ENTERTAINMENT NEWS: "We the New Rockstars!" How Hip-Hop Eclipsed Rock 'N Roll to Become the Most Bizarre, Exciting Fashion Movement of a New Century

As always, this year's Coachella festival was a mecca of music, molly, quirk, and kids showing their hairy asses.

On stage, in fact, Kid Cudi showed three mere inches of bare midriff and got everybody talking. As MTV so eloquently understated, "the response wasn't exactly positive." Not that shade is likely to discourage someone as young and rebellious as Cudi, or any other of hip-hop's stars who have elevated to a legendary status; a place where they are free to push sonic, behavioral, andaesthetic boundaries that was previously only occupied by rock 'n roll stars.

Beyond streetwear and sneaker loyalties, now hip-hop artists like Cudi, Kanye, Pharrell, A$AP Mob, and lately Young Thug are recasting the essential hip-hop "look," promoting flair over masculinity. This transition to donning apparel absolutely makes the trolls put their homophobia and resistance to any sort of deviation from the norm on full view, but it isn't brand-new to hip-hop. What's remarkable is the fact that the limelight is now solely on hip-hop artists, with very few rock 'n roll musicians influencing the trickle-down of fashion with the same intensity.

Until very recently, it's always been rock legends who have made the outgoing generation squirm with their fashion choices. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Metallica, Van Halen, Motorhead, etc. all took on various looks that deviated from what musicians and their fans previously looked like. Long hair, androgyny, tight jeans and every other rock style cliché were once powerfully reconditioning the collective understanding of masculinity and the porous boundaries that defined this concept. But now, is there any rockstar that's lighting the Internet on fire with their personal style?

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