We often hear people use the term “swagger” to describe pro athletes, entertainers and at one point our former President Barack Obama. That’s the new millennium word for “Style and Confidence.” When I was comin’ up it was called havin’ some flavor. However, I think that too many people are misusin’ the term because they’re paintin’ with a broad bush. So I’m goin’ to break down what swagger really is for you.
Swagger is the ability to walk into a room and captivate everyone in it without sayin’ a word. Havin’ the ability to raise eye brows from curious onlookers, get dap from the homies for no apparent reason while women keep a close eye just because. It’s an aire that can’t be explained, you either have it or you don’t. In sports they call it the “The It Factor.”
It has nothin’ to do with your style of dress whether you wear suits, jeans or warm up suits. It comes down to the presence of a man. Now my problem is with people that use the term “Swagger” to describe cats that either don’t have it or people that are on another level. There are three categories of men; Gimmicks, Swaggers and Role Players.
We don’t have to spend much time on the gimmicks because they are just what it says. These are the duns that show up lookin’ like their tryin’ too hard to be cool. They aren’t authentic because it comes across as bein’ manufactured or fake. They’re always dressed up in what I call a costume tryin’ to look like someone famous that they saw on TV. For example, the millions of cats tryin’ to look like Allen Iverson or tryin’ to look like one of the Migos or something. Total Gimmicks! You can’t dress up like somebody and think that it’s cool. They’ve already cornered the market on bein’ them. That’s why they’re who they are.
Now the next two categories are very similar and if you aren’t payin’ attention you’ll confuse the two. They look the same, walk the same, come across the same way. They even smell the same bruh! However, the difference between the two is MONEY.
“Swaggers” are those cats that walk into a room and the atmosphere changes. Boyz are walkin’ up to them givin’ them all kinds of love whether they know them or not. Women want to know who they are and ask their friends or themselves, why don’t I know him? They’ve got “The It Factor” straight up. A flair that can’t be taught and everything about them is authentic, no gimmicks or costumes needed, they’re the real deal. The question is, can you change the atmosphere in the room when nobody knows your name? That’s “Swagger!”
On the other hand we have “The Role Players.” These are the pro ball players, the entertainers and even the big homie Obama. It’s the group of cats that are either famous, millionaires or both and everybody knows their names. This is the category that all men to some degree want to eventually become a part of. When you’ve got all of the money, power and respect all you’ve got to do is play your role. It’s not swagger if everybody knows your name and kisses up to you anyway. When you walk in you’re normally the richest cat in the room and the most powerful. I hear people talk about Jay-Z or Allen Iverson’s swagger but that’s not swagger that’s a lay up bruh. Role Players don’t mean any harm for takin’ credit for swagger because it comes with the territory. Now don’t get it twisted, most of these rich cats already had swagger but they’ve since graduated from that to “Role Player” status as rich and powerful men. At this point they’re only doin’ what any bonafide baller would do if put in the same situation.
However, when you’re worth several hundred million dollars, like some of these boyz are, it’s not swagger at that point, it’s called money.
When I hear women say that Barack’s got swagger I laugh because he was the most powerful dun in the world. If you couldn’t walk into a room and change the atmosphere with all of that power then he’d need to turn in your Role Player ID. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Ole boy: noun – the person that I’m currently talkin’ about.
The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”
The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!