#WearTheMessage: 25 Hip Hop Clothing Brands You May Have Forgotten About

These brands are probably sitting in your closet somewhere.

4. Mecca - It's hard to say if Mecca made the same splash as, say, Cross Colours. However, if it's any condolence, you may recall seeing Derek Luke wearking a Mecca jersey in the Biggie biopic Notorious. If it was good enough for Diddy in '95, it must have been a hit.  (Photo: Mecca)
5. Akademiks - Akademiks might resonate more with the late '80s babies as it  began to take flight in the late '90s to early 2000s, which means if you were in high school around that time, you might very well own a sweat suit from them. Many will also recall that Fabolous used to shout them out a lot in his earlier mixtapes, as well as DJ Clue.  (Photo: Akademiks)
6. Wu Wear - Back in the day, when people used to still buy physical albums, you would come across an order form in the CD cover on which you could order apparel from your favorite artists. Wu-Tang Clan certainly did this and, given their popularity at the time, it made sense for them to start a brand. They even had their own Wu Wear shop in their hometown of Staten Island. Though the brand slowly dissipated over the years, it recently came back as Wu Tang Brand Limited, featuring designs with slick song references that cater to the streetwear crowd. Given that many indie clothing brands have produced tribute shirts over the years, it makes sense for it to return to the market, albeit for hip hop's new generation.  (Photo: Wu-Wear)
7. Karl Kani - The founder of Karl Kani was actually partners with one of the founders of Cross Colours and the two helped bring the brand to the forefront. Though Cross Colours planted the flag first, Karl Kani was the first to be tagged as a hip hop fashion brand, setting the template for the likes of Russell Simmons and Diddy to launch their respective brands.   (Photo: Karl Kani)8. Enyce - For anyone hat has noticed, the name is inspired by the initials "NYC," the same city in which the brand originated. However, it's pronounced "en-nee-chay," which gives it a Latin twist. It faded out of popularity after a number of years and was purchased by Diddy in 2008, but it never returned to prominence.  (Photo: Enyce)

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5. Akademiks - Akademiks might resonate more with the late '80s babies as it  began to take flight in the late '90s to early 2000s, which means if you were in high school around that time, you might very well own a sweat suit from them. Many will also recall that Fabolous used to shout them out a lot in his earlier mixtapes, as well as DJ Clue. (Photo: Akademiks)

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