The screenshot below reproduces the signature section of the Brooklyn Nets' Twitter account, including the line "Our borough is thorough," which adapts and appropriates (without mention) the "My borough is thorough" from "The What" (lyrics, audio) on Ready To Die, the 1994 debut album from Brooklyn hip-hop pioneer The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls).
A coronavirus-era perception shift
When I logged on this morning, I swear, my mind's eye translated "thorough" to "furlough," so I then made the following sign-of-the-times annotation. (Yes, I know the borough and city are making steps to reopen, with Nets players now able to practice.)
More on the Nets' hip-hop sources
Fun fact: "The What" was the online handle of the microcelebrity Brownstoner troll, immortalized in this May 2008 New York magazine article, The What You Are Afraid Of, though there was no mention of Biggie as a possible source.
Foxy Brown adapted the "my borough is thorough line" into "I grew up in the thoroughist bourough--B.K" and "I told y'all that my borough is thorough" from her song "B.K. Anthem" (lyrics, audio) on her 2001 album Broken Silence.
Also note that "We Go Hard," that Nets' tagline, comes from "Brooklyn (Go Hard)," the 2008 song (lyrics, video) by Jay-Z, featuring Santigold. While "Brooklyn, we go hard, we go hard," repeats on the chorus, the song also contains Jay-Z's brag, "Now when I bring the Nets, I'm the Black Branch Rickey." (Note that all these songs are pretty much NSFW.)
That, of course, exaggerated his fractional stake and his overall impact, but Jay-Z's role was enormously helpful in generating publicity and public acceptance.
Today Biggie remains an important talisman for the Nets, starting with jersey designs but extending to so much more, as shown in the tweet below.
Then again, Bedford-Stuyvesant, the home neighborhood of Jay-Z and Biggie, was absent from the Nets' Bar Network (presented by sponsor Modelo), as I wrote last December, with no addition since then.
A coronavirus-era perception shift
When I logged on this morning, I swear, my mind's eye translated "thorough" to "furlough," so I then made the following sign-of-the-times annotation. (Yes, I know the borough and city are making steps to reopen, with Nets players now able to practice.)
More on the Nets' hip-hop sources
Fun fact: "The What" was the online handle of the microcelebrity Brownstoner troll, immortalized in this May 2008 New York magazine article, The What You Are Afraid Of, though there was no mention of Biggie as a possible source.
Foxy Brown adapted the "my borough is thorough line" into "I grew up in the thoroughist bourough--B.K" and "I told y'all that my borough is thorough" from her song "B.K. Anthem" (lyrics, audio) on her 2001 album Broken Silence.
Also note that "We Go Hard," that Nets' tagline, comes from "Brooklyn (Go Hard)," the 2008 song (lyrics, video) by Jay-Z, featuring Santigold. While "Brooklyn, we go hard, we go hard," repeats on the chorus, the song also contains Jay-Z's brag, "Now when I bring the Nets, I'm the Black Branch Rickey." (Note that all these songs are pretty much NSFW.)
That, of course, exaggerated his fractional stake and his overall impact, but Jay-Z's role was enormously helpful in generating publicity and public acceptance.
Today Biggie remains an important talisman for the Nets, starting with jersey designs but extending to so much more, as shown in the tweet below.
Then again, Bedford-Stuyvesant, the home neighborhood of Jay-Z and Biggie, was absent from the Nets' Bar Network (presented by sponsor Modelo), as I wrote last December, with no addition since then.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) May 21, 2020
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