Good afternoon world! I know I been gone for a while, I sincerely apologize. I would promise to never do it again, but I’ve done that before and I never keep that promise. But I promise to try to do better. Enough with the contrition, let’s get into today’s topic…

The above picture is right. Swag is for boys, and class is for men. A lot of people don’t realize this, but there’s a difference between being classy and having “swag.” Most people believe that the difference between swag and class have to do with the way a man dresses. The truth is neither one of them are completely dependent upon a man’s age or his sense of style. You can instill a basic sense of style in a person of any age, you can teach a person how to coordinate their clothes and dress themselves properly. But class is something that a man naturally has, its something he’s born with, its not something that can be learned or copied. Swag is something that the legions of classless bastards and ignorant ass rappers came up with to sell records and perpetrate like they have something that they don’t. You can copy swag from another person. They are NOT, I repeat, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING!

I think Jay-Z is probably one of the classier people I can think of right now and definitely the classiest rapper in the game. There’s something about him that gives you a feeling that even if he wasn’t rich and famous, he would carry himself as if he was rich and famous. No matter what he’s wearing, he looks like he’s worth a million dollars. The outfit he has on in this picture could cost less than $300 (even though I highly doubt it) but you would never know. He carries himself in a way that separates and elevates him from those around him. He projects CLASS.

Conversely, SWAG is what these mentally and physically little boys try to pull off in the attempt to portray what a grown man naturally has. They bite off the style of another. They’re overwrought with labels and name brands because that’s what’s important to them. They dress themselves to impress the world around them instead of to make themselves feel good.

Before anybody says it, I’m not taking a shot at Lil’ Wayne as an artist. While I might not be the biggest fan of his, I think the dude is incredibly talented and I like his music. I’m purely using him as an example of what swag is. That’s not to say that Wayne isn’t a stylish individual, because he is. But his style aesthetic is on a different level. No matter what he’s wearing, he still looks like the average nigga from the hood. He could spend thousands of dollars on what he’s wearing (and he probably does), but he would still look like the average nigga from the hood. That might be the look he’s going for, but that’s not what class is.

Now, Kanye West is the one person that I can think of that walks on both sides of this line. The guy is my style icon. There are times, like in this picture, that he just exudes class. Then there are other times that he looks like he turned his swag up to “one hundred thousand trillion” and he almost looks tacky. The leather skirt he wore on the Watch the Throne tour comes to mind. Those are the times when I wonder why Kanye West is my style icon.

I also think a lot of people are confusing SWAGGER for SWAG. They’re 2 completely different things. I’m a grown man and, no matter what I’m wearing, I carry myself accordingly. I exude confidence, class, charisma and intellect at all times. I have a style aesthetic that enhances and accentuates what I think are my best qualities. That’s the SWAGGER of a grown man. Swagger and class go hand in hand, one complements and enhances the other.

All of this not to say that a young boy that’s “dripping with swag” can’t become a man that’s “covered in class.” When/if it happens for us, it happens at different times. But its also something that has to be nurtured. I was blessed to have a classy man as a father that pushed me in the direction to develop into a gentleman with class. But before somebody can guide you down the right path, you have to choose it. Or it has to choose you. Same difference…

I’ll close by reiterating that its not what you’re wearing, but how you wear it. I can dress down in shirt and some jeans and look better than one of these young dummies would in a suit. Its all in how you carry yourself. Remember, its not the clothes that make the man, but the man that makes the clothes…

DISCLAMIER: This was written from the point of view of a man, because that’s what I am. I am in no way saying that women can’t have class. I know quite a few women that have class, but I can’t speak on what defines class for a woman because I’m not a woman. That’s all I got for today. So until next time, peace and love…