Last Updated on August 14, 2021 by Alex M

Dear Originality,

It’s sad to see you go. As a 90’s kid, I admired what you brought to the culture. Everything from;

• The unique fashion,
• Style of music,
• Creative haircuts,
• Entertaining TV shows, movies and video games.

Originality, you shined the brightest in this decade.

No Biting!

Biting is defined by a copier or follower. The theft of another’s artistic ideas, concepts, styles, etc. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=biting

Growing up in an era where “biting” was not cool and calling out a “biter” was the thing to do.

Being the first to do or have something meant everything. You see how Soulja Boy reminds us of all his 1^st.

Influencing vs Stealing

Don’t get me wrong, an idea can be birthed from seeing something done before, giving you inspiration. Leading you to put your own:

• Touch,
• Flair, and;
• Remix to it.

A perfect example of influencing would be the 90’s classic fighting game Mortal Kombat, which took the idea of martial arts and assigned special attacks to each character from the legendary fighting game, Street Fighter and Street Fighter 2.

The way Mortal Kombat remixed it was by adding blood and fatalities at the end of each fight.

BUT,

to steal a whole idea is simply laziness. To put into perspective, here’s an example of the robbery:

My clothing brand:

reps4lyfe which focuses on blending faith, motivation, and culture to inspire all.

Here is the robbery version:

repsdalife which focuses on the mixture of culture, higher power and inspiration.

My How the World Has Change!

Today, we live in a copycat mind frame. Where social media is at it’s all time high, with “insta famous” and “tik toker” influencers running the show.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of influencers with actual talent; showcasing some original skits, reels, and shorts.

BUT,

for most part it’s a carbon copy. The formula is to take something that is trending and either put your own spin in to it (which most people don’t) or copy the exact concept and see the likes go up (which most people do).

A perfect example would be the “June Bug Challenge”. The guy who originated it is creative, along with some other people who put their spin on it, but for the other million that did the dance exactly…well!

Rest In Power

The times of individuality and unique styles have faded away. As a small business owner that takes pride in originality, you are truly missed.

 Sincerely, A clothing brand keeping the movement alive,

 reps4lyfe.

Check out the design inspired by this open letter: