PART I (took place on 01.16.06)

The Marma Spot:
Please introduce yourself for all the knuckleheads who aren’t up on things.

Rasheed Young:
Holla… I gotta rep like an emcee… even if I don’t rhyme. Rasheed Young
a.k.a. Rawdawg, from HQNS (Hollis Queens)… throwin it down for the Simmons brothers but stil reppin’ Def Sqaud, Redman, Rocwilder, Sermon… we still here!

The Marma Spot:
No doubt. Please tell us a little about what you do and the company
you are building.

Rasheed Young:
Hmm what I do? I stay focused and remain humble, create alliances and love and live my life. That is what I DO!! What do I do for my place of work… try to be the next pain in NIKE and Adidas ass. Who do I do it for?? No one other than Run Athletics (which is what Rev Run, Gardy and myself, trying to build) and for all the true sneaker fanatics who want something new and original.

The Marma Spot:
Straight Up and Down! So do you work with Rev Run and Gardy on an everyday basis and what is the process you go through for designing
your shoes? The Arthur Ashe Legacy is sick.

Rasheed Young:
I work with Rev daily on a teacher student basis. He sends me (and others) words of wisdom daily. Every other week he’s on the check in for Run Athletics business. Gardy is my day-to-day person. We go over marketing strategies, budgets, new ideas… and hey we horse around too, get each others nerves… you know!! Life can’t be that serious if you cant enjoy it!! Most of all we learn from each other. Here in lies the foundation to concepts for new sneakers. Sneakers are life!!

Thanks for props on Ashe but hey, given its Black History Month….I give all the props to Ashe himself.” in 2000 and started doing work for clients.

The Marma Spot:
For sure, are there any new shoes in the works or whole new lines and do you have a women’s line?

Rasheed Young:
Luckily the Legacy is timeless (like a Bape- even though that monkey is dead). I’m working on several callabos with different artist, rappers…even a sneaker color way paying tribute to the geniuses that brought me here (GENIUSES= PEOPLE IN GENERAL). But really… we have some works in the pipeline however we are in the process of renaming the kicks. One jogger (Run Tek), one semi casual sneaker (to be renamed.) No women line just yet… but I have a sneaker for the LADIES. “HEY GIRLLLLLSSS”.

The Marma Spot:
As far as collaborations go how do you guys choose people you want to work with on the collab tip for your brand?

Rasheed Young:
Most of the people I know through just being a good person and knowing
the right heads. The hardest part of process is making it all make sense.
Hey… if King Kong was real… he’d have a color up too!!!

The Marma Spot:
Fresh. So I love what I do but it sure doesn’t box me in, what other things creatively or otherwise do you have going on?

Rasheed Young:
Rev and I are working on building a sneaker store in NY. We are working on names and trying to align ourselves with the right people. Honestly, thank God Run Athletics is doing so well that I have no time for anything else.

The Marma Spot:
Respect on that. So both you and I are working on MLK day but what are your plans for the evening and what do you think you will have for
dinner and dessert?

Rasheed Young:
Going home to the pregnant wife… son who is 2 and some good ole Dominican food! Desert… more work… I neva stop, neither should my competition cause I’m going hard.

The Marma Spot:
This year I am more than ever dedicated to the come up. Is there anything you are more dedicated to?

Rasheed Young:
I believe this is the year if any, my new child… that’s the biggest thing to me. Every year is big but this is the year that I will be tested. I’m ready!!

The Marma Spot:
That is cool my man. You seem as if you are. You said you are flying to Hong Kong, what do you have slated for the trip?

Rasheed Young:
I’m going to check on our factories. Run Athletics gets involved from beginning to end, from production to marketing. I’m also going to go shopping and get inspired. Other cultures inspire me and it’s funny because they say Americans inspire them. How crazy is that?

PART II (took place on 08.17.06)

The Marma Spot:
The last time we spoke you were getting ready to have a child, on your way to Hong Kong, and putting the things in place to open up a new shoe store in New York with Rev RUN. Please update us on how those things have gone and on the things that are going on now.

Rasheed Young:
Hmm… 1st or 2nd child? Has it been that long, I’m assuming 2nd child? He’s 1 month old now… it’s fun!!! Hong Kong… I secured a license deal in Asia and I went to the factories to see how they mix the ingredients we send from here to overseas. Factory life is long and crazy. We are still seeking a location for our store but in the meantime I’m opening a shop in Staten island
with Redman.

The Marma Spot:
Really? That sounds promising. Can you let us in on what that is going to be like and why you decided to do this in the first place?

Rasheed Young:
It’s a skaters sneaker shop. Doc and I have always been into kicks and also fascinated with skate. Skate is a culture and we’re not trying to pose at all but we have the right people involved in shop. True professional riders as well as skaters brands. The neighborhood is perfect for that type of store. But were also considering other sports in other territories. It just so happens that the skaters are first.

The Marma Spot:
That is interesting. I wouldn’t have taken Redman for a person that would even like to watch skating. It’s nice to be wrong and surprised by people though. So, I was looking on line at my regular daily sites for so I can stay
up on thangs and I ran across the new Legacy styles for winter 06 and 2007.
Very nice, why the different styles in that shoe at this point?

Rasheed Young:
One thing I realized is that people love the legacy style. It’s been criticized as the next Air Force 1 for sneaker heads. So hey… why not flip the same style every once and a while? We have a mid coming soon along with other run athletics styles.

The Marma Spot:
Fresh. Are you guys going to be getting into basketball or other sports at all?

Rasheed Young:
All sports. I wanna do hockey and call it fist of fury.

The Marma Spot:
That’s fresh. So Arthur Ashe was obviously the inspiration for the Legacy.
Is choosing an athlete and designing a shoe that represents their persona/attitude etc going to be something that you do when entering into other sports?

Rasheed Young:
Not really. Ashe was the perfect fit. He was a humanitarian as well.
It has to make sense.

The Marma Spot:
Thanks for the pair you sent to me. They are some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn and the only shoes I own that have fabric on the sole. What was the thinking behind the sole?

Rasheed Young:
Suede piercing… if u check the shoe you’ll see that there is cognac leather, croc, suede. I tried to make jambalaya out of that shoe. Tones, textures and theme help sell a shoe.

The Marma Spot:
For sure. Where you the one who designed the Legacy?

Rasheed Young:
Kevin Keong aka Kevin Saer (black bean sauce) was the chef. I was more like the restaurant owner. But props to the chef all day!!!

The Marma Spot:
Respect on that. Infamous question coming up. What music are you into right now? What tracks are you really feeling? What whole CD’s are just in your head right now?

Rasheed Young:
Respectfully I’m a music head. I just got XM radio in my car and it stays on Rhymefest. It’s old hip-hop. There’s nothing new that I’m feeling… wait…
That Dogg Pound new album is crazy. Big up to Battlecat on the beats!!

The Marma Spot:
Good looks. I thought I was the only one feeling that Cali is active track.
It’s Banging.

Rasheed Young:
There are 4 joints on that album I cant stop playing!

The Marma Spot:
Are there any movies or television shows that you are into or even want to put on blast so the rest of us don’t waste our money?

Rasheed Young:
Television is a f@#kin waste of brain cells. 2000 channels and ain’t sh@# on?? Movies… How many times are we going to keep remaking or calling sh@# part 2 or 3?? People… Go get a hobby or read a book or better yet go shopping and buy some kicks!

The Marma Spot:
Ha! Fresh. So in that vain what are the three latest greatest books
you have read?

Rasheed Young:
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda, Days of grace by
Arthur Ashe, and the Bible by those who think they knew.

The Marma Spot:
Respect. Are there any other projects you are working on at the moment or trying to put into motion?

Rasheed Young:
I’m trying to do a couple of more interviews of hip-hop heads that truly love footwear. I have a lot of connects. Interviews will not be biased at all.
If you like Nike, you like Nike. That’s good too.

The Marma Spot:
What are these interviews going to be for? In what form? Video, written, etc?

Rasheed Young:
Freshnessmag.com. It’s written and video but we are using video for a DVD later. It works its way to other sites.

The Marma Spot:
Well, I know you are very busy and I would just like to say thanks for all of your time and for sitting down to speak with us here at the Marma spot.
Hope all continues to go well. peace+respect to you.