Monthly Archives: February 2008

Rappers come and go.

And I’m not just talking about within the music industry, but here at The Hundreds. It’s cool, I guess. Someone famous rocking a hoody in a music video or whatever, but we always take it in stride. I mean, next week, most of ‘em will move on to something else anyways.

But Bun B is family. Always supportive, usually one of the first to congratulate us on successes, and always a text-message away. The best part is he actually knows what’s up with the independent brands (instead of relying on a stylist). If any celebrity has his/her finger on the pulse of streetwear, it’s Bun.

[For instance, today he was rocking one of Mikol's new tees from Amongst Friends.]

Speaking of coming and going, we had a pretty interesting discussion about where the music industry’s headed. I’m not sure if you guys are really getting what’s going on lately, but everything you’ve ever known about how to listen to / purchase / access music is about to change changing. Kinda like the way you look at your parents’ vinyl records, or your older brother’s cassettes, that’s how you’re gonna view CDs in.. NOW.

With everything moving to digital, and the subsequent collapse of the music industry, Bun told us that the only way it’s gonna get better is for it to all crash and burn first. But we both agreed that in a way, that’s a good thing. He remarked that it’s gonna force artists to come correct and be “real.” For the past decade, corporate formulas and marketing-driven album sales have degraded popular music to a mere shell of decency, so now, complacent one-hit-wonders who put out a wack record and reap rewards will be a thing of the past.

The artists will be forced to rely on tours and creative ways of merchandising to generate income and fanbase, which will allow the fans to filter out the good from the bad for themselves. And for the artists who complain about that, I’d refer them to an Ian Mackaye interview on VBS where the veteran punk questioned why musicians have always viewed tours as a means of promoting an album and merchandise, when in reality, shouldn’t it be the other way around? After all, isn’t the point of it all to get out there and play music?

by bobbyhundreds

I FEEL SORRY FOR YOUR MOTHER.

I DON’T WANT NO TROUBLE.

by bobbyhundreds 

Have you seen the new Antenna magazine? If you haven’t, I was interviewed by Russ Bengston (formerly known to NT’ers as Slam Ed) in a profile about The Hundreds. It was one of the better interviews I’ve done in quite some time (and very well-written, might I add) because Russ got around to asking some pertinent questions about our brand that I hadn’t had the opportunity to field before (so thanks Russ!)… Most notably, the relevance of music to The Hundreds, and how various music subcultures structure our brand’s architecture.

Funny, because I don’t think any 2 of us actually share the same musical tastes. Ben grew up on West Coast rap, Jon leans towards oldies, Tony’s a Morrisey Whore-isey, Morgan’s hip to hip-hop. Benjie used to be a renowned drum-and-bass DJ (google it!), Scotty won’t listen to it if the band’s name doesn’t have “Goat,” “Blood,” and female sex organs in it. Oh but we do all agree on one thing. Switch listens to the worst music ever.

I’m not one of those people that says, “Oh I listen to everything,” because I’m not really keen to Flamenco or Gregorian chant (I think the people who say that usually just mean Rock and Rap. You know.. that’s “everything.”) However, I’d like to think that I have a rather broad sense of aural pleasure, after all, I used to write music reviews for a living. BUT, I also have more than my fair share of guilty pleasures when it comes to my iTunes library (how did Third Eye Blind get in here?) And a sizable chunk of that comes by way of Genre > Emo.

I guess kids these days align “emo” with what we used to call “goth” when I was in high school, but instead of bauhaus and lunchboxes, now it’s My Chemical Romance and cutting. But that’s not really how I remember it — as a hardcore punk offshoot — so I’ll just create my own utopian world and disregard everything that “emo” has become associated with in the past decade or so.

These were/are some of my favorite emo bands, many of whom I regret not being able to see perform live, so thank God for Youtube.

Rites of Spring: Theme
Considering the term “emo” actually doesn’t really exist (kinda like “streetwear”), this is supposedly where it started. And at the 9:30 Club no less.

Sunny Day Real Estate : In Circles
Their radio friendly album, but still great. The album art was a classic in itself.

Mineral: Gloria
Off of “The Power of Failing.” For some reason, I only like the odd-numbered tracks off this album.

Jimmy Eat World: Crush
I’ve watched this band grow up, from 7-person emo-core shows during my teenage years to MTV videos for the masses today. This was shot right before Clarity broke, arguably the greatest pop-rock/emo album of all time. Hard to believe 1998 was 10 years ago now.

Now go back, read all the “That’s not emo! / What’s emo? / Emo’s gay!” comments to the videos, and cry.

by sobbyhundreds

Dom’s got a new sneaker collaboration with DC on the way.. drops only at Brooklyn Projects in a couple weeks.

Leila x Oscar double-decker.

The Goo girls. Always up to no goo.

Follow the Black Rainbow. Jay (BKRW) stops by on his way to Vegas.

It’s been the shortest, longest week ever.

by bobbyhundreds

We received terrible news on Thursday morning. One of Jon’s closest homeboys, Endi, was tragically murdered in a senseless killing spree that makes even less sense with time.

Endi was, and will always be, The Hundreds family. He was truly a good-hearted, straight-up dude. Always with a smile, always having a good time.  One of those guys that was impossible not to like.

Rest in peace, Endi.  We’ll miss you.  May you and your family go with God.

from The Hundreds 

Wale stops by, en route to the Grammys this weekend.

This will most likely NOT be his outfit for the night.

You can also check out our boy on the cover of the current DNR.

by bobbyhundreds

I can’t help but notice that lately, the trade rags, trend reporters, fashion market analysts, and all the other retards who claim to know what’s up with YOUR style, have been keen to predict that the next big thing in streetwear is taking it “back to basics.” Simplicity! A response to the candy-coated all-over print craze of yesteryear… Flannels!!! But of course!

Unfortunately for us, we’ve already been there and done that.. For the PAST 2 YEARS. So while we’ve been laughed at for making button-ups instead of full-zip up hoodies for the past 8 seasons, I guess now we’re just taking a seat on our own buffalo plaid bandwagon??!! (Just for the record…) Man, I can never get it right. I’m just gonna start making Mork & Mindy spacesuits. We’ll still get laughed at, but at least we’ll never be OUT of fashion.

All bitterness aside, we just posted our Spring 2008 Lookbook in our Online SHOP. Once again, all photography by Paul Sun of The Social Trust, and styled by Astrid.  Most of our worldwide accounts have already received their shipments over the past couple weeks (Support your local independent retailer!).  The Spring line is also available now in The Store on Rosewood here in L.A., and dropping online in our Shop soon.

Hope you like it…

If not now, maybe in a couple years?

by bobby-come-lately

Well, we all know there are only 2 things in the world that are really super. Supermarkets and Superman. But today is Super Tuesday here in the States, meaning half of the nation will be holding presidential primary elections (or caucuses). Basically, all of the candidates (including the black guy, Monica Lewinsky’s boyfriend’s wife, the oldest guy on Myspace.. [hmm, sounds like the cast of a VH1 reality show]) will get some sizable results as to how they’re faring in the race to presidency. Chances are that we’re probably gonna find out who’s gonna claim the Democrats’ and Republicans’ party nominations as well.

So if you’re in a State that’s holding a primary today (hopefully you’re registered), get out there and make your voice heard. And if you’re not registered, then do so ASAP so you can vote in the general election on November 4th.

Nima (Digital Gravel) dropped off this Shepard Fairey (Obey) print for me last week. Stupid cleaning lady (Stupid) folded it up. She must be a Hillary fan.

So I hit up Shepard for some more.
Not for sale. Strictly for the streets!
Obeyma?

Remember when we made these 4 years ago? You could say that “hindsight is 20/20″ but ..yeah, actually, we could see just fine back then.

My name is Bobby Hundreds and I approve this message.

I tried to think up a clever title for this one, and then I realized that those two words were enough. I wrote a paragraph-long introduction, then re-wrote a passage about punk ethics, staying core, and what it means to succeed without selling out, and then “select-All” “Delete“-d it.

Truth is that Ian Mackaye is a living legend. And (as you’re about to read) as much as he doesn’t understand why his existence is so significant to an entire industry and culture built on product and consumption-centric “lifestyle,” the truth is that his life and career have dramatically impacted not only my own but countless peers’, heroes’, and influences’ of mine (and probably yours).

One of my favorite Fugazi songs is “Merchandise” off of Repeater. The lyrics are poignantly relevant to our immediate surrounding culture, and serve as a reminder that in the end, there’s really more to it than the actual t-shirt or a pair of rare sneakers or what-have-you that you’ve been fiending for.

You are not what you own.

As ironic as it sounds, I thought it’d be interesting to actually put it on a t-shirt, so I sought Ian Mackaye’s blessing, although already knowing what his answer would be. He immediately responded to my inquiry, declaring that beyond music, he has never endorsed any merchandise. Which I already knew, but considering I just got an e-mail from the man himself, well that was worth it’s weight in gold.

Steven Vogel got much more than an email from Ian Mackaye recently. In fact, he had the opportunity to phone him for the better part of an hour. It’s a great read, and although I don’t necessarily agree with 100% of his opinions, I think Ian Mackaye has always offered a gentle extreme to gauge one’s values off of.

Read Steven’s interview with Ian here on the Black Lodges website.

by bobbyhundreds

My, how time flies.

Today is the 1-year anniversary of our store here at 7909 Rosewood Ave. For the occasion, we’re releasing our Store logo tee in a first-time black-and-white with a commemorative graphic on the back. Only 75 tees were made and are on sale at The Store as of 11am.

So we wanted to thank all of our loyal customers, friends, and family for making this dream become a reality over the past 12 months. The Store was a sizable endeavor that was an uphill battle from the start. Over a year-and-a-half ago, when we decided to move forward with our first retail location, our office space on Rosewood seemed the ideal space although it was tiny (to say the most) and located on a random side-street in a then-ghosttown. But the homeys knew to find us there, and we had carved our existence in the world out of those tight 4 walls — it was home — so it only made sense.

We had all kinds of outlandish store concepts from the get-go, from a museum-type learning experience to incorporating an actual tree into the space (?!). Thankfully, design firm TylerSpencer helped us prune our ideas into a feasible, sensible project that vibed with The Hundreds, and not only maximized every square inch of that room, but distinguished our boutique from anything else within the streetwear industry. The rules: Everything custom, no IKEA furniture or stock fixtures, and nothing you’d expect from the underdog “t-shirt company” who wasn’t supposed to be building a shop like this.

Design aside, the true heart of The Store was to further establish a base relationship with you, our customer. And I think we did a pretty good job of that over the first year. Not only did you get to know Tony, Morgan, Alex, and the rest of the jackals, but you got a proper feel for what The Hundreds was all about, whether you were trying on jeans in our multi-color funbox, posting on the curb out front, tossing back a few at a TH barbecue, or viewing it all on the blog or Photo Booth no matter where you were in the world. It’s been a good year, and we’ve only got more surprises for the next, so be sure to stay tuned to 7909.

Oh, before you go..
One year ago, this was the first sneak preview you saw of The Hundreds Store.

So it’s only fitting that I give you a preview of the next.

by bobbyhundreds