Sunday Jun 21 5:44 AM CDT posted by Dallas Penn
There was a lot less coverage of the passing of Boostin’ Billy. As a matter of fact there was no internets coverage as far as I’m concerned. I got a message from one of the 2nd Gen Decepts that Boostin’ Billy, a co-founder of the Lo-Lifes had passed away. I haven’t had the chance to confirm or deny this story from the Lo-Lifes perspective but as soon as I do I will let y’all know the deal.
I did not know Boostin’ Billy personally but his name does ring bells. I’m sure he was one of the many young men that I encountered on the Deuce back in its Black youth heyday and the latter years of the Latin Quarters. To this day I still wear my Polo I.T.’s more out of respect for all the brothers that passed away to obtain and maintain this level of fresh. This is my lifestyle for life.
It was a wild thing to see my dad pass away a few years ago. He was such a lion I expected him to live forever. So it goes for all giants and lions and great influencers. Our time here is ridiculous and short. Respect to all of those that have left their indelible mark on our minds and in our hearts. These people are the fathers to our style.
That's what was written about my man B-Bill, in Dallas Penn's blog on XXLmag.com. well, i can sadly confirm that he has indeed returned to the essence. its still strange for me to really be like he's really gone. it's like it just wasn't supposed to go down like this. and in the midst of my own sadness, i still can only remember the good times.
1991, we dressed the whole 12th n Huntingdon. real talk. and that's not just one block. thats the whole surrounding area, a 5 block radius. niggas know. back then i had the red Cherokee Laredo and that shit used to stay full of merchandise in the rear. those days it was me, Sgt. Squash, Don Lo, Dave Lo, and B-Bill. and we stayed fly as SHIT.
Bill used to do incredible shit. take the whole rack of jerseys. i've seen him take 53 pair of Guess jeans. stuffing the studded Pele leather up his back while spittin game at the store clerk. stuffin a TV up the back. i am not bullshittin. Nautica down coats, the three quarters when they was hot, DKNY shields, when she first dropped for men. oh man, that shit was crazy. bitches was open off the flyness. and Bill would be evryday with a label. you'd look at him and be like, he on his bum jawn today, and get close to him and realize that aything on him was a label of some sort. he was flyer on his bum days than u was on Easter. balee dat.
we did a skid bid in Jersey. me him n Dave Lo. Dave bailed out quick, cause anybody that know him know that his girl was always a soldier for him. 2 days, he went home. me and Bill stayed till the hearing. shit, i was givin them $500 knowin i wasnt comin back for no fuckin court date. just a week and some change, nothin special. we was in Burlington County, so we was like stars to them niggas. i had on some black canvas Lo boots with the orange jumpsuit, stylin. i believe Bill was rockin the Bear gortex. them niggas aint never seen none of that shit outside of the Source. we held down a shower just for me n him, and when he went in, i held him down, and when i went in, he held me down. then them other niggas started tryin to ride the same way. we spent the whole time clownin them niggas. now there was a couple of real niggas there too, and of course, they rode with us. gave us lotion and cigarettes until commisarry. and when store day came, we copped shit and left it to niggas when we stepped out. thorobred shit. my nigga B-Bill to the core.
Bill used to STAY at a fly bitch. he was a fly nigga. but no matter how many labels you rock, if u cant spit game at a broad, u will lose her. shit, i know he fly, because we used to have a couple broads in common. and it was funny cuz we'd talk about bitches generically, like " i met this bitch from up Temple" or "my Temple jawn" and come to find out when a name is mentioned, we both done hit it, and twice we was talkin to the same broad at the same time. once we both hit. not a threesome, just me n him knew behind the curtain. and he never got jel or aggy. thorobred shit. how many of you niggas on some shit like that?
but what needs to be realized is he means more to the world than what my man wrote about him in the XXL. see, he was directly responsible for being the influence of the look of the golden era of hip hop. it's Lo Life niggas that brought that whole Polo dress code ( and other like minded shit like Nautica, Helly Hansen etc.) that became the look for Rakim, G-Rap, and especially Kane. the only other major influence on the style of that era was Dapper Dan. and it was that school that really caused the expansion of hip hop into a wider, broader scale, behind Run DMC. see, it's the way things are packaged that makes them appeal to buyers. so little white kids that was rockin this shit because it was their regular steez, you don't think they felt some sort of connection seein all these tuff black guys from NY wearin what they do everyday? you don't think Run DMC rappin over rock music wasn't the connection they had to white people? same shit. and it's the white people that drive sales. still do. and it's still a guy from Brooklyn (RocaWear) that drives the current trend. and the whole line is based off of whata Brooklyn kid from that era, Jay Z, was influenced by. he said so in his music, shoutin out Lo Lifes by name. this is my man B-Bill having direct influence over one of the greatest hip hop figures in history. and the way YOU dress today.
i heard a lot of stories today about how he actually passed. i will not repeat none of it. lets' just say, no one really knows. but that's the way it's always been for the legends of our times, right? Bruce Lee, Huey Newton, Pac, Big, their deaths are surrounded in mystery. and always with the feeling like they are gone too soon. as it is with my nigga Bill, born Michael Culley in Brooklyn New York on September 4, 1970. Laid to rest June 23, 2009.
a legend...
my friend.
