Hip-hop, anyone?

Ever met anyone who’s been featured in Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Source, The Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal? Probably not – unless you’ve grooved to LA-based DJ E-man’s hip-hop set in the Embassy VIP room last month. Set to come back this July, E-man is one of the best hip-hop DJs in LA and has already opened for Mariah Carey (which no DJ has ever done yet in the US), done DJ performances around the world, won Billboard magazine’s music director of the year title and appeared in Access Hollywood on NBC. He is also known for his Mickey-Fickey mixes and, yeah, he also performed in the American Music Awards with Miss Mariah. So yes, this guy definitely knows his hip-hop. And if you happen to watch a lot of MTV (and we bet you do) you’ve probably noticed the totally contrasting styles of an Usher or Mariah video as opposed to, let’s say, the typical Franz Ferdinand or Lenny Kravitz video – and, no duh, the difference is practically like night and day. And really, it’s not just about the music anymore. Just as rock and roll has developed a signature look over the decades, so has hip-hop and R n’ B.

DJ E-man answered a few questions on his own personal hip-hop style, providing us with a sneak peek into his signature look.

YSTYLE: So what can you say about your style?

E-MAN: Clothing-wise, I’m simple yet hip. I like to work from the shoes up. I wear simple white Airforce One sneakers in all white with simple blue jeans and a T-shirt, usually in white, black or gray, or maybe even a polo shirt. I also like sports attire. If I’m not wearing a polo shirt or a tee, I’m wearing a jersey – usually basketball jerseys, American football jerseys or even baseball jerseys. And I love to coordinate a lot, especially when I’m wearing sports stuff. If I have Airforce Ones that are white, green and yellow, my shirt will be green and yellow. If I’m wearing a Lakers Kobe Bryant jersey that’s yellow and purple, my shoes will have some yellow and purple in it. That’s the thing about hip-hop. It’s not just about staying fresh, hip and new; there’s a lot of coordination involved. Things always have to match. That’s why white tees are so easy.

I’m not too into accessories. I do have a chain, a nice little chain, four to five inches long, with my name E-man in diamonds with a platinum chain. It was given as a gift from Big Boy, who I do the morning show with.

What’s up with hip-hop and white shoes?

That’s just the style. We always want to look fresh. We want to look new. And you’ll see people who wear just clean white shoes and once it’s dirty they’ll try to clean it up or once it’s a little wrinkled, they stop wearing it and go get a new one. It’s kind of like T-shirts. There’s that term called "poppin’ tags." It means you always have new clothes, like you always get a new something and you’re always poppin’ the tags off – fresh off the rack. I always want to look new.

How about shirts?

Very simple tees. White, in particular. Very generic, maybe like Pro-Club or Footlocker because, usually after one or two washes, it already looks shrunken and all the little cotton tufts show up. So that’s not good anymore.

Give us five hip-hop style essentials.

Definitely a wife-beater tank top. A lot of people wear white T-shirts over it so you gotta have the white T-shirts as well. You also have to have a nice polo shirt. I really like Lacoste. Their polos are pretty popular with a lot of the hip-hop kids so at the Lacoste store out here, they had some designs which I had never seen so I was like, "Oh okay, I gotta pick those up." Usually in the winter, we wear white long-sleeved tees under the Lacoste polo shirt. Then you have to have a nice pair of jeans and all-white Airforce Ones.