Skipping The Line For Dipset Clothes

Photos courtesy of Osman Ahmed

This past weekend, the Harlem-bred rap collective known as The Diplomats set up shop in Toronto to move their line of merchandise. T-shirts, hoodies, crew necks, and hats bearing the rap coat of arms were on display for nostalgic fans to gobble up and impress other nostalgic fans in this weird cycle called fandom. Despite the absence of Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and all of the other Dipset members, I went down to catch the hoopla surrounding the clothes.

Situated in midtown Toronto amongst the fancy designer shops and expensive condominiums of Yorkville, the Capsule sneaker shop was converted into Dipset’s Canadian flagship store for two days. All I could expect was a mixture people who were too young to listen to Dipset in their prime, sneakerheads, yuppies, and hypebeasts. With that in mind, I hopped on the subway and made my way to the shop, listening to Cam’s Come Home With Me, a record going into its twelfth year in existence. It's been a long time since the crew had the streets on fire and I hoped that this new movement would have Yorkville looking like Harlem in the early 2000s, though I knew that was a long shot.

I arrived on site around quarter to noon and surveyed the scene for a couple of minutes. The line stretched around the block, full of shivering bodies eager to get out of the cold and get their hands on some merchandise. One couple in line even brought their bundled up toddler (who was wearing fresher kicks than I was) along for the trip. After seeing a Range Rover that, unfortunately, was not pink, I decided to give up on the dream that Cam’ might make a surprise appearance and head inside, avoiding the line while sending a telepathic "you mad?" to those around.

Walking around the shop, the music of the crew was on full blast, stock was moving fast and people were really having a great time shelling out their cash for Dipset branded clothing. The staff was friendly, prompt and were there to get you what you needed and have you out the door within minutes. Despite my prediction, there were even a few older customers who looked like they has The Diplomats likely soundtrack their high school days.

A packed store, product selling out in a day’s time and good vibes all around contributed to the nostalgic hysteria and Dipset playlist that was this weekend. With all that in mind, I keep thinking about how crazy would it have been if Killa Cam’, Capo or Santana made it past the Canadian border … or at least .40 Cal, J.R. Writer or Hell Rell, but I digress.

In case you slept on the shop, you can order Dipset merchandise via the crew's official online store.