Hip-Hop Since 1991!!!

The time was 1991 I was a sophomore in High School, and Hip-Hop was a major part of my life. This was a time when Hip-hop as a culture was becoming a mainstay in America. We were feeling good about ourselves and the whole “fight the power movement” was something that all Black people felt proud to be apart of. We were proud to promote HBCU’s (Historically Black College’s & Universities) Hip-Hop fashion was at its beginning phases, and we as a people were happy to have fashion that we can call our own. We looked to Rap videos (and we still do to this day) to see the latest fashion, and trends. Growing up in Shady Ville (Queens Village) Queens I was surrounded by rap artist like Run-DMC, Craig G, Ja-Rule and a host of other DJ’s and producers.

And then it happened.

A good friend of mine, Craig G put me on to a clothing line that changed the face of Hip-Hop it was called African American College Alliance. This company was one of the first to feature HBCU’s as the face of their clothing line. You would see your favorite rappers from: Grand Puba, EPMD, Redman, Biz Marke, and Craig G rocking your favorite HBCU sweater. The revolution had begun, and I was hooked. I remember the first hoodie I ever rocked, it was the “Grambling State University” hoodie in red, black and green. Once I bought one I had to get another, and another until I had a dope collection of AACA sweaters. It was a good 2-year run for AACA and then just like that they were gone.

So in my do diligence I did some research and I found them, and reached out to them. I spoke to Dave who is in charge of marketing & sales, and we had a dope conversation about the company and it’s mission to bring this “vintage urban” college sweater line back to the forefront. I asked Dave “where have you guys been?” and he responded, “Working on new marketing strategies, today is there is talk of a new era. And perhaps it is. We have a new Black President and we are now a mainstay in politics, commerce, and culture. We are winning right now and we can’t be stopped. In order for us to truly win we cannot forget the lessons that we have learned in the past eras as we look forward, and march forward in this new era. It is important for us not to forget what 1991 meant to hip-hop, and to the black community. It is important for us Gate keepers of “Real Hip-Hop” to not let (us) forget what it means to have a whole movement on our back.” And with that said I now present to you the re-launch of African American College Alliance.