Stack Daddy is co-owner of the two-year-old company Nflight Productions (nflightproductions.com), a record label that also dabbles in club promotions. Their current lineup is a roster of one, but Nflight's sole artist, Byrdie, is a rising star in the local hiphop scene--a talented MC who opened for Public Enemy and Nas at last year's Bumbershoot and has songs in regular rotation on Seattle radio stations. Stack shells out big bucks to keep his closet stocked. That means everything from picking up quarter-cut alligator/ostrich boots in Hollywood to a couple of furs (one mink, two rabbits). Or getting his gold custom designed by the family jeweler.
Hair by Treebla Lowe. Stack's long hair is set into about 20 braids by his sister, Treebla. She does it once a week and each session takes about two to two and a half hours. "I tell her once stuff with Nflight and Byrdie takes off I'll buy her a little salon. She can do everything--cut hair, braid hair. And she can do hair for all kinds of people, not just black people. She just needs the opportunity," he explains.
Sunglasses by Versace, $189 at Nordstrom (500 Pine St, 628-2111). One of two pairs of Versace sunglasses in Stack's collection.
T-shirt by Nflight, $8 at nflightproductions.com. Nflight's prized artist, Byrdie, performs at the Showbox (1426 First Ave, 628-3151) with Maktub on Saturday, April 9. If you hit that show, check the merch tables for more quality shirts like this one.
Green/white plaid cotton short-sleeved shirt by Echo, $50 at Macy's (300 Pine St, 506-6671). Besides being a brand name, "echo" is also the latest label for a young demographic. According to CBSnews.com, "echo boomers" are the "demographic echo of their parents, the baby boomers," and were born between 1982 and 1995. CBS reports that these echo kids make up one-third of the U.S. population, spend $170 billion a year, and love the Gap and Gillette.
Jeans by Rocawear, $50 at Platinum Plush (out of business). Though the store may be gone, the jeans are everywhere. The spring 2005 Rocawear campaign features leggy models, dapper men in business and urban casual wear, and Kevin Bacon, who plays a convicted pedophile in his new film, The Woodsman.
Left hand: index finger, 1.5-oz gold ring, custom-made, price N/A; middle finger, 26-diamond-chip ring, $500 at San Diego pawnshop; ring finger, gold ring, $200 at Pawn X-Change (14121 Tukwila International Blvd, Tukwila, 835-0901); pinky finger, $5 gold coin ring, $150 at Samuels Credit Jewelers (1416 Third Ave, 624-6315). Bracelets: Bigger bracelet, $120 at Pawn X-Change; gold link bracelet, $950 for set at Hupfauf Jewelers (2008 Fifth Ave, 728-1968). Stack's 14-karat glow runs in his blood. "My whole family is into jewelry. My pops has a million pieces of jewelry," he says. "But he only wears one chain and one ring at a time. I put everything on."
Right hand, new, big-face $100 bill ring, $1200 at Hupfauf Jewelers. Stack got the idea for this particular ring in L.A., when he saw a $100 bill medallion in the jewelry district. "But it was smaller than mine and it was an older $100 bill," he says. "I knew about Hupfauf Jewelers because my uncle went there for like 20 years, and my guy--his name is Guy--he was my uncle's jeweler. So I just went there one day and he was like yeah, I can make it happen." Explains Stack, "I gave him a lot of old gold that he used to melt down. It was a lot of scrap--a couple old chains, and a couple old rings, like rings that had stones that fell out of them or a bracelet that was broken."
His affinity for all things shiny is due to a certain style icon. "When I was a kid I loved Mr. T," says Stack. "I had a Mr. T headband and the A-Team helicopter. I used to eat the Mr. T cereal and watch the Mr. T cartoons. Mr. T is my dude. His stuff was all gold, and everything he had had some significance to it. He had a gold spoon and a gold knife, and if someone asked him about it, he'd say it's because 'I eat and I make sure everyone around me eats.'"
Medallion necklace, custom-made, $300 at Hupfauf Jewelers. (Not shown.) "I have a special medallion that's a scroll with my brother's initials, L.G. He was murdered in 1998 in Phoenix. It's a long story. L.G. was really my uncle, but we grew up in the same house as brothers. My grandparents raised me and up until I was like 8 years old I thought that my mom was my sister and my uncles were my brothers because my mom had me when she was really young. So it was like one of those things. We were really close. We slept in bunk beds. That [medallion] is one of the most sentimental pieces I have. I'll get rid of everything, but I have to keep that one. It'll never bring him back but at least I can keep something that reminds me of him because he was really into jewelry too."
Did they catch L.G.'s killer?
