It's not a common occurrence that someone in the Hip Hop community reaches out to the public to express personal change on behalf of a higher power - especially when their career was kick started by cleverly glorifying the crack cocaine hustle.
Malice, of Virginia Beach rap duo The Clipse, decided to make a difference. He had the hand of God alter his thoughts and with that transformation he felt the need to write and publish a book, "Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind & Naked", showing the parallels of his life and the word of The Bible.
Upon being questioned about his motives for releasing his thoughts on paper, this is what he said:
"I'm proud of this...because...it's geared towards the youth [25 and younger]. But even if you're 40 [and] still acting like you're 25 may you be inspired as well. I want to let the youth know that it's okay to be unique and original. While it's so very easy to conform to our surroundings, I'm going to suggest you boldly make your mark." [Shout out to HipHopDX.com for the quote].
On March 24, 2011, Malice and The Pizza Shop, Petersburg's only Streetwear & Skateboard boutique, teamed up to bring the youth of Central Virginia out for a book signing and meet-and-greet. Recently humbled by his newly acquired outlook on life, Malice shook hands with his admirers and fans and spent hours writing personalized messages inside of book covers.
Grape is ridiculously lucky to call The Pizza Shop our home and we rushed at the opportunity to spread our brand to someone who is traveling the same path towards positivity as we are. Play Cloths has been a major influence on our grind and our design aesthetic, and we felt the need to convey that to Malice as sincerely as possible.
He was extremely appreciative of our admiration for his work ethic and, as we were lucky enough to shake hands, onlookers called us out as being Grape affiliated.
He then remarked that he had heard of Grape Cloth and told us to keep doing our thing.
Word.
@Malice757
@The_Pizza_Shop
9 E. Bank St.
Petersburg, VA 23803
Petersburg, VA 23803
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