Fonzworth Bentley “Mr. Manners” Meets The Hip-Hop Generation: Who Wins?

Article written by: Andrew Ricketts
Posted on: July 14, 2009

It’s been almost two years since self-appointed etiquette guru and stylist Fonzworth Bentley published his handbook “Advance Your Swagger”. Has the hip hop world taken his cue?

The centuries-tested cycle for youth culture starts at ‘rebellious’ and ‘outspoken’ before becoming ‘reserved’ and ‘proper’ over time and experience.

When hip-hop was the voice of an agitated, expressive and clawing proletariat, even its most glossy and conservative record labels dared not stray from the grimy aesthetic of the ghetto. However, rebellion is not a dish best served cold. Once the street kids invaded the board room while demanding a hi-end speaker system in every corner office, they also claimed the trappings of privileged existence. The process of transition from ghetto guerrillas to cagey aristocrats resulted in a discarding of some of the purposely divergent style choices like relics of an old runway show. Stylist and hip hop artist Fonzworth Bentley, once seen bowing at the coattails of hip hop mogul Sean Combs, has made a name for himself (albeit in a classic role) as the purveyor of manners for an irreverent counterculture’s pubescent turn.

Everyone knows and accepts that the rapper in the room has a time-honored tradition of scorning traditional etiquette. We’ve come to expect nose-thumbing moves such as sagging pants, untied laces and enthusiastic consumption of finger foods. But the market demands new attention to the customs that keep the gentleman outfitted in fine labels, and the uncouth scrambling for table scraps. In his well-meaning, often colloquial handbook, Fonzworth dispenses the kind of street corner advice one might expect from a benevolent auntie (‘keep that toothpick out of your mouth!’) to plainspeaking guidelines on the high-mannered ways of a fine dining experience. Without naming names explicitly, the author often falls back on reference points of ”industry insiders” who have, perhaps unknowingly, assaulted him with various examples of poor manners.

The brief, illustrated handbook makes a child’s game out of etiquette. It spares us the endless minutiae of its predecessors like the +400 page tome “Emily Post’s Etiquette”, but includes chapters on tablesetting for an outdoor brunch amongst other society banalities. While the information about order of dinner forks and ritual of personal introductions is practical and useful, Bentley’s message may fall on deaf ears in the hyper-masculine embittered world of the hip-hop generation. By design, the ‘umbrella man’ aka Bentley is the “Zip Coon” (astutely noted by Emil Wilbekin) in that he emulates the ways of the elite class, lives the life of a dandy and subversively enters the world of power by perfecting his imitation.

 

Although the book itself is nearly paper thin, it does effectively espouse a few universal tenets of polite behavior that do indeed advance your swagger. Rather than turn his nose up at men whose wardrobe could use a good tailoring, for example, he advises those folks to go to a local department store to ask for measuring. He also gives understated hygiene tips like shampooing at least once a week, conditioning at least once a month, clipping nails as appropriate, and brushing the pearly whites twice daily.

“Advance Your Swagger” was first published in September 2007. Bentley has since starred in a modestly successful MTV reality series “G’s to Gents” in which he attempts to model unruly gangsters into elegant members of society. Every dandy has his day, but in the two years since the book was released, the mean mugging rap generation at-large has yet to respond to Bentley’s exhortations to become refined ladies and gentlemen. Long-time heroes like Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams and Diddy have been flirting with images of propriety, but their currency is not what keeps the larger game afloat.

The rising contingent of the Young Jeezys, New Boyz, Drakes and Asher Roths is a reminder that to stay “fresh” one must also stay defiant. As clean cut as these new artists are in presentation, they can only sustain their appeal by rejecting tradition, even if that tradition is useful or proven. That has always been the charge of rap music: change the tide of social order or die (young) trying. For Fonzworth Bentley, who is now focusing on breaking into the music game, this is an important distinction. While he will always be praised for his own ”elegant appointment,” he may never hear the same kudos for his impact on the culture he has so earnestly tried to affect.