We Talked to the Dudes Behind the Drake YOLO Polo

Photo nabbed from ckhid. In case you've been living under a sodden, extremely heavy garbage bag for the past few weeks, you should know that Drake has a new record out and to celebrate this, we at Noisey are in the middle of #DrakeWeek. So far we've pondered "What If Every Song on Drake's New Album Was an Episode of Seinfeld?", had a writer comment on listening to Drake for the first time, while our reviews dude, The Kid Mero gave NWTSa shouty, caps-lock, track-by-track. Cool. Oh, and also Drizzy-obsessive, Drew Millard, spent the day with Drake earlier this week and wrote this epic piece about it.

Still, we know you want more, so we tracked down the dudes—Joseph Evans and Tony Cerniglia—who were enterprising enough to take the Drake in Dada meme and turn it into a sick polo shirt. Word of this awesomeness inevitably reached Drake, who ordered a batch and this week joked: "Yo, to the guy that sells the YOLO Polos, I bought five YOLO Polos and you never sent them to my house. If I ever see you, I'm gonna have to put them hands on you. I'm wearing a Cartier ring, it is gonna hurt when you see me."

A case of the UPS man lifting some swag for a hot Friday night date? No, according to Tony, Drake's pal Ryan Silverstein placed the order and, to cut a long story short, the tees were sent out, but the address provided was invalid. Fail. No doubt these t-shirts will make their way into Drake's clutches somehow. Joseph and Tony will probably make sure of that.

But YOLO Polos aren't just about Drake. Jay-Z attempting to dive into a pool also gets immortalized in embroidery and, until recently, they used to sell a polo with Miguel, legs splayed. You know, it was that moment when he tried to leap from stage-to-stage, but his pants were too tight and he ended up with his crotch in the face of some unsuspecting Miguel-devotee. An unfortunate scene. Maybe Miguel was less impressed than Drake, but we're lobbying for Tony and Josephy to bring Miguel back. Anyway, time to meet the YOLO Polo impresarios.

How did this happen? Explain please.
Tony: I was laying in bed just scrolling my instagram when the whole meme of Drake was really popping off. I remember just cracking up and thinking, "If this was a polo i know people would buy it!" I got the opportunity to get the very first three made and from there I was just wearing one myself and planning to get the others to Joseph.
Joseph: It's funny because when he showed me the polos, we just randomly spotted each other at the gas station. As soon as I saw what was on his polo I literally could not stop laughing. To me it was gold.

Why did you choose that particular shot of Drake? What makes him so special?
Tony: Drake is such a polarizing figure: either people love him or they hate him. We just saw the meme and the many variations of it which led us to believe that universally it could stand alone as a great and memorable piece of clothing. We saw an opportunity and hoped people would get the same hype reaction that we did when we first saw how the shirts turned out.

What do you think of the record?
Joseph: Drake never fails to deliver. Both of us were very impressed. We have been fans of his since day one. A lot of his old mixtapes are still in rotation over here.

Who's next?

Both: We'll say this: there will be moments you thought you forgot that will end up on the chest of a polo. A new batch of memorable moments in the form of embroideries will be dropping within the next couple of weeks. We will even be expanding out of our comfort zone of just the polo with other apparel and accessories. There will always be a celebrity doing something goofy or awkward that WILL get caught on camera or on video. Rest assured, we will take full advantage of it!

What's the response been like? It seems like people have been going nuts for them?

Tony: The response and love we've been receiving from people all over the world has been incredibly overwhelming. Besides the United States, polos to have been sent to 20 plus other countries. It's amazing to see the reaction the polos have gotten. We are excited to release what we have next because we know the hype will be just as crazy and stir up a lot of attention.

Who is the most stylish rapper in the game?
Joseph: Kanye West, most definitely. Huge inspiration of mine. I hope he sees this.

Do you have day jobs?
Tony: I'm a student loan debt counselor full time and have been dabbling in custom clothing since 2004 with the goal of being able to make a grand a day. I'm very excited about what the M.O.C. Brand could become.
Joseph: I'm full-time student at Beloit College, majoring in Business with a minor in Chinese. I also have a clothing Company that I run besides our M.O.C. project called Tilted that I've been running and designing for since 2011. Just seeing how far we've come, I have no doubt that the potential is there and that we've merely scratched the surface of what this will become. We've caught on to a niche that is different than what other brands are doing right now, and to me that's perfectly fine.

How will you spend your money when you get filthy rich off YOLO Polo mayhem?
Joseph: I'm gonna travel all over. I love traveling.

Tony: When I get rich, I'm bringing Drake and friends to my hometown Beloit, Wisconsin, to SHUT IT DOWN.

You can find Joseph and Tony on Twitter – @_joseph_evans_ and @608grafix.

Get your sweet YOLO polos here.

Give M.O.C. some love on Facebook and instagram.

[Editor's Note: So, it is the end of Drake Week. We've had The Kid Mero and @Seinfeld2000 talk about him, made a dude listen to him for the first time, thought about his clothes, his hair, his music videos, and his sheer Canadian-ness. The week culminated in Grand Theft Aubrey, Drew Millard's profile of him. But we haven't heard the case against Drake. For this, we turn to Barry Schwartz, a man living in Long Island who once told us, "If Drake is the voice of your generation, then everything terrible people say about your generation is true." Here is why one man thinks Drake is poison.]

Style Stage is an ongoing partnership between Noisey & Garnier Fructis celebrating music, hair, and style.