New York City, the city of broken dreams and constant hustles. Out here in these New York streets you’ll find a slew of young hungry brothers and sisters looking to break in to the status quo. Unfortunately that hunger is often quenched by a steady pay check, or is deferred by constant discouragement.

Last night I got to kick it with Ashani Allick, one of the founders of BarrelhouseBKLYN, and spoke about their newest project, Concrete Heavens clothing. Judging from their keen sense of what’s hot and the top quality of their work(the shirts are dope, I’m still waiting on a black t-shirt which has been sold for weeks now), we strongly doubt that these Brooklyn boys show any sign of stopping their grind for any check or form of discouragement.

Co founder Ashani, sporting a Concrete Heavens t-shirt

iHD: Tell us about the how the clothing line Concrete Heavens came in to existence? Who’s behind it, and who designs the clothing?

 Ashani: Concrete Heavens, is a Project that BarrelHouseBKLYN (www.Barrelhousebklyn.com), started in conjunction with an artist named Victor James. It is a street wear/lifestyle brand that draws heavy inspiration from the hustle and grind of New York City. Our slogan is: “Non Semper Erit Aestas,” which is pig latin and it means “it will not always be summer”. Basically meaning that things will not always be great on the road to success. There WILL be obstacles and struggles as you proceed. So be prepared for the grind, and be prepared to persevere. And that is Concrete Heavens!

iHD: How much of an influence has hip hop been on the designs and approach of your brand Concrete Heavens? What kind of music are you listening to when designing?

Ashani: Hip-Hop has a large influence on our brand. Concrete Heavens for the most part represents the urban community. We draw a lot of our inspiration from the local New York culture as far as designing. We take pride in our graphics, and our quality of our  line. Quality is an aspect of street wear that we see is greatly lacking. We want our clothes to withstand the test of time. The kind of music that we listen to when we design is hip-hop, underground hip-hop and neo-soul. More specifically, artists such as Mos Def, Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, Drake, Stalley, J. Cole, J. Dilla, Scienze, D. Julien, Courtney Salter, and SteadyFam just to name a few.

iHD: What’s Concrete Heavens goal as far as it’s demographic? Are you looking to be in the local urban clothing spots, or are you aiming for more high end stores like say, Bloomingdales?

 Ashani: As far as the demographic that CH is trying to reach, we mostly market to the urban community. But as these local spots have a stigma for having lower quality merchandise, CH is aiming to change that with higher quality street wear. We have thought about doing a CH line for the high end stores, but until then we’re in the streets!

iHD: The Concrete Heaven shirts are pretty dope. Can we expect some denim in the future? 

Ashani: You can definitely expect some denim in the near future. Denim, flannels, polos, hoodies, a full street wear line is on its way.

iHD: When I hear the name Concrete Heavens, it kind of reminds me of that Bob Marley song “Concrete Jungle”. When people think of the name Concrete Heavens, what emotions or images do you want them to associate it with. What was the inspiration behind the name?

Ashani: When people hear the name “Concrete Heavens”, I want to evoke a sense of inspiration, and a feeling of motivation, and self-worth. Making your heaven concrete is the inspiration behind the name. Going after the life that you want to live, developing that drive to persevere through the obstacles that you encounter on your way to achieving your dreams, or arriving at your personal heaven. When you wear Concrete Heavens, I want you to feel inspired and motivated to pursue your dreams. The images that I want associated with Concrete Heavens, is an image of themselves, meaning the person wearing the clothes, being wherever it is that they aspire to be.

iHD: I see you guys have aligned yourselves with many underground emcees across the united states. Do you see a common struggle you two face? Do you think one struggle is inherently more tough than the other?

Ashani: We have aligned ourselves with underground emcees across the United States because, yes we do share a common struggle which is trying to stand out in an over saturated market. A lot of emcees sound alike or rap about the same things but the emcees that we’ve aligned ourselves with are, in our opinion, some of the best that the underground has the offer. Such as, Top $ Raz, Scienze, D. Julien, Dremur, and G.R.A.M.Z.  just to name a few. Concrete Heavens is all about being on the comeup, and underground hip-hop is the epitome of that.

 iHD: Any last words you want to leave the iHD readers with?

Ashani: There is only one success… To be able to spend your life in your own way. Nobody elses.

For future purchases click here.

Follow Ashani on Twitter here.