Writing

The story dates back to the 1980s, when crude oil was Nigeria's main export. Oil prices declined sharply, and the result was a mass exodus of educated Nigerians to countries across the globe. It was during this same period that Japan experienced an economic boom and a labor shortage. Work could be found easily in the factories. After the boom tapered off, the jobs dried up, leaving many Nigerians stranded far from home. The Yakuza recognized an opportunity and began using Africans as hired muscle in street-level positions. We can easily blame the immigrants, lest we forget the Yakuza were the initiators, turning a game of international monopoly into their own chessboard.

What we're watching now is the resurgence of the swag era not as fashion, but as simulacrum. French philosopher Jean Baudrillard described a simulacrum as an image that no longer refers to anything real, only to itself. In 2025, a Supreme tee with Carti on it doesn't represent the same thing, or even a different subculture. It represents the latent memory of wanting the original versions. TikTok doesn't chase a drop; they chase the aesthetic of chasing a drop in 2012.