Me and Flavor Flav, Gen X Superstars

He studied music, I studied econ, but culturally, we're the same! Sort of.

My kid would have been mortified if I had worn an outfit like this to the Chicago Metro Catholic Aquatic Conference Water Polo championship. Bummer.

Flavor Flav, hype man of Public Enemy, is 65. He is not a member of Generation X, but he is an outstanding performer in one of three musical genres that, to me, typify Generation X: Hip Hop, New Wave, and Grunge. All of those offered new ways for people to express anger and frustration at the status quo. And because life is hard, even when the geopolitical situation isn’t weird and strange, there’s always a need to express anger and frustration.

I feel like Flavor and I have always had things in common, too. Like:

• No one loved Public Enemy more than my brother Paul, a white man living in Appalachia. (A college town, sure, but one where the closest big city is Parkersburg, West Virginia. Also, there are lots of colleges in Appalachia.) Thanks, Flavor, for making Paul’s life better!

• In 2006, I spent a rainy Sunday in a suburban Virginia hotel room because I had arrived in town early to cover a conference the next day. I decided to chill by watching the VH1 Flavor of Love marathon, in which women competed to date Flavor Flav. For the most part, I was astonished that such a thing existed. In the 10th episode, Flav and the two finalists went to a Mexican resort, where their activities included ziplining. It was still a new thing back then, and it looked like fun. That summer, my family and I were at a different Mexican resort, and I saw that ziplining was one of the featured excursions. My husband and kid thought it was the greatest thing ever. I was terrified. But I did it. Thanks, Flavor, for letting me find something that my family loved! Even if I didn’t.

• This summer, Flavor decided to become a sponsor and hype man for US Water Polo in general and the US Women’s Olympic team in particular. I spent three years as a water polo mom, so I, too, have been a sponsor and hype woman for a water polo team located in the US. Thanks, Flavor, for recognizing these athletes and for expanding interest in swimming and water polo!

And now, Fight the Power by Public Enemy, featuring Flavor Flav.

Do you have a Flavor Flav story? Please, share in the comments!