Rapper/ Model

"Rapper slash model, f*ck you is the motto..." -Rahsaan from the song "LITTLE GHETTO BOY"

My two favorite things have got to be music and fashion. This is probably because they already go hand in hand with one another. In my junior year in high school I started a clothing line; myself and a partner of mine, IILLESTR8. What up Str8? We called it K.U.E. Gear (KUE is an acronym that means Knowledge + Understanding = Experience). The guys' line was abbreviated G-KUE (GQ) and the girls' line was abbreviated KUE-T (Cutie). I was into gear from back then and was even able to gain a little notoriety during my freshman year at Florida A&M University. But after a year or so I fell back on concentrated solely on musical interests. Three years ago, I wasn't doing much day to day; just studying theater at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY. I got an opportunity to go help out a friend of mine who was the marketing director for Mecca clothing at the time. She was basically running the whole department without any assistance, so I said, why not? At best, I could get some free clothes. Honestly, I didn't even realize Mecca was still around. I remember it was one of the brands I wore back in the 90's. It wasn't until I began working there that I found out one of the premiere urban brands, Akademiks, was actually owned by the same parent company. So I began my internship at Mecca in March '04. On my third day the design director informed me that he liked the way I carried myself, and told me there was an opening on the design team for me if I was interested. I weighed my options at that point; continue interning for free and going to theater classes three times a week, or get paid to do one of the things I have always had a knack for. Obviously I chose the latter. During my short tenure at Mecca I was able to achieve a lot. I've had designs I created shipped and sold in various stores across the country. Pieces I've done have been worn by cast members on HBO's The Wire. I was also featured in two ad campaigns both centered around a hip hop concept, as you see pictured above. I've been photographed by famed video director and photographer Dave Meyers and had an opportunity to perform in Las Vegas at the annual MAGIC Fashion Convention. I was also the sole model featured in the Mecca Holiday Look Book, of which 5,000 copies were distributed and used as marketing tools to sell the brand to buyers and a variety of department stores. After a year and a half, the company and I started having creative differences and I chose to leave my position up there. But it was still a valuable learning experience for me. I acquired wealthy of knowledge about how the fashion industry works on a number of different levels. After I've established myself musically, and I venture back into the world of fashion with my own brand, I will be in a better position to access certain things that were unattainable to me at 17 years old trying to expand a company in between track practice, homework, and trying to graduate.