Jerseys in Hip Hop Style, 1990s-2000s

Rappers adoption of sports jerseys in the 1990s and early 2000s led them to become a ubiquitous element of hip hop style. Rappers often wore jerseys of teams they had no clear loyalty or connection to, it was all about the look.

It was a natural next step for streetwear companies like FUBU and Sean John to manufacture their versions of a staple of the hip hop wardrobe, as many of these brands were started by major players in the hip hop world. As with most things hip hop, the sports jersey quickly starting appearing in mainstream pop culture and in the lines of brands with no obvious connection to hip hop. The images and videos in this section track the progression of sports jerseys from hip hop videos to mainstream fashion.

Jay-Z in a vintage Mitchell & Ness Padres baseball jersey in the 2005 video for Girls, Girls, Girls

Lil' Kim wearing Boston Bruins Jersey Dress on BET's 106 & Park in 2003

Tupac Shakur in a Detroit Red Wings Jersey spitting on a papparazzi outside a Manhattan court house in 1993

Snoop Dogg in a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey in the 1994 video for "Gin & Juice". In 2021, for the first time in 25 years, the Pittsburgh Penguins wore on ice the version of their jersey that Snoop Dog wore in the “Gin & Juice” video. In a press release, the Penguins organization stated that the newly issued throwback jersey was “made famous in the mid ’90s by Penguins’ greats Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr on ice, and rapper, Snoop Dogg off the ice.”

Three Women wear Enyce Jersey Dresses in a Jamel Shabazz photo taken in Hempstead, NY in 2002.

Sean John Victory Series 1969 Collection Jersey. Sean “Puffy” Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, founded Sean John and was also the owner of Enyce. It became commonplace for rappers and R & B stars to wear these branded jerseys in videos and on red carpets.

Through the 1990s, Ralph Lauren was largely considered a lifestyle and sportswear brand, Lauren’s sportswear was made for horseback riding and skiing rather than basketball or baseball. Despite this lack of representation, young Black urbanites were adding Ralph Lauren to their wardrobes. Perhaps the most famous adopter was the Lo Life Crew, a group of young boosters living in Brooklyn in the late 1980s. The group’s signature style of dress was the “lo down”, wearing Ralph Lauren from head to toe. Lo-Life member Rack-Lo told The Fader magazine in 2016 “Lo Life's made Ralph Lauren urban.” The Lo-Life crew inspired Ralph Lauren's Stadium Collection, which heavily referenced sports jerseys.

Ralph Lauren Stadium Collection re release, 2017

Tommy Hilfiger not only incorporated jersey aesthetics into his line, he featured the burgeoning princess of R & B into his advertising. Aaliyah Haughton was the star of the 1997 Tommy Hilfiger Next Generation jeans campaign. In the now iconic imagery, Aaliyah is photographed and filmed in sagging red and blue Tommy jeans with Tommy branded boxers peeking from the top. She is also wearing a bandeau top printed with “Tommy Hilfiger” in script across her bust. The placement and depiction of the logo makes her look more like a fan of Tommy’s team than his customer.

The Spice Girls in their favorite football teams jerseys in Shoot! magazine, 1997

Sporty Spice Melanie Chisolm Wearing a Knicks Jersey in photo shoot, undated.

Big Boi in the 1998 Goodie Mob video for "Black Ice" wearing a vintage Mitchell & Ness Houston Astros jersey.Big Boi is on screen wearing this jersey for less than 10 seconds, just long enough to cause a sensation. Harcore baseball fans and casual sports memorabilia collectors alike were enamored with the vintage look of the retro jersey, and they wanted to get their hands on one for themselves. Mitchell & Ness had to hire new staff to meet the demand. By 2002, the company reached $23 million in sales, up from $2.8 million just two years before.

In one notorious example of Combs’ synergistic branding and control over the images of artists he repped, Biggie Smalls wore a Bad Boy basketball jersey in the 1994 music video for his enduring hit “Juicy”. The jersey is bright yellow and bears a striking resemblance to those L.A. Lakers players wear on the court. “Bad Boy” is written in a slanted script, the tail of the “y” swirling in a loop below all the letters like an underline. Biggie wears number 72 on his back, representing his birth year of 1972, under the name “Smalls”. Today, knockoffs of this jersey are available for purchase on Amazon, Etsy and eBay.

In an episode of FX's Atlanta, young Earn (as an adult played by Donald Glover) is accused of wearing a fake F.U.B.U jersey to middle school- an insurmountable social misstep.