Source: powerHouse Books / Powerhouse
Brooklyn still gets it. One of Lo-Lifes' The founding members have written a new book detailing its life story and how the crew changed fashion forever.
As mentionted with The Gothamist Rack-Lo is about to write the story of his life Lo-Life: The Story Of Rack Lo. Born George Billups, New Yorker, co-founder of the famous Lo-Lifes. As the story goes, there were two booster crews in Brooklyn, one from Crown Heights to St. John's and the other from Brownsville to Marcus Garvey Village. Rack, which is slang for steal, lived in both regions and seemingly merged both factions into one. In 1988 the Lo-Lifes were born.
The collective would specialize in high-risk shoplifting missions across the city that not only gave them an outlet to make money from resale, but kept them fresh from head to toe. While they weren't discriminating about which stores they looted, they quickly gained an affinity for Polo Ralph Lauren because of the brand's designs, tops, symbols and more. So much so that Lo-Lifes became synonymous with the clothing line and will be credited with bringing high fashion to the streets. Over 35 years later, there are Lo-Lifes around the world who honor the original crew's tradition of keeping things fresh but also love and loyalty.
But listening to Rack-Lo tell his life has been a rollercoaster ride that has included duck warrants, arrests, rival gang feuds, gunshot wounds and even jail time. Lo-Life: The Story Of Rack Lo will be available on April 23rd.
