In the city where Hip-Hop is given the parentage credit on its birth certificate there is ONE station that is synonymous with the music of the artistic movement. NYC’s Hot97 is that place. It’s like getting a chance to work Carnegie Hall. You aren’t just legitimate now. You are uber-legit. The scene outside of NYC nightspot Canal Room was palpable to the event they hosting. The hottest four man group in the game right now was going to have their album release party. It was like a victory lap for these four dudes that rap.
We debated this shit from the moment the first single leaked onto the web way back 10 years ago (I know but internets time is crazy like that). It seems like we had mad ups and downs along the path to this point. The saga continues along with the journey. I don’t see the journey ending either. These four dudes who have no business being on a song together fought upstream enough to make an album. That kind of momentum and strength doesn’t dissipate quickly. I’m already waiting for the next SlaughterHouse song.
That is, after they have taken their victory laps in Jersey City, Detroit and L.A.
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!
If I were in Philly this weekend THIS is the shit I would be fuxing with. Not the whole running, biking, sk8boarding part, but the after party @ the Piazza part.
215 Magazine is all things great about Philadelphia and this event is something they had a hand in. The Piazza @ Liberties Walk is mah sheet when I go to Philly. Good music, good food and good looking people. I always knew that Philly was the most hardworking city of all time, I just never knew Philadelphia had it in her to be so damn sexy.
