A lesson on swagger

Nope, I assure you. Not what you’re thinking.

Not that type of lesson, and not your take on swagger.

Not lessons from a rugby hotshot that will teach you how to get the sex appeal of Ryan Gosling and converse in a sultry crossbreed of Tom Waits and Mickey Rourke. Not the sort of exuding confidence that will make a thousand girls swoon, diminishing the Axe man to a rookie with acne.

I’m referring to a lesson on swagger wrapped around analytic observation from an athlete who doesn’t want to be defined solely for the rough sport, and doesn’t understand why most Filipinos act according to the roles expected of them in society. (Case in point: If you’re a jock, how can you be so smart?)

Philippine Volcano Jon Morales, 28, is a full-blooded Filipino (both parents graduates from the University of the Philippines) whose life and philosophy is built from experiences growing up in the States; working on Wall Street; lessons learned from ex-girlfriends; and settling eventually in his blood country, here in Manila where he works with a non-government organization that tackles economic reform and development — and plays rugby.

His peculiar enthrallment with Manila comes, I believe, from the excitement and hard-hitting reality that the city provides. “Of course you find it exciting here,” I tell him. “You grew up in the States, went to Brown University. The dirty, grimy streets of Manila are like one massive, unpredictable and exciting playground.”

Jon likens growing up in some parts of America to being in the Matrix: shielded from reality, a fake, almost-perfect world that didn’t seem right. Manila, he says, is the last thing from boring.

What jumpstarted an intensive discourse on swagger rose from a link Jon posted via Twitter, a song mixed by Danny Glover (Troy from Community). The conversation evolved into commentary on hip-hop, rap, and a modern-day resistance to an age-old issue of oppression.

“Good, eh?” he affirms, talking about the Danny Glover (a.k.a Childish Gambino) mix Break (All of the Lights). “Bravado, angst and nerdiness. ‘But these girls I’m kissing chase the blues away like Gargamel’ Really? A Smurf’s reference? Amazing,” says Jon.

“Really?” I ask, “All I picked up was a lot of crass sexual comments.”

“Song is way more ambivalent than at first blush. Nerd’s revenge, hooking up with hotties… but is it him or is it the money or the material? ‘Swagger,’ by the way is hip-hop slang for flash material goods, not confidence.”

Biatch Biznatch

When “swagger” became ingrained in modern pop culture vocabulary, I thought it was slang. I didn’t know it was actually in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (a standard that my mother uses to identify new words she can’t understand. “I can’t find ‘biatch’ in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary,” she said in frustration once to my sister and me).

I’ve heard people fling the word around referring to an intangible attractiveness. An enviable braggadocio: a little bit of rebel, strutting the talk, a hella lot of personality and how people carry themselves.

Jon argues that “swagger,” placed in the context of African-American rap, has roots that go back to the issue of oppression. “It (swagger) provides commentary on the mindset. The confidence comes from stuff, not from a person’s character. Like Kanye says in All Falls Down, ‘They made us hate ourselves and love they wealth.’”

He’s referring of course to Kanye West, suggesting perhaps that the African-American today places value on wealth almost commensurate to his self-worth — at least as evidenced by most hip-hop stylings.

I am intimidated not only by Jon’s Kanye quotes but the depth of his vocabulary as well. “I’m getting intimidated by your intense vocabulary,” I admit to him before he explains further. “Oh, sorry,” he says. “Sometimes it’s easier to use the big words to explain stuff.

“It’s the worship of material wealth and status seeking display,” he continues. “Kanye argues in that song, they ‘try to buy back 40 acres’ (freedom, self-worth, independence) through ostentatious display. Which is really a manifestation of their fundamental insecurity. So the term ‘swagger’ is ironically, a result of insecurity.”

No wonder rappers swing diamond-studded bling, shaking booties, overflowing alcohol and luxury cars in your face, and make sure they live to not only rap about it, but stereotype the whole art as well…

But, using two revolutionary hip-hop artists as prime examples, Jon believes that Kanye West and Jay-Z have become aware of this misfortune. And while most of their music brags about a grandiose lifestyle, power, fame and opulence, it’s also filled with subdued angst.

In their collaboration Watch the Throne, critics berate the work of Kanye and Jay-Z, claiming it’s nothing but boasts of obscene wealth, elitism and narcissism. I ask, like a good student, “So could it be a form of resistance to their very oppressors? Like a giant ‘f*** you’ sign, a poetic middle finger? Like although it signifies insecurity, it’s also a form of self-mockery?”

Jon agrees and adds, “Yeah, that’s an underlying layer.”

This apparently is what makes Kanye and Jay-Z’s work different. It’s a resistance and a sober lamentation; somewhere in between this muddle is analysis. “They know that should be how it is, hence the subdued angst,” concludes Jon.

Conyo Boy Problems

So if swagger is actually code for an overt self-consciousness, this seems a prevailing disease that just as much afflicts Manila upper-class society. “It’s not so different from the socialite set in Manila. What you wear, where you live and what car you drive are indicators of who you are,” says Jon.

The discussion is nearing its point where we’ve exhausted options of going any deeper. Did I really just get a textual analysis case study from a national rugby player?

“Oh, don’t think I just sit around and think of these things all day,” he says reassuringly. “Remember, I also spend a lot of time running around and bashing into other people wearing short shorts.”

Yes, okay, Jon. We almost forgot about that.

* * *

For some of Jon’s personal writing, check out Jessica Zafra’s blog http://www.jessicarulestheuniverse.com/ where he contributes seasonally, or follow him on Twitter (@jonnymo).

Check out latest news on the Philippine Volcanoes on http://www.facebook.com/PhilippineRugby.