OK, so in one of my comments I mentioned that Rice/Ricer to me means you drive an Import (save German made/etc). I don't see it as a negative as it has become to be known. I call myself a Ricer and have no problem being called a Ricer. IMO it is not a bad thing that it has become known for...
IE this junk
To me, this is not "Rice" this is just Stupid/Moronic/Ugly/etc...
What got me thinking is last quarter's S3 Mag. I'll try to find a link for you guys to read.
What do you say???
Here is the article that inspired this thread:
Pulled from S3 Magazine Issue 18
Defense of a Ricer
by Jonathan Wooley, Editor S3 Mag.
1) If your reading this mag, then your a f**king ricer.
2) That's alright.
I'm sick of hearing people talk down about rice...and ricers. I think it's time for us to start taking that word, and turning it around positive again. Rice is what we do. Rice is about taking Japanese cars, and modifying the shit out of them in ways that was never intended. It's about making them obscene and unreasonable. Making them scream. Making them turn heads. Getting bullshit tickets, for stuff that's so awesome it's somehow against the law.
Some of you youngins may not realize - that rice was a name given to ALL of us by the domestic crowd. Back in the mid 90s, when imports started poping up with pencil-tip exhausts, dark tint, 15 inch subs, and three-spoke rims... the usually older muscle car guys would call us kids a bunch of rice-burners (aka: ricers). Back then - we were ALL ricers. But we were just happy to get aknowledged at all... because that meant we officially had something stirring. If you were driving a car from japan, you were a ricer - point blank. That was our subculture in the car scene... and we were proud to own it. It was a subculture that we were still building. And as it grew, the water-cooled Volkswagens, Bimmers, Audis started meshing with the rice culture, and we became 'Imports'. Then, American 4-bangers started poping up with potential, and it went to 'Sport Compact'. And then all of a sudden, our subculture got big enough in size to start comparing ourselves to - ourselves. Building a hierarchy. That's where the trouble starts. Too big in numbers for one tribe, so we just started sizing each other up.
But - the current 2010 forum-type definition of the word Rice is a terrible word to describe what 'rice' actually is. Infact, rice has no real definition whatsoever. It usually stands for something - yucky. It's just a word we throw around like idiots, and it doesn't really pinpoint anything. I mean for real. what is rice? Honestly, we're all guilty of throwing that word around, myself included. And 99% of us use it condescendingly. But do we really know what the f**k we're talking about when we say it? That's my issue.
Because being a ricer is NOT negative. Not to me anyway. And I know I'm in the minority with that, but I wear 'ricer' like a badge of honor. If you call me a ricer, I'm proud of it. I grin, because rice is what I grew up around. It's what I looked up to, what I wanted to be apart of, and over the years... what I just kind of became without realizing.
And I think these days, people call cars rice for the wrong reasons. They don't even know what it is, or what they're really trying to describe. Maybe it's just too bright of a color, trying too hard, or slow, or out of date, or has a bodykit. Or maybe it's more about the driver than the actual car. Maybe the dude revs up alot at meets, and thinks his shit is way more awesome than it really is. That can be annoying, when someone has a slow car and they think it's hot. But a lot of stuck up import guys misunderstand these dudes. Most of the time when they are reving at you on the street, it's to say what's up. It's their way of saying that they dig your car. And you just blow them off for it. Remember - things are different outside the world of forums, and not all car guys live in that world.
If a car is out of date and not maintained - that's not rice. Not in my book anyway. That would just qualify as a piece of shit car that's out of date and needs help. If someone is acting like a dumbass at a meet or on the street - that's not a ricer. That's just a dumbass. The world is full of 'em. So call it what it is.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck - it's a f**king duck. It's not a ricer!
Calling cars rice is ignorant. It's like seeing a lazy guy, and calling him black. Funny - but do you see how you can f**k that up?
If we're going to keep calling cars rice, we at least need to come up with a better word that fits. Call it-Mexican...(joking of course).
And while I'm being stereotypical kind of guy - if you walk up to a dude in a donk and say, "You straight hood!" He's gonna say, "Yeeeah!" and show you his gold teeth. If you see a dude in an old 'led sled' Mercury with chops and a greasy white t-shirt, and call him a greaser - he's gonna be proud to own that name. These guys built these cars, to show the world who they are, and what they represent. So why are we so chicken-shit to own up to what we are. We're f**king ricers. So why do we keep using the word with a negative connotation? Why do all of us think that we are 'better than ricers'.
Maybe, just maybe, we're the OG ricers of the pack...the guys that do shit right.
Look - being an import guy is about being bold. That's how it all started. Doing obnoxious shit, but taking it very seriously, and repping it with pride and confidence. And things change and progress over time...but your roots are always your roots. Maybe we're not running molded "Vader" bodykits aqnymore. Maybe we're not doing white interiors. But for example, we ARE running wheel fitments that are ridiculously impractical. And we're doing it for no real reason other than - it looks sick.
You spend insane amounts of money on stance, your tires last as long as your milk, you damage body panels, and you don't go any faster. Thats shit is rice! I'm gonna call it like I see it; that's your modern-day ricer. But be proud.
We are going to stupid lengths to tuck and paint our engine bays all different colors...just to roll hard inside and out. No stone left unturned. You don't go faster with a pretty engine bay, it's harder to diagnose problems, and it's more stressful to work on. But the shit's dope...so we do it.
This is modern-day rice. But it's cool!
And dude - the body panels covered in stickers. Front lips, front bumpers and hoods. I love it, but you KNOW-that 90% of that trend started, because someone got a gash, chip, or scrape on their car from daily use on the street, and said, "F**k it, I'm not painting this damn lip again". And just covered it up with a sticker. And then said, "That looks kinda tight" , and then put another one beside it...and so on and so on. So - instead of fixing a blemish, we cover them with a sticker?! RICE RICE RICE!!! You don't see other car guys doing that kind of stuff to other cars/trucks (except maybe rat rods).
Be proud of it damnit! Because we took that defect, and turned it into a trend; a style.
Not everything you do has to make perfect sence in practical application. If that were the case, we would all drive a prius or a tahoe and call it a day. Sometimes, as ricers, we do shit-just because the shit is cool. End of story. There's nothing wrong with doing shit to get a reaction...so long as you like what you're doing.
And it takes a pretty big sac to make your car stand out boldy, and then drive it with confidence, and not hide inside of it. Alot of you guys do just enough to fit in, but not enough to make yourself stand out. You're scared of your car. But check it out pansies - you only live once. And someday, you're gonna be telling all these gas powered street racer car stories to grandkids...bragging about how f**king awesome you did it. And they're gonna want to see a picture. Is this picture gonna back up your story? Are they gonna say, "WHOOOA!" Or are they gonna say, "meh." Your call.
If I see a RHD purple EG hatch with a turquoise engine bay tucked, shaved, swapped, and hoodless-I'm calling him a ricer. If I see a guy in a 350z absolutely dragging its balls down the street, with beat fenders and zero offset 20's-I'm calling that dude a ricer. And if I see Andy Sapp ripping sideways down 17th street bridge in his BMW-I'm calling that homeless looking bastard a ricer too...German car and all. But I'm doing it with love! I'm doing it...because I acknowledge it when I see one of my own.
I'm not telling you to agree with me. Just think about it. And know that if I'm calling you a ricer...I'm not bullying you. I'm backing you up.
*Mods, if there is any profanity, please mod. I tried to skim through it but mainly a copy/paste*
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