Hip hop at the corner of Highland and Lowell

By George P. Hassett

The cultural movement that was born in the South Bronx and grew to change the world finally has a spot in Somerville. Last week, at the corner of Highland Avenue and Lowell Street, Hip Hopz Clothing opened and became the first ever hip hop store in Somerville.

“We started it because there was nowhere for us to shop around here,” said the Broadway-born and raised Olly Ravelo who owns the store along with Michael Gregory, a Roxbury transplant now living in Somerville. “Before, people from Somerville looking for hip hop fashion had to go Downtown or to Central Square for what they need, now it’s down the street.”

So Gregory and Ravelo hatched a plan to fulfill the fashion needs of every local hip hopper from lower Broadway to North Street. They said they will do it by bringing the real, pure hip hop to their store.

“We called it Hip Hopz not ‘rapz’ because we’re about the culture of it. We’re from the days of creativity and originality not these hardcore times,” Gregory said.

Hip Hopz features the staples of today’s urban fashion with brands such as Sean John and NYCE, but will also sell hard to get, exclusive items that will make the hip hop fashion junky drool, he said.

"We want stuff no other store has. We’ll have stuff on our shelves that you’re not going to see on too many other people. But we’re going to have the clothes your favorite rappers are rapping about too. And all at a decent price people in the neighborhood can afford,” he said.

One line Hip Hopz will be the only ones pushing is Wop-On clothing, a brand owned by Gregory and Ravelo. Wop-On shirts feature hip hop designs surrounding slogans such as, “Pimp Stars” and “I get $.” Gregory started the line in honor of his fallen friend “Wop” and initially distributed it out of the back of his car, “just bopping out the trunk, but people loved it.”

Before the Wop-On venture, Gregory said his most important fashion experience was being the local style icon of his Roxbury neighborhood and “dressing flavorful and original every time I left the house.”

Gregory was a sneaker addict who thought nothing of dropping $500 on footwear before a girlfriend told him he should make a profit from his personal fashion sense.

“I was a shopaholic so I figured, ‘let me put this thing I got to use and get my own store,’” he said.   

The store itself is sparse and still waiting to be filled with products but the dedication to hip hop is easily seen. On the walls are airbrushed paintings of cultural icons such as 2Pac and Nas, in the far corner is two turntables and the dressing room is equipped with a microphone  With Hip Hopz planted firmly on the corner of Highland Avenue, Gregory said he wants the store to be an ambassador of authentic hip hop culture to the surrounding neighborhood.

“All of this is fresh and brand new to us. We’re happy to have the neighborhood come in here and look around. They’re learning to appreciate what we can bring them and we’re learning to appreciate what they can bring us. It’s a good look all around, a beautiful thing, like hip hop itself,” he said.               

Comments

[will blackmon]

Thats whats up, gonna make mad trips down there, bout time somerville got a hip hop store. Hated giving my money to other citys

[TEMPLE_ST_GANGSTA]

Its about time, I'm glad they finally opened a hip-hop clothing store in Somerville, this should help the community and the city overall in terms of revenue

[representin']

Hopefully a "We buy gold" store, open 24 hours, will be next.

[Born Here]

great, now I can buy pants that hang below my ass !

[brickbottom]

Wonderful role model shirts:

"Wop-On shirts feature hip hop designs surrounding slogans such as, “Pimp Stars” and “I get $.”

I just can't wait to run out and but my kids shirts with these hot slogans and maybe if I am lucky they will carry the famous logo......."Snitches Get Stitches"!

Maybe when that ten story building is built in Union Square we can rent these "busines owners' the first floor and make them the anchors of the new square, I'm sure the artists won't mind.+

[Fool on the Hill]

Brickbottom,

Although I frequently find myself nodding involuntarily in response to your posts, it's wonderful to discover that you have a sense of humor.

Everyone else,

It would be nice if these entrepreneurs looked backward to the likes of Public Enemy, or forward, to the likes of Lupe Fiasco, instead of wallowing in the dead end of gangsta rap. If they did, I would be a satisfied customer.

[The Old Days]

Since the 60’s, Egan’s Pharmacy is the only establishment that ever worked at this location. After Egan left, Bruce Kneeland opened a fruit store across the street from his grocery store. That didn’t work well either. Then there was a gambit of different stores lasting months at the most. Clothing outlets, hair saloons, you name it they all left.

It won't be long before this Hip-Hop store falls to the same senario.

[brickbottom]

To Old Days,

Don't forget "Aldos Bakery" they were there for some time, other than that you are right on the money. Except, I believe this store will make a ton of money off of our easily led teenagers ( i.e. their parents money ) and will be here until the fad runs out.

[The Old Days]

I forgot about Aldo's you are correct Brick. I think they were there before Mrs. Kneeland opened up the fruit store.

[brickbottom]

To Old Days:

Aldo's had the best "Elephant Ears" in the city! I wouldn't even know what they call them in today's language.

[Ron Newman]

I think this was most recently a Caribbean food store.

A store selling t-shirts that say "Pimp Stars" doesn't do much for me (or for Somerville, in my opinion). Aim a little higher, folks.

[Glen]

The Caribbean grocery store is a different spot, there is now a Brazilian grocery store there. Hip-Hopz was previously a hair salon. I think it's great to see new business on Highland, but I agree it's hard to get past the "Pimp Stars" thing... :-) Meanwhile, who's noticed the signs for the cupcake store going in where the guitar store was? Now there's a store that got my attention!

[TO_BRICK_BOTTOM]

If you refer to Hip Hop as being a fad, u are mistaken. Hip Hop is a culture, a billion dollar industry that shows no sign of stopping. you are seriously misguided if you think this is a fad

[brickbottom]

Yeah, and Disco was a "Culture".

[To James Norton.......]

How does one go about using a name as a link to My Space, as TO_BRICK_BOTTOM did? This could really open a pandora's box.
As we all know this isn't the real brickbottom.

[Ron Newman]

And when I hear the word 'culture' used that way, I reach for my .... earplugs.

[James Norton]

Welp, when you put a web address in the URL: line when posting a comment, it will link wherever you want it to, just as I did for example. As far as I know, its a TypePad built-in feature that we cannot control. Hope that helps.

JN

[brickbottom]

YOUNG VOICES

Hip-Hop's Glass Ceiling
by Victor Marsh
TOPICS MusicTV

Oprah's town hall was timely, yet disappointing. In her expert panel of hip-hop executives, many must have noticed that it was an all male panel. Could Hip-Hop be suffering from its own glass ceiling? It sure seems so. Russell Simmons and others gave lots of excuses for bad-mouthing women, and tried to scare people about censorship. I wonder - if Mr. Simmons were a woman, would he have so many excuses, or would he be more like the sisters from Spelman College?

Like Nas though, I believe that the end is near for hip-hop as we know it today. There will always be silly songs that are necessary for clubs to keep us dancing, but the woman-hating is old and unnecessary. Growing in popularity, artists such as Little Brother, and fusion tag-teams such as Gnarls Barkley seem to be the future.

The problem of misogyny in hip-hop can be solved in three ways. Hip-hop could become revolutionized by new underground artists, it could be made obsolete by a whole new genre. Or, we could press Simmons and others to ensure that more women are in charge of those key music marketing decisions, where men gather to decide who will be the next American Rapper.

[brickbottom]

All right JN....what's up with WELP?

[brickbottom]

So what is it JN?

1. welp

what really annoying people say instead of well. The same kind of people who use jah instead of yes.

Annoying.

Welp, I was a tool so my girlfriend dumped my sorry ass.

2. welp

(interjection): another word for well as in "Oh well.", (noun): a pointless event.

(interjection): Welp, don't even try to turn on the tv, I broke it.
(noun): Trying to fix that busted tv is a welp.

1. "Well." People often, but accidently, say this when they're talking to fast. Like when they're trying to talk their way out of trouble.

2. Others use say the word, "well" like this just to bug the hell out of other people.

1. Mom: "Why haven't you emptied the dishwasher yet?"
Child: "Welp, I didn't have the time to, you see...."

2. "Welp, that's just great."
"I hope you do welp in your baseball tournement."
"Welp I'm off to my nine to five.

*Whelp

1) A young animal, such as a baby wolf or dog.
2) Someone that is naive, ignorant, immature. (British slang)

E.g.

The whelps (welps)are such troublemakers in the neighbourhood these days, tossing their bikes on lawns, pulling out my flowers.

short bearded scraggly lazy man/woman,looks busy but goofs off

Driving a dump truck around looks busy but the truck is empty. Carries around a card board box appearing to weigh 100 pounds but is actually empty.
Hey welp, can you help me lift this heavy item, Welp replies" no, Im busy carring this empty box around".

Slang for "welt". Used mainly in the southern part of the US. Has the same meaning as the word "welt". Raised white mark that appears after sustaining a smack on the skin. Usually appears in the middle of the red area after you have been slapped or smacked.

My Ma slapped my ass and left a welp in the shape of her hand.

I left a welp on her forehead when I smacked her with my c##k.

A noise made much like a young animal would.

The dog welps

[brickbottom]

Well if If am a welp then I learned it from the best welper around......you.

[James Norton]

apparently my comment was interpreted to be thought of as a mean spirited jab at you for some reason...honestly, i am just tired brickbottom, thats all. i intended on just answering the question plainly and without my own spin on the comments to that point, but in my haste to answer and then get to bed, i chose the wrong opener in "welp", which while maybe subconsciously i thought of the question itself as pointless and obvious, i hadnt thought about how it might have read in my reply. cheerio, lad.

[JARfromWard3]

The talk of businesses past on the corner of Highland and Lowell was fun to read. A few of my own recollections...

"The Old Days" wrote that..."I forgot about Aldo's you are correct Brick. I think they were there before Mrs. Kneeland opened up the fruit store."

I don't recall Egan's Pharmacy being on the northeast corner of Highland-Lowell, but I know it was there before I was born. I am told that was the senior Egan's business. The "junior" (Paul) Egan opened up an apothecary of his own a few doors west, just past where the liquor store is opposite the Somerville Hospital Medical Arts Bldg. Paul was in business there until 1972 or '73 but not too long after that. Paul Egan was a gentleman's gentleman in my opinion.

It became a sporting goods store for a brief time (The Sports Huddle or some such) and then went through a series of other businesses. Paul worked at Osco down in Davis Sq. for a number of years. He passed a few years back. His sister still teaches at SHS.

Sally Kneeland, Bruce Kneeland's wife, opened Kneeland's Five and Ten in the store on the Northeast corner. Bruce, of course, was the grocer on the Northwest corner. They, too, were real nice people. I'm pretty sure they were from Maine originally. Bruce, as "The Old Days" might recall, always wore the grocer's white apron. Sort of reminded me of Frank Perdue. Just a real good guy. The Five and Ten lasted there for at least ten years; certainly throughout my childhood.

Aldo's bakery (which ruled!) opened sometime in 1970 as near as I can recall. Aldo and his family were Neopolitan. I remember the line going out onto Highland Ave. the first day. It was big happenings on Highland Ave. at the time. I remember too the awesome smell of bread baking in the morning as I walked to the Proctor. For a period of time when I delivered papers, I would stop in at Aldo's if I had an extra paper at the end of the night and "trade" it for a hermit or some other pastry. When I worked in the kitchen at the hospital, we used to get rolls and bread there on weekends. Colleen Kavanaugh, who lived down on Alpine Street worked behind the counter there at the time. She was a classmate of mine and, truth be told at this late date, had the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen. I always looked forward to going in there. That was in 1975-'80. I'm thinking Aldo closed up shop in 1981 or thereabouts.

Also, a few doors down from Aldo's going west was Umberto's Barber Shop. He used to be in the little shop that was a couple of doors west of Kneeland's, but moved to the other side of Lowell Street around 1970 or so. Umberto's last name was Crocco. Umberto was also a great guy. He'd lost his wife some years before that and had only one child, Walter, who was killed in Viet Nam in March of 1969. The corner there in front of Kneeland's Five and Ten was dedicated "Walter V. Crocco Square" later that spring. I remember going down to the ceremony which was pretty well-attended.

Around that same time, or perhaps a year or two earlier, there was a fire in the building where Kneeland's store was. Prior to that time, the storefront was an old, large glass-fronted columned and recessed entry that had seen better days. The newer storefront and platformed back was built after the fire. Perhaps someone on here remembers the exact date. I want to say 1967 or '68 but certainly no later than that.

I don't know much about Hip Hop, but wish the owners the best of luck in their business endeavor. I hope they contribute positively to the neighborhood.

And, in my humble opinion, Disco wasn't as bad as some people made it out to be. It was what it was.

73
JAR

[Old Days]

JAR from ward 3, yes Paul Egan did go to the location you speak of, which was just beside the rug center, I am not positive of the brother that had the pharmacy at the corner of Lowell and Highland, but I do remember the great floats we were able to buy for $.25 at the counter with all the fountains. I think his name was either Fred or Frank Egan, not positive.

Umburto was my barber for years. One of the best crew cuts a young boy could get. And just across the street from Egan’s, was that infamous unsolved murder of the wife of my Dr., Dr. Grillone. He had a beautiful wife and I was shocked when I got off the bus from school that day. Seeing all the police officers circled around the house. It was a scary scene.

[brickbottom]

Old Days,

Dr. Grillone was also my parents doctor. I'll never will forget that day and who everyone thought who did it. That house, if you remember, was also slammed into by an eighteen wheeler that lost it's brakes going down Lowell St.

A pure bad luck house!

[JARfromWard3]

Old days;

I thought that murder was solved a while later. Wasn't there something about a guy in a parade or some such, or was that a false alarm?

By the way, Carmen Wolcott, who owns the house now, bought a winning scratch ticket worth $100k back around 1983. I remember going into the Apple Orchard (next to the Liquor Store) and seeing her all shook up and seeing Owen scrambling to get ahold of lottery headquarters. It was the biggest winning ticket he'd ever sold up to that time.

(This may be a repetitive post--I'm not sure if my last went through).

73
JAR

[It Ain't Gonna Make It]

Already evidence of failure is surfacing at the new store on Highland Ave. For the past several days, a sales person has been parking his yellow crotch rocket on the sidewalk in front of the picture window.

I wasn't aware we could park crotch rockets on the sidewalks in the City. Aren't the sidewalks used for pedestrian traffic? Why aren't the Parking people ticketing this vehicle? It is illegally parked from what I read in the hand me out book.

I guess I am going to have to call 311 and find out why this is happening.

[SomersGettheShaft]

What? Sidewalks are for pedestrian traffic? Man,
that is so 20th century! Our sidewalks are for joggers, cyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders.
Pedestrians using our sidewalks should be TICKETED!
Get with the Program!

[Lisa]

Is this store EVER open? I literally drive by it every day on my way to and from school and it is NEVER open! I would love to check it out...

[Told You So]

Well, it appears another business bites the dust at the corner of Highland and Lowell Street. So many wished them well but it appears it wasn't enough.

Hip Hopz has had the closed sign out for over three weeks now. I guess another one bites the dust at this location. What can we expect next?

[Paulie]

maybe Dolly's can make a comeback at a new location:>) I miss that joint

[Joseph Masciave]

I want to thank "JAR","Brick", and "The old days" for the kind words they expressed about our bakery(Aldo's). My father died of kidney cancer in 1994. We miss him very much.
He was a peoples' person and just loved interacting with the customers. Many "regulars" were like family to us. I, along with my two brothers and sister, grew up in the bakery. We were so very young but tried to help him out as best we can. My twin and I were only 16 so we couldn't take over for him so he could rest more so he could keep the store.
It was a great experience for us all and we look back with such great fondness.
We lived in Winter Hill..... Memories..... Friends.....Healy school.....Foss Park.. Mama Lisa's..... Movie Theater on Broadway....
P.s. Someone mentioned Colleen Kavanaugh.... What a beauty!...... Great personality...
We had plenty of gorgeous babes working at the bakery. How could I not love being there!!!!
Viva Somerville !!!!

Sincerely,

Joe

[meezan]

Thanks for the information.such a nice hip hop store in Somerville. i wish i could visit that. i really love hip hop clothes. i have lots of collection of that...keep it up!

-sidney-

[miskeen]

Hey! just came across to ask if there's any place to find those hip hop clothing except to Someville? I really like hip hop style. it looks cool, hope to read more..

-sidney-

[justlikeitis]

The Hip Hopz store in Somerville at the corner of Lowell and Highland Ave has been closed for well over a year. I drove by it everyday and shortly after it opened there was NEVER anybody working there. The open sign was in the window but nobody there. This went on and on until it was emptied out and now it's just another convenience store in competition with one right across the street less than 20ft away. In the last 20 years that location has been one failed business after the other.It's a tough place if your looking for a parking spot.