Very Recent History: LL Cool J's FUBU Coup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMXrzDfDyf8

The iconic ’90s hip-hop clothing line FUBU is relaunching as FB Legacy, and marketing itself with a series of “testimonials” by rappers waxing poetic about the brand. D-Block’s Jadakiss remembers when LL Cool J-who was from the same Queens neighborhood as company founder Damien Johns-managed to wear a FUBU hat in a 1997 Gap commercial. For those of us old enough to remember, it really was pretty incredible. LL even worked the upstart company’s acronym into the rhyme he performed as part of The Gap’s “How Easy Is This?” campaign for their “easy-fit” jeans. “G-A-P gritty,” he said. “Ready to go/For Us By Us/On the low…” I did a story about it for Vibe magazine back then, and enjoyed interviewing the Gap spokesperson, who forced a fake laugh and said that while, no they had not been aware that LL was plugging another company on their dime, they were happy with how the commercial turned out. Also in the video above, which collects ads that ran on Virginia’s WTVZ on May 11, 1997, this year’s Best Actress Oscar winner, Sandra Bullock in Speed 2: Cruise Control!