Pusha T and the Flatbush Zombies Told Us How They Got Fresh

Essential Japanese streetwear brand A Bathing Ape had a soiree on Thursday night to celebrate its New York City store's 10th anniversary. The event was held at the Up & Down, that club in the Meat Packing District where we once saw Nick Jonas take his top off at the behest of an intense drag queen. It goes without saying that the party was filled with some of fashion and hip-hop's biggest heavy hitters. In the mix was everyone from hot Houston MC Travis Scott, who spent part of the night rapping and wilding out on top of the DJ booth, to fashion maven and Kanye West's right hand man, Virgil Abloh, who DJed a crowd-pleasing, trap-happy mix.

While we were there, we caught up with Pusha T, who is one half of the legendary coke rap duo Clipse and an outstanding solo artist in his own right. Pusha is also one of the main dudes who helped make Bape hot in the United States by rocking it in his videos and rapping about it in his songs. So it only made sense that he—alongside guys like Travis Scott, Big Sean, Virgil Abloh, Wiz Khalifa, and the Flatbush Zombies—has been chosen to reinterpret some of Bape's iconic pieces in a collaborative collection for their 10th anniversary in New York City.

Pusha has been setting style trends ever since he wore that Virginia Squires Julius Erving jersey in the "Grindin'" video. So, in an effort to one day reach his level of transcendent freshness, we asked him how he developed his personal style.

VICE: You're a lot of guys' style icon. How'd you develop your look?
Pusha T: I like to call my personal style "international dope boy fresh." I would say that I am really open to all types of brands and fashion.

What do you think has been the impact of your personal style on the culture?
I feel like any and everything that you wear, you have to make it your self. There are some people like Pharrell who have a style that you look at and you're like, Man, only he could pull that off. Then, you have guys like Kanye West who are risk takers and will wear something and you'll be like, He's crazy. I feel like by the time it gets to me, I have molded it and shaped it for the guys on the block. So you can wear Saint Laurent and those Philip Lim sweats that you might have thought were too small, but I've showed you how to put it together. I give them the validation. I am the stamp of approval.

When did you first get hip to Bape?
I started getting boxes of Bape in 2002 at my house from Nigo [founder of Bape]. He reached out to us through Jacob the Jeweler. He was a fan of Star Trak and the record "Grindin'." He wanted some kids from Virginia to wear his stuff, kids who had an unorthodox sound. And that's how it started.

What were your first thoughts of the brand?
Once I knew the history and found out who this guy was, I thought it was fresh and I just loved how it was everything. It was a Bape hat, hoodie, T-shirt, jeans, and shoes. It was a uniform. There wasn't anyone doing it like that. I tell people all the time, we weren't first with Bape, but we made the frenzy.

What did you want to include in your collaboration?
I wanted to take it back to where I was. I was a kid from Virginia in the streets and hearing about this Japanese man who likes my music. He likes dope boy music. I titled my collaboration "Fresh Out the Pot." So, that ties back to it.

After, chatting with Pusha T, we linked up with the Flatbush Zombies, our old friends who helped usher psychedelic drugs into hip-hop. And the genre hasn't been the same since.

Even when these guys were starting out, they had an eclectic style that borrowed from skate and hippie culture as much as it did from hip-hop. And since they've toured the globe, it's only gotten more multifaceted. We chatted with the wild boys from Brooklyn about their new collaboration with Bape and their fashion sense.

Has your style changed since you guys became big rap stars?
Meech: I was dressing the same, dirty jeans, fire sneakers, A Bathing Ape, our own brand, and Ralph Lauren.

Juice: Yeah, we pretty much dress the same, the same brands…

Meech: We just buy more expensive pieces. We have always been ourselves. I think at our schools we all dressed like, not outcasts, but we dressed differently.

Erick Arc Elliott: We definitely wore stuff that if other people wore it, they would probably get made fun of. They just weren't comfortable until everyone else did it.

Meech: They wouldn't wear old Jordans, but now they're cool. They wear their jeans tight now because rappers wear tight jeans.

So you feel you pioneered that style in your neighborhood?
Meech: We don't feel it, we know we were [pioneers].

You rock a lot of tie-dye. Where did that come from?
Meech: For one, when you do psychedelic drugs, the tie-dye pattern looks beautiful. We also always vibed with the aesthetic of the Grateful Dead. So, we figured that's the best way to pay homage by introducing the tie-dye lifestyle into hip-hop. No one really did tie-dye in hip-hop like that.

Erick Arc Elliott: I would say wrestling too, like Macho Man Randy Savage. We like vibrant colors. Pastels, a lot of things.

When did you guys get hip to Bape?
Erick Arc Elliott: I had one shirt, I wore it so much I can't wear it anymore. I was maybe like 16 years old and it actually reminded me of an old wrestling shirt. When you play Royal Rumble, or some shit. It had this half-circle on it.

Meech: When I was in junior high school, this dude had mad Bape. He had too much Bape on his hands and it wasn't even his size. I copped Bape from him before I came to the store. My first shit was the Incredible Hulk Bapes.

What did you want to include in your collaboration?
Juice: We just wanted to incorporate New York.

Meech: It's not us, it's about New York. It's the 10th anniversary. We are from New York City. Out of the 10 [collaborators], we are actual residents.

Anything else you want to say to your VICE fans about your personal style?
Juice: We are nasty, you can't fuck with us…

Meech: I just want to tell people to be themselves. Stop trying to copy other people's style. Find your own.

A Bathing Ape (Bape) started in 1993 by Japanese designer Nigo, whose real name is Tomoaki Nagao. The unusual name references the sarcastic saying "a bathing ape in luke warm water" and the brand's logo is an allusion to the 1960s film, The Planet of the Apes. Over the years, it has become one of the most iconic labels in streetwear, regularly nailing standout collaborations and getting nods from legendary rappers like Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Nas. You can learn more about the collaborative collection for Bape's 10th anniversary in NYC here.