Schoolly-D & DJ Code Money "Parkside 1986" (photo by Linn Stevens) [BLACK]

Men’s only. Super-soft 100% cotton shirt. Officially licensed image.

Premium front print: durable and “breathable.”

FIT: These are “fashion” fit, so if you are in-between sizes, go up instead of down. They will shrink *slightly* over time.

A portion of the profits from this shirt will be donated to a Philadelphia-based charity chosen by Schoolly-D: FACE TO FACE GERMANTOWN.

From its origins as a soup kitchen in 1985, Face to Face has evolved into a multi-service organization that offers no-cost services to more than 2,500 low income and homeless individuals each year. They offer a Dining Room which serves hot meals and, in addition, offer a nurse-managed Health Center, a Social Services Center, a Legal Center, a Neighborhood Arts Studio and a Summer Camp program. Face to Face’s goal is to reach out to the people of Germantown (PA) on the margins of society and offer substantive help and hope.

For more information, please visit: http://facetofacegermantown.org

Q&A WITH SCHOOLLY-D

Good Road Goods: Do you remember the day you shot the photo on the front of this shirt?

Schoolly: I’m pretty sure it was spring [1986]. It was hot enough to wear a tank top, but obviously not too hot ‘cause Code [Money, Schoolly’s DJ] is wearing a sweater. If I remember correctly, we were about to head down to Miami. And I asked Code, “What the f*ck are you doing wearing that?” [laughs]

GRG: Were you taking photos for the hell of it, or was this shoot specifically for “Saturday Night: The Album” [it was eventually used on the back cover]?

Schoolly: It was for the back of the album and also for my 8 x 10s [promo / press photos]. Before that was taken, people were complaining because I would just draw my 8 x 10s [laughs]. Nobody really knew what I looked like. Sometimes people would even show up at gigs and pretend to be me. So, letting people know what I actually looked like was another reason.

GRG: Tell me about Linn “Disco Len” Stevens, who took the photo…

Schoolly: He was the photographer for the neighborhood [Parkside Avenue and 52ndStreet, in West Philadephia]. He was a little bit older than us, he was like our uncle. He took photos at all the weddings, and stuff like that. He was also in our P.S.K. [Park Side Killers] crew, he was really the leader. Everyone listened to him. He didn’t rhyme, but he taught people how to DJ because he was the first real DJ in the neighborhood.

GRG: Tell me about the pose you guys have in that shot.

Schoolly: There were other poses we did, but I just wanted to keep things simple. I didn’t want us to look cartoonish, because a lot of the photos we saw coming out of New York seemed so crazy, like the first time we saw with Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s picture. We didn’t represent what they represented.

GRG: When that photo was taken in the spring of 1986, do you think you had any idea you’d still be making music and touring the world almost three decades later? The look on your face certainly seems to give that impression…

Schoolly: Yeah! It doesn’t surprise me. I don’t want it to sound arrogant, but it’s how I was raised. You pick something and you grow with it. I picked music and art. I just knew, from the age of about seven. And I’m still going strong today.