Rack-Lo Explained

Rack-Lo
Birth Name:George Billips
Birth Place:Brooklyn
Occupation:Rapper and Author
Nationality:American
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George Billips, better known by his stage name Rack-Lo, is an American author and rapper from Brooklyn, and a founding member of the Lo Lifes.

Lo Lifes

In 1988, Rack-Lo co-founded the Lo Lifes, a Ralph Lauren Polo "racking" or "boosting" (shoplifting) crew that formed from the union of two smaller crews from Brownsville and Crown Heights neighborhoods in Brooklyn. His nickname combines "rack" with "lo", short for Polo. In an interview with Fader, Rack-Lo recalls the appeal of Polo:

In 2016, powerHouse Books published Rack-Lo and Jackson Blount's book about the Lo-Lifes entitled Lo-Life: An American Classic. A book review in the F-Stop Magazine called it a "remarkable story of a small group of teenagers fighting to make a name for themselves", and one in the New York Journal of Books considered it "somewhat of a revelation as it is not a varnished and glorified telling of fashion but much more of a down and dirty gritty tale of the sociological, visual, and material value."

In a 2018 interview, Rack-Lo stated "Yes, I have been caught on many occasions. As a result I was locked up in juvenile detention and I was an inmate on the infamous ‘Riker’s Island’. But in my case I was still fortunate because I never spent time in prison — only in city jails for very short time periods. The longest I spent incarcerated was four months."

Discography

Rack-Lo has released several albums and songs, often in collaboration with or production by fellow Lo-Life Thirstin Howl the 3rd.

Albums:

Singles and EPs:

Some songs:

References

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Notes and References

  1. Anonymous (2018): "An Interview with Rack Lo". Posted on the Oi Polloi blog site, 2018-06-22. Archived on 2024-07-27.
  2. Sowmya Krishnamurthy (2023): Fashion Killa: How Hip-Hop Revolutionized High Fashion. Gallery Books, 304 pages. .
  3. Sowmya Krishnamurthy (2023): "The Lo Lifes: The Hip-Hop Shoplifters Who Birthed Street Culture". Excerpt from Fashion Killa on the Lo Lifes. On the Vice magazine website, dated 2023-10-16. Accessed on 2024-07-27.
  4. Max Berlinger (2016): "Brooklyn Gang Struts in Vintage Ralph Lauren". The New York Times online, Fashion section, dated 2016-07-12. Accessed on 2024-07-27.
  5. George "Rack-Lo" Billips (2002): Aracknofoebia: The Art of Webslinging. Digital music album, produced by Thirstin Howl III, distributed by Bandcamp.
  6. Greg Watkins (2007-02-05): Review of album Lo Down & Dirty at the AllHipHop.com website. Accessed on 2021-03-04.
  7. Jackson Blount and George "Rack-Lo" Billips (2016): Lo-Life: An American Classic. PowerHouse Books, 232 pages.
  8. George "Rack-Lo" Billips (2024): Lo-Life: The Autobiography of Rack-Lo. PowerHouse Books, 320 pages.
  9. Web site: Diaz . Angel . 23 September 2015 . Lo End Theory: The Secret History of the Lo-Life Crew . Complex . 4 March 2021.
  10. Kemet High (2016): "The Real And Raucous Story Of The Lo Life Crew". Online article at The Fader website, posted on 2016-12-07. Accessed on 2021-03-04. Archived on 2024-07-27
  11. Jeffrey Felner (2016-12-09): Book review of Lo Life: An American Classic. On the New York Journal of Books website. Accessed on 2021-03-04.
  12. Carey Benbow (2017): Book Review of Lo-Life: An American Classic by George “Rack-Lo” Billips and Jackson Blount. Posted in 2017-01 at the F-Stop Magazine site. Accessed on 2021-03-04.
  13. George "Rack-Lo" Billips (2021): Lo Life - An American Classic Soundtrack. Digital music album. Claimed to be the "sound track" to Rack-Lo's book "Lo Life: An American Classic". Mixed by DJ Mathmatics (Australia), recorded at All Elements Studios. Available through Bandcamp.
  14. https://www.discogs.com/artist/323455-Rack-Lo Rack-Lo discography
  15. https://bandcamp.com/search?q=Rack-Lo&item_type "Rack-Lo" discography

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