his own opinion but let me throw my two cents: When some rappers like Kanye, Lil’ Wanye, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, Common, Pharrell, and others started rocking tight fitted clothes, everybody just followed the fad. well, of course, I can’t blame them. Even though loose fit clothes kinda partially lost its relevance in hip-hop, I still wear mine, for its comfortable and gives me ventilation.
If you’re a guy whose height is below six feet, that’s fine, but if you’re over six feet, tight-fit clothes doesn’t look that good on tall people, and it depends how you carry it. Besides, some epole in this world of ours are not born super handsome/pretty. (lol) there are some big guys in the game like Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, E-40 and Heavy D (although they lost some weight), 8Ball (of 8Ball and MJG), Killer Mike, Bone Crusher, and so forth.
at the end of the day, it’s people preference if they wear tight fitted or loose fit. In my own words, I still prefer loose fit clothes, but not the ones that amke me look like wearing a sack. lol
Well skinny jeans are not for everybody, they really only look right on skinny guys with narrow behinds, lol. i don’t think the jeans alone are Gay, i do think its a combination of the jeans combined with you sitting along side me at the nail salon getting the clear polish on your pedicure. When did that start? On the other hand, wealthy white men have been getting pampered like women since B.C. (pedicures, footrubs, body massages, facails) so I don’t know, is there really something wrong with it when black men in the hip hop industry do it? IDK And i’ve met lots of guys that are straight, and wear baggy jeans, that still take forever to get ready to go anywhere cause they keep changin their minds about what they want to wear, just like women.Thats just wanting to look presentable.
Personal preference on a man in jeans is not oversized and dopey lookin but not skinny either. Somewhere inbetween.
Maino, I can’t knock him for speakin his mind. I mean he just answered the questions with his honest opinion.
Personally i think this is part of the dilemma we not only have in hip-hop but also in black america. Its well known two different types of african americans exist. But without a doubt the “niccas” seem to determine whats hot and whats not. This trend is constantly holding down our progression as a people. Hip-hop is transforming once again back to its original state like it or not. 16yrs in the bing or 16bars, you be the judge.