Meet Vachon, Demetrius, Mahlon, Nahzire Raye, Smith, West, West: Founders of Basement Boy

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vachon, Demetrius, Mahlon, Nahzire Raye, Smith, West, West and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vachon, Demetrius, Mahlon, Nahzire, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
We are from the Westside of Atlanta, Ga, and are all graduates of Washington Highschool. We all grew up in different neighborhoods, from Cascade to Castleberry and even the West End area. We were all raised in single-parent households and each of us has multiple younger siblings. Our background impacted us because we were forced to be the change in not only our household but also our community. Many of our childhood friends are high school dropouts, incarcerated, or dead from gun violence and this impacted our outlooks on our lives and the ones close to us. Our upbringing not only inspired us to be the change in our community but to also make a change, and it is our intent to not only uplift ourselves from our destitute but influence and motivate others into a positive change. Our upbringing also leads us astray from bad decisions and made us more eager for opportunities because growing up opportunities to be great were scarce.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets us apart from others is that we are four young men who made it their mission to change the narrative of kids from the westside of Atlanta.

We got where we are today by staying true to ourselves. We have come a long way from the first hoodies we were selling but we understand that it’s still more for us to accomplish. That alone keeps us motivated. We are forever grateful for the support from our peers, community, and customers. That’s why we pride ourselves on delivering high-quality products and services to them.

Good things take a little longer and that’s something we learned through our business. We began making all of our hoodies on our own with a vinyl cutter and a heat press machine but now most of our products are manufactured overseas.

It was not easy because we began with very high expectations for ourselves. However, we have learned to roll with the punches and embrace the challenges we face. Every day is an opportunity to grow and you must take advantage. The biggest challenge we faced was adjusting to everybody leaving for college. But ultimately, we value the lessons we have learned along the way.
What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

Basement Boy was created by four young black males from the Westside of Atlanta. We all attended Booker T Washington high school and in our free time, we spent a lot of time in Mahlon’s basement. We all lived in single-parent households with multiple siblings so this was a getaway for us that ultimately became our creative sanctuary. This is where Basement Boy was born. We began recording music just for fun but then it started getting popular around our school. After throwing a few parties, we decided we should get some jackets made that had our logo on them so that people could identify us in the party. We never had intentions of starting a clothing line but people who came to the parties began requesting a hoodie to support. This is where the clothing line was born. What makes us different from other brands is that we are a family of young entrepreneurs who understand the culture. We grew up on the westside of Atlanta where many people fall in the hands of addiction, crime, and murder. Despite our circumstances we never let them define us and that’s what people connect with the most. We started a clothing brand as a way to inspire others with our story. We are all first-generation college students attending the nation’s top universities.
We embrace our shortcomings because it’s only a chance to get better.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The most exciting things to checkout in the city

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

April Showers is the person behind the scenes who deserves a shoutout. She is a journalist for TMZ and a fearless community leader in the westside of Atlanta.

April also owns a custom t-shirt business. Her experience in the industry allowed her to share valuable knowledge with us. She put in a lot of work and sacrifice to make sure that we had all the resources we needed.

Since the day we met she believed in us and began allowing us to make our clothes at her home. We built a strong relationship with her and we are forever grateful for her believing in us early on and for her continued support until this day.

Through her assistance and mentorship, we developed the skills needed to create a profitable business.

Website: thebbshop.org

Instagram: basementboy.atl

Twitter: basementboy_atl

Image Credits
@joshiethegoat @ismoooth