LA Takers is exactly what it looks like. 

A nod to the original Kings of LA: Eazy, Yella, Ren, Dre, and Cube. Our remix to the vintage styles worn by LA sports teams in the 1980s, boldly sketched in purple script and anchored by our reimagined LA Benji.

Dedicated to the city with so many hustles for the cash that it’s hard to knock it. Out here we live by the Takers code: As long as they print it, we gon’ get it! LA Takers speaks to who we are and our commitment to be torch bearers of the culture at the intersection of Hip-Hop, sports, and streetwear. 

Like the old saying goes, you never forget your first. Takers was our very first design and we were so excited to share it with our friends back in 2018. 

Starting an apparel company was not on our minds back in 2017. We just got tired of wearing other people’s sh*t in our music videos. We wanted our own.

The Takers idea embodied the season that Stoops and I were living through. We were both locked in, working 7 days a week at our respective hustles: his was Postmates and dry cleaning delivery, while mine was car detailing and janitorial. We lived 4-deep in a North Hollywood townhouse full of creatives, so there was never a dull moment. Stoops’ room was on the first floor, so he got an earful of my daily shenanigans. Sorry brother! 

Reading this, you may ask yourself why I’m taking you back to this time. Easy answer. The art of “the hustle” is embedded in Hip-Hop, constantly being reinforced everywhere you look and listen. It’s something that almost every rapper talks about. You have to hustle! You must have hustle in you! That hustler's state of mind had me hypnotized. It’s what compelled me to get busy in photoshop. I practiced putting different typefaces and shapes together (based on my novice skill level) to create unique art. 

I remember a distinct image of a cartoon bandit with a bandana tied around his mouth and looking around a corner. “He just hit a lick”, I thought. Then my wheels started spinning. I wrote down: Go getters. Bag getters. Bag chasers. Bag catchers. TAKER$! 

I said to myself, “What If I put a bandana around Benjamin Franklin’s face? That sh*t would be fire.” So, I started working on different iterations of Benji (to this day I still make small tweaks periodically). At first, money was my muse. But then I took it deeper. I started to focus more on holistic happiness and the accountability that comes along with the pursuit of success. You must take the life you want!  That’s where the concept of TAKERS came from. Obviously, money is how we keep score, so insert Benji and the bandana element and VOILA! 

Over the next several years, Benji would spark countless conversations and become the vehicle to help us reach our first impactful milestones as a company (and make a few coins in the process). The Benji put us on, flat out. 

Quick recap, in 2018 we pressed our first t-shirts: The TAKER$ tee and The Benji tee. Benji took on a world of its own so we let TAKER$ go and focused solely on Benji. Fast forward to the present, what changed and how did LA Takers come to be? 

2024 

Stoops and I are big-time readers. That's something that I’m most proud of because I was not that way as a kid. The inspiration to recreate team Takers came from reading one of the most impactful books of my life, no bullsh*t. 

“This is Not a T-Shirt” is a book written by Bobby Hundreds, co-founder of The Hundreds, an iconic LA streetwear company founded in 2003. The book is 50% memoir, 50% blueprint, and 100% what I needed to fall back in love with the process. Bobby’s obsession with culture and authenticity spoke to me in a way that I had never heard before. What’s crazy is, I’ve always known about The Hundreds, but never felt a connection to the brand. These days I couldn't feel more connected and inspired. 

I was three-fourths of the way through the book when Stoops and I pulled up to The Hundreds store in the FairFax district. The store’s aesthetic and friendly staff matched exactly what he described in the book. I caught myself day dreaming. I was in the middle of admiring how Bobby’s vision came to fruition and counting all the gear I wanted to buy. Then, there it was…a white snapback with “Los Angeles The Hundreds” written in cursive. PURE PERFECTION. I had seen it before, but not in person. It was so LA. I wanted it, so I thought. Then I realized what I really wanted. More than that dope ass hat, I wanted the feeling of creating our own version. Right then and there, I thought of LA Takers. 

And just like that, the fuse was lit. I was compelled to act with an overwhelming sense of urgency because snapbacks had been a conversation for years. Well, now was the time. That night I started designing the first drafts of the LA Takers script and started production in 3 colors. Roughly a month later here we are, with great passion and enthusiasm that we present to you the first edition LA Takers snapback!

SHOP NOW

Thank you for reading! 

- Tone and Stoops 

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