HOFFA from OnSmash hit me on the jack and told me that he wanted me to sit in with him and TIM for a StreetLevel.com interview with Raekwon the Chef. HOF knows that Rae is prA’li like my personal fave of all time. This shit was epic. Raekwon was as cool and introspective as you would imagine. I could have sat with this brother for hours and just talked shit about everything.
I can’t wait for the new Raekwon CD to drop on September 8th. I will be copping two of them shits. Don’t tell Joe Budden that.
The Boot Camp Clik performed their ‘A Tribute To Classics’ show on Wednesday night in Brower Park. In the heart of Crown Heights they did classics from ‘Enta Da Stage’ and ‘Dah Shinin’. This is the the very neighborhood that birthed these artists. I can’t imagine any other place that this show would be more like a homecoming. We’d have to be on the Franklin Avenue shuttle maybe. I don’t know how we’d get the whole band on the train though.
The Boot Camp Clik is what backpacker rap is all about for me. My Jansport knapsack with the sueded bottom held my Sony walkman cassette player, my Garcia y Vegas, and a boxcutter for whatever whatever. The Boot Camp Clik defines that era succinctly. Even to this day they remain independent artists that haven’t sold their souls, or their publishing, out to the lowest bidders. The Boot Camp Clik has taken the high road in Hip-Hop(literally and figuratively) and this is why they are so important as artistic role models.
Salute these brothers when you see them on the streets.
A series of drops is long overdue featuring some of the footwear in my Timberland collection. Timbs are so much more everlasting in Hip-Hop than any kicks you might compare them to. They are greater than Air Force 1’s and shell toe adidas. At least for my era in Hip-Hop they are. For many years Timberlands were four season shoes on my feet. When I tell you that I brought (boots x shorts) to the ‘hood please believe it.
I should let Polotron tell it.
There was no pair that I had that put more work in with me than my Iditarod Superboots popularly known as the Forty Belows. I copped these joints from Paragon Sporting Goods store on Broadway back in 1987 and they are still in my collection today. I can’t fit a 10.5 any longer but I refuse to give them away because of all the shit we have been through. These shoes are Superboots indeed and I damn near treated them like athletic shoes. Let me give you some music to set the tone for this drop…
BlackMoon – ‘Buck ‘Em Down’
To be a real Timberland head you have to know the style number for your boots. This is how I was able to speak with Timberland about their products. For many years they matched my consumerism with the best customer support. If a pair of boots failed me they replaced them without haste. Timberland’s customer service >>> Nike and NorthFace combined.
The 10284 was the last of it’s kind. I’ll feature another Superboot with a similar design that was Gore-Tex insulated but even that boot couldn’t hold up wear and tear that the OG 10284 has withstood. I’ve never re-soled these boots. This is the original Timberland rubber sole. This sole is even better than a Vibram joint. That was the only problem with the 10284. It was made TOO well. You may not ever need to buy another pair of boots. Trust me. I’ve bought many.
The first thing that grabs me about these shoes is their weight. They feel like the equivalent of placing a Sherman tank on your feet. The leather is tremendously thick yet supple and pliant. The rumor was always that these boots were made from elephant skin. Whoever did the OG buzz marketing for Timberland was a boss. I remember these talking points as though it were 1987 all over again. The Timberland logo is a huge brand embossed into the side of the boot but it was never readily visible. You had to know the deal for real.
The next time you watch the movie ‘Juice’ peep the boots that Bishop is wearing. Yep, he has on the OG Forty Belows tied up to the top. I don’t care for 2Pac’s music too tough, but I would never deny that he is a Hip-Hop icon of the highest caliber. I mean, sonn has on the Iditarod Superboot. How can he NOT be iconic? I want to say that I have seen cover art with Naughty by Nature rocking the Forties as well. However, no one in Hip-Hop culture has made Timberland more official than the Boot Camp Clik. And myself (natch).
The Timberland style came from Harlem as well as Northface did. Brooklyn cats at the time were on their Fila-Prince-Le Coq Sportif shit. Harlem’s style back then was flashy too in it’s own right. Roof Of The World coats were wildly popular and pretty expensive. If Paragon was sold out then you had to go to Tents & Trails in lower Manhattan. For Timberland shoes though I always fuxed with Paragon. Polotron loved McReedy & Schreiber. To each his own.
At the height of my Timberland collection I may have owned more than sixty pairs of boots. I have since sold many on eBay and now I have a little over thirty pairs. I’ve got some heat rocks too. For the follow up drop I will feature some of my Timbs made in Italy. Those joints are Crazy Eddie aka INSAAAAAANE!
Big Daddy Kane’s homecoming in Prospect Park was all that and a bag of salt & vinegar chips.
Kane’s energy and showmanship have not waned in the twenty plus years that he has been a member of the mighty Juice crew.
And speaking of the Juice Crew… When we heard Masta Ace was in the building it wasn’t a stretch to imagine that the ‘Symphony’ would be performed. We weren’t disappointed. To close the show Big Daddy Kane brought out Scoob and Scrap. This was Hip-Hop in every sense of the artform.
Shouts to Combat Jack for holding down the a seat for the kid in the BK VIP section.
