To celebrate and propel some of the most exciting talent currently making waves across the UK, TOWER has joined forces with our close family at Dr. Martens to cast a spotlight over the world’s first on-chain creative neighbourhood, R/HOOD - a platform sculpted for the community, by the community, created with the intention of localising international DJ’s whilst cutting out the middleman. So, here’s...
Meet Musical Collective R/Hood
Loai, a DJ-slash-producer and content creator from Northwest London who specialising in flawless transitioning between differing musical genres, with tribute to his own personalised and well-ordered fashion.
Scotty is a DJ and MC from South London, specialising in a unique fusion of garage and funky house through high-energy, high-enjoyment sets - supporting Kurupt FM twice in 2022 alone.
Specialising in dance music, rhythm is the most important ingredient in Freddie’s musical recipe. Coming out of East London, if people aren’t dancing to his twist on new and old music, then are they really vibing?
Drawing from his West African heritage, Selecta Suave is a household name in London’s nightlife - thriving on his ability to deliver a combination of sounds to any dance floor without stepping away from what he really loves.
Born and raised between North and East London, Chey is a Multi-genre DJ of Caribbean and Indian descent - exploring archival crates and uncovering the next wave before anyone else. Despite loving the oldies, Chey specialises in UK Rap and Dancehall.
R/HOOD on Dr. Martens, Music and Empowerment
Shop Dr. Martens at TOWER
TOWER: WHAT IS R/HOOD?
R/HOOD: R/Hood is a community-based initiative that operates in order to shine a spotlight over DJ culture and everything that surrounds it, including nightlife, the creative aspects of that and aiming to facilitate the growth of said culture.
TOWER: HOW DO YOU FEEL IN YOUR DR. MARTENS?
R/HOOD: In my Dr. Martens I feel fresh, I feel comfortable, I feel like I’m me - I feel like I can do anything.
TOWER: HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU COLLABORATE AS A GROUP?
R/HOOD: When we collaborate as a group at R/Hood, I feel as though as individuals we are very strong-minded - each doing incredible things all over the city. When we come together, it’s game over. We’re all focused and able to create something incredible in any situation - whether it’s DJing on the streets or DJing at a festival, the vibes are going to be there and we’ve all got eachother’s backs. That’s the most important thing.
TOWER: HOW DOES DR. MARTENS EMPOWER R/HOOD?
R/HOOD: Working with Dr. Martens facilitates R/Hood’s ability to really demonstrate what it is that we stand for, and what our talents are, in the same way that a wearer of Dr. Martens feels empowered and supported to really shine from the inside, be their true selves and their best selves. Just demonstrating that to the world.
TOWER: HOW DO YOU STYLE YOUR DR. MARTENS?
R/HOOD: How do I style my Dr. Martens? So, with me I either dress them up or dress them down - a nice pair of high-quality trousers, or you can throw on a hoodie, you could throw on a nice shirt, a good quality tie, you could throw on a denim jacket like I’m wearing now on a plain top to offset the colours and provide a little bit of balance.
TOWER: WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP FOR R/HOOD?
R/HOOD: The future for R/Hood is to keep growing, have more DJ’s join us and head around the world - go internationally, keep expanding the hood from just London to the whole of the UK and the world even.
So, that’s it. This is why Dr. Martens continues to play a pivotal role in developing and growing our industry’s youth culture – R/HOOD are well on their way to the top, and what better way to do this than with cornerstone silhouettes on-foot?
If Loai, Scotty, Freddie, Suave and Chey have inspired an upgrade in your versatile, everyday rotation, then join us in-store or online at tower-london.com.