Fat Joe is universally respected in the music scene and has been regarded as one of Rap's legends for quite some time now. It is safe to say that the same applies to "Don Cartagena" when it comes to the sneaker game. The Bronx's native decided to partner up with another renowned sneaker connoisseur and open up his own footwear and apparel shop. The store is called UP NYC and Joe sat down with us to discuss some of the plans for UP NYC as well as the motivation behind it as well as its location. Check the interview below and look at the images of what is to come in NYC's Washington Heights neighborhood.
SneakerShouts: How did you come to the decision to open up a sneaker shop? What was the motivation behind it, being that there is so much competition in the shoe world right now?
Fat Joe: "To be honest it was my love of kicks that brought me to the decision. It's that simple. It also allowed me to give back and invest in a community that has shown me alot of love throughout the years."
SS: Yes, let's talk about that. Why would you open up in Washington Heights? You don't see many brands getting behind an independent shop in The Heights the way that the brands and the people seem to be backing yours.
FJ: "Washington Heights is easily my 2nd favorite spot in all of NYC after my home borough of the Bronx. It is also the absolute most popping spot in all of NYC, so it made all the sense in the world to bring the love of the game Uptown. The Heights has shown me a crazy amount of love. When I was a kid, my dad was a master baker and around Christmas time he had gotten laid off. He grabbed the savings he had and took me downtown to 23rd street and we bought toys and trinkets that would go for $5 bucks or so and flipped them all for around $15 dollars a pop once we got back Uptown to The Heights. Even as a kid I was a hustler but ever since then, Washington Heights has had a special place with me. Needless to say, it also gives me an opportunity to share the love because everything we are selling will be box price, no matter how hard or rare the item is to get."
SS: We're sure that those words will make plenty of sneaker buyers happy. Let's talk about your partnership with Scotty Spina and how that came to be.
FJ: "Well Scotty actually was my sneaker plug. Anything that I couldn't get my hands on, Scotty held me down. One day we were just talking and laughing and I said that we should open up our own sneaker store. He got real serious and took me up on the offer right on the spot. Since then we began pushing forward with the idea of UP NYC."
SS: What can we expect from UP NYC? Will this store just cater to the hardcore sneaker fans or can the casual buyer find something in here that he or she may like?
FJ: "We plan to cater to everyone. While we want to bring a museum type of display of rare kicks for people who are heavy into it, we also plan on making footwear and apparel accessible to anybody that walks in the door. We'll have the your hard to find kicks as well as the general releases from brands like Jordan, Puma, Timberland and apparel from Roc Nation, PRPS and the like. We're working on other brands and accounts as we speak. The list is endless."
SS: How do you plan to cater to the hardcore sneaker buyers?
FJ: "You know that I go hard when it comes to my kicks so I'm making sure that we come correct with the shoes. We're going to open up on November 5th and we're going to have an incredible restock with just about every shoe you've been after in the last few years. We're gonna flip the game upside down!"
SS: We know that folks are going to drop by but what do you say to someone who is undecided and may not want to take the trip from downtown or Queens or Brooklyn and head to Washington Heights to come shop?
FJ: "All I'm going to say is that on November 5th, you better get there bright and early. I'm telling you, we're going to have the biggest restock that NY has EVER seen! I don't have to say anything else. If you miss it, you're going to regret it.
SS: Any future plans to expand?
FJ: "Ideally we want to expand of course but we have to learn as we go along since this is the first one. We have to be optimistic and treat this like our baby, which it is. The plan is to definitely expand and continue to help the community grow by helping local people not only get access to fly gear, but also employing people from the neighborhood, helping the 'hood grow."
Check the images and make sure to stay tuned to SneakerShouts for the 2nd part of Fat Joe's exclusive interview tomorrow where he talks about his favorite shoe of all time as well as his current sneaker rotation, upcoming collaborations and how Michael Jordan himself granted UP NYC their store's Jordan Brand account.
Make sure to follow UP NYC's InstaGram page for all updates on their grand opening, restocks and special appearances.