Hip-Hop and fashion will always have a special relationship, so it’s only right there will be a special pop-up shop store opening to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Jay Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt.
Hypebeast reports the store will be operated by producer and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder, Kareem “Biggs” Burke. The shop will open for 30 days at APT. 4B on Fairfax in Los Angeles. Items such as never before seen photos will help set up the store as an actual apartment modeled after the rappers Brooklyn home. Collectibles including cassettes, t-shirts and limited edition New Era hats will be available for purchase.
“Reasonable Doubt was the genesis,” Burke said in a statement. “It’s an album that touched culture and led to different businesses, whether it was a fashion house or a spirits house or movies. It created a blueprint.”
Speaking with Billboard, Burke shared the experience will tie in social media because, 2016. “We’re also doing it in an interactive way with these kiosks through Metroclick so people will be able to tie it back to social and they’ll have Reasonable Doubt emojis that they’ll be able to take pictures with as well,” he said. “The [store front] window is going to be themed around an old record store so it’ll be like Reasonable Doubt is dropping [that day].
The album has been declared by critics and the rapper himself as his best project. Released independently through Rocafella Records, the singles “Brooklyn’s Finest” featuring The Notorious B.I.G., “Can I Live,” and “Can’t Knock The Hustle” featuring Mary J.Blige have been praised as true classics. Burke explained to Billboard the layout of the album and the many messages between Jay’s legendary bars.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=P_DLD7OMUns
“I think it was just him being an open book, being vulnerable and at the same time being cool,” Burke said. “Even the way Jay’s albums started to be sequenced and put together after that, it was always this roller coaster ride where he talked about a lot of things. People thought that it was being glorified, but he always showed the repercussions of that in [songs like] “Regrets” and “Can I Live?,” talking about the downfall of what happens after you live in this lifestyle. That’s why I think a lot of guys and a lot of fans really related to this album. It was like, “Wow. He’s not just talking about the highs. He’s also talking about the lows and what happens after you get into this type of game.” It became emotional at the time as well so people were able to empathize with it and put themselves in those shoes like, “Wow, I’ve been through that” or “I’ve seen that happen.”
Check out more deets behind the pop-up shop here.