It’s been a little while since I put up a poppin tags post. For a while the weekly posts served as an excuse for me to get out of the house for a while and venture out to some of NYC’s finest street wear shops.

After a while and as more and more of my friends found themselves without jobs, I started to feel guilty flaunting the new gear I was copping on a weekly basis. I felt like flaunting the $100 t-shirt I bought that day was disrespectful to those who were in need of an extra $100 that month to keep a roof over their head or to feed their family.

These days, I’ve moved out of the City and am long past feeling the need to keep my closet fresh on a weekly basis. Also, any disposable income I find myself with these days seems to go to furniture, which has my apartment looking like a bachelor’s dream, but I’ve opted to leave the interior design posts to Kanye.

Today I felt obligated to make a rare post in the poppin tags category because it’s not often that I get to post this sort of stuff. This is the official (NBA Store version) of the Lebron James MVP t-shirt. I’ve been sitting on this for a couple of days, but it hasn’t gone into rotation until today– where it will remain the only thing you see me on game day for the next few weeks when the Cavs NBA Championship T’s become available.

In case you thought that was a typo, I did say when they become available.

WITNESS!

BRAND: Adidas
LOCATION: NBA STORE, online
PRICE: $20

I’m not a sneaker head like some of the cats in the hip-hop game, but I have a special love affair with the Air Force 1. Another love of mine is the Cleveland Cavaliers, so when you combine the two– you force me to spend obscene amounts of money.

Unfortunately, eBay seems to have every size except the 11.5 I need.

I’ve also pledged to stop spending money on non-essentials, after buying a new car and furnishing a new apartment.

But, um, if you’ve got the hook up on these joints in a 11.5– get at me!!! These are essential. Right?

Spotted at Hypebeast

This is a great look for an indie artist competing against full album leaks from Plies, Soulja Boy and Keyshia Cole!!! This is going to be a BIG record. Stay tuned….

It’s been a minute since I posted up a new Poppin Tags column. Blame the election, an increased work load or my new gym membership that’s had my body aching and refusing to make my usual weekend trek around the City. I’ll be back on my grind soon enough and with colder weather ahead, may have to start highlighting some hoodies, to broaden our fashion coverage, but mostly because I need to cop some new ones.

In the interim, I wanted to show off this tee that just arrived that I actually ordered out of the Eastbay catalog. If you’re like me, you’ve been receiving the Eastbay catalog for years and it was always the prime spot for Jerseys or other fan gear, although recently they seem to be edging more to becoming a legitimate broker of streetwear brands as well.

I kept it old school and had to grab this Chicago Bears vintage jersey tee. I spotted a bunch of these in the catalog and seriously wanted to buy up the whole lot. I finally locked in on the #34 Walter Payton tee. I moved to Chicago the year after Payton retired from the NFL, but just from watching highlights as a kid, I knew that this guy was one of the best to ever do it.

To my suprise, upon opening my shipment from Eastbay, I found an unfamiliar #72 on the front and found the name Perry listed on the back. Perry? The Fridge? Well…I did always love The Fridge. Instead of being mad about Eastbay’s error, I’ve decided to embrace it (although I’m still going to track down my #34).

I’ll be back after the weekend with some fresh new NYC goods to talk about.

BRAND: Reebok Vintage Collection
LOCATION: Eastbay, online
PRICE: $30

I feel like I didn’t give the Burkina Shop enough props last time they were mentioned in Poppin’ Tags. The place is such a different experience than any other NYC shop I’ve been to, I feel like I had to circle back around. I actually went down there today because I remember they had an Obama tee I wanted to cop, which I did, but it’s Sunday and I’m taking the day off from politics.

The reason I like Burkina is because its a grimy spot. A hole in the wall on Houston Street, that somehow offers more in a place that can barely hold 15 people than other neighborhood shops that are 4 times their size.  It’s a working man’s hip-hop shop.

I also like how they’re not afraid to fly the flag as a hip-hop brand, while others use more sophisticated terms in order to not alienate potential customers. Burkina’s designs are tributes to MCs, DJs, B-Boys and Graf Writers- along with some braggadocio pieces that are inline with the flashy side of hip-hop culture we know all too well.

The tee I copped today is sure to get a lot of wear. It’s a fairly simple print, but I tend to prefer that compared to a tee that looks like a billboard. The mic design reminds me of LL Cool J’s infamous tattoo, that was a part of the historic LL vs. Canibus beef. Because of a single line, Canibus essentially personified that tattoo and Burkina is now honoring the LL Mic Tat with its own t-shirt.

Or it could always be a hand holding a flaming mic, but regardless, a hot print.

BRAND: Burkina
LOCATION: 177 E.Houston St., NYC
PRICE: $20