June 26, 2025 • 54 mins
From the heart of Harlem to the red carpet at the Met Gala, Kwasi Kessie’s journey is stitched together with culture, community, and style. In this episode of Mixed and Mastered, Jeffrey Sledge talks to the the stylist, runner, and creative force behind Lace Magazine and Kill Off Season. He shares how Harlem shaped his eye, how Foot Locker opened industry doors, and how working with BET and A$AP Ferg cemented his voice in fashion.
Kwasi talks sneaker culture, storytelling through style, and why running the NYC Marathon means more than just crossing the finish line. Whether he’s dressing icons or lacing up for his next race, Kwasi is repping Harlem all the way.
Mixed and Mastered is produced and distributed by Merrick Studio, and hosted by music industry veteran, Jeffrey Sledge. Tune in to the discussion on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you catch your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @MixedandMasteredPod to join the conversation and support the show at https://mixedandmasteredpod.buzzsprout.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This week on Mixed and Mastered, I'm talking with
Kwazi Kesey, celebrity stylist,designer, brand consultant for
Adidas Runners NYC and captainof culture.
Starting at Foot Locker, kwaziwent on to style the host of 106
and Park, along with A$AP Fergand Noah Liles for the Met Gala.
He's the force behind the KillOff Season clothing brand and
(00:23):
Fit Check on Instagram.
When he's not styling icons,he'soff season clothing brand
and fit check on Instagram.
When he's not styling icons,he's running marathons and
repping Harlem.
This is Mixed and Mastered withKwazi Kesey.
Welcome to Mixed and Mastered,the podcast where the stories of
the music industry come to life.
I'm Jeffrey Sledge, bringingyou real conversations with the
(00:47):
people who have shaped the soundof music.
We're pulling back the curtainon what it takes to make it in
the music business.
These are the stories you won'thear anywhere else, told by the
people who live them.
This is Mixed and Mastered.
This week on Mixed and MasteredQuasi Kesey how you man.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Bless man, I'm good, I'm good.
How's everything?
It's been a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
I'm good man.
It's been a minute, man.
It's been a minute I watch.
You know we talk via socialmedia, but it's a minute since
we actually talked, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Absolutely, absolutely.
I was telling my friend uh,right before this call, I'm like
yo, we go back, we go back, wego back, we go back.
Quite a ways, man, yeah let'sget into it.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Man so born and raised in harlem, yeah uh yo, I,
when I was watching, I wasresearching this and I was
watching like I didn't knowwhere on riverside drive, did
you?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
stay.
So I was on the 779 RiversideDrive apartment 853, the fifth
floor, so that's on 157th andRiverside, so technically that's
Washington.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Oh, those buildings.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, yeah, it was like a big plant pot took up the
whole street, so 157th andRiverside so it was like a
cul-de-sac almost.
But yeah, technically it'sWashington Heights because
anything above 155th isWashington Heights.
So that cemetery kind of waslike the transition from
(02:17):
Washington Heights to Harlem.
But yeah, I grew up there upuntil around like 13 years old
and moved to the Bronx.
So I like to tell people I'm byborough, so Bronx and Harlem is
where I resided all my life.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yo, it was crazy to be.
I lived in 730 Riverside.
Get out of here.
I was on the corner on 150th730 Riverside.
When you said Riverside I waslike what.
You was right up the street,bro.
I know exactly where you was at.
You was getting money.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Riverside.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Chill, because Riverside, honestly, was like it
was a different world comparedto Broadway, amsterdam, st Nick
you know what I mean.
It was just like, especiallywhen they built Riverbank, it
just created a whole transitionand just cleaned up the whole
neighborhood, but Riverside wasalways very ethnically diverse.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Age diverse.
It was really dope, really dope.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, the drive is different, like you said, once
you go right up the block toBroadway it's a whole other
planet Right.
I didn't realize we lived thatclose to each other.
Like yeah, I was right downthis block.
I didn't know.
We'll talk about the storiesabout the area offline.
Yeah, so I got to ask you thisone question before we get
deeper into the interview.
(03:35):
For sure, I got to ask thisquestion you ready?
Yeah, who got the best JoloffRice?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Oh, ghana, ghana got it.
There's no debate.
We've won the jollof wars.
Based in new york city that'straveling across the world shout
out to my brother, abdul um andhis team.
They put on a jollof wars.
We've won the jollof wars interms of the rice category three
straight years, or fourstraight years, probably even
(04:02):
more, but Ghana has the bestjollof, because I think what it
is is.
Nigeria's jollof is very smoky.
It has like a smoky flavor to itand Ghana is, I feel, a little
bit more tomato based and Ithink it's more palatable for,
like that, American palate and,like you know, more diverse,
(04:23):
more diverse palates willgravitate more towards the.
Uh, the guy named, but guynamed Joloff is Ely.
I'm actually going to uh, mybro, um chef Eric Ejepong.
He has a spot in DC.
I'm going there this weekendfor Juneteenth just to go and
check out the Joloff.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So, yeah, it's up.
It's Ely.
Yeah, so tell me about, aboutyour experience growing up in
just to go and check out theJollof Wow.
It's up, it's up, it's up, it'selite.
Yeah, so tell me about yourexperience growing up in Harlem.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Oh man, harlem is a magical place for me because my
mom is she's super Black, likeshe's like pro-Black, pro-us,
knowing the history, having thebooks, and then my sister grew
into but she's pretty much ahistorian.
(05:09):
So, um, harlem growing up wasbeautiful because it created a
sense of pride within who I amas a person and also a sense of
fashion sense.
Just like Harlem was a placewhere you never wanted to look
like everybody else, like thatwasn't even an option.
It was like I want to be alittle different, like I might
add a different shoestring to mykick so I might get a go
somewhere and get a differentbelt.
(05:31):
But I never want to look likeeverybody else.
I want to stand out in my ownway, I want to add my touch of
flair and I feel like that wasimportant in my development
because as kids, you know, oryoung people, people just want
to like group themselvestogether and look themselves
together and look like themasters so they fit in.
But Harlem was a place whereyou wanted to stand out, you
wanted to peacock, you wanted tohave this energy about yourself
(05:53):
so that people could recognizeyou as the fly one or the risk
taker or the jiggy guy.
That's what I reallyappreciated and loved about
Harlem, brought up in Harlem,but it was magical man.
Just the people that I was ableto work with, like the Fergs,
the Belchezes, the TianaTaylor's it was just like it was
(06:17):
a melting pot of creativity, offashion, sense, of exploration,
and everybody was just goingfor it, like if you danced, you
really danced.
If you got fly, you really gotfly.
If you got money, you reallygot money.
Everybody was taking it to theback.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
It was very extreme.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
But in a good way.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It was very extreme.
Your voice is echoing.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
You got me, am I good ?
Okay, okay, shoot, hold on asec.
Yep, oh, you got me.
I think so, you don't.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Am I good?
Okay, okay, it's just on my end.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Okay, cool, cool, cool.
Okay, Okay, cool, all right,all right, cool.
The funny thing about Harlemyou bring up Tiana Taylor, who I
remember seeing around when shewas a kid.
You know and a you know and alot of you don't know Chris
Brown spent a little time inHarlem.
He lived in Harlem for like two.
See, you don't know that.
That's how come him and Tianaknow each other that he used to
(07:12):
live I think he lived down byMinnesotan or something like
that, but he stayed in Harlemfor a little bit as a kid and
that's how he really got hisdance skills up and all that
type of stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, yeah he was.
I feel like he was around likelower Harlem, like around
Douglas, like 110th, 108th.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Oh, he was down that way, okay.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yup, yup.
But he used to hang out withlike Cry Baby, who was like a
dancer, who is a dancer, greatdancer coming up, and I was
actually working with ChrisBrown early under the guise of
Mike B, my mentor.
He brought me into the game but, yeah, chris was in Harlem.
(07:48):
I feel like a lot of talentedpeople spend a little time in
Harlem, get a little sauce, alittle energy, a little
vibration.
You know what I'm saying keepit moving, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
One more thing about Harlem, and we're going to move
on.
But the thing about Harlem thatI love, what I used to do when I
moved to Harlem in 92 and whatI used to do on a Saturday I
would just walk Harlem.
I would just walk up Broadway,go down 145th, I'd go to um, I'd
go to uh, down 145th, I'd turnon like 8th or 7th and I just
(08:20):
walk, walk in between the blocks, you know the cookouts, the
block parties, whatever wasgoing on, and that really like
gave me, you know, obviously to125th and then below that and
just walk around, walk aroundand you really got a sense of
Harlem because, even thoughbecause people get confused
Harlem is still a neighborhood,it's not a borough.
You know what I'm saying?
People are kind of it's likeBrooklyn, it's a neighborhood
(08:45):
and all this amazing, like yousay, creativity and amazingly
talented people come from this.
Basically 45 block neighborhood.
Yeah, me and Mickey alwaysargue about this.
Do you cut Harlem off at 45thor 55th, 55th, 55th?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
It's cut off at 55th and then it turns into
Washington Heights.
Yeah, that where all thosechurches are and the highway
that kind of like separates.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Harlem.
So tell me about how you gotinto, where'd you get your sense
of style and where'd you getyour style bug from?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Wow, so my sense of style starts at home.
It started actually from my mom.
My mom, I think among hersiblings, was called like the
bougie the bougie sister, okay,okay.
So she was shop for myself andmy sister at like Lord and
Taylor A&S.
I remember growing up shoppingwas like an event for us.
It was like Lord, taylor A&S.
I remember growing up shoppingwas like an event for us.
It was like, you know, we'regoing to school or we just made
(09:50):
seeds, whatever.
It was a big deal.
You know what I mean.
And my mother took pride in theway that we looked, I guess
because we were a representationof her.
So we always had like greatpieces.
I look at pictures of my sistermyself growing up and my mom.
My sister as like a youngperson, had a leather red skirt
(10:11):
and like like just crazy pieces.
I'm like yo, that's like wewere fly.
But it really graduated when Iwent to church.
When I was going to church andI would wear suits, so all the
women would say how cute I wasand I thought it was the clothes
that made me cute.
So I told my mom I'm like Ma, Iwant to wear suits to school.
So I was in pre-K kindergartenwearing full two-piece suits to
(10:36):
school and everybody else wasdressed.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
What were the kids saying?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I don't even think.
I don't remember what they, howthey, what they used to say.
I don't remember that much.
But I remember feeling verylike, confident and prestigious
in my suits because I stood out.
You know, that's going back toharlem.
I stood out so and the reasonwhy my mom took so much pride in
the way that we we dress,because my mom is an older mom.
(11:01):
She's now she just turned 80 inmarch so yeah she said her um,
like her uncles, they only woresuits, like that.
You know she was like farmerswore jeans and overalls and
nobody ever wore sneakers,because that was that was only
for gym class, like even dad.
But dan talks about that andthey from the same age and same
era, um, and she grew up inharlem as well how I'm in the
(11:23):
bronx so she kind of instilledthat as in us as um, and she
grew up in Harlem as well,harlem in the Bronx.
So she kind of instilled thatas in us as kids and she didn't
even know it.
So then as I matured I startedlike really like dressing,
dressing.
I remember I was in elementaryschool wearing suede jackets
with matching Timbs.
My mother was actually doingthat too.
Yeah, I was wearing I wouldhave on a wheat suede jacket
with wheat Timbs in elementaryschool in the early 80s, 90s.
(11:45):
So like that's how I waspulling up.
And then it's like I graduatedinto high school and I had like
a love of sneakers, but itstarted at home with my mom.
And then, you know, harlem hadthat influence of wanting to
stand out and be fly and youknow that competition that
happens within you, knowneighborhoods where you want to
be the fly one within.
You know neighborhoods whereyou want to be the fly one, and
also my sister.
I got to give credit to mysister, mariam Masai.
(12:06):
She really made me want to belike different.
She would always tell me like,don't look like everybody else.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
You got to center yourself from everybody else.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
So again it's that constant conversation of looking
different.
And my sister's four yearsolder than me and she would
venture off to like Soho.
She was in a village, she wasgoing to Newport Mall in Jersey
to get no tax.
So me, being a younger brother,tagging along my mother saying
yo, go with your sister, I'mgoing to Soho.
So I'm seeing the Mesa Hiltons,I'm seeing the Little Kims, I'm
(12:41):
going to 8th Street where guysis in the Benzes and they you
know what I'm saying we going tothe Benzes, and they you know
what I'm saying we go in theatrium, we shop in that.
That there was like an Africanstore on 8th Street.
It was like UFO, rugged soul.
So my world was so much biggerat home because of my sister and
she opened me up to thoseexperiences.
And then when I would come tohigh school I would have pieces.
(13:01):
They'd come to high school, Iwould have pieces.
They'd be like yo, where yougetting?
Where you getting thesecolorways of sneakers?
I'm like yo, I go to jersey,newport mall, foot action they
didn't have a foot action in thecity.
Oh, I'm going to atrium to go.
And this is when atrium soldmecca and iceberg, nichin.
You know, I'm saying so like Igotta credit my mom and my
sister for really instillingthat fashion bug in me, and you
know, growing up in harlem andthen, um, just creating that
(13:23):
energy of like flyness andjiggingness yeah, yeah, atrium
was a legendary spot.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Now, now, for those who know, no, no, now atrium is
kiss right right uh, atrium waslike atrium on a Saturday.
Oh, I said this on another.
So I think I was talking toTerrell Terrell Jones.
I interviewed him too and Isaid I hope somebody was filming
Soho on Saturdays back then,Because the people that are now
(13:48):
running fashion, like theVirgils and like you said, and
the Tiana's and the Misa's andeven the Telfairs, that's who
the kids were walking aroundHarlem back then.
Excuse me, Soho.
Back then they were just walkingaround on Saturday and now
these kids have become men likeyourself.
They've grown up and now theyhave really taken control of the
fashion industry.
(14:09):
It's a beautiful thing to seewhat that turned into from just
being on a Saturday andeverybody just walking around,
tons of kids just walking aroundstyling.
I got the Rick Owens orwhatever.
It was crazy, it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
What's ironic it's crazy, it was crazy, it was like
it was.
It's still.
What's ironic is it still hasthe energy, like I feel like, in
terms of fashion, that's stillthe fashion capital of New York
City, like even it's so much, infact, that the, the fashion
houses have moved down there,you know, first starting with
Prada and Louis and Gucci, likeeverybody, celine.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
First starting with Prada and Louis and Gucci Mark
Jacobs was down there.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Mark Jacobs yeah, so it's like you know it still has
the energy that you walk downthere you're going to see like
the flyest people, you're goingto see celebrities.
You know what I mean.
But back in the days that shitwas remarkable man and I was a
teenager going down thererocking.
You know, these are young, areyoung adults, adults and seeing
(15:06):
the stylists and seeing thecelebrities and like even the
people that worked in the storeswere like semi-celebrities
because they were helping all ofthese people.
And then that was also the boomof the sneaker era.
So you had all these crazysneaker stores.
You had nort recon, classickicks, clientele, uh, uh, a life
you had, like it was dave'squality me.
Uh, you you had like it wasDave's quality and me you had a
(15:27):
time was had.
It was a beautiful time.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
What a time to be alive.
So, tell me about your firstkind of foray into styling was
through Mike B, who you'vealready mentioned, yes sir, who
was at that time styling all thestuff through Bad Boy, yeah,
and so tell me how y'all linkedup and how that, how you you
know you got into stylingbecause I, when I interviewed
terrell, I said this too likepeople kind of don't I think it
(15:51):
was more now maybe but peoplestill don't quite really know
what stylists do.
They kind of say I'm a stylist,but like you don't do you
really know what that is andwhat that entails.
And you'll go ahead yeah, forsure.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Um shout out to my brother tyrell harlem, harlem
legend.
Um killing in the fashion game.
I I actually got into stylingthrough mike b, as you said.
Um, and I was working atfootlocker again.
My love of sneakers brought meto working at footlocker on 34th
street.
Uh, the corporate headquarters,the big dog, and I was working
(16:26):
there and I see Mike, he got onthese coach leather LeBrons, the
high school colorway, the greenwith the tan.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
And I'm like he had them early and I'm like yo, who
is this guy?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Because I know my sneakers.
He had them like.
It was like at least six tothree months earlier than they
were supposed to come out.
And I was like so I channeledmy mom.
My mom is a talker and I wasn'treally a talker at that time.
So I channeled my mom.
I'm like, all right, I'm goingto talk to this guy and see what
he does.
So I talked to Mike B.
I'm like yo.
He's like yo, I'm shopping.
I'm shopping for some bad boyartists.
(16:58):
I'm a stylist.
At that time I didn'tunderstand that verbiage.
I didn't even know what thatreally meant, but I knew it had
something to do with fashion andsneakers.
So I was with it.
So he's like yeah, I'm doingsome shopping.
I'm like yo, they got moresneakers than Soho.
He was like yo, can you show me?
And I'm like hell, yeah, I canshow you.
I literally I got the stripeson full, out the stripes I
(17:21):
talked to my manager, maria.
It was a dead day.
It was dead.
I'm like yo, she knew who hewas.
I was like yo, can, I, can Ileave with mike to show him some
sneakers downtown?
She's like, yeah, now this isreal life.
So I leave with mike v, we godowntown, we do some shopping.
Um, I think we went toclientele on lafayette it was on
(17:42):
the corner lafayette like andum, get him some of Lafayette
and get him some sneakers.
They didn't have the sneakersin it that I got for his artist
in that size.
It was the MS-95 Greek or GreeceOlympic colorway.
They were actually about tocome back out this year.
They had, like, a rainbowcolorway and he was like, damn,
I need a 13.
So he was going to Miami tostyle a video.
(18:03):
That's where he was shotway.
And he was like, damn, I need a13.
So he was going to Miami to, to, to style a video.
That's what he was shot before.
And I was like, yo, when youget back, I'm going to have you
a size 13.
Cause this is what I do I'm asneaker guy.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
So he comes back.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I got the 13.
He, he gives me the money.
I'm like, nah, I don't wantyour money, I want an
opportunity, I want aninternship assistant, something.
He's like yo, I got you.
So I'm on the phone, he givesme his number, you know, and
then I'm on the phone justhitting him day and night for
like a month.
Literally no response.
(18:34):
So eventually I run into one ofmy OGs at Harlem Mo and he's
like yo, I'm like I'm trying toget this internship at Bad Boy.
And he's like yo, who youtrying to intern for?
I'm like Mike B.
He's like Mike B, he calls himinstantly, right there in my
face.
He calls him.
He's like yo, give my littleman an opportunity.
(18:56):
Man, he a good cable dude.
And I'm like and then the nextday I get a call on my bad boy
intern and like, literally itwas like overnight, but that was
my introduction into styling.
It was through my, my myknowledge of sneakers.
I like to tell like youngpeople, like, try and figure out
what your superpower is.
At that time my superpower waslike sneakers.
(19:17):
I was working at full locker atthe time.
I wasn't creating my sneakermagazine yet, but I just I knew
about sneakers.
And because I knew aboutsneakers, I saw he had on the
the, the high school coach,leather LeBron's.
I knew he was somebody, I knewhe had them early I got to tap
in.
But yeah, that's that's how Igot into styling.
And then I was interning in forMike and then it turned into an
(19:39):
assistant role and then webecame the fashion stylist men's
fashion stylist at BET andthrough that time we had worked
with Chris Brown, as you know,we worked with uh, it was like
Neo Ludacris, jamie Foxx, it wasit was, it was.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
You did Bow Wow, of course, because he was yeah,
yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
But that was me, that was me solo.
I eventually, during that BETtime, I eventually became the
men's fashion stylist and Istarted working with Terrence J
Bow Wow, then I started workingwith Ferg, and the list goes on
and on.
But yeah, those early days waswild.
Those Chris Brown budgets wascrazy.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, jai was giving out some money.
I always ask people tell me,without getting anybody in
trouble or anything like that,you know, of course you could
leave names out, you know, tellme one, I don't even like to say
crazy one spicy story aboutStalin at Bad Boy.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Spicy story about Stalin at Bad Boy.
I don't have spicy storiesbecause I'm really trying to
think.
I would just say this becauseMike always was, like he's so
morally sound and so Jamaican,raised by Jamaican parents, not
(20:57):
fucking around so he always madesure I was in the best space as
possible for me to succeed.
But I would say this that hourswould be crazy, so like I would,
I would be there at seven inthe morning and sometimes I
would leave at three at nightand I'm an intern and getting
(21:18):
$40 a week and I would let my$40 stack up so I'll get like
160 and I think I was born.
But yeah, it was.
I just, I was just.
For me it was like anopportunity of a lifetime, like
working with these incrediblysuccessful literally at the time
, like fashion icons, like, yeah, like Dow, you had Max, you had
(21:41):
Mike B, you had Jameel Spencer,you had.
It was just like it was lit.
So for me and my adolescentyoung mind, I was just like
happy to be there and over time,like at the time at one point I
was at school full time.
At LIU I'm working atBloomingdale's part time, night
(22:03):
and weekend.
I still have my job at FootLocker because I didn't quit.
I had worked there on theweekends, I wanted my discount
and I'm interning at Bad Boy.
So my schedule was crazy.
But I was a college kid so Iwasn't tired or nothing, I was
just going, yeah, because theopportunities were crazy.
But yeah, I would just say thatthe schedule was crazy.
(22:26):
Sometimes, like from 7, Iliterally be there at 7 am, I
may leave If.
If someone has to travel, itmay be I may be leaving at 3.
And I got to be back there at 7.
You know what I mean.
So it was but yeah, but I don'thave any like spicy stories,
yeah, Nothing crazy.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
So tell me about.
Tell me about the um, the B.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Oh, the BET experience was incredible.
I got to give a huge shout outto Texana Watts she's the BET
wardrobe supervisor and it waseven from like outside of the
wardrobe department.
That was one thing, but like,even like the on set team,
(23:17):
everybody was like family.
It was beautiful.
So yeah, it was.
It was a great time.
What it taught me was to bealways be super prepared,
because live televisionsometimes we would shoot three
shows in a day and one would belive.
But live television, somebodymay spill something, something
may get ripped, and I rememberwhat I remember most is running
(23:37):
up and down to the wardrobedepartment.
For some reason was on thethird floor and the set was on
the first floor.
So I remember running up anddown stairs, getting stuff lint
rollers, but it's just likebeing prepared and being ready
for whatever happens.
But it was a beautiful time.
Texana Watts was an amazingboss, leader, queen.
(23:58):
It was one of my favorite jobsthat I've ever one of my
favorite few jobs that I've everhad.
It was so dope.
Everybody from the top all theway down, from Stephen Hill to
Connie to Rick Grimes, Everybodywas like really cool, really
easygoing.
Yeah, I loved it there.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I loved it.
Did you work the BET Awards tooat that time, or you just
stayed in New York?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
BET Awards.
We was flying to LA dressing.
Remember, at one point therewere multiple hosts so they
would have a bow-wow.
Show you the prints.
Oh yeah, but I was, I was only.
I was the men's um wardrobestylist, but yeah, we was.
Bet Awards was crazy when theywould do like, um, the final
show was wild for 106 because itwas like it was AJ, it was Big
(24:46):
Tigger, it was uh, bow Wow, itwas Terrence Shorty, the Prince.
It was like I probably had like15 talent that day.
It was wild and I also did likethe news shows.
So I would do the news shows, Iwould all of the like live
programming from the network.
I was responsible for dressingthe male talent, which was
really great.
(25:07):
So I got like diversity fromdressing men in suits to street
wear and everything in between.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Yeah, it was yeah, and we'll be right back ready to
launch your podcast.
Merrick studios offerscomprehensive services, from
concept development and seamlessproduction to strategic
marketing and monetization.
Let your story take the mic,visit merrickcreativecom studios
and let's get to work masterthe art of lyricism with
pendulum mink, the first schoolfor rap.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Learn elite techniques.
Visit meritcreativecom slashstudios and let's get to work.
Master the art of lyricism withPendulum Inc, the first school
for rap.
Learn elite techniques throughimmersive lessons, real world
exercises and guidance from hiphop icons.
This is where MCs sharpen theirskills and glow boldly on the
mic.
Ready to level up, visitPendulumInccom and start your
journey today.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
And now back to our show.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
And is this around the time you started the laced
magazine?
Yeah, this is around the timewe met.
Yeah, yeah, so actually.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So I started internet bad boy and then I started,
while I was internet bad boy, Istarted laced magazine.
So that was like, oh, four ishyeah yeah, yeah.
So tell us a little bit aboutlace magazine oh man, lace
magazine, keeping you laced fromthe ground up was a sneaker.
It was a sneaker publicationthat myself and steven artello
yeah created and it was brownyeah, it was.
(26:24):
Again, that was a communityeffort, right, we had like uh,
saint as a writer, we had Sizeas a contributor, we had guests,
photographers, and this was allfriends and family.
We had like not Kim or Mark,and it was just like we all came
together to create thispublication.
But pretty much we wanted todocument sneaker culture through
(26:46):
our lens, because at the timeonly like Complex was was really
known for it at the time.
And then we had Frank-151, wehad Sneaker Freaker, but none of
it really spoke to our cultureand how we saw it, how we used
to hit the village Soho stores.
We would dig into these localspots and go to their basements,
(27:07):
but we had some crazy covers.
We had Chris Brown eating kicksout of a see-through kick.
So the whole idea was I woulduse my fashion connects, working
with Chris Brown, working withdifferent artists, and get them
on a cover.
And then Steve, at the time hewas interned in that Smooth
magazine so he was able to workon the magazine portion, the
(27:31):
layout, the whole editorial side.
So I was bringing the fashionand the talent and he was able
to work on, like the, themagazine portion, the layout of
the whole editorial side.
So I was bringing like thefashion and the talent and he
was bringing the, the editorialand the.
I mean the magazine know how wehad swiss beats when he had
people don't know that.
He had a collaboration with prokids.
That was our first cover.
We shot him at his studio.
We actually had the clips on ona cover.
Um, we have fire and ice, so wehad the clips and we had the
(27:51):
ice cream skate team and that,the Clips article that Saint.
So geniusly he interviewed theClips that started the Lil Wayne
beef.
If you Google it.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Really.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
The Clips article in Laced Magazine.
The cover story started the LilWayne beef.
If you Google it, complex evencites Laced Magazine as the
source.
From that interview that Saintdid shout out to Saint, my
brother Saint.
Yeah, of course that startedthe Clips beef, but yeah, it was
a great time.
We had Tiana on the cover.
We had Ferg on the cover ourlast covers but yeah, it was
(28:25):
documented sneaker culturethrough the lens of real sneaker
enthusiasts.
In New York City we had girleditors.
We had sneaker enthusiasts.
In New York City we had, like,girl editors.
We had sneaker store write-ups.
We were just trying to putpeople onto our culture.
So it was dope, super dope.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
So where did you go after you left BET?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
After BET I went on my own, so I just became a
freelance stylist.
Okay.
So that's when I startedworking with ferg, the.
The crazy story with ferg isthat um so he had a shoot in la
and um he had to shoot a bigsean for his video.
The world is mine.
So I was known for, you know,since harlem, like we were just
(29:06):
coming up together.
Fly dudes.
You know different.
We had different crews.
I had gfc, he had uh, harlemenvy, and we had our own jackets
.
You know, he had his ownvarsity jacket, we had our own
varsity that we could see eachother at car show like yeah,
he's always loved so those whodon't know, ferg his father's
was named d ferg.
He passed away sadly and he'sthe one who designed the bad boy
(29:26):
logo yeah, yeah among otherthings uptown records logo yeah
records, yep yeah, he's, he um,he's a, he's a Harlem legend,
for sure, absolutely a legendyeah, yeah so.
So Ferg um, when I was, you know, I had a roommate in Harlem and
when Ferg first got signed, hewould hit me up like yo, I got a
(29:48):
video coming up, can I get somestuff?
Because I always had all thisaccess because I'm an assistant
stylist, so I got mad stuff inmy house.
So sometimes I wouldn't bethere and I'd be like yo, just
hit my roommate, he'll let youin and you can take whatever you
want.
So he was like you know,pulling pieces from my closet to
you know, supplement thingsthat he needed for video shoots.
You know, early on budgets Imean artists, they don't have
(30:11):
these crazy budgets so then wehad the opportunity to tap in
with me.
You know what I mean.
He tapped in I fly, we fly toLA.
The budget I believe the budgetall in was like $3,500, right.
And shout out to my brotherNakim Nakim was like managing me
, right.
And he's like yo, you gotta go.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And I'm like word this is not enough money to go.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
We can't fly, get a rental, Because I feel like it
was in not Calabasas, but it wasin the hills or something the
video shoot.
And I'm like damn.
But he was like, nah, trust me,just go.
So I pull out all the stops, hegot Gucci, he got all this
crazy stuff.
So I get out there.
(30:53):
We lay out his looks and he waslike yo, I didn't think y'all
was going to come, because heknew his budget, he knew what
time it is.
He was like I didn't thinky'all was going to come.
That was crazy.
So he was really impressed withthe effort that we put forth.
And from then on we've justbeen thick as thieves, like
we've been locked in um, andthat was a long.
I don't know what year that was,but that was around the time
(31:14):
that I stopped working at bt sothat was like my first client as
a yeah that was my first majorclient with, like you know,
record budgets and you know,doing a lot of videos making
appearances and stuff, and thegreat thing about ferg is that
he's you don't necessarily stylehim, you collaborate with him.
You collaborate with Ferg.
(31:34):
He already has a vision forhimself.
He's a fly flashy Harlem to thebone type of guy.
So he got the vision.
It's like adding or subtractingor giving suggestions.
You know what I mean.
So I just love collaboratingwith him because it's just a
great opportunity to create.
You know what I'm saying incertain spaces, but yeah, that
was my first client post-BT andI just thank him for trusting in
(31:59):
me and believing in me.
You know what I mean, because Idefinitely believed in him.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So who was next?
After Ferg?
Who would you start styling?
Who was the next client?
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Who was next after Ferg.
You know what was crazy.
After that, it just got supercrazy.
I worked with PnB Rock.
God bless the dead I've workedwith I just gotta look at my
website so many differentartists, a lot of new artists,
because you know how it is inthe record industry system.
I feel like they look at youand they'd be like all right, I
(32:28):
feel like you could work withthis person or you could work
with that person and I had likea blend of like street sense
mixed with like high endsensibility, but it was.
It was a lot of artists, a lotof artists that I've worked with
, that I've touched in terms oflike the fashion space, but the
one consistent one that always,we always continue to work with
each other is Ferg for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Yeah, ferg's a loyal guy too, like if he rock with
you.
He rock with you regardless.
He could be, you know, figuringit out, or he could have a $10
million budget and he going towork with you.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
That's a fact, yeah he's a very loyal cat.
Tell me about, because I neverreally asked you this.
Tell me how you got intorunning and the Adidas fit thing
and all the stuff you're doingwith them, because I never
really have asked you about that.
I just see you doing it and I'mlike, wow, that's crazy.
Yeah, yeah, so again.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
I got to show love to mom when I was younger.
We were going to Riverside andshe decided she wanted to run a
New York City marathon.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
This is the East.
This is yeah.
Late 80s on Riverside thatjoint was like it was drug
infested.
It wasn't scary, but it wasn'tlike at night.
It wasn't the safest placebecause it was so desolate that
you know stuff would go downback then.
Yeah, it wasn't really lit uptoo much back then Right, it was
(33:51):
very dark Until the, until thestate park came.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
So yeah, till Riverbank came yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah.
So me being a man of the house,quote unquote my mom would come
home from work, she wouldchange and she would go train
and I would be like I'm goingwith you.
So I take my scooter, I take abike and I will always go with
her.
So I saw the whole process ofher training for the New York
City Marathon and I was like oneday I'm going to do it, because
if mom could do it, I'm goingto do it.
(34:18):
So I was just turning 30 and Iwas like low key, going through
like you know, like a midlifecrisis.
I just stopped working at BET,well, 106th and Park had stopped
and I was just going throughlike this transition period in
my life and I was like I'm gonnastart running.
I remember I couldn't run amile.
I was like, damn, I can't run amile.
This is gonna be.
I gotta do 26.2, this is gonnabe tough.
(34:40):
And then next thing, you knowit, I'm running 10 miles in
central park with no water, inthe middle of the heat, and I'm
just, I'm just high off lifebecause I did it not knowing any
better.
So that was happening.
And then during this whole time,I'm in communications with
Adidas because I'm hitting themup.
Like you know, do you mindsending me?
I'm training for the New YorkCity Marathon.
(35:00):
Is it possible to send me somemarathon gear?
They're like, absolutely so.
They send me stuff and theyjust see how dedicated I am.
And this is all because of myconnections that I created as an
intern, what might be you knowwhat I'm saying Just continuing
the conversation, taking thoserelationships and continuing to
work with new artists, et cetera.
So eventually they hit me up.
(35:23):
They're like you're alwaysstarting this new thing in New
York, or Adidas Runners NYC,would you like to be a part of
it?
And I'm like, absolutely so,y'all going to pay me to run?
Like, absolutely so, y'allgoing to pay me to run?
Like, absolutely, y'all goingto pay me to show my community
something healthy?
Absolutely so.
I was 100% with it and, yeah,it's been a beautiful thing.
(35:45):
I had my own sneaker AM4Quasi-Cassie in 2024.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
I don't need a 10 anymore, I need a 10B.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Yeah, I got you.
There's a few floating around,thank you.
Thank you, I got you.
But it was like I hadbillboards on the side of
highways on Harlem, on HarlemRiver Drive.
I saw, I saw, yeah yeah.
It's been a beautiful thing, butit started from my mom just
getting into running, runningand then it's also started from
styling, again from myrelationship that I continued to
(36:15):
create.
Um, shout out to mike b.
Just, I remember one day I wasan intern and he was like, yo, I
want you to.
We were, I think we werestyling like a loon video and he
needed, uh, shell toes.
And I reached out to adidas.
But I was like my earliestmemory of me reaching out to
adidas and them being like, okay, we'll send you X, y, z.
But I continued from differentpeople in marketing.
(36:38):
There I continued therelationship.
So when it was like my turn,they were like, oh no, we know
you, we got you.
And then it just blossomed fromthere and I went from captain,
just a captain, to Harlemcaptain, to captain of culture
and experience, to an Adidasambassador.
(36:59):
And my biggest proudest moment,outside of having my own sneaker
, as a sneaker enthusiast, waswe redid the court.
I mean the court, we redid thecourt.
Actually we redid the BlackGates and Kingdom with Belches
as a collaboration, okay, andthe hood.
But we also redid the track inum, in jefferson, thomas
jefferson projects.
(37:20):
Really, yeah, yeah, it's right.
So by my high school we redidmy high school track uh, it's a
200 meter and we redid it with,like, the state department.
We did a whole ceremony, we hada run and then it was right
before COVID.
So, like the community wassuper hyped because it was a
little crazy before.
So we redid it right beforeCOVID and then, like when COVID
(37:40):
happened, you know the mostthing that people could do was
like run.
So it was a beautiful thingthat we was able to do that
right before COVID.
Ferg performed.
It was crazy.
I hired all the local icyperson.
I hired Reg with the juices.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
I was just acting in the community, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
That was probably one of my proudest moments when
working with Adidas.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
That was really dope.
Another Harlem thing that a lotof people from that area might
not know is there is like asmall fitness kind of thing,
like people come out every yearbecause the marathon, actually
the New York State Marathon,runs right through Harlem and
people come out there every yearwith the signs and cheering
(38:26):
people on.
Like it's a.
You know, it's a thing.
You know what I'm saying.
It's a small thing, but it's athing.
It's a.
You know, it's a thing.
You know what I'm saying.
It's a small thing, but it's athing.
So the fact that you were ableto do that and give back to the
community and you know, helppeople who are running and stuff
like that probably give out.
You know gear and stuff.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
That's amazing, bro, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah For sure.
Like the thing about it is like, just like I saw my mom, people
have seen me, yeah me, yeah,it's like my peers have told me
like yo, I started runningbecause I'm like word.
Like like my peers, I wouldn'teven think I would be like a
younger person, but they're like, nah, like you inspire me
because you showed you, you madeit look like it was possible,
like you didn't make it looklike too too difficult, like oh
(39:02):
no, it's easy, you could do it.
You made it look cool.
So I'm like, wow, that's I justlike to always say, like you
never know who's watching.
So like, make sure you try anddo something positive.
You know what I mean.
But yeah, that running is a hugepart of the community.
And actually Ferg and I well,ferg is going to be doing Ferg
Flow.
I think it's August 14th,thursday August 14th so we're
(39:25):
doing a 5K in the morning andthen we're doing a sound bath
meditation, then we're doingcalisthenics and we're going to
be doing, and then it's going tosegue into a concert with
Summer Stage, all at MarcusGarvey Park.
Wow, so we taking that wholefitness initiative.
Yeah, it's something foreverybody.
(39:46):
If you don't run, you can do asound bath.
If you don't run, you can domeditation.
If you don't do, calisthenics,you could do.
You can watch a show yeah, youcan watch a show, and we're
going to be doing like a bike.
Ride out too, because he'sheavy into.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
BMS.
So yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
I'm excited you.
Right, right.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
Yo, I'm trying to lose you, son.
You know you never know who'swatching you.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
So that's dope that you're doing that, man you know,
yeah, yeah, especially like inour community, like we got to
always make sure that we likeshowing up in spaces and doing
the things that you know.
We just don't want to keep itto ourselves.
We want to show and doing thethings that you know we don't.
We just don't want to keep itto ourselves.
We want to show the world likeit was possible, you know so
tell me, tell me about uh killoff season so kill off season.
(40:54):
I got on um airbrush t righthere fire fire.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Uh, you starting on me.
Okay, I got you.
I need one of those two.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
I got you, I got you.
So yeah, so, kill Off Season isa brand I started with Stephen
Otho and O'Brien, so the wholeconcept and energy behind it was
, you know, we killing in theoff season.
That's what it stands forkilling the off season.
All of the greats, frommuhammad ali to jordan.
(41:30):
You hear about the off seasonregimen more than you hear about
the on season recipe.
You know when jordan wentthrough what he went through
with the pistons, he came back,he was in an off season, he was
lifting weights, he had to bulkup.
So that's the whole idea behindthe brand is like to really put
focus on the off season so thatyou can show up as your best
self in season.
And we came together to createa price, competitive and
conscious leather pant.
(41:50):
You know we wanted to offer us.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Thank you, thank you, man, thank you.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
We wanted to offer something to the industry that
was unique but also, like again,price competitive.
So we created this stackleather pant.
It was black with the ponystripe, with the gunmetal stripe
, and it was like somethingunique.
And it was also something likethat was created to like for
like, celebration, like whenpeople want to pop out, when
(42:19):
people want you know what I'msaying when they got that energy
, when they want a birthdayenergy, popping out energy, you
know you want to flex on your exenergy, like all that energy.
That's.
That's the clothes that we make.
You know I'm saying so.
Like that's the energy behindour brand is to like, really
like, embody your true superheroself through clothes like you
(42:40):
know what I mean.
Like when you wear a good fit,it makes you feel like you could
talk to anybody, you could bagany shorty, you could do
anything.
You know what I'm saying.
So that's the energy that wewant people to feel when they
put on our garments.
So, yeah, we've been around,we've been together and created
for three seasons.
For three years.
We actually just opened reallyproud seasons for three years.
(43:02):
We actually just opened reallyproud.
We just opened a showroom,studio space and design studio
and Dumbo right under the bridge.
Yeah, you can see a man bridge.
You can see the uh the worldtrade uh, one world trade.
You can see Brooklyn bridge,like it's a beautiful day and
we're also going to start ourworkout division of kill off
(43:22):
season, uh called Pack of Wolves, because us coming together.
You know you can do amazingthings by yourself, but when you
come together as a pack ofwolves you're unstoppable
Everybody's resources,everybody's mind, everybody's
energy.
So we started Pack of Wolves,which is going to be a running
and calisthenics collective.
So, again, if you don't run, wewill do some push, we do some
(43:44):
pull-ups, but we just activatein our community because this is
our part of our lifestyle.
Like me and steve, we run, wedo, we do uh, calisthenics.
So we just want to incorporatethat into our brand because a
lot of our community that we uhour wolf pack they also into the
same type of thing, like so.
So that's the whole energybehind the brand.
We're really excited.
We're slated to do apresentation in September.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
So excited about that You're going to be presenting
at Fashion Week or somethinglike that yes, sir.
You're getting money.
You're getting money.
We got to do it, man.
That's beautiful man.
You're making me like a prouddad.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
You know what I'm saying, for sure.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Where I met you up to now is incredible, you know
what I'm saying.
It's incredible.
And before we run, tell meabout the Met Gala.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Which one, though?
Which one we got 2018.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
How many have you worked on?
I've done two.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
So I did 2018 with Ferg.
Yeah, yeah, many have youworked on.
I've done two, so I did 2018with ferg.
Yeah, yeah.
So ferg 2018, it was.
So it was.
It was, it was wild, but it wasin the moment it was.
It was.
I knew how great it was goingto be, but so that that theme
2018 was, uh, heavenly bodies,right, and you know, ferg is a
(45:01):
hood pope, so I'm like like yo.
I presented I had this, I thinkI had a picture of it this mood
board of, like you know, poperobes and pope hats, because
he's the hood pope.
I'm like yo, this is perfect.
And he's like yo, I love all ofthis.
But I just want to look like ahandsome black man and I was
like I feel you.
So he didn't want to go toocostumey, he wanted to like he's
(45:23):
like yo, this is my first one.
I just want to look handsomeand presentable and like dapper.
So I'm like alright, I totallyunderstand.
So I wound up working withDapper Dan, and this is when he
was at the Gucci house and hehad the store on Lennox.
He had the Habitashery on Linux,so Dabbeday and myself work
(45:44):
together.
Ferg goes on tour, so we aren'table to do any fittings.
No because he's not home.
He's not home.
So Ferg lands the day of theMet Gala.
He comes to the Haberdasherythe Gucci Dabbeday Haberdashery
on Linux.
He does one fitting.
He loves it.
(46:04):
He's like we have to do sometweaks.
Bird comes back, goes home,takes a shower, comes back, he
gets dressed for the Met Gala atDapper Dan's studio on Linux.
Wow, we leave from there to theMet Gala.
This is unheard of.
Usually you do a few fittings.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
It was so seamless.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
You get dressed at the hotel close by and then you
uptown but it was beautifulthough.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
It was beautiful.
He was sitting at the tiffanytable.
He wore their most coveted rock, the bird on the rock.
Like beyonce's wanted jay-z.
It's um, it's crazy, and I'm.
We met their representative onmadison.
She handed me the bird on arock in a box.
I take it out, I put it on hislapel as we drive into the Met
Gala.
He gets out and just wows thecrowd.
(46:50):
But that was.
It was beautiful just for me,because being from Harlem,
working with Ferg for so long,working with Dapper Dan, icon,
legend, fashions guru, a greatmind, it was just like so.
The synergy was so perfect, youknow, I mean so at that moment
was like that's one of my, myproudest fashion moments, just
working with my friend andclient, working with that.
(47:12):
But then and and just atholland and everything happening
in holland, it was.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
It's crazy, it was beautiful.
I can't even I can't evenimagine what it was like before
I walked out of there, out ofthat spot, and onto Linux like
dressed.
I'm sure it was just like oh mygosh, it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
It was beautiful man, Beautiful.
That was the time.
And then, to fast forward 2025,I worked with one of my clients
, Noah Louse, the fastest man inthe world.
We worked with Tom Brown andshout out to Tom Brown they were
super great team to work with.
I mean, we in a fitting andthey got 10 people, the head
(47:51):
designer, they got the PR theygot everybody.
They got different tailors.
They not playing theirattention to detail was crazy.
In the case of Noah Lyles, hejust wanted to stay on theme.
In the case of Noah Lyles, hejust wanted to stay on theme,
which was Superfine.
Taylor A yeah, taylor, for you,black Dandy and he wanted to
stay on theme and he just wantedto show up and show out.
(48:12):
So he was partnered with AnnaKhoury.
Anna Khoury is a women'sjewelry designer, so she came up
with some beautiful pearls andit was crazy.
It was a great time and that,too, came together last minute.
But he came out stepping.
He was super, super happy,super proud.
And yeah, that's another one ofmy famous, most famous fashion
(48:35):
moments, or most iconic fashionmoments, cause just to work with
like the fashion house, brownhit that Met Gala stage seven
years later was just like with adifferent client, fastest man
ever After the Olympics.
It's just like it was beautifulman.
It's always a joy and a timeand I'm just happy to be in this
(48:57):
space.
To be honest, did you?
Speaker 1 (48:58):
hit any after parties .
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Nah, nah.
So I've always been like a I'mgoing to go home to me and eat a
good meal type of person.
I respect that I got a lot ofinvites but I was just like,
after the week that I had andthe last five days that I've had
, I don't even want to.
I don't want to party withy'all.
I want to.
I'll party with my people, butI I'm going to give me a good
meal.
Yeah, get some rest and watchsomething.
(49:22):
You know what I'm?
saying Like I can put in thatmuch mental, physical and
spiritual labor.
It's just like I don't gotnothing for nobody else.
I'm going to just retreat backto my to my space.
Speaker 1 (49:34):
Hell yeah, that's cool, that's cool man.
So what's next?
Speaker 2 (49:38):
What's next, oh man, next, oh man.
We spoke about kill off seasonwe're going to do our
presentation in september.
That's going to be epic.
I'm excited for that.
We got ferg flow, august 14th.
I'm super excited for that.
We're gonna be.
I'm gonna be leading a 5k starand it ended in marcus garvey
park that morning, um, andthat's gonna segue into the
various events ending in theconcert, the ferg headlining,
(50:02):
what else we got coming up newNew York City Marathon 2025.
This is going to be my 12thconsecutive New York City
Marathon.
Speaker 1 (50:08):
Wait, wait.
Tell me a little bit about the.
We haven't talked about it.
Tell me a little bit about theexperience of running the New
York City Marathon.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Yo.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
I say it like this I feel like it's the biggest block
party in the world.
It goes from Eastboro, startsin Staten Island, then Verrazano
and it ends in Central Park.
But I feel like, even if youdon't run, you got to tap in and
cheer, you could sponsor arunner, you could do charity
(50:38):
work, but it's just like thewhole city comes together and
the whole world really, becauseit's like so many people from
across the world come to run orto cheer or to share like their,
their family member or theirloved ones on, so it's just like
the energy that day is like.
It's so, so, so amazing, sobeautiful.
But yeah, running through thecity is like.
(50:58):
That's why I keep doing it,cause I I like to consider
myself the ultimate New Yorker,so I keep on doing it because I
love New York that much.
And it's a hard course.
So I want to like, I want tolike really feel like I crushed
it.
You know what I mean.
Like I have a track later ontoday and it's humidity and it's
heat and I'm excited because Iknow that this work now is going
(51:19):
to pay off.
November Sunday, november 2nd.
You know what I'm saying.
So, but it's the greatest timeanymore.
Again, if you can't run it, ifyou can't run it, run it.
If you're unable to definitelycome out and share.
It's super motivational Fromlike the grandmas and the
grandpas, to like the people inneed of special need people, to
(51:40):
like it's just like wow, this isa beautiful time, beautiful
time, special need people tolike.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
it's just like wow, this is, it's a beautiful time,
yeah, yeah, yeah, Like I said, Iused to go out there on.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
Fifth Avenue and see them running.
Yeah, yeah, that's when people,that's when people washed Fifth
Avenue is tough.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
Yeah, fifth Avenue is real tough and it's a hell of a
world.
That's the thing about New Yorkpeople don't realize it's way
more hilly than people thinkbecause there'll be a lot of
slim inclines.
Not, they're not like this, butthey.
But it's like you're used torunning up the slim incline for
like a minute.
Speaker 2 (52:07):
It's like, well, I'm, I'm still going uphill, you
know that's the fact, fit bathis like a steady incline and
when you're in the park it's anincline, it's tough, yeah,
suicide hill in the park and allthat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, it's agood time.
It's fun, man I had a good time.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
It was fun, man.
I had a good time, brother.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Nah, I appreciate you , man, thank you.
Thank you for having me on hereand again, you are an icon,
you're a legend.
You supported me in my career.
We even hit on the Bumby, ugk,all that type of channels.
Speaker 1 (52:34):
Let's talk about it.
Let's talk about it real quick,before we go.
Speaker 2 (52:36):
Let's talk about it Working with Shanique.
Shout out to Shanique Peru.
She was styling Pimp C at thetime and the people don't even.
I even spoke to Bun about this,but people don't even realize
like I'm in the credits as PimpC's last like stylist, for I
think it was Underground Kings Iforgot what album it was, but
(52:57):
their last album UndergroundKings was the last album.
Yeah, where he wore the fur,Shanique couldn't make it and
she sent me to Houston and hehad the fur on with the hat and
he was Pimp, was super cool andyeah, that was historic and I
also worked on Too Short.
Blow the Whistle, that's right,you know.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
That's right in Oakland, I forgot, yeah, yeah,
yeah, that's right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that'sright.
Yeah, I forgot about you onthat set too.
Yeah, yeah.
So like Two iconic videos too.
Yeah, we go back.
Yeah.
And two smash hit records, twosets Still.
Blow Whistle plays now likeit's new.
Speaker 2 (53:37):
My mom 80, if she's like, make sure you play Blow
Whistle.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
Because it got the energy like it got the energy.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
Yeah, man, yeah yeah, so we go back, we go back.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
Yeah, man, I'm proud of you, man.
I'm proud of everything you doman I had to have you on the
show.
Speaker 2 (53:49):
I was like I gotta give my man Quaz on the stunner
a little bit for having me andcontinued success for you.
I'm going to definitely betapping in, please.
The show is dope.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
Thank you, man, congratulations.
I got a lot of good peoplelined up, so I'll keep you
posted on everything.
Speaker 2 (54:11):
Nice man, yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
You can catch Mixed and Mastered on Apple Podcasts,
spotify, iheart or wherever youget your podcasts.
Hit that follow button, leave areview and tell a friend I'm
your host, jeffrey Sledge.
Mixed and Mastered is producedand distributed by Merrick
Studios.
This week on Mixed and Mastered, I'm talking with
Kwazi Kesey, celebrity stylist,designer, brand consultant for
Adidas Runners NYC and captainof culture.
Starting at Foot Locker, kwaziwent on to style the host of 106
and Park, along with A$AP Fergand Noah Liles for the Met Gala.
He's the force behind the KillOff Season clothing brand and
(00:23):
Fit Check on Instagram.
When he's not styling icons,he'soff season clothing brand
and fit check on Instagram.
When he's not styling icons,he's running marathons and
repping Harlem.
This is Mixed and Mastered withKwazi Kesey.
Welcome to Mixed and Mastered,the podcast where the stories of
the music industry come to life.
I'm Jeffrey Sledge, bringingyou real conversations with the
(00:47):
people who have shaped the soundof music.
We're pulling back the curtainon what it takes to make it in
the music business.
These are the stories you won'thear anywhere else, told by the
people who live them.
This is Mixed and Mastered.
This week on Mixed and MasteredQuasi Kesey how you man.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Bless man, I'm good, I'm good.
How's everything?
It's been a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
I'm good man.
It's been a minute, man.
It's been a minute I watch.
You know we talk via socialmedia, but it's a minute since
we actually talked, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Absolutely, absolutely.
I was telling my friend uh,right before this call, I'm like
yo, we go back, we go back, wego back, we go back.
Quite a ways, man, yeah let'sget into it.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Man so born and raised in harlem, yeah uh yo, I,
when I was watching, I wasresearching this and I was
watching like I didn't knowwhere on riverside drive, did
you?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
stay.
So I was on the 779 RiversideDrive apartment 853, the fifth
floor, so that's on 157th andRiverside, so technically that's
Washington.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Oh, those buildings.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, yeah, it was like a big plant pot took up the
whole street, so 157th andRiverside so it was like a
cul-de-sac almost.
But yeah, technically it'sWashington Heights because
anything above 155th isWashington Heights.
So that cemetery kind of waslike the transition from
(02:17):
Washington Heights to Harlem.
But yeah, I grew up there upuntil around like 13 years old
and moved to the Bronx.
So I like to tell people I'm byborough, so Bronx and Harlem is
where I resided all my life.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yo, it was crazy to be.
I lived in 730 Riverside.
Get out of here.
I was on the corner on 150th730 Riverside.
When you said Riverside I waslike what.
You was right up the street,bro.
I know exactly where you was at.
You was getting money.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Riverside.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Chill, because Riverside, honestly, was like it
was a different world comparedto Broadway, amsterdam, st Nick
you know what I mean.
It was just like, especiallywhen they built Riverbank, it
just created a whole transitionand just cleaned up the whole
neighborhood, but Riverside wasalways very ethnically diverse.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Age diverse.
It was really dope, really dope.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, the drive is different, like you said, once
you go right up the block toBroadway it's a whole other
planet Right.
I didn't realize we lived thatclose to each other.
Like yeah, I was right downthis block.
I didn't know.
We'll talk about the storiesabout the area offline.
Yeah, so I got to ask you thisone question before we get
deeper into the interview.
(03:35):
For sure, I got to ask thisquestion you ready?
Yeah, who got the best JoloffRice?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Oh, ghana, ghana got it.
There's no debate.
We've won the jollof wars.
Based in new york city that'straveling across the world shout
out to my brother, abdul um andhis team.
They put on a jollof wars.
We've won the jollof wars interms of the rice category three
straight years, or fourstraight years, probably even
(04:02):
more, but Ghana has the bestjollof, because I think what it
is is.
Nigeria's jollof is very smoky.
It has like a smoky flavor to itand Ghana is, I feel, a little
bit more tomato based and Ithink it's more palatable for,
like that, American palate and,like you know, more diverse,
(04:23):
more diverse palates willgravitate more towards the.
Uh, the guy named, but guynamed Joloff is Ely.
I'm actually going to uh, mybro, um chef Eric Ejepong.
He has a spot in DC.
I'm going there this weekendfor Juneteenth just to go and
check out the Joloff.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So, yeah, it's up.
It's Ely.
Yeah, so tell me about, aboutyour experience growing up in
just to go and check out theJollof Wow.
It's up, it's up, it's up, it'selite.
Yeah, so tell me about yourexperience growing up in Harlem.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Oh man, harlem is a magical place for me because my
mom is she's super Black, likeshe's like pro-Black, pro-us,
knowing the history, having thebooks, and then my sister grew
into but she's pretty much ahistorian.
(05:09):
So, um, harlem growing up wasbeautiful because it created a
sense of pride within who I amas a person and also a sense of
fashion sense.
Just like Harlem was a placewhere you never wanted to look
like everybody else, like thatwasn't even an option.
It was like I want to be alittle different, like I might
add a different shoestring to mykick so I might get a go
somewhere and get a differentbelt.
(05:31):
But I never want to look likeeverybody else.
I want to stand out in my ownway, I want to add my touch of
flair and I feel like that wasimportant in my development
because as kids, you know, oryoung people, people just want
to like group themselvestogether and look themselves
together and look like themasters so they fit in.
But Harlem was a place whereyou wanted to stand out, you
wanted to peacock, you wanted tohave this energy about yourself
(05:53):
so that people could recognizeyou as the fly one or the risk
taker or the jiggy guy.
That's what I reallyappreciated and loved about
Harlem, brought up in Harlem,but it was magical man.
Just the people that I was ableto work with, like the Fergs,
the Belchezes, the TianaTaylor's it was just like it was
(06:17):
a melting pot of creativity, offashion, sense, of exploration,
and everybody was just goingfor it, like if you danced, you
really danced.
If you got fly, you really gotfly.
If you got money, you reallygot money.
Everybody was taking it to theback.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
It was very extreme.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
But in a good way.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It was very extreme.
Your voice is echoing.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
You got me, am I good ?
Okay, okay, shoot, hold on asec.
Yep, oh, you got me.
I think so, you don't.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Am I good?
Okay, okay, it's just on my end.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Okay, cool, cool, cool.
Okay, Okay, cool, all right,all right, cool.
The funny thing about Harlemyou bring up Tiana Taylor, who I
remember seeing around when shewas a kid.
You know and a you know and alot of you don't know Chris
Brown spent a little time inHarlem.
He lived in Harlem for like two.
See, you don't know that.
That's how come him and Tianaknow each other that he used to
(07:12):
live I think he lived down byMinnesotan or something like
that, but he stayed in Harlemfor a little bit as a kid and
that's how he really got hisdance skills up and all that
type of stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, yeah he was.
I feel like he was around likelower Harlem, like around
Douglas, like 110th, 108th.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Oh, he was down that way, okay.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yup, yup.
But he used to hang out withlike Cry Baby, who was like a
dancer, who is a dancer, greatdancer coming up, and I was
actually working with ChrisBrown early under the guise of
Mike B, my mentor.
He brought me into the game but, yeah, chris was in Harlem.
(07:48):
I feel like a lot of talentedpeople spend a little time in
Harlem, get a little sauce, alittle energy, a little
vibration.
You know what I'm saying keepit moving, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
One more thing about Harlem, and we're going to move
on.
But the thing about Harlem thatI love, what I used to do when I
moved to Harlem in 92 and whatI used to do on a Saturday I
would just walk Harlem.
I would just walk up Broadway,go down 145th, I'd go to um, I'd
go to uh, down 145th, I'd turnon like 8th or 7th and I just
(08:20):
walk, walk in between the blocks, you know the cookouts, the
block parties, whatever wasgoing on, and that really like
gave me, you know, obviously to125th and then below that and
just walk around, walk aroundand you really got a sense of
Harlem because, even thoughbecause people get confused
Harlem is still a neighborhood,it's not a borough.
You know what I'm saying?
People are kind of it's likeBrooklyn, it's a neighborhood
(08:45):
and all this amazing, like yousay, creativity and amazingly
talented people come from this.
Basically 45 block neighborhood.
Yeah, me and Mickey alwaysargue about this.
Do you cut Harlem off at 45thor 55th, 55th, 55th?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
It's cut off at 55th and then it turns into
Washington Heights.
Yeah, that where all thosechurches are and the highway
that kind of like separates.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Harlem.
So tell me about how you gotinto, where'd you get your sense
of style and where'd you getyour style bug from?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Wow, so my sense of style starts at home.
It started actually from my mom.
My mom, I think among hersiblings, was called like the
bougie the bougie sister, okay,okay.
So she was shop for myself andmy sister at like Lord and
Taylor A&S.
I remember growing up shoppingwas like an event for us.
It was like Lord, taylor A&S.
I remember growing up shoppingwas like an event for us.
It was like, you know, we'regoing to school or we just made
(09:50):
seeds, whatever.
It was a big deal.
You know what I mean.
And my mother took pride in theway that we looked, I guess
because we were a representationof her.
So we always had like greatpieces.
I look at pictures of my sistermyself growing up and my mom.
My sister as like a youngperson, had a leather red skirt
(10:11):
and like like just crazy pieces.
I'm like yo, that's like wewere fly.
But it really graduated when Iwent to church.
When I was going to church andI would wear suits, so all the
women would say how cute I wasand I thought it was the clothes
that made me cute.
So I told my mom I'm like Ma, Iwant to wear suits to school.
So I was in pre-K kindergartenwearing full two-piece suits to
(10:36):
school and everybody else wasdressed.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
What were the kids saying?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I don't even think.
I don't remember what they, howthey, what they used to say.
I don't remember that much.
But I remember feeling verylike, confident and prestigious
in my suits because I stood out.
You know, that's going back toharlem.
I stood out so and the reasonwhy my mom took so much pride in
the way that we we dress,because my mom is an older mom.
(11:01):
She's now she just turned 80 inmarch so yeah she said her um,
like her uncles, they only woresuits, like that.
You know she was like farmerswore jeans and overalls and
nobody ever wore sneakers,because that was that was only
for gym class, like even dad.
But dan talks about that andthey from the same age and same
era, um, and she grew up inharlem as well how I'm in the
(11:23):
bronx so she kind of instilledthat as in us as um, and she
grew up in Harlem as well,harlem in the Bronx.
So she kind of instilled thatas in us as kids and she didn't
even know it.
So then as I matured I startedlike really like dressing,
dressing.
I remember I was in elementaryschool wearing suede jackets
with matching Timbs.
My mother was actually doingthat too.
Yeah, I was wearing I wouldhave on a wheat suede jacket
with wheat Timbs in elementaryschool in the early 80s, 90s.
(11:45):
So like that's how I waspulling up.
And then it's like I graduatedinto high school and I had like
a love of sneakers, but itstarted at home with my mom.
And then, you know, harlem hadthat influence of wanting to
stand out and be fly and youknow that competition that
happens within you, knowneighborhoods where you want to
be the fly one within.
You know neighborhoods whereyou want to be the fly one, and
also my sister.
I got to give credit to mysister, mariam Masai.
(12:06):
She really made me want to belike different.
She would always tell me like,don't look like everybody else.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
You got to center yourself from everybody else.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
So again it's that constant conversation of looking
different.
And my sister's four yearsolder than me and she would
venture off to like Soho.
She was in a village, she wasgoing to Newport Mall in Jersey
to get no tax.
So me, being a younger brother,tagging along my mother saying
yo, go with your sister, I'mgoing to Soho.
So I'm seeing the Mesa Hiltons,I'm seeing the Little Kims, I'm
(12:41):
going to 8th Street where guysis in the Benzes and they you
know what I'm saying we going tothe Benzes, and they you know
what I'm saying we go in theatrium, we shop in that.
That there was like an Africanstore on 8th Street.
It was like UFO, rugged soul.
So my world was so much biggerat home because of my sister and
she opened me up to thoseexperiences.
And then when I would come tohigh school I would have pieces.
(13:01):
They'd come to high school, Iwould have pieces.
They'd be like yo, where yougetting?
Where you getting thesecolorways of sneakers?
I'm like yo, I go to jersey,newport mall, foot action they
didn't have a foot action in thecity.
Oh, I'm going to atrium to go.
And this is when atrium soldmecca and iceberg, nichin.
You know, I'm saying so like Igotta credit my mom and my
sister for really instillingthat fashion bug in me, and you
know, growing up in harlem andthen, um, just creating that
(13:23):
energy of like flyness andjiggingness yeah, yeah, atrium
was a legendary spot.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Now, now, for those who know, no, no, now atrium is
kiss right right uh, atrium waslike atrium on a Saturday.
Oh, I said this on another.
So I think I was talking toTerrell Terrell Jones.
I interviewed him too and Isaid I hope somebody was filming
Soho on Saturdays back then,Because the people that are now
(13:48):
running fashion, like theVirgils and like you said, and
the Tiana's and the Misa's andeven the Telfairs, that's who
the kids were walking aroundHarlem back then.
Excuse me, Soho.
Back then they were just walkingaround on Saturday and now
these kids have become men likeyourself.
They've grown up and now theyhave really taken control of the
fashion industry.
(14:09):
It's a beautiful thing to seewhat that turned into from just
being on a Saturday andeverybody just walking around,
tons of kids just walking aroundstyling.
I got the Rick Owens orwhatever.
It was crazy, it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
What's ironic it's crazy, it was crazy, it was like
it was.
It's still.
What's ironic is it still hasthe energy, like I feel like, in
terms of fashion, that's stillthe fashion capital of New York
City, like even it's so much, infact, that the, the fashion
houses have moved down there,you know, first starting with
Prada and Louis and Gucci, likeeverybody, celine.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
First starting with Prada and Louis and Gucci Mark
Jacobs was down there.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Mark Jacobs yeah, so it's like you know it still has
the energy that you walk downthere you're going to see like
the flyest people, you're goingto see celebrities.
You know what I mean.
But back in the days that shitwas remarkable man and I was a
teenager going down thererocking.
You know, these are young, areyoung adults, adults and seeing
(15:06):
the stylists and seeing thecelebrities and like even the
people that worked in the storeswere like semi-celebrities
because they were helping all ofthese people.
And then that was also the boomof the sneaker era.
So you had all these crazysneaker stores.
You had nort recon, classickicks, clientele, uh, uh, a life
you had, like it was dave'squality me.
Uh, you you had like it wasDave's quality and me you had a
(15:27):
time was had.
It was a beautiful time.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
What a time to be alive.
So, tell me about your firstkind of foray into styling was
through Mike B, who you'vealready mentioned, yes sir, who
was at that time styling all thestuff through Bad Boy, yeah,
and so tell me how y'all linkedup and how that, how you you
know you got into stylingbecause I, when I interviewed
terrell, I said this too likepeople kind of don't I think it
(15:51):
was more now maybe but peoplestill don't quite really know
what stylists do.
They kind of say I'm a stylist,but like you don't do you
really know what that is andwhat that entails.
And you'll go ahead yeah, forsure.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Um shout out to my brother tyrell harlem, harlem
legend.
Um killing in the fashion game.
I I actually got into stylingthrough mike b, as you said.
Um, and I was working atfootlocker again.
My love of sneakers brought meto working at footlocker on 34th
street.
Uh, the corporate headquarters,the big dog, and I was working
(16:26):
there and I see Mike, he got onthese coach leather LeBrons, the
high school colorway, the greenwith the tan.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
And I'm like he had them early and I'm like yo, who
is this guy?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Because I know my sneakers.
He had them like.
It was like at least six tothree months earlier than they
were supposed to come out.
And I was like so I channeledmy mom.
My mom is a talker and I wasn'treally a talker at that time.
So I channeled my mom.
I'm like, all right, I'm goingto talk to this guy and see what
he does.
So I talked to Mike B.
I'm like yo.
He's like yo, I'm shopping.
I'm shopping for some bad boyartists.
(16:58):
I'm a stylist.
At that time I didn'tunderstand that verbiage.
I didn't even know what thatreally meant, but I knew it had
something to do with fashion andsneakers.
So I was with it.
So he's like yeah, I'm doingsome shopping.
I'm like yo, they got moresneakers than Soho.
He was like yo, can you show me?
And I'm like hell, yeah, I canshow you.
I literally I got the stripeson full, out the stripes I
(17:21):
talked to my manager, maria.
It was a dead day.
It was dead.
I'm like yo, she knew who hewas.
I was like yo, can, I, can Ileave with mike to show him some
sneakers downtown?
She's like, yeah, now this isreal life.
So I leave with mike v, we godowntown, we do some shopping.
Um, I think we went toclientele on lafayette it was on
(17:42):
the corner lafayette like andum, get him some of Lafayette
and get him some sneakers.
They didn't have the sneakersin it that I got for his artist
in that size.
It was the MS-95 Greek or GreeceOlympic colorway.
They were actually about tocome back out this year.
They had, like, a rainbowcolorway and he was like, damn,
I need a 13.
So he was going to Miami tostyle a video.
(18:03):
That's where he was shotway.
And he was like, damn, I need a13.
So he was going to Miami to, to, to style a video.
That's what he was shot before.
And I was like, yo, when youget back, I'm going to have you
a size 13.
Cause this is what I do I'm asneaker guy.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
So he comes back.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I got the 13.
He, he gives me the money.
I'm like, nah, I don't wantyour money, I want an
opportunity, I want aninternship assistant, something.
He's like yo, I got you.
So I'm on the phone, he givesme his number, you know, and
then I'm on the phone justhitting him day and night for
like a month.
Literally no response.
(18:34):
So eventually I run into one ofmy OGs at Harlem Mo and he's
like yo, I'm like I'm trying toget this internship at Bad Boy.
And he's like yo, who youtrying to intern for?
I'm like Mike B.
He's like Mike B, he calls himinstantly, right there in my
face.
He calls him.
He's like yo, give my littleman an opportunity.
(18:56):
Man, he a good cable dude.
And I'm like and then the nextday I get a call on my bad boy
intern and like, literally itwas like overnight, but that was
my introduction into styling.
It was through my, my myknowledge of sneakers.
I like to tell like youngpeople, like, try and figure out
what your superpower is.
At that time my superpower waslike sneakers.
(19:17):
I was working at full locker atthe time.
I wasn't creating my sneakermagazine yet, but I just I knew
about sneakers.
And because I knew aboutsneakers, I saw he had on the
the, the high school coach,leather LeBron's.
I knew he was somebody, I knewhe had them early I got to tap
in.
But yeah, that's that's how Igot into styling.
And then I was interning in forMike and then it turned into an
(19:39):
assistant role and then webecame the fashion stylist men's
fashion stylist at BET andthrough that time we had worked
with Chris Brown, as you know,we worked with uh, it was like
Neo Ludacris, jamie Foxx, it wasit was, it was.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
You did Bow Wow, of course, because he was yeah,
yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
But that was me, that was me solo.
I eventually, during that BETtime, I eventually became the
men's fashion stylist and Istarted working with Terrence J
Bow Wow, then I started workingwith Ferg, and the list goes on
and on.
But yeah, those early days waswild.
Those Chris Brown budgets wascrazy.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, jai was giving out some money.
I always ask people tell me,without getting anybody in
trouble or anything like that,you know, of course you could
leave names out, you know, tellme one, I don't even like to say
crazy one spicy story aboutStalin at Bad Boy.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Spicy story about Stalin at Bad Boy.
I don't have spicy storiesbecause I'm really trying to
think.
I would just say this becauseMike always was, like he's so
morally sound and so Jamaican,raised by Jamaican parents, not
(20:57):
fucking around so he always madesure I was in the best space as
possible for me to succeed.
But I would say this that hourswould be crazy, so like I would,
I would be there at seven inthe morning and sometimes I
would leave at three at nightand I'm an intern and getting
(21:18):
$40 a week and I would let my$40 stack up so I'll get like
160 and I think I was born.
But yeah, it was.
I just, I was just.
For me it was like anopportunity of a lifetime, like
working with these incrediblysuccessful literally at the time
, like fashion icons, like, yeah, like Dow, you had Max, you had
(21:41):
Mike B, you had Jameel Spencer,you had.
It was just like it was lit.
So for me and my adolescentyoung mind, I was just like
happy to be there and over time,like at the time at one point I
was at school full time.
At LIU I'm working atBloomingdale's part time, night
(22:03):
and weekend.
I still have my job at FootLocker because I didn't quit.
I had worked there on theweekends, I wanted my discount
and I'm interning at Bad Boy.
So my schedule was crazy.
But I was a college kid so Iwasn't tired or nothing, I was
just going, yeah, because theopportunities were crazy.
But yeah, I would just say thatthe schedule was crazy.
(22:26):
Sometimes, like from 7, Iliterally be there at 7 am, I
may leave If.
If someone has to travel, itmay be I may be leaving at 3.
And I got to be back there at 7.
You know what I mean.
So it was but yeah, but I don'thave any like spicy stories,
yeah, Nothing crazy.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
So tell me about.
Tell me about the um, the B.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Oh, the BET experience was incredible.
I got to give a huge shout outto Texana Watts she's the BET
wardrobe supervisor and it waseven from like outside of the
wardrobe department.
That was one thing, but like,even like the on set team,
(23:17):
everybody was like family.
It was beautiful.
So yeah, it was.
It was a great time.
What it taught me was to bealways be super prepared,
because live televisionsometimes we would shoot three
shows in a day and one would belive.
But live television, somebodymay spill something, something
may get ripped, and I rememberwhat I remember most is running
(23:37):
up and down to the wardrobedepartment.
For some reason was on thethird floor and the set was on
the first floor.
So I remember running up anddown stairs, getting stuff lint
rollers, but it's just likebeing prepared and being ready
for whatever happens.
But it was a beautiful time.
Texana Watts was an amazingboss, leader, queen.
(23:58):
It was one of my favorite jobsthat I've ever one of my
favorite few jobs that I've everhad.
It was so dope.
Everybody from the top all theway down, from Stephen Hill to
Connie to Rick Grimes, Everybodywas like really cool, really
easygoing.
Yeah, I loved it there.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I loved it.
Did you work the BET Awards tooat that time, or you just
stayed in New York?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
BET Awards.
We was flying to LA dressing.
Remember, at one point therewere multiple hosts so they
would have a bow-wow.
Show you the prints.
Oh yeah, but I was, I was only.
I was the men's um wardrobestylist, but yeah, we was.
Bet Awards was crazy when theywould do like, um, the final
show was wild for 106 because itwas like it was AJ, it was Big
(24:46):
Tigger, it was uh, bow Wow, itwas Terrence Shorty, the Prince.
It was like I probably had like15 talent that day.
It was wild and I also did likethe news shows.
So I would do the news shows, Iwould all of the like live
programming from the network.
I was responsible for dressingthe male talent, which was
really great.
(25:07):
So I got like diversity fromdressing men in suits to street
wear and everything in between.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Yeah, it was yeah, and we'll be right back ready to
launch your podcast.
Merrick studios offerscomprehensive services, from
concept development and seamlessproduction to strategic
marketing and monetization.
Let your story take the mic,visit merrickcreativecom studios
and let's get to work masterthe art of lyricism with
pendulum mink, the first schoolfor rap.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Learn elite techniques.
Visit meritcreativecom slashstudios and let's get to work.
Master the art of lyricism withPendulum Inc, the first school
for rap.
Learn elite techniques throughimmersive lessons, real world
exercises and guidance from hiphop icons.
This is where MCs sharpen theirskills and glow boldly on the
mic.
Ready to level up, visitPendulumInccom and start your
journey today.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
And now back to our show.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
And is this around the time you started the laced
magazine?
Yeah, this is around the timewe met.
Yeah, yeah, so actually.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So I started internet bad boy and then I started,
while I was internet bad boy, Istarted laced magazine.
So that was like, oh, four ishyeah yeah, yeah.
So tell us a little bit aboutlace magazine oh man, lace
magazine, keeping you laced fromthe ground up was a sneaker.
It was a sneaker publicationthat myself and steven artello
yeah created and it was brownyeah, it was.
(26:24):
Again, that was a communityeffort, right, we had like uh,
saint as a writer, we had Sizeas a contributor, we had guests,
photographers, and this was allfriends and family.
We had like not Kim or Mark,and it was just like we all came
together to create thispublication.
But pretty much we wanted todocument sneaker culture through
(26:46):
our lens, because at the timeonly like Complex was was really
known for it at the time.
And then we had Frank-151, wehad Sneaker Freaker, but none of
it really spoke to our cultureand how we saw it, how we used
to hit the village Soho stores.
We would dig into these localspots and go to their basements,
(27:07):
but we had some crazy covers.
We had Chris Brown eating kicksout of a see-through kick.
So the whole idea was I woulduse my fashion connects, working
with Chris Brown, working withdifferent artists, and get them
on a cover.
And then Steve, at the time hewas interned in that Smooth
magazine so he was able to workon the magazine portion, the
(27:31):
layout, the whole editorial side.
So I was bringing the fashionand the talent and he was able
to work on, like the, themagazine portion, the layout of
the whole editorial side.
So I was bringing like thefashion and the talent and he
was bringing the, the editorialand the.
I mean the magazine know how wehad swiss beats when he had
people don't know that.
He had a collaboration with prokids.
That was our first cover.
We shot him at his studio.
We actually had the clips on ona cover.
Um, we have fire and ice, so wehad the clips and we had the
(27:51):
ice cream skate team and that,the Clips article that Saint.
So geniusly he interviewed theClips that started the Lil Wayne
beef.
If you Google it.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Really.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
The Clips article in Laced Magazine.
The cover story started the LilWayne beef.
If you Google it, complex evencites Laced Magazine as the
source.
From that interview that Saintdid shout out to Saint, my
brother Saint.
Yeah, of course that startedthe Clips beef, but yeah, it was
a great time.
We had Tiana on the cover.
We had Ferg on the cover ourlast covers but yeah, it was
(28:25):
documented sneaker culturethrough the lens of real sneaker
enthusiasts.
In New York City we had girleditors.
We had sneaker enthusiasts.
In New York City we had, like,girl editors.
We had sneaker store write-ups.
We were just trying to putpeople onto our culture.
So it was dope, super dope.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
So where did you go after you left BET?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
After BET I went on my own, so I just became a
freelance stylist.
Okay.
So that's when I startedworking with ferg, the.
The crazy story with ferg isthat um so he had a shoot in la
and um he had to shoot a bigsean for his video.
The world is mine.
So I was known for, you know,since harlem, like we were just
(29:06):
coming up together.
Fly dudes.
You know different.
We had different crews.
I had gfc, he had uh, harlemenvy, and we had our own jackets
.
You know, he had his ownvarsity jacket, we had our own
varsity that we could see eachother at car show like yeah,
he's always loved so those whodon't know, ferg his father's
was named d ferg.
He passed away sadly and he'sthe one who designed the bad boy
(29:26):
logo yeah, yeah among otherthings uptown records logo yeah
records, yep yeah, he's, he um,he's a, he's a Harlem legend,
for sure, absolutely a legendyeah, yeah so.
So Ferg um, when I was, you know, I had a roommate in Harlem and
when Ferg first got signed, hewould hit me up like yo, I got a
(29:48):
video coming up, can I get somestuff?
Because I always had all thisaccess because I'm an assistant
stylist, so I got mad stuff inmy house.
So sometimes I wouldn't bethere and I'd be like yo, just
hit my roommate, he'll let youin and you can take whatever you
want.
So he was like you know,pulling pieces from my closet to
you know, supplement thingsthat he needed for video shoots.
You know, early on budgets Imean artists, they don't have
(30:11):
these crazy budgets so then wehad the opportunity to tap in
with me.
You know what I mean.
He tapped in I fly, we fly toLA.
The budget I believe the budgetall in was like $3,500, right.
And shout out to my brotherNakim Nakim was like managing me
, right.
And he's like yo, you gotta go.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And I'm like word this is not enough money to go.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
We can't fly, get a rental, Because I feel like it
was in not Calabasas, but it wasin the hills or something the
video shoot.
And I'm like damn.
But he was like, nah, trust me,just go.
So I pull out all the stops, hegot Gucci, he got all this
crazy stuff.
So I get out there.
(30:53):
We lay out his looks and he waslike yo, I didn't think y'all
was going to come, because heknew his budget, he knew what
time it is.
He was like I didn't thinky'all was going to come.
That was crazy.
So he was really impressed withthe effort that we put forth.
And from then on we've justbeen thick as thieves, like
we've been locked in um, andthat was a long.
I don't know what year that was,but that was around the time
(31:14):
that I stopped working at bt sothat was like my first client as
a yeah that was my first majorclient with, like you know,
record budgets and you know,doing a lot of videos making
appearances and stuff, and thegreat thing about ferg is that
he's you don't necessarily stylehim, you collaborate with him.
You collaborate with Ferg.
(31:34):
He already has a vision forhimself.
He's a fly flashy Harlem to thebone type of guy.
So he got the vision.
It's like adding or subtractingor giving suggestions.
You know what I mean.
So I just love collaboratingwith him because it's just a
great opportunity to create.
You know what I'm saying incertain spaces, but yeah, that
was my first client post-BT andI just thank him for trusting in
(31:59):
me and believing in me.
You know what I mean, because Idefinitely believed in him.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So who was next?
After Ferg?
Who would you start styling?
Who was the next client?
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Who was next after Ferg.
You know what was crazy.
After that, it just got supercrazy.
I worked with PnB Rock.
God bless the dead I've workedwith I just gotta look at my
website so many differentartists, a lot of new artists,
because you know how it is inthe record industry system.
I feel like they look at youand they'd be like all right, I
(32:28):
feel like you could work withthis person or you could work
with that person and I had likea blend of like street sense
mixed with like high endsensibility, but it was.
It was a lot of artists, a lotof artists that I've worked with
, that I've touched in terms oflike the fashion space, but the
one consistent one that always,we always continue to work with
each other is Ferg for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Yeah, ferg's a loyal guy too, like if he rock with
you.
He rock with you regardless.
He could be, you know, figuringit out, or he could have a $10
million budget and he going towork with you.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
That's a fact, yeah he's a very loyal cat.
Tell me about, because I neverreally asked you this.
Tell me how you got intorunning and the Adidas fit thing
and all the stuff you're doingwith them, because I never
really have asked you about that.
I just see you doing it and I'mlike, wow, that's crazy.
Yeah, yeah, so again.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
I got to show love to mom when I was younger.
We were going to Riverside andshe decided she wanted to run a
New York City marathon.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
This is the East.
This is yeah.
Late 80s on Riverside thatjoint was like it was drug
infested.
It wasn't scary, but it wasn'tlike at night.
It wasn't the safest placebecause it was so desolate that
you know stuff would go downback then.
Yeah, it wasn't really lit uptoo much back then Right, it was
(33:51):
very dark Until the, until thestate park came.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
So yeah, till Riverbank came yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah.
So me being a man of the house,quote unquote my mom would come
home from work, she wouldchange and she would go train
and I would be like I'm goingwith you.
So I take my scooter, I take abike and I will always go with
her.
So I saw the whole process ofher training for the New York
City Marathon and I was like oneday I'm going to do it, because
if mom could do it, I'm goingto do it.
(34:18):
So I was just turning 30 and Iwas like low key, going through
like you know, like a midlifecrisis.
I just stopped working at BET,well, 106th and Park had stopped
and I was just going throughlike this transition period in
my life and I was like I'm gonnastart running.
I remember I couldn't run amile.
I was like, damn, I can't run amile.
This is gonna be.
I gotta do 26.2, this is gonnabe tough.
(34:40):
And then next thing, you knowit, I'm running 10 miles in
central park with no water, inthe middle of the heat, and I'm
just, I'm just high off lifebecause I did it not knowing any
better.
So that was happening.
And then during this whole time,I'm in communications with
Adidas because I'm hitting themup.
Like you know, do you mindsending me?
I'm training for the New YorkCity Marathon.
(35:00):
Is it possible to send me somemarathon gear?
They're like, absolutely so.
They send me stuff and theyjust see how dedicated I am.
And this is all because of myconnections that I created as an
intern, what might be you knowwhat I'm saying Just continuing
the conversation, taking thoserelationships and continuing to
work with new artists, et cetera.
So eventually they hit me up.
(35:23):
They're like you're alwaysstarting this new thing in New
York, or Adidas Runners NYC,would you like to be a part of
it?
And I'm like, absolutely so,y'all going to pay me to run?
Like, absolutely so, y'allgoing to pay me to run?
Like, absolutely, y'all goingto pay me to show my community
something healthy?
Absolutely so.
I was 100% with it and, yeah,it's been a beautiful thing.
(35:45):
I had my own sneaker AM4Quasi-Cassie in 2024.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
I don't need a 10 anymore, I need a 10B.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Yeah, I got you.
There's a few floating around,thank you.
Thank you, I got you.
But it was like I hadbillboards on the side of
highways on Harlem, on HarlemRiver Drive.
I saw, I saw, yeah yeah.
It's been a beautiful thing, butit started from my mom just
getting into running, runningand then it's also started from
styling, again from myrelationship that I continued to
(36:15):
create.
Um, shout out to mike b.
Just, I remember one day I wasan intern and he was like, yo, I
want you to.
We were, I think we werestyling like a loon video and he
needed, uh, shell toes.
And I reached out to adidas.
But I was like my earliestmemory of me reaching out to
adidas and them being like, okay, we'll send you X, y, z.
But I continued from differentpeople in marketing.
(36:38):
There I continued therelationship.
So when it was like my turn,they were like, oh no, we know
you, we got you.
And then it just blossomed fromthere and I went from captain,
just a captain, to Harlemcaptain, to captain of culture
and experience, to an Adidasambassador.
(36:59):
And my biggest proudest moment,outside of having my own sneaker
, as a sneaker enthusiast, waswe redid the court.
I mean the court, we redid thecourt.
Actually we redid the BlackGates and Kingdom with Belches
as a collaboration, okay, andthe hood.
But we also redid the track inum, in jefferson, thomas
jefferson projects.
(37:20):
Really, yeah, yeah, it's right.
So by my high school we redidmy high school track uh, it's a
200 meter and we redid it with,like, the state department.
We did a whole ceremony, we hada run and then it was right
before COVID.
So, like the community wassuper hyped because it was a
little crazy before.
So we redid it right beforeCOVID and then, like when COVID
(37:40):
happened, you know the mostthing that people could do was
like run.
So it was a beautiful thingthat we was able to do that
right before COVID.
Ferg performed.
It was crazy.
I hired all the local icyperson.
I hired Reg with the juices.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
I was just acting in the community, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
That was probably one of my proudest moments when
working with Adidas.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
That was really dope.
Another Harlem thing that a lotof people from that area might
not know is there is like asmall fitness kind of thing,
like people come out every yearbecause the marathon, actually
the New York State Marathon,runs right through Harlem and
people come out there every yearwith the signs and cheering
(38:26):
people on.
Like it's a.
You know, it's a thing.
You know what I'm saying.
It's a small thing, but it's athing.
It's a.
You know, it's a thing.
You know what I'm saying.
It's a small thing, but it's athing.
So the fact that you were ableto do that and give back to the
community and you know, helppeople who are running and stuff
like that probably give out.
You know gear and stuff.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
That's amazing, bro, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah For sure.
Like the thing about it is like, just like I saw my mom, people
have seen me, yeah me, yeah,it's like my peers have told me
like yo, I started runningbecause I'm like word.
Like like my peers, I wouldn'teven think I would be like a
younger person, but they're like, nah, like you inspire me
because you showed you, you madeit look like it was possible,
like you didn't make it looklike too too difficult, like oh
(39:02):
no, it's easy, you could do it.
You made it look cool.
So I'm like, wow, that's I justlike to always say, like you
never know who's watching.
So like, make sure you try anddo something positive.
You know what I mean.
But yeah, that running is a hugepart of the community.
And actually Ferg and I well,ferg is going to be doing Ferg
Flow.
I think it's August 14th,thursday August 14th so we're
(39:25):
doing a 5K in the morning andthen we're doing a sound bath
meditation, then we're doingcalisthenics and we're going to
be doing, and then it's going tosegue into a concert with
Summer Stage, all at MarcusGarvey Park.
Wow, so we taking that wholefitness initiative.
Yeah, it's something foreverybody.
(39:46):
If you don't run, you can do asound bath.
If you don't run, you can domeditation.
If you don't do, calisthenics,you could do.
You can watch a show yeah, youcan watch a show, and we're
going to be doing like a bike.
Ride out too, because he'sheavy into.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
BMS.
So yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
I'm excited you.
Right, right.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
Yo, I'm trying to lose you, son.
You know you never know who'swatching you.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
So that's dope that you're doing that, man you know,
yeah, yeah, especially like inour community, like we got to
always make sure that we likeshowing up in spaces and doing
the things that you know.
We just don't want to keep itto ourselves.
We want to show and doing thethings that you know we don't.
We just don't want to keep itto ourselves.
We want to show the world likeit was possible, you know so
tell me, tell me about uh killoff season so kill off season.
(40:54):
I got on um airbrush t righthere fire fire.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Uh, you starting on me.
Okay, I got you.
I need one of those two.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
I got you, I got you.
So yeah, so, kill Off Season isa brand I started with Stephen
Otho and O'Brien, so the wholeconcept and energy behind it was
, you know, we killing in theoff season.
That's what it stands forkilling the off season.
All of the greats, frommuhammad ali to jordan.
(41:30):
You hear about the off seasonregimen more than you hear about
the on season recipe.
You know when jordan wentthrough what he went through
with the pistons, he came back,he was in an off season, he was
lifting weights, he had to bulkup.
So that's the whole idea behindthe brand is like to really put
focus on the off season so thatyou can show up as your best
self in season.
And we came together to createa price, competitive and
conscious leather pant.
(41:50):
You know we wanted to offer us.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Thank you, thank you, man, thank you.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
We wanted to offer something to the industry that
was unique but also, like again,price competitive.
So we created this stackleather pant.
It was black with the ponystripe, with the gunmetal stripe
, and it was like somethingunique.
And it was also something likethat was created to like for
like, celebration, like whenpeople want to pop out, when
(42:19):
people want you know what I'msaying when they got that energy
, when they want a birthdayenergy, popping out energy, you
know you want to flex on your exenergy, like all that energy.
That's.
That's the clothes that we make.
You know I'm saying so.
Like that's the energy behindour brand is to like, really
like, embody your true superheroself through clothes like you
(42:40):
know what I mean.
Like when you wear a good fit,it makes you feel like you could
talk to anybody, you could bagany shorty, you could do
anything.
You know what I'm saying.
So that's the energy that wewant people to feel when they
put on our garments.
So, yeah, we've been around,we've been together and created
for three seasons.
For three years.
We actually just opened reallyproud seasons for three years.
(43:02):
We actually just opened reallyproud.
We just opened a showroom,studio space and design studio
and Dumbo right under the bridge.
Yeah, you can see a man bridge.
You can see the uh the worldtrade uh, one world trade.
You can see Brooklyn bridge,like it's a beautiful day and
we're also going to start ourworkout division of kill off
(43:22):
season, uh called Pack of Wolves, because us coming together.
You know you can do amazingthings by yourself, but when you
come together as a pack ofwolves you're unstoppable
Everybody's resources,everybody's mind, everybody's
energy.
So we started Pack of Wolves,which is going to be a running
and calisthenics collective.
So, again, if you don't run, wewill do some push, we do some
(43:44):
pull-ups, but we just activatein our community because this is
our part of our lifestyle.
Like me and steve, we run, wedo, we do uh, calisthenics.
So we just want to incorporatethat into our brand because a
lot of our community that we uhour wolf pack they also into the
same type of thing, like so.
So that's the whole energybehind the brand.
We're really excited.
We're slated to do apresentation in September.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
So excited about that You're going to be presenting
at Fashion Week or somethinglike that yes, sir.
You're getting money.
You're getting money.
We got to do it, man.
That's beautiful man.
You're making me like a prouddad.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
You know what I'm saying, for sure.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Where I met you up to now is incredible, you know
what I'm saying.
It's incredible.
And before we run, tell meabout the Met Gala.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Which one, though?
Which one we got 2018.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
How many have you worked on?
I've done two.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
So I did 2018 with Ferg.
Yeah, yeah, many have youworked on.
I've done two, so I did 2018with ferg.
Yeah, yeah.
So ferg 2018, it was.
So it was.
It was, it was wild, but it wasin the moment it was.
It was.
I knew how great it was goingto be, but so that that theme
2018 was, uh, heavenly bodies,right, and you know, ferg is a
(45:01):
hood pope, so I'm like like yo.
I presented I had this, I thinkI had a picture of it this mood
board of, like you know, poperobes and pope hats, because
he's the hood pope.
I'm like yo, this is perfect.
And he's like yo, I love all ofthis.
But I just want to look like ahandsome black man and I was
like I feel you.
So he didn't want to go toocostumey, he wanted to like he's
(45:23):
like yo, this is my first one.
I just want to look handsomeand presentable and like dapper.
So I'm like alright, I totallyunderstand.
So I wound up working withDapper Dan, and this is when he
was at the Gucci house and hehad the store on Lennox.
He had the Habitashery on Linux,so Dabbeday and myself work
(45:44):
together.
Ferg goes on tour, so we aren'table to do any fittings.
No because he's not home.
He's not home.
So Ferg lands the day of theMet Gala.
He comes to the Haberdasherythe Gucci Dabbeday Haberdashery
on Linux.
He does one fitting.
He loves it.
(46:04):
He's like we have to do sometweaks.
Bird comes back, goes home,takes a shower, comes back, he
gets dressed for the Met Gala atDapper Dan's studio on Linux.
Wow, we leave from there to theMet Gala.
This is unheard of.
Usually you do a few fittings.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
It was so seamless.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
You get dressed at the hotel close by and then you
uptown but it was beautifulthough.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
It was beautiful.
He was sitting at the tiffanytable.
He wore their most coveted rock, the bird on the rock.
Like beyonce's wanted jay-z.
It's um, it's crazy, and I'm.
We met their representative onmadison.
She handed me the bird on arock in a box.
I take it out, I put it on hislapel as we drive into the Met
Gala.
He gets out and just wows thecrowd.
(46:50):
But that was.
It was beautiful just for me,because being from Harlem,
working with Ferg for so long,working with Dapper Dan, icon,
legend, fashions guru, a greatmind, it was just like so.
The synergy was so perfect, youknow, I mean so at that moment
was like that's one of my, myproudest fashion moments, just
working with my friend andclient, working with that.
(47:12):
But then and and just atholland and everything happening
in holland, it was.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
It's crazy, it was beautiful.
I can't even I can't evenimagine what it was like before
I walked out of there, out ofthat spot, and onto Linux like
dressed.
I'm sure it was just like oh mygosh, it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
It was beautiful man, Beautiful.
That was the time.
And then, to fast forward 2025,I worked with one of my clients
, Noah Louse, the fastest man inthe world.
We worked with Tom Brown andshout out to Tom Brown they were
super great team to work with.
I mean, we in a fitting andthey got 10 people, the head
(47:51):
designer, they got the PR theygot everybody.
They got different tailors.
They not playing theirattention to detail was crazy.
In the case of Noah Lyles, hejust wanted to stay on theme.
In the case of Noah Lyles, hejust wanted to stay on theme,
which was Superfine.
Taylor A yeah, taylor, for you,black Dandy and he wanted to
stay on theme and he just wantedto show up and show out.
(48:12):
So he was partnered with AnnaKhoury.
Anna Khoury is a women'sjewelry designer, so she came up
with some beautiful pearls andit was crazy.
It was a great time and that,too, came together last minute.
But he came out stepping.
He was super, super happy,super proud.
And yeah, that's another one ofmy famous, most famous fashion
(48:35):
moments, or most iconic fashionmoments, cause just to work with
like the fashion house, brownhit that Met Gala stage seven
years later was just like with adifferent client, fastest man
ever After the Olympics.
It's just like it was beautifulman.
It's always a joy and a timeand I'm just happy to be in this
(48:57):
space.
To be honest, did you?
Speaker 1 (48:58):
hit any after parties .
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Nah, nah.
So I've always been like a I'mgoing to go home to me and eat a
good meal type of person.
I respect that I got a lot ofinvites but I was just like,
after the week that I had andthe last five days that I've had
, I don't even want to.
I don't want to party withy'all.
I want to.
I'll party with my people, butI I'm going to give me a good
meal.
Yeah, get some rest and watchsomething.
(49:22):
You know what I'm?
saying Like I can put in thatmuch mental, physical and
spiritual labor.
It's just like I don't gotnothing for nobody else.
I'm going to just retreat backto my to my space.
Speaker 1 (49:34):
Hell yeah, that's cool, that's cool man.
So what's next?
Speaker 2 (49:38):
What's next, oh man, next, oh man.
We spoke about kill off seasonwe're going to do our
presentation in september.
That's going to be epic.
I'm excited for that.
We got ferg flow, august 14th.
I'm super excited for that.
We're gonna be.
I'm gonna be leading a 5k starand it ended in marcus garvey
park that morning, um, andthat's gonna segue into the
various events ending in theconcert, the ferg headlining,
(50:02):
what else we got coming up newNew York City Marathon 2025.
This is going to be my 12thconsecutive New York City
Marathon.
Speaker 1 (50:08):
Wait, wait.
Tell me a little bit about the.
We haven't talked about it.
Tell me a little bit about theexperience of running the New
York City Marathon.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Yo.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
I say it like this I feel like it's the biggest block
party in the world.
It goes from Eastboro, startsin Staten Island, then Verrazano
and it ends in Central Park.
But I feel like, even if youdon't run, you got to tap in and
cheer, you could sponsor arunner, you could do charity
(50:38):
work, but it's just like thewhole city comes together and
the whole world really, becauseit's like so many people from
across the world come to run orto cheer or to share like their,
their family member or theirloved ones on, so it's just like
the energy that day is like.
It's so, so, so amazing, sobeautiful.
But yeah, running through thecity is like.
(50:58):
That's why I keep doing it,cause I I like to consider
myself the ultimate New Yorker,so I keep on doing it because I
love New York that much.
And it's a hard course.
So I want to like, I want tolike really feel like I crushed
it.
You know what I mean.
Like I have a track later ontoday and it's humidity and it's
heat and I'm excited because Iknow that this work now is going
(51:19):
to pay off.
November Sunday, november 2nd.
You know what I'm saying.
So, but it's the greatest timeanymore.
Again, if you can't run it, ifyou can't run it, run it.
If you're unable to definitelycome out and share.
It's super motivational Fromlike the grandmas and the
grandpas, to like the people inneed of special need people, to
(51:40):
like it's just like wow, this isa beautiful time, beautiful
time, special need people tolike.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
it's just like wow, this is, it's a beautiful time,
yeah, yeah, yeah, Like I said, Iused to go out there on.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
Fifth Avenue and see them running.
Yeah, yeah, that's when people,that's when people washed Fifth
Avenue is tough.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
Yeah, fifth Avenue is real tough and it's a hell of a
world.
That's the thing about New Yorkpeople don't realize it's way
more hilly than people thinkbecause there'll be a lot of
slim inclines.
Not, they're not like this, butthey.
But it's like you're used torunning up the slim incline for
like a minute.
Speaker 2 (52:07):
It's like, well, I'm, I'm still going uphill, you
know that's the fact, fit bathis like a steady incline and
when you're in the park it's anincline, it's tough, yeah,
suicide hill in the park and allthat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, it's agood time.
It's fun, man I had a good time.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
It was fun, man.
I had a good time, brother.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Nah, I appreciate you , man, thank you.
Thank you for having me on hereand again, you are an icon,
you're a legend.
You supported me in my career.
We even hit on the Bumby, ugk,all that type of channels.
Speaker 1 (52:34):
Let's talk about it.
Let's talk about it real quick,before we go.
Speaker 2 (52:36):
Let's talk about it Working with Shanique.
Shout out to Shanique Peru.
She was styling Pimp C at thetime and the people don't even.
I even spoke to Bun about this,but people don't even realize
like I'm in the credits as PimpC's last like stylist, for I
think it was Underground Kings Iforgot what album it was, but
(52:57):
their last album UndergroundKings was the last album.
Yeah, where he wore the fur,Shanique couldn't make it and
she sent me to Houston and hehad the fur on with the hat and
he was Pimp, was super cool andyeah, that was historic and I
also worked on Too Short.
Blow the Whistle, that's right,you know.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
That's right in Oakland, I forgot, yeah, yeah,
yeah, that's right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that'sright.
Yeah, I forgot about you onthat set too.
Yeah, yeah.
So like Two iconic videos too.
Yeah, we go back.
Yeah.
And two smash hit records, twosets Still.
Blow Whistle plays now likeit's new.
Speaker 2 (53:37):
My mom 80, if she's like, make sure you play Blow
Whistle.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
Because it got the energy like it got the energy.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
Yeah, man, yeah yeah, so we go back, we go back.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
Yeah, man, I'm proud of you, man.
I'm proud of everything you doman I had to have you on the
show.
Speaker 2 (53:49):
I was like I gotta give my man Quaz on the stunner
a little bit for having me andcontinued success for you.
I'm going to definitely betapping in, please.
The show is dope.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
Thank you, man, congratulations.
I got a lot of good peoplelined up, so I'll keep you
posted on everything.
Speaker 2 (54:11):
Nice man, yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
You can catch Mixed and Mastered on Apple Podcasts,
spotify, iheart or wherever youget your podcasts.
Hit that follow button, leave areview and tell a friend I'm
your host, jeffrey Sledge.
Mixed and Mastered is producedand distributed by Merrick
Studios.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.