Last Thursday I had the pleasure of visiting the infamous Shop Gentei, the most prominent clothing boutique in Baltimore. I've been in Baltimore for 3 years and I've heard about it since Pre-College. I finally found a night to check it out. What made this night special was that The Clipse was introducing their Play Cloths band to the store, making Shop Gentei one of it's many retailers. Sadly, Malice and Pusha-T had security problems so they weren't able to make it. It was a let down because I really wanted to congratulate them on making Till The Casket Drops the great CD it is, and of course get it signed. Nevertheless, a night out the house is a good night.
I can say that Shop Gentei is a store on it's own, I guess every boutique is. What separates Shop Gentei from the rest of the boutiques is that it goes by themes; they change the theme every year, so I've heard. Judging by the big motorcycle in the middle, these guys are feeling moto-crossed this year.
The design was wild, when I walked in I thought these guys were dirt bike junkies. There were all type of designs and motor paraphernalia lying around and hanging up. They had tool bins that you see in a mechanics garage with Red Bull sitting on them for people to enjoy as they relaxed. They also had T.V's playing clips and highlights from motor sports, like the one where you ride up the very steep hill very fast to see how far up you can get? It was quite amusing to watch, one out of like 20 people make it up as far as they would like.
Along with the theme comes the whole being of the shop, the gear. They did integrate the clothes very will with the scenery. Could be better, but who am I to judge I'm just the shopper lol. I wish I took more pictures of the clothing.
The crowd turn out was very nice as well, some were there for The Clipse-the others were there in support for the local hip-hop group Peaceful Money with the release of their mixtape Pocket Change (<---click the link to download). I must say that I'm impressed, no offense of any type but Al Peace (1/3 of the group) is going somewhere. He reminds me of like every person with the quirky voice in The Pharcyde. I'm sure that he'll hold his crew down.
I've found myself a new home for gear rather than hitting up Florida Ave, that's still my heart though. The whole theme to me is over the edge, it's art breaking boundaries and taking it to the max. That was my favorite thing about it. Check their site to see their past themes, after seeing those you'll get an idea of how hard these guys go. They're crucial.
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