Sometimes you have to leave the things you love the most to get where you want to be. For Edgar “Mouse” Munoz, he had to leave the gravitational pull of South Bronx, New York where he was born and rasied. It turned out to be the best decision of his life, and with his beautiful, determined and persistent wife by his side Mouse was going to go global within a year of launching his clothing line in 2006 “CHIEFROCKA” with the objective to preserve hip hop. It’s a year later and CHIEFROCKA is in Japan and in distribution talks with clients in France. Mouse has come a long way from the South Bronx, one day he hopes this journey will be full circle and he can return to the place where it all began.

Scheme: State your name and where you’re from?

Mouse: My name is Edgar “Mouse” Munoz I from the South Bronx born and raised but I’ve been out here in Virginia for about six years now. I had to leave New York so I could concentrate on the brand because there were too many distractions. I had friends like, let’s go here let’s go there and it wasn’t healthy, business wise or family wise, so I moved out here and started the grind.

Scheme: You said you used to tag, how old were you when you began that and how did you get introduced to it?

Mouse: I’m 38 years old so I was here when hip hop was born. I saw Grand Wizard Theodore cutting one time and he had this one song that he was getting busy on called “Last Night Changed it All”. When he was cuttin that joint up, that’s what made me love the culture. I have friends that are graffiti writers, the TATS CRU, who are from the Bronx and those are my close friends. They did the Nike video with Premier, Nas, KRS-One and Kanye West. So watching them do they’re thing made me want to go out and venture and do my thing. You know Ecko had his thing going on and much respect to him, he was another one that inspired me. Around 95-96 when that Cash Money thing was evolving I was like yo, their losing touch with hip hop. So I started making my little shirts here and there and I was selling them out of the back of the car and I was actually putting them in a store called fatbeats, and to this day they still have my stuff in there. After that I started getting my name out there. So around February 2006 I was talking with my wife and she was like, “it’s time to go global.” So the little money we had, I took out a second mortgage on my home I went into production and came out with Season 1. I started getting into boutiques in New York and Philly on South St. and I’m in a couple of stores in Cali. The funny thing is when people first breakout they don’t breakout into Japan, but we we’re getting orders from Japan before we even went to press.

“I don’t want to over-saturate the market, I want to be around for a long time, I want more clients but I want to keep it exclusive.”

Scheme: What was that like for you?

Mouse: It was crazy because I told my wife my main goal was to be in Japan because in Japan they appreciate hip hop. Over in Japan their about quality, they don’t care about the name, if you got something going on and it’s right they will purchase it. I was shocked, that’s like our biggest client right now. We just got distribution with another clinet called DNAWear Wild Style Technicians in France.

Scheme: So you’re global in your first year, what other aspirations do you have?

Mouse: For 2007 my dream is to open up a store, I want a boutique. It’s going to be like the boutiques that are out now but I’m also going to carry the vinyl toys and graphic design books because that’s what I love doing, reading books and magazines and stuff like that. I want to be an outlet in VA because right now VA doesn’t have much. I want to give them that opportunity to buy it, so they don’t have to go to Virginia Beach to Commonwealth or come up to D.C. I’m right in the middle. I also want to get into skateboarding and I want to do decks because to me a deck is like a canvas. I want to put a lot of my designs on decks. I don’t want to over-saturate the market, I want to be around for a long time, I want more clients but I want to keep it exclusive.

“I wanted to bring more of the Golden Era because I want to school a lot of cats. Back then everybody had their own identity.”

Scheme: So describe to me how this all came about, you said you and your wife are doing this together. Did you approach her with this idea or did she meet you while you were in the process of doing this?

Mouse: I have my wife to thank for all of this, I had all this building inside of me but I was procrastinating and she just got at me one day, “ I made all these calls to the people you were interested in, send your catalogues out now.” I work 9-5 for a very large company (Fed-Ex) and she saw that I’m wasn’t happy, it’s just paying the bills. She was like we have to do this, I don’t want your talent to be wasted and I’m looking at your designs and you want to speak to these people.

What I usually do is the “Golden Era” of hip hop. You have a lot of people like the Originators that are catering to Cold Crush and Kool Herc. I wanted to bring more of the Golden Era because I want to school a lot of cats. Back then everybody had their own identity. There was the Juice Crew and they had their own clique. Marley Marl is my man, that’s one of my favorite producers, then you had Gangstarr and BDP and those were the best years and to see it crumble in front of you…

Scheme: When do you think music became diluted and began to sound the same and why?

Mouse: I think when B.I.G. and Pac past away. Then you had Puff and he gave up on NY and then went to the South and I think that’s a slap in the face. Your supposed to represent the east and stay with the east and now New York is lost, they have no identity, they sound like the south now, no disrespect to the south. Enough respect to Fat Joe, I loved his first three albums but it’s a business now.

Scheme: So who do you listen to now?

Mouse: I listen to a lot of old stuff now but there is this young cat called Termanology from Bean Town and he was one of my first supporters. Kidz in the Hall, O.C’s new album is dropping and I’m a big O.C. fan.

Scheme: So how is the process to where you get the inspiration to create these designs?

Mouse: I get my inspiration while working and I’m driving around with my ipod. I also get my inspiration from some of the lyrics that these cats drop I’ll take it and try to put a design behind the lyric. For the Still Chillin shirt I was listening to Juice Crew all day. I was thinking this was the dynasty I have to do a shirt with these cats. MC Chan, Shante, and Marley Marl changed the game. I look at other t-shirt brands and see what their not doing. I get most of my inspiration from the music.

Scheme: What is your ultimate goal? When they talk about Mouse what do you want the next three words to come out of people’s mouths to be?

Mouse: That CHIEFROCKA put me back onto real hip hop. For the young cats, I want them to do their research. I want these young cats that are pursuing the career of hip hop to do their research. I want them to have their own identity, I want them to have their own sound. I could lose all this tomorrow and I wouldn’t care, as long as I make a change. I have people on myspace telling me, “your gear inspires me, I just produced five tracks.”

Scheme: When I think of CHIEFROCKA I think of Lords of the Underground, was that afilliated with the name?

Mouse: Actually I got from back in the days of CHIEFROCKA Busy B. He was the first cat to come up with that term. It means an emcee that wants to be the best or is the best and no one else is better. I wanted to incorporate that with the gear, I wanted to be the one to take this game and flip it.

Scheme: So what should people be looking for as far as gear and tees?

Mouse: I have a Dilla tee coming out for Season 3 and the proceeds are going to go to the Dilla Foundation. For Season 4, for the the fall we are going to do the hoodies. You see the allover prints everywhere and we’re going to try and change that. We’re trying to bring the old school fashion back and just flip it a little.

Scheme: Top 5 emcees period?

Mouse: KRS-One, Rakim, Melle Mell, B.I.G. and Big Pun, I like Nas but I’m giving Pun credit for being Latino

Scheme: If there was one thing you could change in the Latino Community what would it be?

Mouse: I think it would be for cats to get in the game. Right now you have reggaetone. We had some of the best emcees Ruby Dee, Beatnuts, Tony Touch etc.

Scheme: Do you see yourself going back to New York to live?

Mouse: I think once the kids are grown and if we can go back and afford it, I want a loft in Manhattan, that’s where my life is, I miss it but I had to make moves. I wouldn’t be where I’m at if I didn’t make that move.