Neil Taylor is an old school hip-hop head paying homage to the culture, style, music & ethos of hip hop with every hat he makes. With roots in hip-hop culture going back over 30 years, he’s a product of the early days of hip hop culture. Hip-hop reached out and grabbed him when he was a 13-year-old kid growing up in Exeter, England, in the mid 1980s. A student of the old school, and hip-hop history geek, he sought out everything he could get his hands on related to the foundations of the culture. Blessed to have had his formative years during the Golden Age, it’s been a lifelong passion.
Relocating to Minneapolis in 2006, he found himself in the midst of a thriving hip-hop scene and threw himself into it, and has been part of the annual Twin Cities Dilla Days celebrations since their inception in 2014 (Ma Dukes official!), and is a former member of the Universal Zulu Nation. In 2018, to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Kool Herc’s legendary Back to School Jam and the spark that ignited hip-hop, he organized an all-elements jam in Minneapolis headlined by the grandest of them all, Grandmaster Caz.
Like most true heads, he still remembers really hearing hip-hop for the first time and the one record that flipped the switch…which for him was Mantronix, Bassline in 1986. It changed his life forever. From then on, he was all about hip-hop culture – not just the music, but everything that came with it, including fashion. He began wearing the early hip hop styles of the mid ’80s, including many different pairs of fat laces added to Adidas Superstars or Puma Suedes…the inspiration for True Headz Clothing (THC). The iconic Adidas Superstar sneakers, laced b boy style with super fat laces, represent the essence of old school hip-hop style. By taking something widely available and ordinary, and accessorizing it in unexpected ways, hip hop culture’s fashion pioneers were making their mark on the world. THC hats celebrate old school fat laces – and that spirit of unrestrained creativity – in a new way. True Headz know where it’s at.
The concept is simple: classic hats (mostly snapback baseball caps, but can do fitteds and Kangol bucket hats and more) with a hip-hop edge are sourced and remixed. Laced up with high-quality fat laces, using a technique only True Headz know.
NEIL TAYLOR
True Headz Clothing / Fashion Director
