As February comes to a close, we take a final glimpse at some meaningful images of the icons and themes that helped shape Black culture in the Western world over the last 30-40 years. The 1980s were a pivotal time in history as society embarked on racial and ethnic blending through a collision of developments in art, music, fashion, and television.

MTV or Music Television hopped onto the scene in the early 80s in many households across America as access to cable improved and became more popular. The disenfranchised yet highly independent Generation X, still children, found their collective voice through this form of media. They could now see and hear their favorite bands and emulate their style and creativity.

Several new music genres morphed from rock, punk, funk, and disco took the world by storm throughout this decade of excess and into the next. Another British wave, including post-punk and new wave synth-pop, moved across the pond and into the US. Old school DJs and hip hop artists like Grandmaster Flash and The Sugar Hill Gang influenced a crew of talented urban youth who would change rap and hip hop's face and scope for future generations.

Rap 

Tupac Shakur, also known as 2Pac or Makaveli, was born in New York City, lived in Baltimore, and moved to Oakland, CA, in 1988. It was the West Coast cities of Oakland and then Los Angeles that served as the geographic catalyst to launch Tupac into the stratosphere of rap legends. Shakur grew up with a mother who was part of the political organization, the Black Panthers, and in the middle of urban poverty and racial disparity.

Tupac glamourized being a thug as a hip-hop artist and actor by rising up against social injustices. Legal issues involving sexual assault and gun violence against cops notwithstanding, Tupac released 11 albums, several post-humous, recorded hundreds of tracks with collaborators, and solo, and appeared in multiple films, including Above the Rim and Poetic Justice. Tupac was the first hip-hop artist to release a double CD. Shakur also had a previous brush with death at Quad Studios in New York when he resisted a robbery attempt on his person and was shot multiple times.

The 90s saw an intense rivalry between East and West Coast rappers. It was this feud that some say contributed to Shakur's untimely death. On Sept 13, 1996, at the age of 25, Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in a drive-by on the Las Vegas strip. Conspiracy theories galore mounted surrounding the details of his death. The Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory album under the Makaveli alias was released two months after Tupac's death, further fanning the flames that he was alive. The Makaveli name drew a parallel to the Renaissance philosopher, Machiavelli, who claimed that he faked his death for seven days. Tupac Shakur was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2017 and earned the distinction as one the most famous and influential rappers of all time.

Basquiat

New York of the 1970s was a jumble of wealthy old money, artists seeking some level of notoriety, and a seedy underbelly of sex, drugs, and crime. Then, the unknown, Jean-Michel Basquiat, left his Haitian-American-Puerto Rican family in neighboring Brooklyn for a walk on the wild side, more specifically the Lower East Side. During this time, random messaging began popping up on walls subways throughout Manhattan, signed by SAMO Basquiat and his partner Al Diaz.

Basquiat embarked on his artistic career as a graffiti artist while doing odd jobs and playing in a noise band. The symbiotic relationship between street art, avant-garde art, and the underground music scenes of punk and hip-hop began to flourish. By the time the 80s rolled around, artists had noticed Basquiat's Neo-Expressionist, late-modernist to primitive style pieces using words, symbolism, stick figures, and animals with concepts of injustice and the vapid nature of society.

Basquiat used a Crown design in his compositions to celebrate Black people like royalty. In 1984 and 1985, at the near peak of Basquiat's career, he collaborated with Andy Warhol on paintings and silkscreen designs as galleries worldwide displayed his work. Jean-Michel walked the line between fashion and art as he walked the runway in 1987 for the Comme des Garcons collection and often painted in Armani suits.

Time passed, and Basquiat's friends noted dark changes in his personality. He was often paranoid and self-isolated for longs periods. In 1988, Basquiat traveled to Hawaii to tackle his persisting drug-addiction and claimed to head back to the mainland "clean." Jean-Michel Basquiat died in his Manhattan studio at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose. Basquiat's "Untitled" sold in May 2017 for $110.5 million at a Sotheby's auction.
Modern Turban King 12-Mudcloth Patterns-Heritage II

Black artists not only brought their politically and socially charged urban art and music to the mainstream in the 80s and 90s, but they also folded in a unique mix of streetwear and patterned clothing influenced by African roots. Hip hop artists Run DMC introduced large gold chains, bucket hats, hoodies, and tracksuits, bearing names like Adidas, with white sneakers, a look that effectively ignited an era, continuing to this day, of logo-heavy streetwear brands and artist collaborations.

Hip-hop artists turned actors like Will Smith, and Queen Latifa made famous brightly colored, Afro-centric stylings including turbans, headdresses, and tunics. These stylings permeated the norm and were adopted and worn by a variety of races.

Depending on the region and tribe, headdresses denote societal positioning, may be worn for marriage, ceremonies, sacred rituals, funerals, and also their job. Different cultures have different styles and materials. Some cultures shave their heads entirely to adorn them in other ways with jewelry crafted from ivory, amber, bone, wood, shells, metal, hair, and stone or clay. Today, it is common to see hints of tribal culture in Western society. More fashion designers are looking to Africa to produce their wears based on the dyeing process and other techniques used in fabrics like Mudcloth and Kente.

No one could have predicted how Black culture would change and merge with the mainstream in a fusion of ethnic/urban stylistics using art, fashion, and music in an attempt to positively change humanity.