bookofswagCape Town, South Africa, 1October 2015 –Authenticity. That’s the theme that has emerged from Represent698, a PUMA project that captures moments in the lives of Jack Parow, Riky Rick, Das Kapital, PH Fat, Nonku Phiri, Nicci St Bruce and Rolo Rozay, while wearingPUMA’s Trinomic R698, a sneaker rich in heritage.
Represent698, a dynamic mix of interviews, video, imagery and social media activity, is an opportunity for creative minds to explore what it is to Represent, and for artist, rapper and producer Riky Rick it’s all about authenticity: “Anyone can make the greatest hits in the country, but not everybody can know themselves and put themselves into their music. That’s the most difficult part. I’m here to Represent millions of kids, I’m somebody who has gone through what they are going through.”
Authenticity’s twin brother honesty is also the key for madcapmusical artist Jack Parow: “It’s important to be yourself and never pay too much attention to what people say. You’ve got to stay true to your own thoughts and beliefs.”
Singer Nonku Phiri agrees: “I tend to stick to my gut and do what makes me happy. I can only work from an honest place.”
Mike from rap crew PH Fat explains why teaming up with PUMA works for him: “They’ve got street and sport culture covered; they’re the most artistically enabling brand.”
The PUMA collab is also exciting for rapper Nicci St Bruce: “I like it when a brand can see you for yourself, rather than trying to make you into who they would like you to be.”
While DJ and producer Das Kapital welcomed the opportunity Represent698 provides to work with forward-thinking, legitimate people:“It’s fun that something as simple as a sneaker style can bring together so many unique people.”
But why all the fuss about a sneaker? Take it from a guy who knows his stuff, Rolo Rozay of PUMA SELECT: “The R698 is a sought after go-to shoe because the silhouette isn’t too out there and it’s versatile – you can play around with the look.”
Originally designed as a performance runner in the ‘90s, the R698 sped off the track to become synonymous with urban street style and cement its place in sneaker history. Styles to be found at PUMA stores nationwide, as well as selected sneaker retailers this season are the R698 Basic Tech Sport Women’s available in glacier-white for R1 299 and the R698 Mesh–Neoprene available in black for R1 399. There’s also the luxe R698 Allover Suede available in Italian plum, high-risk red, peacoat and black for R1 399 and the R698 Fast Graphic Women’s available in black-and-white, with coral details for R1 299.
As part of the collaboration PUMA will be releasing limited Boss Zonke Football Club shirts by Riky Rick as well as limited Parow Pythons Rugby Club jerseys by Jack Parow.
To find out more followRiky and the rest of the Represent698 crew on Twitter and Instagram, as well as the PUMA Facebook page. Or follow @PUMASouthAfrica and #Represent698 to join the conversation.
Q & A:
Riky Rick – Q&A
What do you love about the Represent698 campaign?
It’s always dope to be a part of a campaign that brings people together. It brings people with different style together, like NonkuPhiri, Jack Parow and me – As a new addition. So, that’s pretty cool. It’s always dope just to do something new and I just recently became a fan of the R698 silhouette. It’s the perfect time to get involved.
Absolutely – It’s an awesome sneaker. The versatility of the sneaker is also what makes it attractive.
Yeah, yeah…
In terms of you and PUMA – How long have you had the relationship with the brand?
It’s a new situation. RoloRozay and I go way back and I met Rudi Cronje through him. Ever since then we’ve been doing more stuff together and building and building – It’s been good that things have built up to this point. It’s been great. It’s been a great year.
What attracts you to actually teaming up with a brand like PUMA?
There are lot of different brands and we all rock different brands – There’s always dope stuff, but when you wear something it is also about the spirit you get, apart from just wearing the actual product. The spirit and the movement are what make it. So, if the spirit and the nature of the relationship is something that leads to new ventures and experiences that’s when you really want to get involved with the brand. You don’t want to get involved just to wear sneakers. It’s not about sneakers and t-shirts. Anyone with money can buy sneakers and t-shirts. It’s really about creating a nice relationship and a nice energy between the team. Once there is a synergy it’s the perfect time to work together.
Excellent. How do you Represent in your every day life?
I’d say by taking action – You’ve got to be active. You’ve got to take your own journey into your own hands. You’ve got to be on the move. There’s no time to have a bad attitude or to be relaxed. It’s already too late. It’s just about working hard every day.
Agreed – It also comes down to just approaching life with a sense of urgency, in terms of making sure your actions work towards materializing the things that matter to you. You can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen to you.
Yeah… Yeah… I mean, it’s already too late – You know what I mean?If you don’t do it, somebody else is going to do it before you. You’ve got to keep pushing.
Like you say, it’s already too late, so get on it and get cracking. So, what would you say was the inspiration behind Family Values?
The name pretty much says it all, but the real thing was a musical inspiration, where I wanted to create something musically that actually tied into what was and is happening in my life. I didn’t want to just make a collection of tracks that people were just going to play one after another as hits. I wanted to make a story that tied into my life – Where I’ve been and where I’m going. Family Values is a sort of biography of the stuff that I’ve been through and the stuff that I’ve yet to go through.
Do you have a favourite track?
No, not really because it’s all one piece to me. It’s all one unit. Those songs took me, like, four years. Some songs are new, but most of them were written during that four-year period. They’ve been with me for so long, that it’s hard to say.
It’s like picking your favourite child…
Yeah, yeah… You can’t. Well, I mean, you can – Depending on which one treats you well.
But then I suppose it is more about making a logical choice than the actual emotion that went into making the track.
Yeah, yeah…
Can you tell us a bit more about the collab you did with Jack Parow, Never Gonna Grow Up?
We just did an amazing track. It dropped towards the end of July. He had a space in the track and offered me the opportunity – I took it. It came together real nice.
You reckon the music video is going to cause some hype?
It’s cool. I don’t know how much I’ll say about it at this point, but it’s dope. I had fun working on it.
What else do you have planned for the rest of the year and what are you most looking forward to?
I’m doing a few movies and I got my role back on the soapie, Isibaya, as a producer.
That’s awesome – So you dabble a bit with television, over and above the music business?
Yeah, yeah… I mean, television, it’s there. You know? It’s a good vehicle to push your work. I always get involved, especially with the movies – They’re also just as powerful because the Mzansi movies that we do they get a lot of air-time and they’re well distributed. So, it’s a bit quicker and more direct than music. Music still has to spread through people that are in those circles, but with TV, it goes about doing so more directly.