Lids
Quavo with a Dominique Wilkins throwback jersey at Lids.
- Migos rapper Quavo has partnered with the sports apparel retailer Lids to become an "ambassador" for the company, he announced in an interview with Business Insider.
- Quavo's partnership with Lids follows Meek Mill's move to become a co-owner of the company in June.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Quavo, of the rap group Migos, has partnered with the sports apparel retailer Lids to become a corporate "ambassador" for the company, he announced Monday in an exclusive interview with Business Insider.
The partnership comes nearly six months after Meek Mill made an investment to become a co-owner of Lids, North America's largest retail seller of hats and licensed sports products.
Quavo's first major move into entrepreneurism follows what Mill, who is also the head of creative strategy for Lids, described to Business Insider in June as an effort to bring hip-hop culture to the retailer.
In a phone interview with Business Insider, Quavo, whose real name is Quavious Marshall, spoke about the perspective he brings to Lids as a "could've been" athlete who "steered to rapping."
We also discussed how he plans to approach a limited-edition hat line that he'll release for the company, and briefly touched on the new Migos album that's set to drop next year.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
John Lynch: Partnering with Lids, what made this the move for you personally?
Quavo: I grew up going to Lids. I grew up shopping at Lids, you know what I'm saying? Lids has been around for more than 20 years. I'm 28. Most definitely one of the biggest with the caps, with the hats, with the lids, with everything. Right now, hats have made this run back. Back then, it was snapbacks, then it was fitteds, and then it was snapbacks again. And right now, in this time, like 2019, 2018, 2020, I think the fitted caps are making a comeback, and I just feel like it's the right time to link with Lids.
Courtesy of the artist
Migos' Takeoff and Quavo as children.
Lynch: Meek told me he wanted to "bring the culture" to Lids. You've got like part of a monopoly on that word. What do you see yourself bringing to the company?
Quavo: I most definitely feel like I bring the culture to Lids. Meek, to me, brings the streets to Lids. He brings resilience to Lids. He brings REFORM to Lids. You get what I'm saying? And I feel like I bring like "guys who could've been athletes and steered to rapping." That's what I bring to Lids. I feel like I bring the Plan B's and Plan C's to Lids. Like when your life don't necessarily go the right way, like in sports, like mine did, I chose rapping. And I took it off. That was another route, and it was another great route. That's what I feel like I'm bringing to Lids. I feel like I'm bringing opportunities that's been closed, that's then been reopened and cracked open.
Lynch: I was going to say, Lids being a sports apparel company, they've got to be hyped to get involved with someone who was the MVP of the All-Star celebrity game, I would think.
Quavo: Most definitely. I'm actually involved in sports. I played in and I'm a student of the game. I love the game. I'm from the game. The game been taken away from me due to decisions I made in the streets, the decisions I made in life, and I chose another route in rapping. And I treat it as if I was an athlete by working every day, by recording myself every day, by being in the studio alone every day, by putting in countless hours every day. And that's what I feel like I'm bringing to Lids. I'm bringing that non-give-up experience. I'm bringing that passion back to Lids. It's never a stop sign in front of me to me.
Neilson Barnard/Getty
Migos, formerly known as Polo Club.
Lynch: And you've been fashion-minded, too, since the Polo Club, right? I mean, you've got...
Quavo: Oh yeah - that comes with it! The fashion, the drip, and all that feel comes with it when you real. That's the reason why I didn't even highlight that piece, because as you moving and doing good sh-t for the world, good thoughts and movement, everybody looks at you. And of course you're going to have the looks with it. The looks I bring last. That's the last thing I put in, you know what I'm saying? I'm very handsome in having the drip, pure water, all the ice, drip, drip, yessir, whatchu call it. All that comes with it when you moving and looking and feeling this good.
Lynch: I can't attest to it personally, but I respect yours [laughs].
Quavo: [Laughs].
Lynch: I know you have a hat line in the works for them also. How do you approach something like that, putting your personal touch on something that people might be wearing?
Quavo: I add my ice to it. I add my drip to it. I add my flow. I add my style. I add my flavor to it. With the hat, what I'm bringing to the hat is I'm bringing ice to the hat. I'm bringing my integration with sports to the hat. I'm bringing knowing what athletes like, knowing what rappers like, to the hat. That's what I'm bring to my cap.
Lynch: Is there anybody in the rap game that you look up to from a business standpoint? I know Meek's got Jay as like a mentor. Who do you have those types of conversations with?
Quavo: Uh, it's not a rapper...
Lynch: Yeah?
Quavo: It's kind of tough for me to discuss that, 'cause right now I'm at a space where I don't know, you know what I'm saying? I don't got no big brother. I don't got nobody telling me what's going on. I don't got nobody putting me down. So I'm kind of like learning my own lane as I go, jumping over debris, jumping over sh-t that's in my way that can stop me.
Lynch: You've got people you can lean on, though, I would imagine.
Quavo: Nah, I don't.
Lynch: No?
Quavo: That's why my name is the Huncho. That's why I put on my own template, on my own ten toes down. No, I don't. Maybe five years from now, I can lean on somebody and tell them, "You steer me the right way." But not now.
Lynch: Is there anything outside of fashion that you can bring to Lids to really give them a different perspective?
Quavo: I'm a trend alone, but also I notice to take points and take notes from trends that's going on that don't have anything to do with me. I feel like paying attention to the world, paying attention to what's going on, like what's trendy, what's not. And even finding a medium between what's ahead of it's time and what's now. That's where I'm at right now.
Lynch: How are you feeling about things musically? What's in the works that you're excited about for next year?
Quavo: I'm excited about the Migos project. We dropping that next year. We haven't dropped in two years. We haven't had anything out since "Pure Water." Haven't had anything out but "Pure Water." I feel like it's more about Migos that y'all don't know yet. And I feel like this album is going to be prolific. I feel like this album is going to be the album to do it. And I think it's "Culture III," but I don't know. I think we may change the chapter.
Add drip to that new cap. Let @QuavoStuntin show you how it's done with @CUSTOMZONExLIDS pic.twitter.com/u4rm1OtYtY
- LIDS (@lids) December 21, 2019