Stacey is one of the names LL Cool J mentioned on his 1990 hit, “Around the Way Girl.”
It’s unclear if he meant Stacey Dash, but she comes from that era of women known for their natural beauty.
That’s exactly what the “Clueless” actress gave in new photos, trading her usual polished glam for a look straight out of the Bronx she grew up in.
Dash appeared in an Instagram Reel, giving her followers a blast from the past.
The 59-year-old sported a new look that has fans wondering if she’s going for a full rebrand after months of sharing videos of her dancing to music from classic Black artists.
She wore a dark indigo halter-style denim vest with a plunging neckline, fastened with oversized silver buttons. She paired it with high-waisted medium-wash jeans.
Her hair was styled in long Fulani braids accented with white beads and cowrie shells, and her makeup was glowing with soft pink lip gloss.
Holding a red lollipop near her mouth, Dash danced playfully to the Queens rapper’s chart-topping song, angling one hip to the side with a playful but seductive smile.
Her caption read simply, “Around the Bronx girl.”
The post pulled in more than 73,000 likes and thousands of comments, and the reaction has been anything but unified.
On her own Instagram page, most fans showed up with love.
“Stacey always been that girl,” one person wrote. Another gushed, “Thank you for sharing your wonderful post Stacey because you look absolutely gorgeous and so hot!”
Over on Hollywood Unlocked’s page, where the same clip was reposted, the mood shifted.
“Can’t be MAGA and a round the way girl,” one commenter wrote. Someone else asked, “Who is the target audience, maga?” Another joked, “Looks like cosplay to me,” while a different user cracked, “Now what would Trump say if he found out?”
Another wrote, “SMH She continues to give Brittany Spears vibes.”
Honestly, it's a little too late for this rebrand 😭😭 https://t.co/dSas6qnqPB
— Ichigo Niggasake (@SomaKazima2) July 9, 2026
One took a harsher swing, claiming something was “not right with her upstairs” now that she’s older. Someone else joked, “Guess she got her black card back lol.”
But not everyone piled on.
Under her post, rapper Lupe Fiasco, who once name-checked Dash in his own lyrics, showed up with love, writing, “Man listen…in another life (lock and key emoji).”
Another commenter simply offered, “Say what you want, but Stacey Dash is still fine.”
The “cosplay” jab may be the least fair of the bunch.
Despite not having a discernible New York accent, Dash was born and raised in the Bronx, the same borough that birthed hip-hop.
Also, her ties to the culture run deeper than one viral video. She’s the cousin of Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash, appeared in Kanye West’s “All Falls Down” and Rick Ross’ “Super High,” and has been referenced by rappers from Redman to Kendrick Lamar.
Her complicated relationship with Black audiences traces back to a decade as the face of conservative media.
Dash first drew scrutiny in 2012, backing Mitt Romney over Barack Obama, then doubled down in 2014 as a Fox News contributor.
In 2016, she went further, telling “Fox & Friends” that BET and the NAACP Image Awards should be eliminated, and that year she campaigned openly for Donald Trump. Fox let her contract lapse in 2017, and in 2018, she made a short-lived run for Congress before dropping out a month later.
Dash’s position began to shift after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. She has since said supporting Trump put her in a box, admitting she said things she now regrets.
She also has spoken publicly about sobriety and addiction recovery, telling fans the version of her people saw on cable news isn’t who she is anymore.
Her personal life has drawn nearly as much scrutiny.
Dash has been married multiple times, mostly to white men, fueling speculation she was distancing herself from her Black identity, rumors that intensified alongside unproven claims she had lightened her skin, allegations she has never addressed directly.
Still, she has insisted there is no single way to be Black, a point she made during her stint on “College Hill: Celebrity Edition,” even as she admitted she never quite clicked with the younger cast and eventually exited.
Largely out of the political spotlight these days, Dash spends most of her time online rather than on a soundstage or cable news set.
Her Instagram has become a running diary of dance videos, skin care routines, and playful skits, a far cry from the segments that once defined her public image.
But no matter how far removed she gets from that chapter, every new video still gets read through a MAGA lens. Fair or not, the internet clearly remembers everything.
