While you know the Dissecting 'It' series best for our in-depth looks at pieces like the Hermes Collier de Chien, and the YSL Tributes, this week we're taking a look at a beast of an entirely different nature: a song that has the fashion world buzzing from New York to Paris, by Brooklyn-based rapper Zebra Katz.
It Item: "Ima Read" by Zebra Katz featuring Njena Reddd Foxxx
The Dissection: At Paris Fashion Week, Rick Owens showed his FW2012 collection on a dramatic, wide runway lit with flames, set to Zebra Katz' "Ima Read" – and apparently the song is all anyone has talked about since then. Fashionista reports that Derek Blasberg claims “it’s the anthem in the Harper’s Bazaar car, the V magazine team knows every single word, Vogue Japan’s Anna Dello Russo just likes saying the word ‘bitch’ over and over again, and W magazine’s Edward Enninful will sing it to complete strangers," and street style phenom Tommy Ton tweeted "BEST SOUNDTRACK EVER" following the show. At a party for Karl Lagerfeld earlier during fashion month, another very buzz worthy artist of the moment, Azealia Banks played the song as part of her DJ set.
So why this song? For one thing, it's very simple. There's not much going on other than the beat and super repetitive lyrics, but the words are just "edgy" enough to make it feel a little risque to sing outloud, which we think is the root of its appeal to the fashion crowd. A car full of editors singing "BITCH!" at the top of their lungs isn't a far fetched image, albeit not a very charming one either. These kind of words/lyrics are usually reserved for rap songs, but "Ima Read" is accessible to a much larger crowd – and the fashion world loves to be the first to exalt the latest big stars in music, from Beth Ditto, to Florence and the Machine, and most recently Azealia and Zebra Katz.
The Downfall: A song with this much buzz around it is only fun to listen to so many times before it becomes just as grating as any top 40 pop song, and with such repetitive lyrics, it's even more susceptible to become rapidly obnoxious.
The Verdict: We for one are tired of hearing "Ima read Ima read Ima read" over and over again. This is one fashion week star that had already burned out!
What do you think of this song? Do you think it merits all the buzz?
about 1 year ago
Casey Kettleson
I love being a part of the fashion industry, but there are a lot of sheep out there. We see so many fads come and go and unfortunately that extends into pretty much everything we do. Where you work out (SoulCycle), where you eat lunch (The Dutch), what you're wearing (better be pastels right now), etc. that I really don't think enough people in the industry truly stop and think about whether or not they actually like something - or if they're just liking it to maintain status as a cool kid. Or to look young - Daphne, Ima talking to you.