Aug. 20--The White Sox logo gets a lot of exposure in the hit biopic "Straight Outta Compton" -- too bad it's the wrong logo for the era.
In the movie, rapper Eazy-E, played by actor Jason Mitchell, sports a black Sox cap with diagonal white Old English script spelling "Sox," set in 1986. But back then, Sox players wore caps featuring a more basic font and a red-white-and-blue color scheme.
But the latter look probably wouldn't have jibed with fans' image of the members of N.W.A, who at the height of their fame were often cloaked in Sox or Oakland Raiders gear -- anything all-black. Ice Cube also favored Sox caps.
A Sox official on Tuesday discussed the group's (and hip-hop culture's) fascination with the current Sox logo.
"When the White Sox introduced our new logo and color scheme, the popular black and white look immediately enjoyed cross-cultural appeal," Scott Reifert, the club's senior vice president of communications, said via email. "As such, it has long been popular among all of our fans, including the hip-hop community that stretches back to the early days of NWA, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E. That trend continues today with young artists like Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar. Without having seen the movie, we can't speak to the specifics. However, the White Sox black cap and logo, as seen in the movie trailer, was introduced in September 1990 by the organization and anecdotally, we understand that the White Sox logo was part of the group's look throughout their successful music careers."
plthompson@tribpub.com
