Always Reppin'

[ecasadoSBU]

After I saw the "Always Reppin'" motto on the warm-up shirts of half a dozen teams in the first or second round of the dance, I wondered what it was all about, and so I did an internet search for the term. I get that the general meaning is to represent positively something that you stand for (like your school, etc.), and I get that at some level it's just a phrase Nike is using for marketing purposes. But I also learned where the phrase originated, and it's lyrics from a rap song. Google it, and perhaps you'll be as disgusted as I was with the foul language, demeaning slurs about women, and arrogant gangsta attitude in the song. I wound up wondering WTF so many teams and schools are doing by allowing themselves to be proudly (!) associated with that kind of message. And I have to believe that if any school official, basketball coach, or responsible student athlete actually looked closely at the lyrics, they would surely have nixed the idea of putting "Always Reppin'"on their chests. And WTF was Nike thinking when they decided to license this little gem to sell their shoes?

If I were a player, I would absolutely refuse to wear that shirt. So far, I have not seen a single post anywhere about this, which I find pretty depressing. So is my reaction just bout me, or is there really something pretty ugly going on here?

This phrase has been used for years. Nothing new. Not related to any song. Just slang for "Always representing"

[gosports1]

sort of related topic, what is with all these kids putting the "ok" symbol to their eyes like they are looking through googles? what does it mean?

[DudeAnon]

sort of related topic, what is with all these kids putting the "ok" symbol to their eyes like they are looking through googles? what does it mean?

Pretty sure that is after a 3 pointer, so its the 3 fingers up that is matter.

This is the corniest thread lol.

[gosports1]

sort of related topic, what is with all these kids putting the "ok" symbol to their eyes like they are looking through googles? what does it mean?

Pretty sure that is after a 3 pointer, so its the 3 fingers up that is matter.

This is the corniest thread lol.

ok thanks. I don't like it. not sure why

[chopper]

The OP unfortunately and probably without trying to highlighted the over sensitive nature of our world today. The problem is you took a phrase completely out of the context it was intended for on those shirts.

Villanova plays an entrance song "everyday we're hustlin", but just that part and not the entire song that has nothing to do with bustin your ass in the gym. Context.

[xusandy]

After I saw the first several posts in response to my original, all indicating that nobody other than me was offended by "Always Reppin", I decided to lay off for a few days, just to see what others might post. So now that I've still not seen a single thoughtful post on this matter, I have to conclude that either I'm hopelessly old and out of touch at 69, or that there really is something rather depressing about the devolution of social norms in the USA, such that the lyrics and attitude of this song seem perfectly OK to a group of presumably well-educated folks -- you are all Big East University graduates, right? Sorry to carp, but we were one hell of a lot more conscious about how WE might be either consciously or unconsciously contributing to the evolution of social norms when I was the age that most of you appear to be.

As a result, I am unrepentently saddened by my failure to elicit a single response from any of you that signifies ANY upset at all over the demeaning and offensive lyrics in "Always Reppin.'" FWIW, my own take-away is that social civility and respect for others seem to be very threatened in our current culture, and nobody's much concerned with that. Dismiss me as a codger if you need to, but I still hope that at least a few of you might stop to ponder what I'm saying here. I'm done on this topic, and will not rely to any further posts in this thread. Instead -- Go NOVA.

[DudeAnon]

After I saw the first several posts in response to my original, all indicating that nobody other than me was offended by "Always Reppin", I decided to lay off for a few days, just to see what others might post. So now that I've still not seen a single thoughtful post on this matter, I have to conclude that either I'm hopelessly old and out of touch at 69, or that there really is something rather depressing about the devolution of social norms in the USA, such that the lyrics and attitude of this song seem perfectly OK to a group of presumably well-educated folks -- you are all Big East University graduates, right? Sorry to carp, but we were one hell of a lot more conscious about how WE might be either consciously or unconsciously contributing to the evolution of social norms when I was the age that most of you appear to be.

As a result, I am unrepentently saddened by my failure to elicit a single response from any of you that signifies ANY upset at all over the demeaning and offensive lyrics in "Always Reppin.'" FWIW, my own take-away is that social civility and respect for others seem to be very threatened in our current culture, and nobody's much concerned with that. Dismiss me as a codger if you need to, but I still hope that at least a few of you might stop to ponder what I'm saying here. I'm done on this topic, and will not rely to any further posts in this thread. Instead -- Go NOVA.

Hey man, I am sure nobody meant to insult you. Its just about having a context to these things. Are lyrics for most rap songs awful? Yea. But everyone listening isn't taking it seriously, its just for fun. Every culture has its warts. Today's culture might be loose with curse words and profanity but yesterday's culture was loose with racism and discrimination.

[adoraz]

What song are you talking about? Always Reppin by who?? Are you talking about "Uptown Funk" by Drake?

[MUBoxer]

After I saw the first several posts in response to my original, all indicating that nobody other than me was offended by "Always Reppin", I decided to lay off for a few days, just to see what others might post. So now that I've still not seen a single thoughtful post on this matter, I have to conclude that either I'm hopelessly old and out of touch at 69, or that there really is something rather depressing about the devolution of social norms in the USA, such that the lyrics and attitude of this song seem perfectly OK to a group of presumably well-educated folks -- you are all Big East University graduates, right? Sorry to carp, but we were one hell of a lot more conscious about how WE might be either consciously or unconsciously contributing to the evolution of social norms when I was the age that most of you appear to be.

As a result, I am unrepentently saddened by my failure to elicit a single response from any of you that signifies ANY upset at all over the demeaning and offensive lyrics in "Always Reppin.'" FWIW, my own take-away is that social civility and respect for others seem to be very threatened in our current culture, and nobody's much concerned with that. Dismiss me as a codger if you need to, but I still hope that at least a few of you might stop to ponder what I'm saying here. I'm done on this topic, and will not rely to any further posts in this thread. Instead -- Go NOVA.

Maybe at 69 your mind has forgotten about when you were young but let me send you some pictures to remind you...

https://www.google.com/search?q=woodsto ... Gw#imgrc=_

Woodstock: Naked people screwing in a crowd, listening to song very blatently about weed and acid while on weed and acid.

I invite you to relisten to much of the music from your generation and go scrolling through google images and maybe you'll realize that the youth today are, while more blatant about things, not as different as you seem to suggest.

[Hall2012]

After I saw the first several posts in response to my original, all indicating that nobody other than me was offended by "Always Reppin", I decided to lay off for a few days, just to see what others might post. So now that I've still not seen a single thoughtful post on this matter, I have to conclude that either I'm hopelessly old and out of touch at 69, or that there really is something rather depressing about the devolution of social norms in the USA, such that the lyrics and attitude of this song seem perfectly OK to a group of presumably well-educated folks -- you are all Big East University graduates, right? Sorry to carp, but we were one hell of a lot more conscious about how WE might be either consciously or unconsciously contributing to the evolution of social norms when I was the age that most of you appear to be.

As a result, I am unrepentently saddened by my failure to elicit a single response from any of you that signifies ANY upset at all over the demeaning and offensive lyrics in "Always Reppin.'" FWIW, my own take-away is that social civility and respect for others seem to be very threatened in our current culture, and nobody's much concerned with that. Dismiss me as a codger if you need to, but I still hope that at least a few of you might stop to ponder what I'm saying here. I'm done on this topic, and will not rely to any further posts in this thread. Instead -- Go NOVA.

Hey man, I am sure nobody meant to insult you. Its just about having a context to these things. Are lyrics for most rap songs awful? Yea. But everyone listening isn't taking it seriously, its just for fun. Every culture has its warts. Today's culture might be loose with curse words and profanity but yesterday's culture was loose with racism and discrimination.

If the shirts actually said something offensive, I'm sure more people would be offended- but they don't. They have a common, generic phrase that by chance happens to be mentioned in a song. They're completely unrelated. I'm sure that few if any people think of the song when seeing the shirts. When a company like Nike prints a slogan on a shirt, do you really expect them to go through every line of the millions of songs with explicit lyrics to make sure it doesn't appear anywhere in any of them?