Gangsta's Girl

I've been watching a lot of The Wire lately - it's my current DVD box-set obsession, dragged out for sittings of 3 hours each. It's actually hard work to watch: you have to get used to the Baltimore accent, guess your way through the gangsta-speak and remember everything that happens - no matter how insignificant it may seem. The thing I love is the insight into the world of gangstas - in Season 3, we have the old-style gangstas working it against the business-school trained drug dealers. They go about their business in completely different ways, and yet have the same goal in mind. Juxtapose that with an increasingly desperate police force, and you have a fascinating world to immerse yourself in.

The role of the women in the gangs is only just being assessed... Basically they are pretty much how they're depicted in hip-hop: disposable, tracksuit-bedecked hoes with big booties and bigger hoop earrings. One thing the show has had me wondering of late, is whether this is the world the big hip-hop acts of today emanated from. Their lyrics would suggest so... And if The Wire is anything to go by, these are tough, viciously ambitious people. Anyway... Here is Beyonce's Fall/Winter collection for her House of Dereon... This woman is fierce too! Boom!


Go behind the scenes...