Don't front, you know you get hyped when you see it. A popular hip-hop artist has a new video and BAM, there it is! Your frat or sorority members are all over the video, stepping, chilling, sporting para and generally representing the org in front of millions. Or he or she is the artist on the mic and your frat and sorors call to tell you that they are indeed members of your org.
You call everyone, send tweets, and flood YouTube to see the video over and over. That's fine and well, but in the history of hip hop videos with Black Greeks, which ones are the best?
You ask the questions and I have the answers! Over the next week or so, I will be releasing the TOP TEN BLACK GREEKS IN HIP-HOP VIDEOS.
The criteria? Either the artist has to be a Black Greek, or Black Greeks must appear prominently in the video with either para on or flashing frat or sorority signs. Some of these picks will be popular, while others will be obscure. But as the former managing editor of Rap Sheet magazine, I feel comfortable with my picks.
So without further ado, get your high-top fades tight, find your Africa medallions and check out the video coming in at #10…
#10: The '06 Style: Steppin' Into The House
What do I know about this video? Well, a lot. If you were on the West Coast in the late '80s, you couldn't avoid this song, since it was played at every Alpha party from Berkeley to San Diego.
The three rappers in The '06 Style, Tim Reid Jr. (yes, the son of the actor Tim Reid. Senior is not an Alpha, by the way), Dorsey Fuller and Robert Dorn, are Alphas from UCLA. And I kid them about this video to this day.
I picked this song not because it's filled with Alphas, but because it's one of the earliest examples of a hip hop video with Black Greeks prominently featured. And because it received a lot of national pub on BET. And most importantly, because you'll curse me after your hear it, as the house beat will get into your brain and won't let go for a full day. So kick back and enjoy …
The video countdown continues here…
Follow Lawrence Ross on Twitter: @alpha1906
Contact Lawrence Ross at: alpha1906@gmail.com
Lawrence Ross is the author of the Los Angeles Times best-seller The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities. His newest book, Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses, is a blunt and frank look at the historical and contemporary issue of campus racism on predominantly white college campuses. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.