When you think about Washington, DC, you probably think about the Bush Administration, tourism and Go-Go music, when you take away the Smithsonian Museums, Lincoln Memorial, Ben’s Chili Bowl, and not to mention the infamous chicken and mambo sauce, what else does DC have to offer? Duk-ki and DJ Underdog, co-owners of MAJOR, a premiere sneaker/fashion boutique, know that DC contains a hip hop culture that is screaming to be seen and heard. Located in the middle of Wisconsin Ave. in the historic Georgetown shopping district, the duo who compare themselves to Public Enemy and Gangstarr are here to expand DC beyond the culture of New Balance’s and gray hoodies, and inform the hip hop community that there is a lane for the District in this hip hop “ish”.

Scheme: So where did you guys meet?

Duk-ki: I was doing record promotions, street promotions and radio shows around here, Philly, Virginia and New York. My company was one of the first street teams out there working with Loud Records and Wu-Tang, Bad Boy, Death Row and everybody. I ran into Underdog spinning at Up Against the Wall. He had just come back from going to school at the University of Purdue. He told me he needed records but he was also working for another promoter. I know he was a real dude but I know he worked with another person and I didn’t want to infringe on that. So we just kept in contact and my street team company would always lace him with records. He would always come back with feedback, its hard for DJ’s to give you feedback and he always used to put up displays at Willies. We just became friends that way and the camaraderie built over time. My street team guys would kind of mess it up. At this time, he was still tearing down my poster boards and my guys were going around tearing down his poster boards…

DJ Underdog: This is when street promoters were really dope and it was fun.

Dukki: It was like the new graffiti everyone was trying to vandalize on everyone else’s stuff to make it more visible. We both came from the music background. He was actually doing all the work for this other promoter and never got paid.

“He really pitched it to Steve Rifkind, the whole “guerilla marketing thing.”

DJ Underdog: Like Rawkus (Records) and a lot of the hip hop websites when they were blowing up. I knew about him when I was in elementary school. He really pitched it to Steve Rifkin, the whole “guerilla marketing thing”. Like any idea this is the dude. Duk-ki… that name was always floating around like who the f*&k is this solid hand. Then, one day, he came out of the record store and I was like, “I need some work.”

Duk-ki: I’m like don’t you work for such and such and he’s like I’m not getting paid for this job, man, I just do it for free records and love, but I want work. So, we started working together, and he, eventually, took over my street team and he, also, took over the regional marketing team. By that time I was rocking with EA Sports and Electronic Arts.

Scheme: You’re still working with them?

“We literally brought streets to EA, before it was just video games that happened to appeal to urban demographic.”

Duk-ki: I’ve been with them for like eight years now. We literally brought streets to EA, before it was just video games that happened to appeal to the urban demographic. Now, me and the guy, Glenn Chinn, who brought me into the mix over there went around and pitched ideas to everybody like Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris. We went to LA, Vegas and all of hip hop just got involved. It became a lot more relevant.

Scheme: Who or what was the brain child of Major or was it a combination of the two of you?

Duk-ki: It’s kind of weird. He and I used to bounce these ideas off each other all the time. He does promotions for me in New York and Philly. He travels; so, he knows everybody at ALIFE and Flight Club and Supreme and he goes to these spots, and I go out to the west coast a lot because my clients are out there. So I’m visiting UNDFTD and HUFF and everybody out there too. I’m also good friends with a lot of the retailers like the guys who own Kicks Hi, Keith Huffnagle and everyone in the Bay area because that’s where I’m really from so they are like family.

“So, we kind of used all those experiences and said, “We’ve made enough money for everybody else.”

I got tired of shopping at other people’s places and there is no place to call home in DC since I’ve lived here for the last 17 years. Since we get kicks from outside and bring them in and people were blown away by the amount of stuff that we always had access to. On top of that, with EA, I designed two special shoes with Nike. (Air Force II & Alpha Force) So knowing all those people I’m letting the connections go to waste. Four years ago, our company started working with New Era. At the time, New Era was riding the high of the throwback craze. They new that licensing wouldn’t last forever so that brought me in as a consultant to strategize how to make the transition from the sports logo business to a more fashion driven business. So, I went back to LA and signed a bunch of accounts which snowballed into Stussy and DQM. So, for New Era, we are responsible for taking their business from 32 million dollars per anum to about 200 million dollars per anum in sales.

“These kids today play video games and are on the internet all the time. They don’t know what it feels like to get up one more time, when you are falling down.”

Underdog was in the streets and could tell what they liked and what they didn’t like. So, we kind of used all those experiences and said, “We’ve made enough money for everybody else.” However, our schedules were full. I have a family and two little kids and he was running a company. Five years ago, when I came up with this idea, I got married so there was no way I could do it. Three years ago, Nike pitched me the idea and said that I could have the account, just get it done. Underdog was working full time, so I was like, “I don’t have anyone to work with.”

A couple of guys came to me and said they want to do this boutique thing. They supposedly had the money, the clientle and everything but, over the next six months come to find out these guys didn’t have capital, no kind of credit and no business acumen whatsoever. So, I was writing all the business plans and putting my house up and co-signing and everything and at this point I had to do it. Nike just doesn’t ask anyone off the street. They want to know how they’re getting paid and the way they get paid is to put a lien on your property, if they have to go after you so I had to step up that way. There was no one else I’d rather do it with or trust as my compadre than Underdog because we really work well together. He has the same mentality and work ethic as those guys who play sports and have military background. These kids today play video games and are on the internet all the time. They don’t know what it feels like to get up one more time, when you are falling down.

Scheme: So describe the process because I was talking with Underdog earlier and there was some politics behind that.

DJ Underdog: Yeah, well, we had two locations and we were scouting around other spots in the city as far as like foot traffic is concerned. Nike looks at a lot of things, they look at foot traffic and…what else do they look at Duk-ki?

Duk-ki: They look at traffic numbers, they look at demographics, they look at people’s median incomes, they look at everything and they look at what kind of a destination it is. I mean, Georgetown is a worldwide destination. This is a prime tourist spot. I mean, probably one of the top five tourist spots in the US and other than the White House, where do you go in Washington, DC, you go to Georgetown! Then, from the urban perspective, Georgetown has always been the hotbed because you have Prince and Princess and all these stores up and down Wisconsin Avenue and M Street that’s really been key to how Georgetown and the DC style came about. The gray New Balances and the gray sweats and Eddie Bauer, all that’s a part of the city legacy. That all started out in Georgetown, John Thompson, Alonzo Mourning and, Iverson you know…

“I understand the brand value. I’m not going to put something on sale because it’s not moving for two weeks just to get rid of it because that’s not what the brand is about.”

DJ Underdog: Georgetown is known just as much as the Smithsonians because it’s the shopping district.

Duk-ki: So, it was very attractive to Nike. I got an assurance from their people that their not planning on putting a Niketown in downtown DC. If you want to put up a destination spot you have our support and we would really represent them in the proper manner and not sell them short. I understand the brand value. I’m not going to put something on sale because it’s not moving for two weeks just to get rid of it because that’s not what the brand is about. So, I’m trying to find a middle ground and charge full price because Georgetown is made of hagglers and fakes.

Scheme: You guys launched about two weeks ago what are your plans for 2007?

Duk-ki: To really get this spot on and popping, you see we don’t have any visible exterior like a sign that says, “MAJOR”; its all about subtle branding. We would rather have the logo be known to everybody and really ingrained in people’s heads. I mean, if someone comes in with a tattoo of that joint, I’ll offer them a discount for life. Our logo really symbolizes what DC is all about I mean three stars for DC…

DJ Underdog: And for the year just getting DC on the map and just getting DC recognition because even on the internet, it’s like, “Wow, DC is doing that?” Like, Duk-ki will get hit up by Clark Kent and be like, “Wow, that’s DC!”, so it’s just about putting DC on the map first. Even though we sell stuff that came out two months ago, it’s still catching DC up. So, we’re catching you up, bringing you in slowly and then, we’re really going to give it to you.

Duk-ki: We’re also going to develop the brand a lot more, do a lot of collaborations with other companies, continue to do crazy things with our hats and develop some other branded apparel. Especially kids that are going to school and are from DC, we have something they can rep.

http://majordc.com