CORNER STORE PRESENTS: CRATE DIGGERS PHILADELPHIA

Battle rap pioneer Iron Solomon and his brand Corner Store are back to give Philly its flowers as a mecca of music culture and hip hop history with Crate Diggers Philadelphia, the next edition of their collector culture collection. This new installment features baseball jerseys, t-shirt, hoodie and sweatpants designed in collaboration with Lapstone, signature Crate Diggers hat and an ottoman/throw pillow featuring the iconic custom record crate artwork. The collection will release on Friday, April 5th, with an event on Thursday night at Lapstone & Hammer featuring sets from some of Philly's most respected DJs and selectors and an open bar.

After the debut of the Crate Diggers project focused on the birthplace of hip hop, New York City, Iron Solomon knew that Philadelphia was the natural next step. He explains the Crate Diggers concept, and how the Philadelphia edition came together:

"Crate Diggers is a baseball themed series of custom memorabilia celebrating DJ's, Producers, cultural connoisseurs, and collectors of all kinds. In each city, Corner Store partners with different figures tied to the vinyl community. We work with them to choose finishing touches on each piece, and curate the crate of records we photograph for the packaging. The original New York release was a collaboration with Rotten Island Records. They helped shape the concept and some of the Easter eggs hidden in the design (if you know you know).

For the Philly edition, we linked with Max Ochester of Brewerytown Beats. Max is one of the foremost historians, collectors, and preservers of the Philadelphia music scene. Both his shop, and his personal vinyl collection, contains unique, rare, and highly sought after gems in all genres. The records he chose tell a tale of Philadelphia music history like only he can. Cultural value aside, selling these gems could put a kid through college. Through his label imprint, Brewerytown Records, Max also releases timeless music, both newly produced projects and re-issued classics. 

Once Max chose the records for the crate, we worked with photography, entrepreneur, and multi-disciplinary artist, Caliph Gamble, son of Kenny Gamble, of the legendary song writing and production duo Gamble & Huff. Their music has been dug in crates for decades. The box is a 7 1/4" cube, designed as storage for .45's, in addition to the hat itself.

Bringing Lapstone in to develop the apparel offerings was a no brainer. I've known Brian for a minute through my goofy boy Drew, and we were talking about working together on a Philly Crate Diggers project before the first edition even released. With the Lapstone aesthetic and their commitment to artistic vision, I knew they would be the perfect partner to evolve the collection beyond just the initial hat concept."

Crate Diggers is a tribute to old school DJs who spent countless hours digging through racks of vinyl to find the hidden bangers, before streaming services and Discogs and ebay. It was all about what was in your crates, the ammo in your clip so to speak, that made your name as a DJ.

This collection features an unstructured 100% melton wool baseball cap in classic Phillies red with a white felt Crate Diggers appliqué stitched on the front, a screen printed Miner League Champions felt patch on the left side, the numbers 33, 45 and 78 embroidered on the right side representing the three record rpm speeds and a leather buckle strap. The hat comes packaged in a 7.25" cubed box (that fits 45’s for the true collectors) that is covered in an image of the custom record crate curated by Max Ochester of Brewerytown Beats and photographed by Caliph Gamble. That images also graces a 12”x12"x12" cubed foam ottoman/throw pillow made by Throwie Pillow, a company that translates the art of graffiti from the street to a 3D art pillow that can be displayed in a home, office or anywhere.

Continuing with the baseball theme are the Crate Diggers baseball jerseys, inspired by vintage Phillies jerseys. The button front jerseys come in deep red with white Crate Diggers applique on the front, and white with red raglan sleeves and red Crate Diggers applique. Each jersey was produced in a limited run of 45 pieces, and feature a jock tag above the left hem that is hand numbered by legendary Philadelphia graffiti artist Cornbred. 

The sweatsuit is a collaboration between Corner Store and Lapstone, and features a 100% cotton fleece hoodie and pants that have been washed and faded to match the worn-in look of the record sleeves graphic patch that is sewn on the back. The front of the hoodie features custom co-branded logos on the front and left sleeve, while the pants feature co-branded logo prints on the legs.

Capping off the capsule is the custom graphic tee featuring an allover print of the record cover spines from Max's curated crate. The tee is inspired by vintage striped Guess tees from the '80s and '90s, with the twist that the stripes are actually hand selected records that each hold particular significance in Philly music history.

To celebrate the release of the project there will be a party at the shop on Thursday night from 6pm-10pm featuring DJ's Skeme Richards and Max from Brewerytown Beats spinning rare funk and soul 45's, as well as some drop ins from special surprise guests. There will also be physical prints of New Vegas Films holographic "motion pictures" on display. These are really incredible in person especially and no one is doing anything quite like it. There will also be an open bar, admittance to the event is 21+.