street fashion

April 15th, 1990 –

The Birth of a Fashion Revolution

The music video for So Many Tears had finally dropped.

It was everywhere—MTV, BET, VH1. Every major music channel had it on rotation. Tupac's storytelling, the haunting instrumental, and the raw emotion of the track were enough to make it an instant classic. But there was something else about the video that caught everyone's attention.

Something that would go on to change street fashion forever.

The Look That Defined a Generation

In the So Many Tears video, Tupac's outfit was simple but striking. A baggy hoodie, a pair of Timberlands, and—most importantly—his jeans sagging way below his waist. No belt. His boxers fully visible.

At first, it seemed like just another rebellious style choice, but it was more than that.

It was a statement.

Tupac wasn't the first to wear sagging pants, but no one had ever made it this visible on such a massive platform. Before this, sagging was mostly seen in prisons—where belts were taken away to prevent suicides—and among street kids who couldn't afford properly fitted clothes. It was a style born from struggle.

But Tupac?

He turned it into a movement.

The video had barely been out for a day before the streets took notice.

In New York, in L.A., in Atlanta, in Chicago—everywhere—kids started sagging their jeans just like Tupac. To them, it wasn't just fashion; it was hip-hop. If you sagged your jeans, you weren't just copying a rapper. You were showing the world you were part of the culture.

Barbershops, record stores, and schools were buzzing with the same conversation:

"Yo, you see Pac's video? Bruh, that style is cold."

"Man, I ain't wearing no belt ever again."

"If Pac rockin' it, you know it's real."

It wasn't just the inner cities. Suburban kids, who barely even understood Tupac's message, started sagging their jeans just because it looked cool. High school hallways were filled with teenagers trying to copy Pac's style.

Even Japan caught on.

American hip-hop had already started making waves overseas, but Tupac's influence reached a whole new level. Japanese kids who watched MTV late at night saw So Many Tears and immediately followed suit. Within weeks, Tokyo's Harajuku district—already known for its experimental fashion—was full of kids sagging their pants, proving that Tupac wasn't just a rapper.

He was global.

But with every movement comes resistance.

Parents hated it.

To them, sagging pants were the worst thing to ever happen to fashion.

Mothers across America were furious, complaining to schools, scolding their kids, and shaking their heads every time they saw someone walking down the street with their underwear showing.

"Pull your damn pants up!" became the most common phrase in Black households.

School principals started banning sagging pants, claiming they were disruptive to learning environments. Some stores even refused to let kids inside if their jeans were too low.

The controversy hit its peak when Rolling Stone published an article titled:

"Tupac Didn't Invent Sagging—But He Made It Global."

The article detailed the origins of sagging pants, tracing it back to the prison system. It explained how inmates, unable to wear belts due to suicide risks, got used to wearing their pants loose. When they were released, they carried the habit with them, and it slowly became a style in urban communities.

But here's the key point—

No one had ever made it mainstream.

Tupac took something that had always been underground and put it front and center. He made it cool.

Some critics used this to attack him, claiming he was glorifying prison culture. Others saw it differently. To them, Tupac wasn't promoting crime—he was showing the world that street culture mattered.

And for the kids who looked up to him, that was all that mattered.

Tupac had done more than release a music video.

He had unknowingly created a lasting cultural shift.

Even thirty years later, in the future, sagging pants would still be a defining aspect of hip-hop fashion. Rappers, athletes, and actors would continue to wear their jeans low, all because of that one music video in 1990.

Schools would still try to ban it. Parents would still hate it. But the streets would never let it go.

Because in the end—

Tupac wasn't just making music. He was shaping the culture.