Before Raekwon wore the Polo Snow Beach piece, some other rap luminaries took the piste with their choice of outwerwear. EPMD’s defining moment on wax showcased the duo in some eccentric garms. This was a pivotal moment for Erick and Parrish – only the best outfits would do. That’s why they broke out the Hobie Alpine pieces.

Coordinated, albeit in different colours, this curious cotton-looking snap-button varsity number was an odd pick. Even odder than Marvelous’s adidas Surf sweatshirt for an LP sleeve… not as strange as their boy Stezo’s visible chest, gurning and stonewash for his LP art. It’s somewhere in between. Long Island’s a stronghold of eccentric style, eschewing some of the Harlem, Bronx and Brooklyn staples. How the Hobie brand got involved is a mystery.

Hobie Alter’s left coast brand first arrived in the 1950s with some handcrafted surfboards. It was pivotal in the spread of the commercially available skateboard too… we can consider it the forefather of Hang Ten and Quiksilver. What’s tougher to ascertain is what the Alpine line was all about. A short-lived attempt to move from summer to winter sports too?

We know they made sunglasses that would make Officer Ricky envy as well as these coats, but precious little else. The ‘Alpine Skiing’ text on the chest and back is lavish-looking, and the script on the arm is pleasantly excessive. Was Alpine King some sought after grail for future Hit Squad crew? Who needed North Face Steep Techs when you had these jumpoffs?

Lest we dwell too much on the Alpine steez, Parrish’s inexplicable Russian Hat Wear adds to the oddball nature of this seemingly straightforward shot. Did he steal that from Drago’s girl? And K La Boss complements his colourful cohorts by going all black everything. Cardigan over a turtle neck? Deep. Milk Tray casual in full effect. The denim on display looks like a wearable blizzard… it was an eccentric time for sartorial oneupmanship among crews.

Before EPMD broke out the fisherman’s hats and Nike Flight 89s, this was our perception of them — gaudily dressed hardrocks. Still, they stayed jacket-centric for Unfinished Business by trying to sell us extortionately priced Sleeping Bag records branded apparel in the sleeve of the album. Alas, if you’re in the market for a Hobie Alpine of your own, you’re a (eBay) customer and sellers know the cultural cache of this garment, namechecking the Green Eyed Bandit himself in the listing and setting reserves that get the bozack.

WORDS BY THE MIGHTY GWAR

O.G. hip-hop Bambatty man has joined forces with fruitiest of fashionistas Marc Jacobs to produce a ‘Death Mix’ USB hub, an homage to Bam’s classic high- school musical on Winley Records. If you don’t believe us peep it. We called the numbers on his card for a quote on his foray into haute couture and got this spot. Whatever next?

Nike Air Delta Force Hi as seen on ‘Gangsta Gangsta’ 12″ by N.W.A.

The good doctor knew a pair of half-decent sneakers when he saw them back in NWA’s heyday. Dre’s decision to keeping it gangster with some seriously big-arse Nikes that would cause the legendary Swoosh-shoed freeloader Jerry Seinfeld to fall back. Given that the brief prior to the studio visit was to wear something appropriately white and sporty that would add the necessary emphasis to this visual subversion of servitude stereotyping, Dre’s sneakers are the absolute anti-shoe shine creation in all their ankle-supporting bulk.

The Nike in question is 1988′s Air Delta Force Hi. Many will remember 1987′s original Team Delta Force – it’s been reissued in mid and low variations over the years, (as a spot of hip-hop trivia, Japan’s Nitro Microphone Underground got their own hyper and quickstrike special makeups of the retroed mid) and now a pointless Hi with an even duller sole unit, but beyond the perforations, if truth were told, it’s a pretty underwhelming shoe. No Air for starters. Hoop shoe afficionado Dante Ross says as much in Bobbito’s book. They seemed to be a budget version of the Air Force II design.

The Air Delta Force, worn here, is a lot better, with the extra support, more padding, and that ill tongue branding (one of the first to carry it), yet it’s not as good as 1989′s Delta Force ST, just because that funny-shaped midsole was a little off-putting, and greys and whites were straight snoozeworthy. An odd choice considering 1988 was the year of the vasttly superior Air Revolution and Air Force III. Still; while they never made a lasting impression beyond this single sleeve, the technical, honed precision, and and updated formula kind of reflects the work of man wearing them if we’re going to overanalyse to the point of self-parody. Fuck that. We’ll just stick to the aethetics.

Nike have made no effort to reissue this model, but if you try to wear a deadstock pair to the shops on a Frijj and Rizla mission, there’s a fair chance they’ll crumble into dust like a CGI vampire death, leaving you staggering home shoeless as if you were returning from the Hammersmith Odeon Public Enemy show. Still. It means you’ll have an authentic late ’80s experience, if that’s what you’re craving.

Yet. Post-NWA, Dre rarely matched this pick on his feet again. He kept it crispy with Superstars and simpler out-the-box pieces, made a few music video footwear missteps, but these are one of his defining sneaker moments. Eazy with the Jordan IIIs, plus the Air Flight Hi (as rocked by EPMD) on group members were other attention-grabbers. That coast-to-coast appeal, and confidence in their own sonic unique selling points meant that NWA didn’t need to lapse into the Chuck Taylor gangbanger and hoo riding stereotype. Well, not yet. You wouldn’t catch South Central Cartel in moonboots, and its doubtful this cover could’ve had the same impact if it was awash with canvas and vulcanised rubber. As sneakers in cover art go, it falls behind LL’s Quantum Forces, but just about defeats Audio Two’s Air Pressures.

Words by Gwarizm

Time for the second instalment of our great dedication records feature. Dedication records are not exclusively reserved for when your man gets his wig split, sometimes it can be about nice things like saying thanks to your fans. How novel. The Fearless Four did just that. Any UK readers older than 30 may remember Mike Allen’s regular use of this record in his show prompting us all to track down a copy of this early Tuff City classic. We also posted it up because it was the basis of our Tuff City T Shirt competition. We asked you for the catalogue # of Fearless Four ‘Dedication’ and the die hards obviously delved into their collection to pick out their own copy where as the fakers just punched it into Discogs. But we can tell the O.G. heads straight off.

So congrats to RenSki in Hamburg who won a Tuff City tee with this clincher:  “I Spent all my pocket money as a kid to buy their records, got the “Dedication” 12″ (luv that track) and almost all other good TC releases, even the Beach Boy 12″ by Gaylord.”  (Editor: Lol, he’s a Gaylord fan, it’s official)

Also congrats to Richard in Tooting, London with his clever word play clincher: “I need the shirt to replace my dirty ones as I Stink Cause I’m Funky. I also heard Black Is Back in so I promise I won’t Take It Off.”

There were two spare but of course me and Drew Huge got those.

The Fearless Four ‘Dedication’

Dedication

Whilst we’re talking about T-Shirts……COP ONE OF OURS, ONLY TWELVE BRITISH QUIDS

Anyone who owns a Fat Lace Magazine ‘Free Steady B’ or ‘Who Shot Scott La Rock?’ joint from back in the day will no doubt be looking to replace those thread bare garms as their moobs straight busted out of those shits, let’s face it, you were probably in your 20′s when you bought one of the O.G. shirts. These Fat Lace 2.0 babies are limited to a run of 50. That’s right, fiddy, so get one quick fast. They’re made of 100% material, that’s better than silk. Any Hypebeast readers will realise we’re quite literally taking the P.E.E. with the design. Quite out of character for us, we know.  No proceeds will be going to charity but if we sell enough we’ll make another next month. If we ever make a profit, rest assured the Fat Lace crew will be rocking Dapper Dan suits and Bally sneakers before you know it.

Cop HERE

Puma ‘Fat Lace’ …out now.

Spiz’ike boots,  winter wears for the winter wars…

Supreme have re-released an all time classic, the Nike Bruin…

We’re not too sure about the Retro Air Jordan High’s but these shirts will look fly with these joints that dropped last year…