The Office Hours Interview w/ Ernest Wilkins

There's a looming cloud over these protests. The energy feels different this time.

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A daily roundup of interesting links about music, culture and marketing!

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Making a return to Chicago for the first time since 1988, the NBA All-Star Game and the surrounding events took over the city this past weekend. One of the biggest stories of the weekend was the release of designer Joe Freshgoods “No Emotions are Emotions” collaboration with New Balance.The collaboration included a line of clothes, accessories and two sneakers. One of those sneakers, the DBM x New Balance 992 “Anatomy of a Heart”, will undoubtedly be on the shortlist for 2020 sneaker of the year. Currently, the lowest-offered price on StockX for a pair of DBM x New Balance 992’s is $500.

To get to the bottom of how this collaboration came to life, I present “Balance & Fit”, a collaboration between Office Hours and JFG Talks, a new initiative founded by Freshgoods aiming to build a solid platform for cultural conversations. Joining us to provide decades of industry insight and expertise — as well as his encyclopedic knowledge of sneakers — was the legendary DJ Clark Kent.

The question we’re trying to answer:

“How did Joe Freshgoods, a native Chicagoan, end up signing with New Balance?”

To get to the answer, we have to examine two concepts at the intersection of business and culture: Balance and Fit.

Balance can mean a lot of things in this context. Balance can mean the balance between business and family. The balance between working for a bunch of different brands and trying to stay connected to where you came from.

Fit is exactly that. How do you fit in to a scene, a culture?

Do you fit in? Do you WANT to fit in?

Creatives like Joe balance life and work, they want to make an impact culturally but also be the perfect family person who never misses a recital.

They fit two full lives into one.

Balance and Fit.

WELCOME TO SEASON 2!!!!!

Making a return to Chicago for the first time since 1988, the NBA All-Star Game and the surrounding events took over the city this past weekend. One of the biggest stories of the weekend was the release of designer Joe Freshgoods “No Emotions are Emotions” collaboration with New Balance.The collaboration included a line of clothes, accessories and two sneakers. One of those sneakers, the DBM x New Balance 992 “Anatomy of a Heart”, will undoubtedly be on the shortlist for 2020 sneaker of the year. Currently, the lowest-offered price on StockX for a pair of DBM x New Balance 992’s is $500.

To get to the bottom of how this collaboration came to life, I present “Balance & Fit”, a collaboration between Office Hours and JFG Talks, a new initiative founded by Freshgoods aiming to build a solid platform for cultural conversations. Joining us to provide decades of industry insight and expertise — as well as his encyclopedic knowledge of sneakers — was the legendary DJ Clark Kent.

The question we’re trying to answer:

“How did Joe Freshgoods, a native Chicagoan, end up signing with New Balance?”

To get to the answer, we have to examine two concepts at the intersection of business and culture: Balance and Fit.

Balance can mean a lot of things in this context. Balance can mean the balance between business and family. The balance between working for a bunch of different brands and trying to stay connected to where you came from.

Fit is exactly that. How do you fit in to a scene, a culture?

Do you fit in? Do you WANT to fit in?

Creatives like Joe balance life and work, they want to make an impact culturally but also be the perfect family person who never misses a recital.

They fit two full lives into one.

Balance and Fit.

One of the biggest stories of the 2020 NBA All-Star weekend was the release of designer Joe Freshgoods “No Emotions are Emotions” collaboration with New Balance.

This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at officehours.substack.com/subscribe

Andrew Hampp is a brand partnerships specialist, copywriter and journalist who founded consultancy 1803 LLC in 2018. Andrew currently works with a wide range of brand, agency and media clients to help them achieve their goals within the music and advertising industries. Prior to forming 1803 LLC, Andrew spend three years with MAC Presents as a VP-Brand Strategists where he focused on helping blue-chip brands and A-list artists build industry-leading music strategies and experiences. He also spent a decade as a full-time music and marketing journalist at spots like Billboard and Ad Age. We talk about how media has changed since the start of the decade (6:00), trends he sees in the partnership space in 2020 and beyond (26:00), brands he thinks are doing cool stuff in the partnership space (33:00) and why Mariah Carey is still somehow underrated as a songwriter (40:00)

TUNES:

"Wit Da Team" - Genesis Owusu

"Stay Long Love You" - Mariah Carey feat. Gunna

Andrew Hampp is a brand partnerships specialist, copywriter and journalist who founded consultancy 1803 LLC in 2018. Andrew currently works with a wide range of brand, agency and media clients to help them achieve their goals within the music and advertising industries. Prior to forming 1803 LLC, Andrew spend three years with MAC Presents as a VP-Brand Strategists where he focused on helping blue-chip brands and A-list artists build industry-leading music strategies and experiences. He also spent a decade as a full-time music and marketing journalist at spots like Billboard and Ad Age. We talk about how media has changed since the start of the decade (6:00), trends he sees in the partnership space in 2020 and beyond (26:00), brands he thinks are doing cool stuff in the partnership space (33:00) and why Mariah Carey is still somehow underrated as a songwriter (40:00)

TUNES:

"Wit Da Team" - Genesis Owusu

"Stay Long Love You" - Mariah Carey feat. Gunna

Chris “Classick” Inumerable discovered his love and talent for music at a young age. The native Chicagoan comes from a musically-inclined family and in 2006 built a small recording studio in his parents’ basement. Chicago being the big small town that it is, his clientele list quickly grew via word-of-mouth. Classick quit his bank job and transferred from DePaul University to Columbia College Chicago to study Audio Arts & Acoustics.creative output from Classick Studios this decade has gone worldwide, with Classick’s studio being the home of some of the biggest releases from the city. Classick now manages two of the brightest talents the city has produced in years: St. Louis native Smino and producer Monte Booker. He’s one of a very small list of Chicagoans who have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on culturally in 2019 and I’m sure you’re going to enjoy this.

Chris “Classick” Inumerable discovered his love and talent for music at a young age. The native Chicagoan comes from a musically-inclined family and in 2006 built a small recording studio in his parents’ basement. Chicago being the big small town that it is, his clientele list quickly grew via word-of-mouth. Classick quit his bank job and transferred from DePaul University to Columbia College Chicago to study Audio Arts & Acoustics.creative output from Classick Studios this decade has gone worldwide, with Classick’s studio being the home of some of the biggest releases from the city. Classick now manages two of the brightest talents the city has produced in years: St. Louis native Smino and producer Monte Booker. He’s one of a very small list of Chicagoans who have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on culturally in 2019 and I’m sure you’re going to enjoy this.

(Chris “Classick” Inumerable, at Classick Studios. Pic by @nos.pov)

Chris “Classick” Inumerable discovered his love and talent for music at a young age. The native Chicagoan comes from a musically-inclined family and in 2006 built a small recording studio in his parents’ basement. Chicago being the big small town that it is, his clientele list quickly grew via word-of-mouth. The creative output from Classick Studios this decade has gone worldwide, with Classick’s studio being the home of some of the biggest releases from the city. Classick now manages two of the brightest talents the city has produced in years: St. Louis native Smino and producer Monte Booker. He’s one of a very small list of Chicagoans who have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on culturally in 2019 and I’m sure you’re going to enjoy this episode of the podcast.

TUNES FEATURED IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE:

FRANK LEONE - Solid Gold

Ghetto Sage - Haagen Dazs

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Office Hours is written by Ernest Wilkins. Follow me everywhere online @ErnestWilkins or email me here.

This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at officehours.substack.com/subscribe