REEBOK AND MTV COLLAB WITH RAPPER GRAFT ON INSPIRATIONAL NEW CAMPAIGN

By Rishma • On What is New

Ree­bok Europe, in part­ner­ship with MTV, has released the final part of a three-epis­ode digit­al series titled “My City, My Sound” which fea­tures the inspir­a­tion­al rap­per and ex-foot­baller Graft as he tours through his homet­own of Chapeltown in Leeds.

The Graft film is the third in a series which has explored the unique style and inspir­ing stor­ies of indi­vidu­als in France (Mar­seille), Ger­many (Leipzig) and the UK (Leeds), high­light­ing artists who are trans­form­ing their com­munit­ies through music, dance, sport, and activism.

The film fol­lows Graft as he show­cases one of Britain’s old­est Black Com­munit­ies, the vibrant Chapeltown. Graft’s spe­cif­ic north­ern twang style of rap saw him be crowned the win­ner of BBC3’s Rap Game. Through his eyes the film explores his homet­own in the heart of Leeds and fea­ture him detail­ing his early life and the people who have had the greatest impact on him as a man and musi­cian. His story can now been seen online at MTV UK here

His­tor­ic­ally viewed as an undesir­able area to many, Chapeltown has seen a rise in pop­ular­ity. Graft said of his homet­own, “Chapeltown has its own music­al iden­tity with sounds like Grime, Rap, Bass­line, House, Gar­age, Reg­gae, R&B, Dance­hall and Bash­ment. Being around these genres of music and Carib­bean cul­ture from an early age has really influ­enced me as a per­son as well as an artist”

The rap­per also com­men­ted on where he used to hangout and eat “I used to chill out on Chapeltown Road and eat food from Dutch­pot. I have so many fond memor­ies there; I always used to order a chick­en express meal for £2.00”. Since then, Graft has become a vegan and he called upon the city to open more res­taur­ants of this nature. When asked about his cur­rent favour­ite food spots and recom­mend­a­tions, Graft men­tioned that “food joints in Leeds aren’t pop­ping like that for Vegans”.

Graft said of the part­ner­ship with Ree­bok and MTV: “My per­son­al mani­festo is very much about the unlim­ited poten­tial of life. Wheth­er that be; music­ally, fin­an­cially, spir­itu­ally or phys­ic­ally, I am motiv­ated by the end­less pos­sib­il­it­ies of life. Col­lab­or­at­ing with Ree­bok and MTV aligns with my mani­festo, because it’s three brands com­ing togeth­er cre­at­ing a suf­fi­cient and mem­or­able impact. Although Graft (GCO), my brand, is the smal­lest out of the three at present, col­lab­or­a­tions like this are the build­ing blocks to help for­mu­late my brand in becom­ing one of the biggest brands in the world! Grafter­’s Col­lect­ive Only…”

 

My City My Sound

Across each of the epis­odes, Ree­bok walks and talks with the fea­tured prot­ag­on­ist through their city as they dis­cuss the com­munity that has shaped them as indi­vidu­als and artists. The short-form epis­odes tell the dynam­ic stor­ies of inspir­ing indi­vidu­als who choose to push bound­ar­ies and act­ively pur­sue their dreams.

The first epis­ode fea­tured Mar­seille and the incred­ibly tal­en­ted Alice Masa, a styl­ist, dan­cer and self-con­fessed twerk mas­ter. Her story can now be viewed online here

The second intro­duced Milla, DJ and mem­ber of Girls Can Skate, a col­lect­ive for women and non-bin­ary people to skate in Leipzig, their story can be viewed here

This co-cre­ated con­tent reflects Ree­bok and MTV’s core val­ues of embra­cing tal­ent who think big, chase their dreams, whilst bring­ing change to the world around them.

Don’t for­get the Ree­bok Clas­sics; the fea­tured product for the campaign.

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Rishma

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voiceless.

About Rishma

Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless.