Pink Gators, My Detroit Players

The first verse of The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Hypnotize’ includes the line “Pink gators, my Detroit players” which was apparently a reference to his favorite pink alligator shoes and the good people from The Broadway, an upscale clothing store in downtown Detroit where he bought them. Pepper Martin owned The Broadway since opening it in 1975, and is undoubtedly one of the ‘Detroit players’ Biggie was talking about, and thanks to this Reddit thread, there’s proof it back up the claims. The best part of this thread is Pepper’s daughter, who posted the pic and was like three when it was taken, learning what a well respected guy her dad was in the fashion business in real time.

“Oh man, I’ve worked in downtown Detroit for almost 15 years now, and your dad is a legend. Between working down there and playing a lot of poker with some long time city locals, everyone knew your dad and his store! He was everyone’s friend and even in the worst of times and when some bad things were happening in Detroit, no one messed with that store because they knew Pepper was cool with everyone. You didn’t mess with The Broadway no matter what.” Read more >