Instagram/@myfabolouslife
Fabolous’s pointed remarks created extra waves of dialogue, deeming this Adidas collaboration look as “Pretend Thug.” The Brooklyn-born artist threw shares of the picture throughout New York Trend Week and received numerous reactions from lyrical reward to downright abuses of contemporary type.
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Fabolous posted the teaser with the caption: “Pretend Thug.. . No 🖤,” tagging Adidas Thug Membership preview and NYFW2025. The put up provided so little exposition, thus opening the door for an intrepid debate on whom Fabolous was speaking about and what precisely he meant by “Pretend Thug.” It was this haze that turned the centerpiece of debate amongst a number of lots of of feedback fairly quickly afterward.
A number of followers instantly associated old-school hip-hop lyrics to the put up, decoding Fabolous’s assertion within the spirit of towards the old-school rap code. One consumer mentioned echoing the well-known Nas lyric, “You get the slug, CB4 Gusto, your luck low! I Didn’t know until I used to be drunk although.” One other irrefutably added, `A thug modifications an love modifications & finest pals turn out to be strangers,” citing a well-known bar that addressed the authenticity theme. The part appeared to aspect with Fabolous and thereafter regarded the “Pretend Thug” tag as a plea for actual hip-hop tradition versus its decline.
Sadly, quite than partaking an intangible idea, the larger chunk of consideration went into the disputed topic that the promo image featured. The mannequin appeared avant-garde, to place it mildly, with outrageous facial alterations: that in itself sparked an uproar. A commenter was fully brutal in judgment: “That’s really not cute or inventive.. really unhappy that particular person had to do this to their mouth simply to ‘stand out’ and be ‘cool’ entire era is FRIED 🚮😩😭 that really seems to be disgusting.” This emotive retort is the signal of generational dissonance with some viewers vehemently opposing the artwork. Others fueled the ambushes, asking, “Who is that this Alien bih, I’m confused lol,” thus serving proof that prime trend doesn’t attraction to all people.
Amidst and between these scandalous crowds, many additionally reverted to the reward of the timeless type of Fabolous and a few requests. “Crimson Shell toes stoopid!!!! 🤦🏾♂️🔥🔥🔥,” one laments, the proper salutation to Adidas Celebrity kicks which might be recognized to be Fabolous’s trademark. There may be some acknowledgment of the colab, whereas one other says, “That is fairly good… I haven’t mentioned that a couple of colab in a very long time.” The requires making an artist model stay with some followers chiming with, “It’s time on your personal model / line.”
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As a promotional device, the put up stirred a lot feverish buzz in regards to the Adidas Thug Membership line. Somewhat than merely generate ostentatious hype over a pair of sneakers, Fabolous elevated this second right into a discourse about authenticity and magnificence. That dialogue turned, the truth is, a form of cultural checkpoint, forcing one-time viewers to position consideration on what “thug” and “cool” at present imply when it comes to trend and hip-hop. The put up had everybody speaking, be it in reward or in rebuttal, witnessing that a number of phrases nonetheless matter from an elder statesman. The discourse surrounding the preview uplifts the age-long stress between industrial trend and inventive expression on one aspect and cultural authenticity on the opposing. Fabolous continues to be a distinguished determine in New York Metropolis’s cultural scene, and his current actions, together with bringing again 2000s swag, spotlight his enduring affect.
