Shortly after the passing of legendary NBA star Kobe Bryant, artist and Creative Director Daryl Boothe created an homage piece of artwork that today hangs at the office of Wooter and can be seen across Staten Island, New York.
Long before starting to design and create unique customized uniforms and jerseys for Wooter Apparel in 2016, Daryl Boothe placed a premium on being a perfectionist when it comes to his creative process and artwork. Regardless if the Borough of Manhattan Community College alum was coming up with football, basketball, or baseball jersey design concepts for Wooter or partnering with hip-hop legend and business mogul Master P on launching a clothing line, Daryl always makes sure each stroke, color scheme, and final product is right on point.
Five years later, Daryl Boothe remains a purist at heart and continues to strive to maintain perfect standards as an artist, illustrator, graphic designer, and Creative Director from Wooter to Master P’s Moneyatti clothing brand.
“It’s good when you work so hard to achieve your goals and the universe finally acknowledges you and gives you a fist bump,” Boothe explained while shedding light on the journey that’s taken him from Wooter to having his design work featured on the cover of SLAM Magazine.
“I took the opportunity and ran with it and the rest is history.”
It’s been 5 years since we talked about how you got started designing, your extensive work with Wooter Apparel, and teaming-up with Master P to develop his Medusa brand. You’re now an established veteran designer. How would you describe the past 5 years and what are you most proud of from your work during this time?
It has been a good and productive 5-year run. I have developed so much as an artist. Medusa was my baby and I did a 1000 plus designs for that brand in such a short time, it’s even more with the unreleased designs I have in my collection. Medusa was my first major Creative Director role and I did a lot of great things and artwork for Medusa, some even taboo to the streetwear scene at that time. My Medusa clothing designs were featured on the Breakfast Club radio show, Sway In the Morning, Everyday Struggle and many more. This was the start of my growth as an artist. It meant a lot that I was getting recognition for my work. Master P trusted me to take Medusa to the next level. I feel Medusa was a good start for me but we made some mistakes and it was a struggle to get our brand out there because it was Versace inspired. So within the last 5 years, I had to develop my own style and Medusa laid the foundation for me to approach our new brand, Moneyatti, with a different mindset (Moneyatti stands for “Motivating Oneself Now Encourages You Actively To Think Independently”) .
In 2018 when you were named Creative Director of Moneyatti, what has it been like to partner with Master P on the launch and what sets this brand apart from others you’ve been a part of?
Master P is such a tremendous person and business partner. He has given me such a huge platform to display my skills as an artist. I work with Master P on a daily basis developing unique ideas for the brand. And he has always been open to my suggestions for designs and catalogs. I appreciate that he trusts my vision and allows me to develop new and innovative styles for Moneyatti. Moneyatti has come a long way and we have adapted to current trends. I think when we first started we were heavily influenced by leopard and animal prints. I think now I have decided to take the brand into a new direction and develop new trendy designs that appeal to a younger audience. It’s very surreal to me that I went from being rejected for my unique art style and now everyone wants to license my artwork. Growth is very important to me and I appreciate the love that I have received with Moneyatti.
As part of the official “Exquisite & Exclusive Club” designed by Daryl Boothe, Master P sports Moneyatti’s “Millionaire’s Team” collection during his No Limit reunion with the one and only Snoop Dogg.
What is the creative process like in order to bring a piece of apparel to life for Moneyatti?
My development style heavily involves research. I admire clothing companies like Yeezy, Billionaires Boys Club, Fear of God, and Black Pyramid just to name a few. I would spend days developing concepts for approval from Master P. I’m a very versatile artist, so I built the officialmoneyatti.com website from scratch with the help of my associate (Ahmad Rowe). I did all the designs and also built an Iphone app for the brand all by myself. I believe in this industry you have to learn to evolve and I have made it my duty to learn everything I know to better myself. I work on Moneyatti everyday and we launch new products every week. I believe a team effort is important and the Moneyatti and Wooter team are both doing an outstanding job.
What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned in launching a new brand and particularly working alongside a legend like Master P?
The biggest lesson I have learned with launching and working on Moneyatti is patience. I learned we can’t grow a brand overnight. Mistakes that I made with Medusa, I went back to the drawing board and re-evaluated what I did wrong. This is a process that I’m ready to focus on and both Master P and Wooter CEO Alex Aleksandrovski have been great mentors to me. I appreciate the opportunity very much.
2020 was an unprecedented year for everyone. How were you able to stay inspired creatively with everything going on in the world the past 12 months? How did that experience make you a better artist, designer, and a Creative Director?
To be honest, 2020 has been the best year for me in a while. It started out rough but I adapted and progressed even higher. My creative energy has been at a 100% since the start of this pandemic. I never gave up and used 2020 as a time to grow. The United States has lost a lot of people to this virus, but I feel it’s going to get better in the midst of all the chaos. Content creators are taking over right now. There is a surge with creativity since this pandemic, and I feel it’s going to be prosperous for a lot of the younger generation. Cryptocurrency is on the rise as well. This will be the future and go-to currency for creatives like myself, which keeps me inspired.
Your artwork and illustrations remain uniquely special. Can you share your experience and what it was like to create your tribute art piece on Kobe Bryant shortly after his passing last February? What did it mean to you to bring that piece of artwork to life and watch it go from hanging on a wall to becoming a “Mamba Mentality” Kobe tribute jacket?
Wow, this question gets me emotional. I did that Kobe illustration when I was going through a lot in my life at that time. I looked up to him and what he stood for. When he died I was really down for a couple weeks and then decided I was going to do a tribute piece in memory of him. The Kobe concept came from a dream. That week when Kobe passed, I had designers block. I had a dream that depicted Kobe as a God or celestial being. I did six illustrations of Kobe before I was comfortable with releasing it. I’m a perfectionist with my art and I wanted this to be special and different. The outcome of this effort was game changing for me. This Kobe artwork piece is located across Staten Island and at the Wooter office.
The jacket was the next step with my tribute. I have a good friend who I look up to and he has been my mentor with developing my designer jackets — Jeff Hamilton. Jeff is a famous fashion designer that has done jackets for Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, Kobe, Michael Jordan and many more. After I released the Kobe tribute canvas in 2020, Jeff reached out to me via Instagram and said he loved my work a lot and wanted to work with me. He said my art was like nothing he had seen before. This meant so much to me coming from a legend like him. It gave me the confidence I needed to achieve my goals.
When SLAM Magazine dropped their “Vote” issue last October, they featured Master P’s son and standout student-athlete basketball player, Hercy Miller, on the cover sporting a Moneyatti track suit that you designed. What was that moment like for you seeing your creation grace the front cover of SLAM?
It was good to see my work on a platform like that. SLAM Magazine is a major deal and I know I deserve every bit of that recognition. It’s good when you work so hard to achieve your goals and the universe finally acknowledges you and gives you a fist bump. This is just the beginning.
When you first started as a designer at Wooter Apparel, did you imagine it would come to this? You’ve had a pretty remarkable 3-5 year run in working with Wooter as an athletics brand in addition to your other artwork.
When I first started working at Wooter the company was really young. I was established as an artist before I came to Wooter and I was making a reputation for myself after I left Sprayground. After I spent some time with Wooter I felt really loved there and could see the brand was really growing. With Wooter, I also started our work with Medusa and developed a partnership with Master P. I took the opportunity and ran with it and the rest is history. I have a partnership with Moneyatti and Wooter and I feel I have grown a lot since 2015 and the company has evolved from just a startup. I’m proud of Wooter and Wooter Apparel, and I am proud to be part of their on-going work.
What are you currently working on and what can people expect from Daryl Boothe in 2021?
I have a lot of major projects I’m working on this year. I recently launched my exclusive merch store called, Trap Supremacy. With this site I aim to focus on my Unique & Limited edition merch. I’m creating artwork and designs for skateboards, apparel, designer toys, eBooks and much more. I’m also developing my crypto currency NFT Collectible Store, and also managing Official Moneyatti keeps me busy. This year has been a blessing and I appreciate what Master P and the Wooter team has done for me. It’s only going to get better.
Follow Daryl Boothe on Instagram for his personal page and also Trap Supremacy.