https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMXrzDfDyf8

The iconic ’90s hip-hop clothing line FUBU is relaunching as FB Legacy, and marketing itself with a series of “testimonials” by rappers waxing poetic about the brand. D-Block’s Jadakiss remembers when LL Cool J-who was from the same Queens neighborhood as company founder Damien Johns-managed to wear a FUBU hat in a 1997 Gap commercial. For those of us old enough to remember, it really was pretty incredible. LL even worked the upstart company’s acronym into the rhyme he performed as part of The Gap’s “How Easy Is This?” campaign for their “easy-fit” jeans. “G-A-P gritty,” he said. “Ready to go/For Us By Us/On the low…” I did a story about it for Vibe magazine back then, and enjoyed interviewing the Gap spokesperson, who forced a fake laugh and said that while, no they had not been aware that LL was plugging another company on their dime, they were happy with how the commercial turned out. Also in the video above, which collects ads that ran on Virginia’s WTVZ on May 11, 1997, this year’s Best Actress Oscar winner, Sandra Bullock in Speed 2: Cruise Control!

Here’s a question: why does no one want to live any more? The LAPD is going with “apparent overdose” on 38-year-old Corey Haim.

Pedro J. Perez, acting superintendent of the New York State police, resigned yesterday. Perez, who took over the superintendent job after the resignation of Harry S. Corbitt in the wake of the David Paterson thing, had himself “authorized the commander of Mr. Paterson’s security detail to contact the woman who had accused the governor’s aide of assaulting her last fall, according to people with knowledge of his actions.”

From time to time, The Awl likes to explain to Internet denizens what the world beyond the great inside is like. Here is one such explanation, describing a recent trip to locations on the Eastern seaboard of the United States.

We had missed the parade. Or maybe it was somewhere else. The sidewalk was packed with bad faces. A guy had his pants down and was trying to walk. The cops were wearing long leather jackets. I grew up in Jersey, and I remembered bad faces, but I couldn’t remember cops ever wearing jackets like that, leather and big gold buttons. Every bar had a line out the door. The gay bar had taken down their rainbow flag and they had a line out the door too. A group of girls staggered past us. They shouted that they were “pizza whores” and went into a crowded pizza joint. One of those girls had beer sunglasses, my friend said. I thought he probably meant beer goggles, but with the novelty junk they were selling on every corner, I don’t know.

We had taken a crowded PATH train in, and this girl gave me the hairy eyeball the whole ride. Everyone was wearing green, but no two shades could agree. Some drunk guys we couldn’t see tried to start up a song. It might have been “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” Now we were walking up 1st. First of what, I can’t say. Our other friend had given us bad directions. He said his place was diagonal from “the fish place.” When we found the fish place, we looked at the place diagonal. Our friend was waving from his window. In the lobby, the doorman asked us what apartment. We didn’t know. He let us in.

We had beer and a cool space away from people. We had windows to watch these people from. Our friend opened his windows in case we wanted to shout at these people. Down there in the sun, a sweating guy was carrying a keg on his back. He was with another guy who wasn’t helping. We laughed and toasted to that. It was cheap beer we were drinking, but you could drink a lot of it. The guy carrying the keg got too much forward momentum and walked headfirst into a telephone pole and dropped the keg. One of us said something about the guy, mean but also pitying. I drank some beer and my friend said it was his beer. Down on the street, the unhelpful guy was standing in the middle of the street. He was trying to hail a cab. A cab did stop, and the sweaty guy picked up the keg again. When the cab driver saw the keg, he drove away. The sweaty guy put the keg down on its side and it started to roll away.

There was a party around the block. It had been broken up once before. We went in and a girl sitting in the kitchen said, “Hi.” She wanted us to leave. I was getting it bad from women today. There were tarps on the floor, which was smart. Outside were tables for what some people call beer pong, and a couple more tarps on a dirt yard. Now and then a guy shouted at someone who had taken one of his beers. You could see into other buildings’ rear windows. An old lady was framed in one, staring at the party. She was mad or wished she was younger. It wasn’t even St. Patrick’s Day. Which was well enough, because St. Patrick’s Day is my birthday. We went inside to look for more beer. An alarm was going off. People were running out of the house. A guy came down the stairs and said “I pulled the fire alarm” and left. We went out front and waited for the alarm to stop.

Now Miles Klee has been outside! Photo by flickr4jazz, under this license, from this set.

The last collection by Alexander McQueen showed today, privately, and the slideshow is really worth a look. That this is a gorgeous and sentimental occasion does not make him any less of a complete asshole as well.

Green shoots, everyone! “The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including primary residence, jumped 16% to 7.8 million in 2009 from 6.7 million the year before, according to a report released today by Spectrem Group.” While this total is still off 2007’s record of 9.2 million, I think we can all agree that stabilizing our financial industries was definitely the right way to go, particularly if we wanted to make sure our focus was on returning hardworking families to the ranks of “millionaire,” which apparently it was. USA!

Biggie Smalls was killed 13 years ago today, in a Los Angeles shooting, and MAN, somehow Lil’ Kim is STILL ALIVE. This is something nobody could have predicted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vAwBWuTqak

“The same-sex version of Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me, made by students at the University of Rocheseter, NY.” [sic throughout.]

Reminder: The Morning News’ annual Tournament of Books-for which your editor is one of this year’s judges-begins today. The first pairing: Let the Great World Spin and Miles From Nowhere.

T.I. Among First 100 Rap Artists To Release Song Called “I’m Back”

Here is T.I.’s new single, “I’m Back.” Here is a quick alphabetical list of 92 rap artists who have previously released songs called “I’m Back.”

1) 10sion
2) A-One & Bo
3) B Dub
4) B.G.
5) Lloyd Banks
6) Big Oso Loc
7) Big Lakota
8) Blacastan
9) Marsha Black
10) Bow Wow
11) Joe Budden
12) Ron C
13) C.B. Dub
14) Capitol O.G.
15) Celly Cel
16) Chalie Boy
17) ChapWill a.k.a. T.R.U.T.H.
18) Moses Coleone
19) Cousy
20) Da Professor
21) Da Rapper (Lil Dean)
22) Danny!
23) Dirty Boyz
24) Wox Dizi
25) Dogg
26) Drake
27) Dub
28) The Duke’s Click
29) Dumate
30) The Durio Family
31) Element
32) Eminem
33) Epic
34) Epix
35) Force One Networkz
36) G-Unit
37) Gar
38) HP the Vet
39) Hatchet
40) Hurricane Chris
41) Jr. Pimp
42) Juvenile
43) Knobody
44) Kurupt
45) Lil Scrappy
46) Lil Uno
47) Lil’ Flip
48) Low Key
49) MC Tony
50) The Madd Assassinz
51) Maniac Lok
52) Mars Black
53) Martie Biccardii 151
54) Mastermind
55) Matty
56) Mayor
57) Melodic
58) Midget Loco
59) Mr. Complex
60) Mr. Malo
61) Mr. Silent
62) Murda Mook
63) NCP’s Metro Allstars
64) Ric Nuek
65) Pacaso
66) The Phantom
67) Philley 45
68) Poochie
69) Prozak
70) Ravgate
71) Rem Dog
72) Ronnie Run
73) Randy Savage
74) Seel Fresh
75) El Shaber
76) Shan Dogg
77) Sleepy Malo
78) Slim Thug
79) Spesh K
80) Stat Quo
81) Daniel Swain
82) T-Ray
83) 3rd Degree
84) Track Wiz
85) Tremendous
86) Obie Trice
87) V-Boy
88) World
89) Young Jeezy
90) Young Buck
91) Young Stunna
92) Youngsta L.B.