900+ global institutions.
Zero public credit for the design.

I met influential photographer Jamel Shabazz on the corner of 34th & 7th while vending art and poetry. It was late summer, during a time period when I was constantly being stopped by tourists asking to take my picture. I guess they were amazed by my locs and how they were styled. Or it could've been the charismatic “star quality” that resonated from my soul outwards. Personally, I always knew I was a born star. I also know presence and swagger are “key elements” when projecting “star quality.” It is that special charismatic quality that draws people to you. I guess this was the “thing” that captivated people's attention as they boldly asked to take my picture over and over again. In fact, over 35 countries and cities requested my picture that particular summer. I was both humbled and amazed at the number of requests, stares, and pouring compliments concerning my Brooklyn Hair Swagger. So, it was no surprise when Jamel Shabazz walked up to me and requested a photograph. The major difference between Shabazz and all the others was the fact he was a professional street photographer. He also promised to get me into magazines. We exchanged numbers and soon we started doing photo shoots in and around lower Manhattan.

Quickly, I became his primary muse and an Original Street SuperModel. As we built our foundation, I progressed into Shabazz's “point man,” recruiting female models as we traveled around Manhattan doing progressive photo shoots. We continued on to develop a successful photographer/model chemistry that would serve us well in our aspirations to reach new heights. Seemingly, almost every weekend we were shooting these captivating images, and soon, just like he said, I ended up in magazines. The first magazine we did was an international magazine called Jalouse. This was a very exciting shoot, because we were provided with a van and team of stylists dressing us for the shoot. It was a big step away from our weekend guerrilla-styled photo sessions where we changed in public bathrooms. I was one of many models recruited for the magazine photo session, courtesy of Shabazz and his associates. The early parts of the shoot went well as we posed for group shots featuring future supermodel Noemie Lenoir.

By this point, I'd already taken Caston — a private artisan seamstress — through two earlier attempts at the look I wanted: a grey wool prototype I rejected outright, then a black velour version that worked but wasn't final. The red velour suit was the third and last iteration, built to my exact instructions.

As we progressed further along, I asked Shabazz to let me know when to change into my custom red velour suit I secretly brought along. Being the master strategist and chess player he is, Shabazz waited for the right moment to have me put on that infamous red outfit. I remember going back to the van and showing the stylist the buttah threads accentuated by my red velour shoes. The stylist was ecstatic and quickly added a super fly “gold medallion” to coolly fit around my neck for added visual effect. I grabbed my shades and headed back to Shabazz for some more shooting. He quickly paired me up with another female model wearing matching red and continued shooting. I was feeling extremely good falling into my element of producing “fly poses” with an equally fly female on my side. Yeah, this was the beginning of show time, like we were at the Apollo.

Moments later, budding supermodel Noemie Lenoir arrived in our cipher with a sexy reddish-colored outfit styled to match my velour flyness. Shabazz and I exchanged a quick glance confirming it was finally show time for real. Within a blink of an eye, the whole styling team was watching us as Lenoir and I started posing against the urban steel gated backdrop. Suddenly, we became the stars of the photo shoot as everyone watched us pose street style, captured by the lens of Shabazz. Remarkably, those photos ended up being a featured full-page spread, and Caston — the seamstress who constructed the piece to my design — was given credit in the magazine. This was bittersweet, because shortly thereafter Caston passed away. Another amazing thing was the fact that, years later, that very same photo was chosen to be in Dr. Deborah Willis's historical photography book, Posing Beauty. It also was selected to be part of her traveling national exhibition tour from 2010 until 2012. I was always immersed in Shabazz's statement of “one day it'll all make sense.” And this photo became a testament to that fact.