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In the United States, urban pimps and prostitutes constitute a colorful and often overly dramatized subculture. American pimps are also known as "Macks" and often refer to their business as "The Game". The archetypical flamboyant and abusive African American pimp was described in Iceberg Slim's 1969 autobiographical novel Pimp, to be followed by several other similar insider descriptions by other authors.
Subsequently, the pimp subculture has been portrayed, with varying accuracy, in a number of blaxploitation films. American pimps, as depicted in blaxploitation films, would be seen as people from a lower-class urban setting without a higher education, dressed in wild, flashy clothes and driving customized Cadillacs or Lincolns—Cadillac Eldorados in particular are seen as pimpmobiles. The films Superfly, Dolemite, The Mack, and Willie Dynamite are good examples. Another good example would be Boss'n Up where Corde portrayed by Snoop Dogg becomes the most diabolical pimp in the game, after quitting his job as a grocery clerk.
Though many people's understanding of pimps is derived from blaxploitation films, it goes without saying that not all pimps are black.
The acclaimed 1976 film Taxi Driver revolves around an underage prostitute who is freed from her stereotypical urban pimp by a crazed psychopath.
There have also been American films that depicted pimps as coming from the elite of society, such as the character portrayed by Eddie Albert in Robert Aldrich's film Hustle (1975).
The 1999 documentary American Pimp features interviews with American pimps and prostitutes.
In television, notable pimps include Antonio Fargas as "Huggy Bear" in the 1970s TV show Starsky and Hutch, who was also a police informant and was played primarily for humorous effect. This role was later recreated in the 2004 film with Snoop Dogg in the role. Eddie Murphy also portrayed a pimp called Velvet Jones in a recurring Saturday Night Live comedy sketch.
The imagery of the pimp lifestyle has been popularized by hip-hop culture since the 1980s. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Ice Cube, and Too $hort paid obvious tribute to pimping within their lyrics. Many hip-hop artists have embraced a modern version of the pimp image in their music videos by including entourages of scantily-clad women, flashy jewelry (known as bling-bling) and luxury automobiles.
In the late 1990's and earlier part of this decade, Charles Wright portrayed a character entitled "The Godfather", a pimp character in the WWF/WWE. This character helped popularize the slogan "pimpin' ain't easy"; this is also a song by rapper Big Daddy Kane.
Pimping and prostitution have also been themes in the popular culture of other nations, such as China, France, and Russia.
In Shakespeare's Hamlet some contend that the word fishmonger (someone who sells "fish", a modern euphemism for vagina perhaps in use at the time) was in turn a euphemism for a pimp.[1][2]
The term "pimp" is sometimes used figuratively, as in poverty pimp.
Pimp can also be used as a verb such as "You're pimped up!" or "Pimp my ride". The latter example refers to customizing an automobile, made popular by the show Pimp My Ride on MTV. It can also be used as an adjective connoting the same, i.e. "Man, that car's pimp!" This was originally a derogatory term, implying that the subject was overly decorated and tacky (referring to the stereotype of pimps with excessive jewelry, flashy clothes, or brightly colored cars with animal-print upholstery and crystal chandeliers). It was eventually reclaimed as an American slang term for being unique, "cool", or socially desirable, in much the same way as the term "ghetto fabulous".
Pimp costumes, in recent years, have been marketed during Halloween and/or used in costume-themed parties either as a throwback to the 1970s and/or entertainment purposes.
Extracted from: en.wikipedia.org
Subsequently, the pimp subculture has been portrayed, with varying accuracy, in a number of blaxploitation films. American pimps, as depicted in blaxploitation films, would be seen as people from a lower-class urban setting without a higher education, dressed in wild, flashy clothes and driving customized Cadillacs or Lincolns—Cadillac Eldorados in particular are seen as pimpmobiles. The films Superfly, Dolemite, The Mack, and Willie Dynamite are good examples. Another good example would be Boss'n Up where Corde portrayed by Snoop Dogg becomes the most diabolical pimp in the game, after quitting his job as a grocery clerk.
Though many people's understanding of pimps is derived from blaxploitation films, it goes without saying that not all pimps are black.
The acclaimed 1976 film Taxi Driver revolves around an underage prostitute who is freed from her stereotypical urban pimp by a crazed psychopath.
There have also been American films that depicted pimps as coming from the elite of society, such as the character portrayed by Eddie Albert in Robert Aldrich's film Hustle (1975).
The 1999 documentary American Pimp features interviews with American pimps and prostitutes.
In television, notable pimps include Antonio Fargas as "Huggy Bear" in the 1970s TV show Starsky and Hutch, who was also a police informant and was played primarily for humorous effect. This role was later recreated in the 2004 film with Snoop Dogg in the role. Eddie Murphy also portrayed a pimp called Velvet Jones in a recurring Saturday Night Live comedy sketch.
The imagery of the pimp lifestyle has been popularized by hip-hop culture since the 1980s. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Ice Cube, and Too $hort paid obvious tribute to pimping within their lyrics. Many hip-hop artists have embraced a modern version of the pimp image in their music videos by including entourages of scantily-clad women, flashy jewelry (known as bling-bling) and luxury automobiles.
In the late 1990's and earlier part of this decade, Charles Wright portrayed a character entitled "The Godfather", a pimp character in the WWF/WWE. This character helped popularize the slogan "pimpin' ain't easy"; this is also a song by rapper Big Daddy Kane.
Pimping and prostitution have also been themes in the popular culture of other nations, such as China, France, and Russia.
In Shakespeare's Hamlet some contend that the word fishmonger (someone who sells "fish", a modern euphemism for vagina perhaps in use at the time) was in turn a euphemism for a pimp.[1][2]
The term "pimp" is sometimes used figuratively, as in poverty pimp.
Pimp can also be used as a verb such as "You're pimped up!" or "Pimp my ride". The latter example refers to customizing an automobile, made popular by the show Pimp My Ride on MTV. It can also be used as an adjective connoting the same, i.e. "Man, that car's pimp!" This was originally a derogatory term, implying that the subject was overly decorated and tacky (referring to the stereotype of pimps with excessive jewelry, flashy clothes, or brightly colored cars with animal-print upholstery and crystal chandeliers). It was eventually reclaimed as an American slang term for being unique, "cool", or socially desirable, in much the same way as the term "ghetto fabulous".
Pimp costumes, in recent years, have been marketed during Halloween and/or used in costume-themed parties either as a throwback to the 1970s and/or entertainment purposes.
Extracted from: en.wikipedia.org
