I met R.J., the owner and founder, of Pur3ly Root3d Clothing in 2010 when I launched Million Monkey.  R.J. has been a mentor to me and always helps me with ideas and concepts.  The word on the streets is that he is like the Godfather of clothing brands here in San Antonio!  Check out our interview with him.

R.J. thanks for taking some time out of your schedule to talk with us! Please introduce yourself and your brand for our friends and fans that may not know you?

Word,  Thanks for the interview!  Well, most people call me RJ, as you just did, my government name is Ryan Johnson ssshhh don’t tell anyone.  I am the owner and founder of the lifestyle brand Pur3ly Root3d.  We’ve been around now for just under 7 years and we do cool shit. 

One of my favorite hashtags is #FREEKINGTUSK ,who is King Tusk, how do we free him, and how does the tree relate to Pur3ly Root3d?

King Tusk is our mascot!  He represents the 3 principles our company was founded on. Knowledge – because an elephant never forgets, Strength – because well he’s an elephant, and Unity – because elephants travel in herds as a family unit and that’s how we roll as a family.   The hashtag #FREEKINGTUSK initially started out as a joke to get me or anyone in our crew out of jail if we were ever caught tagging or throwing up a wheat paste.  If arrested we would take on the persona of King Tusk and the idea was to spread the word that we were in jail and to get us out, ha ha!  Now #FREEKINGTUSK represents letting the brand take on it’s own personality in this industry.  King Tusk is a vital part of our company and he needs to be free, meaning exposed to the world.  It’s time to unleash the elephant and let him shine!  The Tree is our foundation and that’s where the roots come into play.  Without trees there is no existence, no life.  The Tree represents the life source of Pur3ly Root3d.

Are you a one man shop or do you have a team that helps you with the designing and operations of PRC?

 There are a few of us that work behind the scenes, my man Composure has started to become an integral part of the design team.  We also have Akomplice & DJ 717 working hard on the music side of things.  I would have to say I am the point person, everything goes through me, It all starts with my passion for the brand and what we represent as a company.

What is your designing background?

 I started out like most kids drawing and painting from a young age, trying to figure out where my artistic skills would take me, which led me to my initial college major of graphic design which later changed to marketing.  Over the years I have designed everything from promotional flyers to t-shirts.  In college I started my first clothing line called Revival Clothing, ha!  I had about 4 graphics printed and ran those for about 2 years and at some point lost focus and started the 9 to 5 grind.  About 10 years later I started Pur3ly Root3d, and the rest in history.   We have been up and running since July 11th 2006. 

You come up with some really creative designs.  Where do you draw inspiration from when you design?  

Thanks, we appreciate that!  All of our designs are inspired by what we are passionate about, the hip hop culture, skateboarding & the sneaker culture.  Everything around inspires us!  Life is a huge inspiration.  All the experiences that we go through and the challenges we face are all inspiration and motivation to keep designing.  We love to take something old and put our spin on it to make it our own.  The best form of flattery is imitation and we love to pay homage to great artists or art by putting our twist on it to make it a Pur3ly Root3d design.

What is you favorite PRC design past or present?  

Man, there are a lot of them to choose from.  I’d have to say one of my most favorite designs is the “Stay In Your Lane” design in our current line.  My man Composure helped me with that design. We took King Tusk and created an alter ego inspired the Rat Fink character created by legendary artist Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.  Our Ele Fink King Tusk character will be feature in future designs as well, he is the HULK where King Tusk is Bruce Banner…ha!  I love them all, but that one really sticks out because of the secret message behind it.  Maybe I’ll tell that story once the tee blows up.  Another one of my favorites is the “Make It Rain” design that has made it back into the line after a 3 year hiatus.  

What are some of your favorite brands that are out right now?  

I’m feelin’ a lot of Texas brands right now, Pur3ly Root3d of course, Million Monkey, Rise Run, Grits, Face of Fame, Too Dope, Loyal K.N.G.  I like what The Hundreds is doing and I’m glad to see Stussy going strong again over the last couple of years.  I try not to really rock anything unless it’s Pur3ly Root3d.  I try to stay clear of what everyone else is doing, but there are a lot of great brands out there.

I have seen PRC on hip hop heads, sneakerheads, skaters, alternative rockers, etc.  how has PRC been so successful breaking into all genres? 

Man, we spent years networking and building our name in those circles, since those lifestyles or genres are where our passions lie.  We have put on or sponsored several events over the last 7 years to connect with our customers.  We sponsor hip hop artists all over Texas such as Donnie Dee, Certain Sikness, Akomplice Beats, Krash Savage, Hacksaw, DJ 717, DJ Hella Yella.  We also sponsor a couple of local skateboarders Emilio Sifuentes and Miguel Juarez, we are currently building our skate team but these two guys are rippers!  We just started sponsoring a videographer Spike Wells who will be documenting things for us over the course of 2013, we are excited about adding him to the team.   As far as the sneaker heads, I’m a sneaker fanatic so we always show love to our homies over at Sneaks Up!  You can always find the Pur3ly Root3d fam at a Sneaks Up event!

Speaking of hip hop heads, I have a Pur3ly Root3d Records Mixtape in my car.  How is the music side of things going? 

Yeah that mixtape is one of my favorites the Pur3ly Root3d Family Tree Mixtape Vol. 2, check it out on the website.  The music is moving forward, Akomplice Beats has been connecting with producers, dj’s, mc’s all over the country and we have several project in the works that he is working on.  DJ 717 also has a few things in the works that we will be promoting soon.  There’s a lot going on with the music side right now.  We welcomed Progeny of Chisme to the crew and he and  Akomplice are working on a project right now.  We will be releasing a few albums this year and shooting some music videos to support the albums.  

Before I let you go, please explain to us the use of the number 33 in some of your designs and its use in the name Pur3ly Root3d??  

That’s a good question, the number 33 represents a few things.  First, it was my age when I started the company.  Secondly, 33 is the Master number in numerology, 33 is the Master Teacher.   It represents uplifting the loving energy of mankind.  Any individual that represents the number 33 is not concerned with personal ambition, and have a great devotion to cause. If you know me then you know that the number 33 represent me well.  Finally, 33 is the age of Christ when he died and was resurrected, our initial goal was to resurrect the spirit of the hip hop culture; we now solely focus on being an integral part of the culture and continuing to support those that support us.

Any shout outs?  

Man, theres a lot.  Shout out to you for the interview! Much love!  Shout out to all the homies, Donnie Dee, Akomplice Beats, Krash Savage, Hacksaw, DJ Killa Bee, Composure, DJ 717, DJ Hella Yella, Progeny, Emilio Sifuentes, Miguel Juarez.  Most importantly, shout out to my wife Mia and my kids, Justin, Gianna & Jax for putting up with my passion for this company!   Much love and respect to anyone that has every bought any of our product, we appreciate you!

Please tell us where we can purchase PRC and how we can stay in touch with you. 

Currently you can purchase our product at www.pur3lyroot3d.com we are also available at Zumiez & Fast Forward.  You can connect with us on Instagram @pur3lyroot3d or @freekingtusk follow us on Twitter @pur3lyroot3d, and follow us on Facebook @pur3lyroot3d if you have questions email us at info@pur3lyroot3d.com.

Please introduce yourself? 

My name is Nikki Love and I’m a San Antonio based model.

How long have you been modeling? 

I’ve been in the industry for about 4 years.

What drew you to the modeling industry?

As a little girl I would always watch the Vicky secret fashion shows and I would fall in love with all the models. Modeling is just something that I always knew I would do.

Who are a few of your favorite designers?

MILLION MONKEY…hello lol

Where was your funnest photo shoot?

I would have to say that my best shoot would have to be the one with Honey Images!  Everything went as planned and that is very rare for me!!

Who are your inspirations?

I try to channel my inner Marilyn Monroe. I’m in love with her!!!

Where would you like your career to take you?

I’m very grateful for all the success that my career has given me. And only God knows where it will take me, but im ready for anything…

Any shout outs?

Thank you to all the Luv bugs out there that support me every day!!!!

How can our friends and fans stay in contact with you?

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnikkiluv.hotshotsfxmedia.com%2F&h=mAQHe9xYq

@THRDLBL

@dontaskemm

@jeremykingg