Jalylah Burrell

Hello, Babar

Seattle-bred, Brooklyn-based cultural critic Jalylah Burrell riffs on anything and everything.

"When the East Was in the House": Nineties Edition

Posted 12/02/2007 at 12:36 AM | Comment?

Global warming delayed winter here in the northeast but it's finally brick in New York City and I still don't have a grown up winter coat. I have a selection of puffy coats (aka bubble gooses) but I've been long meaning to purchase some more age appropriate outerwear. I mean, don't get me wrong, my puffies--a snazzy red one from Barneys New York and and brown ultra suede one from Sisley--are jazzy but designer provenances aside, puffies just scream teen. Maybe early twenties but I crossed the quarter century mark this past May so I need to go ahead and step it up. What's stopping me are the half a g starting prices of decent dress coats. So while I figure out how I'm gonna get the extra dough for the multicolored Missoni 3/4 length I've been pining for, check out these classic nineties videos from the region of the puffy. Reflecting back sure warmed my heart.

So here is the YouTube playlist. I'm extra fond of the Da Youngstaz ("La di da...") and Showbiz & AG ("Brothas can't believe how th skills have gotten") videos but Mos Def and LL Cool J amongst other tri state titans make contributions. Happy viewing.