Chicano Influence in Japan
Lowridin'
It's pretty much common knowledge that American pop culture is popular in Japan, especially music and clothing. What many people might not know is that Lowriding is pretty popular in Japan as well. That's right, one of the biggest staples of Chicano culture has made it overseas and it's taking off.
Thanks to the popularity of Lowrider Magazine, our stilo has been made accessible to the Japanese, and it has created an interest in American cars (obviously Chevys) where they have traditionally been unpopular. For example, check out this bad ass lowrider from Japan:
It would be one thing to take the Lowriding style and simply adapt it to their culture, but the lowriding scene in Japan has for the most part actually stayed true to it's Chicano roots. There's an obvious interest in Chicano culture, with Chicano rap influence and even the dress style. Check these vatos out, and look at that fool sportin' the Cortezes and reppin' the Mexican flag:
That shit tripped me out the first time I saw it. Why do they have the Mexican flag? Then it made sense to me: It's a sign of authenticity, like paying respect to the originator. It's similar to when you go to a Tae Kwon Do dojo and you see the Korean flag proudly displayed, even though the instructor is white. If you realize what that really means, then you'll see how cool it is. But it's still funny to see these guys all Loc'd out, and with a shirt saying "La Firmeza." In fact, "La Firmeza" is actually a clothing company overthere. No joke.
Rap has also became popular overthere, so what do you get when you mix Japanese rap with lowriders? Straight West Coast G shit. No lie, check out this bad ass video featuring Frost:
That's fucking dope. There's even a rapper called "El Latino" and he collaborated with Jae-P, but this song aint half as tight:
Now aint that some shit? Haha, puro pinche brown pride.