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In “Public Service Announcement” Jay-Z raps, “Check out my hat yo, peep the way I wear it/Check out my swag' yo, I walk like a ballplayer.”
Jay-Z’s reference to “Swag” has deeper cultural roots for
African Americans. Even though the word “swag” has been made wildly popular by
rappers in recent years, back in 1934 Zora Neale Hurston was already theorizing
about this concept in her essay “Characteristics of Negro Expression.” In
Hurston’s essay, she explains the distinct ways that Black people have come to
articulate and dramatize their lives through storytelling and other artistic
practices such as negro folklore, imitation, and dialect. Similar to Jay-Z telling
his listening audiences to “check out my swag’ yo,” Hurston noted the
importance of a presence and persona as she explained:
