(New York) Over the past few years, music industry moguls such as Sean “P-Piddy” Combs and Jay-Z have strutted through music videos wearing remakes of football and basketball jerseys worn by famous sports icons of the past. Husband and wife team, Rodney and Knia Bonds have discovered a way to honor the legends of Hiphop with the debut of their brand new streetwear clothing line RTB Apparel and its’ inaugural product titled Rap Throwbacks. RTB Apparel has set out to prove that throwback jerseys are not just for athletes. Rodney explains, “We had to build a brand from the Rap Throwbacks line. RTB Apparel came out of that. The product basically represents fashion & Hiphop.”

The innovative clothing line combines Hiphop of the past with FASHION in the present, and also serves as an educational tool for the youth of today thus serving them with a healthy dosage of True School and Originators of Hiphop Culture. Recently unveiled at the MAGIC International Trade Show, the Rap Throwback jerseys caused quite a stir immediately garnering respect and immediate interest from major distributors such as MACY’s and DR. JAYS. Rap Throwbacks features brilliant jerseys with colors derived from NBA teams, various color schematics from the rapper’s original album artwork and/or early Hiphop fashion. The song titles of the artists appear on the backside of the jersey, while the numbers on the front and back showcases the year the song came onto the music scene. Knia states, “We solidified the marriage of the artists and the jerseys by paying homage to the Old School and Classic Artists, as well as paying them a royalty percentage on each jersey sold. All of those elements came together and it helped lay the foundation for the clothing line.”

The jerseys are broken down into various classifications of rap music. There’s the TRUE SCHOOL segment, featuring the rappers from the early 80’s such as Doug E. Fresh, MC Lyte, Stetsasonic, Big Daddy Kane, and Sweet Tee. THE CLASSICS offer jerseys from pioneers like Kurtis Blow, Furious Five, Cold Crush Brothers, Soulsonic Force and many more. Future variations of the line will include COMMEMORATIVE jerseys which will honor fallen soldiers, such as Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, Tupac Shakur, the Notorious B.I.G., Big Pun, and Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes, as well as THE CUTMASTERS featuring deejay luminaries such as Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Red Alert, DJ Jazzy Jeff, A.J. Scratch, Chuck Chill Out, and Jazzy Jay.

Rap Throwbacks has recently received numerous press exposure having been featured recently on MTV’s Total Request Live (TRL), the brand new Wake Up Show featuring Sway & Tech, Comedy Central’s Dave Chapelle Show, Showtime’s The Next, as well as music videos such as “Stand Up” by Ludacris, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (remix) Young Gunz featuring Chingy, and RZA’s latest effort, “We Pop.” Rap Throwbacks has also recently been featured in magazines such as Slam, JET, and Don Diva. 

“RTB Apparel is all about ”clothing and concepts”, says Knia, “We were born of Hip-hop culture, therefore will always continue to stay within that concept. We are trying to keep Hiphop culture alive with our brand.”

There is more to come from RTB Apparel. Stay tuned. 

For more information visit the website at www.rtbapparel.com

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