Uptown Anthems

Quilted bombers, horizontal stripes, half-zip windbreakers, tucked T-shirts, long nails, white jeans—it’s a trip to see how many trends immortalized in old rap videos, like those of the group Naughty by Nature, are still outfitting city stompers twenty-five years later. Chalk it up to wistful nostalgia if you must, but don’t underestimate the enduring appeal of a denim bucket hat in any decade. The looks may still carry, but things surely sound different; pop’s tolerance for naughty has grown, shaking off the chummy naïveté that allowed a song to shoehorn an infidelity jingle into daily family car rides and high-school dances across the country.