With the early to mid-’90s permeating the fashion sensibilities of so many in this post-American century of ours, it pays to revisit the source from time to time. The year was 1992. The pants were obscenely baggy and they were worn backwards. Daddy Mac and Mac Daddy, or Kris Kross as they were referred to for cataloging purposes, were Totally Krossed Out (1992; number 1 on the Billboard chart; 4x Platinum, for what it’s worth), boys among men in a work-a-day, dog-eat-dog, kill-or-be-killed, apple-a-day-keeps-the-doctor-away, mi casa es su casa world.

Yeah, they turned centuries of sartorial convention upside down. So? They were Young, Rich and Dangerous, and that’s all that really mattered. They just wanted you to “Jump”. And who cares if their Sega CD title Kris Kross: Make My Video was ranked 18th on Electronic Gaming Monthly’s “20 Worst Video Games Of All Time” list? Do you have a video game using your likeness? Neither do I. Besides, it wasn’t about 16-bit games with negligibly enhanced graphics. Oh no. Because when you “Live And Die For Hip Hop”, it’s all about the rhyme. Yet looking back, it wasn’t all sugar-coated puppies and money-rainbows (those would be rainbows made out of money, natch). Dark days that I remember quite well. Heavy was my heart when, after saving coin after coin and finally busting up my piggy bank (yes, it was an actual ceramic pig; I felt kind of bad afterwards) to cop Young, Rich and Dangerous at the now-defunct Recordmasters, Kris Kross fell off the face of the earth.

But after hearing a rumor that Chris and Chris plan to release an album this year (don’t call it a comeback; allegedly with their former producer/style consultant Jermaine Dupri and the cat that owes them everything, Bow Wow), I’ve decided to rock the zipper-in-the-back-steez as an homage to the boys who would be kings. Can’t come with me on this one y’all. Wearing your pants backwards is a lot more uncomfortable than they made it seem. But what is life without sacrifice? Exactly.