Minority and Underserved $$$ and Culture for Sale

October 25, 2025 was the first time in 35 years, since 1990 that not one rap or hip hop song was in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40, but many of these artists and figure heads of the culture have been very present in the world of haute couture and high fashion.

The rap and hip hop culture went mainstream in the late 1970's, growing out of the civil rights movement, as a musical expression vocalizing many of life's issues minorities and the underserved were dealing with. By the 1990's, the culture expanded into fashion.

From the boycotts of the civil rights movement in the 1950's to the growth of the rap and hip hop culture in the 1990's, minorities realized that real change in a society comes when minorities and the underserved quit financially supporting businesses that don't support them. The boycotts of the 1950's and 1960's was the main catalyst to the the success of the civil rights movement impacting longterm change in gaining legal rights for minorities and women.

In the 1990's, minority owned fashion brands were created and thrived for over a decade:  Cross Colours, FUBU ( For Us By Us), Karl Kani,  Phat Farm, Mecca USA, Enyce, Coogi, Baby Phat, Iceberg, Rocawear, (Jay-Z) Akademiks, Wu Wear, PNB (Post No Bills) Nation, FJ (Fat Joe's) 560, Willie Esco, Lugz, Vokal (Nelly), OutKast Brand, Snoop Dogg Apparel, Brooklyn Mint, Fetish, Shady Clothing LTD + G-Unit Clothing, Ruff Ryders Denim, Dada Supreme, Marithe Francois Girbaud, Bushi (Busta Rhymes),  Pelle Pelle, School of Hard Knocks, etc.

Although most of these clothing lines did not survive into the 2000's, rap and hip hop culture continued to grow and go mainstream throughout the world, to the point that many of the high fashion and luxury brands have partnered and collaborated with these rap and hip hop artists and figure heads to promote their fashion lines.

Most of these haute couture and high fashion lines do not cater to minorities or the underserved, but most exclusively to the few "2,000 to 4,000 of the ultra-wealthy socialites, royalty, business moguls, and celebrities." However, minorities "account for 25–30% of U.S. luxury spending by 2025. Black consumers, with an estimated $1.7 trillion in consumption by 2030..."

What changes could minorities and the underserved advocate for in our society if we returned to creating and supporting our own products with the estimated $1.7 trillion we're projected to spend anyway? The US debt is $38 trillion as of January 2026. Minorities and the undeserved are projected to spend 4.4% of the national debt on just luxury items by 2030!

Yet, minorities and the underserved are being targeted very conspicuously and intentionally throughout the world, but most increasingly and recently in the US through unlawful deportations, racial profiling, minority history suppression, reducing education funding in underserved areas, and rolling back affirmative action and DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) initiatives that allow access to all.

All of this to say, rap and hip hop started as another outlet for minorities and the underserved to express the changes wanted  in a world and society that they contribute so much to, but that didn't want to acknowledge those contributions and sacrifices in a tangible way.   Now, the culture needs to do a self evaluation and decide if it's wise to continue supporting the businesses and entities that historical don't support it but only want to use it for their own financial gain.

The rap and hip hop culture needs to get back to its origins, promote it's own and support its own. Minorities and the underserved need to get back to the unity of the civil rights movement, to focus on economic justice, "...build right here in America a nation where all men will live together as brothers, a nation where all men will respect the dignity and worth of all human personalities, a nation where men will no longer take necessities from the masses to give luxury to the classes..." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Support minority owned businesses: https://weloveus.shop/

Article for statistical information:

"Still Standing: What It Took For Black-Owned Businesses To Survive 2025"
https://www.essence.com/news/money-career/state-of-black-owned-businesses-2025/