Supreme has formally teamed with the estate of DJ Screw, whose real name was Robert Earl Davis, Jr., for its new spring collection celebrating the enduring legacy of the Houston hip-hop legend. The late DJ Screw pioneered the chopped and screwed sound Houston is known for through his iconic screwtapes and record shop, founding the Screwed Up Click, which consisted of Fat Pat, Big Pokey, Lil Keke, Z-Ro and more.
The collaboration includes football jerseys adorned with images of the Screwed Up Click (S.U.C.) founder, hooded sweatshirts, sweatshorts, and T-shirts with S.U.C. insignias. The collab also features a collectible DJ Screw bobblehead, which will surely be the first item to sell out, and several hats.
The Supreme DJ Screw collection drops April 2 on the Supreme website and at Supreme locations.
The response to the collab has been pretty mixed. Of course, like with any release from Supreme, people are willing to try and scoop up the most coveted items, and fans of DJ Screw and Houston rap culture are rightfully feeling territorial.
Most of the concerns revolve around resellers buying up the collection and selling it for ridiculous prices, preventing fans who actually have a connection to the music and culture that DJ Screw pioneered from snagging any. Hypebeasts—dogged collectors of trendy streetwear items from brands like Supreme, who may have never heard of and don’t really care about Screw and his legacy—are the main buyers of this sort of collaboration.
“Wish they would’ve did this collab with a different brand. It’s def gone be white kids who dk s–t about no DJ screw making this shit sellout in 5 secs,” one commenter tweeted.
“They should limit this to texas ip’s only,” another wrote.
“I’m annoyed. This should’ve been with another brand,” another disappointed fan commented.
Supreme has lost its luster over the past few years. On top of the brand not being as culturally relevant as it was despite its popularity, collabs like the upcoming DJ Screw are sometimes viewed as a kind of fashion gentrification. A DJ Screw collab seems like an attempt to muscle its way into a cultural conversation that may not fit with its usual audience.
The collaboration is in conjunction with the estate of DJ Screw, so fans worried the brand is capitalizing on his name without any profit going toward his family can feel at ease on that front. And if shopping local is more your thing, ScrewedUpRecords.com, the online store for the iconic record store located on the southside of Houston, has plenty of official merch for sale straight from the source.