![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/jay-z-yankees.gif\" "\\"jay-z-yankees\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nI was certainly more raised on baseball than I was on hip hop.\u00a0 I was whiffing at balls on a tee for my preschool squad and Baltimore choppin\u2019 in the batting cages before Biggie and Pac ever started beefin\u2019.\u00a0 I knew California Love and was vaguely familiar with some other more popular rap of the day, but didn\u2019t really get into hip hop until my older brother Griff played me Dr. Dre\u2019s seminal Chronic 2001.\u00a0 It was labeled parental advisory and I\u2019m not sure how he even acquired it but knowing what a vile opinion our parents held of rap music we didn\u2019t dare bump that shit in the house.\u00a0 The only place we could safely blast such depraved filth was in Griff\u2019s<\/a> Ford Exploder and I\u2019ll be damned if we weren\u2019t bumpin\u2019 the Doc just about every day on the way to school my 8th<\/sup> grade year, two years after I had actually stopped playing baseball.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I had no idea at the time but from its release 2001 has been generally recognized as a masterpiece.\u00a0 Not having released an album since 1992\u2019s groundbreaking debut The Chronic<\/a>, Dr. Dre came out swinging for the fences alongside an all-star ensemble of rap legends and since its release 2001 has gone 6X platinum.\u00a0 Snoop reminded us that he was still rollin\u2019 with the D.R.E. <\/a> but my favorite is still hands down track #10, Forgot About Dre<\/a>.\u00a0 Along with a thumpin\u2019 bass line and top notch verses from Dre reminding us of his influence and continuing relevance in the game, this song introduced me to who I believe to be the greatest lyricist\/rapper\/hiphoppapotamus of all time, Detroit\u2019s one and only blond bomber, Eminem.\u00a0 His lyrics were catchy yet crafty and his pitch and inflection such that my virgin ears had no problem interpreting his every well-enunciated syllable.\u00a0 I\u2019ve since become infatuated with this entire genre and over the past decade feel like I have cultivated my ear into something of an aficionado for the sound.\u00a0 I\u2019ve explored many elements of rap and hip hop, and even tried my hand at developing my own melodious methods under the moniker SloMo (keep your ears open for another mixtape in the ChronicL\u2019s of Flips and SloMo droppin\u2019 this summer).\u00a0 I am discriminating in my taste only in that I prefer to listen to what I perceive to be either talented or entertaining, preferably both.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even care if all you rap about is bling and whips as long as you do it in some creative way.\u00a0 Most rap songs that get spun on popular radio do not fall into either category for me, but there are exceptions.\u00a0 While I generally prefer underground these days, my all time favorite is still Eminem and considering he was the top-selling musical artist of the last decade<\/a>, it would be foolish of me to say I don\u2019t appreciate the mainstream side of rap.\u00a0 But the question still remains, what does any of this have to do with baseball?<\/p>\n The answer is lots.\u00a0 Sure, the obvious athletic association with beat boxin\u2019 and battlin\u2019 is the other b-ball<\/a>.\u00a0 Basketball is inherently better suited for a dense, urban environment and has taken roots in the same ground as the block parties that inspired the first MCs and DJs to start boastfully rhyming their toasts to the crowd.\u00a0 Baseball requires far more space and equipment, not to mention formal instruction, than basketball, so it is not surprising that MLB has no Thuggets<\/a> or Jail Blazers<\/a>, no Rucker Park<\/a> and definitely no Skip to My Lou<\/a>.\u00a0 Even the Polo Grounds, site of Bobby Thompson\u2019s Shot Heard \u2018Round the World<\/a>, was torn down in 1968 to make room for government housing projects<\/a>, but Ron Artest<\/a> has the honkey of all honkeys, Craig Sager <\/a> (in all his poorly dressed, insultingly obnoxious glory) shouting out the same PJs that Nas<\/a> and Mobb Deep<\/a> rep.\u00a0 While rap permeates every level of hoops culture, it doesn\u2019t seem to make it much further in baseball than the five-second clips one might hear as a player walks to the plate<\/a>.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure there are plenty of hip hop and rap fans in the Big Leagues, but I can\u2019t recall a single one ever taking time off in the middle of the season to promote his upcoming album.\u00a0 However, that\u2019s not to say that baseball hasn\u2019t left its own indelible mark on the world of rap music.<\/p>\n I Rock it to the front, Rock it to the Back, I\u2019m so Cool Wit\u2019 It in My Baseball Hat<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This chorus line from Below Zero and Lil Flip\u2019s \u201cNew Era\u201d tells in short baseball\u2019s biggest contribution to hip hop culture, the New Era 59Fifty fitted cap.\u00a0 The Fittty9Fitty, an iconic and stylish headpiece, is the official hat for all 30 Major League Baseball teams and a staple of any self respecting rapper\u2019s wardrobe.\u00a0 While hip hop has borrowed the baseball theme for a number of songs<\/a>, this hat has become a true emblem of urban style.\u00a0 Erupting onto the scene in 1996 after director Spike Lee personally requested a custom red Yankees fitted, this style of cap is now as essential to inner-city steeze as a fresh pair of Air Force Ones<\/a>.\u00a0 Similar to the Air Force Ones, New Era \u201cFitteds\u201d are available in an astonishing array of color and logo combinations, and more rare releases are coveted by collectors (hat heads?).\u00a0 New Era started making hats in 1920 and in 1954 introduced the original 59Fifty, the style of which has remained virtually unchanged since.\u00a0 In 1993 New Era gained exclusive licensing rights with MLB and today the look is as recognizable off the field as it is on it.\u00a0 Just ask NYC heavyweight Jay-Z, who claimed he \u201cmade the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can\u201d when performing his hit single Empire State of Mind with Alicia Keys<\/a> before Game 2 of the 2009 World Series.\u00a0 Even if that isn\u2019t exactly true, it ain\u2019t far from it.\u00a0 Which brings me to the whole point of this article\u2026<\/p>\n