New documentary highlights White Sox rebrand’s place in hip-hop history (MLB.com)
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop – it was 50 years ago that the cultural movement was born in The Bronx – the Chicago White Sox have produced Fitted in Black, a short documentary highlighting the team’s rebrand in the ’90s and its intersection with hip-hop, pop culture and fashion.
This documentary brings up so many feels. Please go watch this. You won’t be sorry.
I’m a child of the 90’s. I remember all of these things as they rose to fame. Hip-hop itself. The White Sox rebrand. The rise of “The Big Hurt”. (Coincidentally, Frank Thomas is from my hometown. We were hyper-aware of his success and his rise to superstardom in the 90’s.)
Also, side note: Frank Thomas was, as still remains, a frickin’ beast.
I don’t remember who said it back in the early 2000’s, but they brought this up again in the documentary. The White Sox, now synonymous with the “Southside”, was a reflection of culture. It was the opposing answer to the northside Chicago Cubs. Wrigley Field was historic, and steeped in tradition and all that. And let’s face it, a predominantly white affair. Whereas the Sox were the up-and-coming. The “rebels”, as they call it. It’s not a coincidence that the hip-hop world embraced not only the brand, but the team as well.
And a kid in Columbus, GA, quite possibly the opposite of southside Chicago, was aware of this through the magic of WGN. Much like our own superstation in TBS (who regularly brought everyone the Atlanta Braves), WGN brought the country the Sox (and the Cubs) almost every night. I continue to believe this was an unsung hero in bringing that culture, that brand, to the masses.
