Slick Bridge Clothing Store Connects the Bay to the North Bay

A portal to the mid-90s and early-2000s hip-hop movements of Bay Area “Hyphy” and “Thizz” exists directly across the food court in the Santa Rosa Plaza mall. Inside, a life-size cardboard cutout of Bay Area hip-hop legend Mac Dre stands front and center. Merchandise created by local designers adorns the shelves. One of its owners, Michael Walker, a.k.a Mob$ta Myk (pronounced Mike), greets customers by practicing free throws on the mini basketball hoop. The portal is a Black-owned business called Slick Bridge.

Walker was born and raised in San Francisco but moved to Santa Rosa while in middle school. As a homegrown Bay Area product and current North Bay resident, Walker says he always envisioned an outlet where he could represent both regions. His entrepreneurial spirit was forged early on. “I come from a world where if you didn’t work, you didn’t eat,” says Walker. “When I moved to Santa Rosa, I was rapping, and found a group of people here who were also rapping and we would sell our music ourselves.”

As a well-connected figure in the Bay Area hip-hop scene, Walker recalls sitting with the owners of Thizz Entertainment, the world-famous independent record label based out of Vallejo, where he mentioned the possibility of opening up a Thizz clothing store in the North Bay. Walker is a member of local rap group City Suspects and co-owns Slick Bridge with Thizz Entertainment artists Dela the Fella, Miami the Most—the late Mac Dre’s brother—and Kilo Curt. The shop’s name is a tribute to Walker’s brother, Slick, and his cousin Bridgette, both of whom passed away after suffering heart attacks. Slick Bridge initially operated behind a barbershop owned by Walker’s friend on Wilson Avenue in Santa Rosa in March 2020. The location didn’t have a window, but it wasn’t hard for Walker to see the positive response from customers. “The shop got around by word of mouth,” he says. “Community members really supported it.”

In 2021, Walker organized a GoFundMe that raised enough capital to invest in a new location, and following a meeting with a mall representative arranged by a mutual connection. He eventually moved the shop to its current brick-and-mortar space in the Santa Rosa Plaza in April 2021. Establishing an independently owned business in a traditionally corporate arena amidst a global pandemic hasn’t been without its growing pains. “Opening in the mall was what I expected,” says Walker. “I still have a part-time job right now. Even after a year open.”

Walker estimates that 90% of the shop’s inventory is supplied by local creators who hail from Vallejo to Santa Rosa. “They all believe in what they’re doing. You have to put money into it and if you don’t believe in yourself, why are you doing it?” he says. “I wanted to give other entrepreneurs a chance to get in this space with me. I don’t see competition; I want to uplift everyone in this movement as well.” The shop also hosts meet-and-greets, with Bay Area icons such as Equipto, J Diggs and Mac Mall already making appearances. According to Walker, there is a growing list of Bay Area artists who expressed interest in scheduling a future meet-and-greet at the shop, with Vallejo rapper, Coolio da Unda Dogg, as the next artist slated to make an in-store appearance.

Music plays an integral role in Slick Bridge, so much so that Walker had a recording booth assembled in the back of the shop. “I always wanted to do a music program for youth and point kids in the direction of more positive rap,” says Walker. The shop’s music program will be a partnership with Marin County-based nonprofit Surviving The Odds Project (STOP) founded by John Wallace. Once funding is acquired, the eight-week program will teach youth ages 13 to 25 how to record, produce and distribute music. It will also provide food and transportation for participants, all free of charge. “We don’t want to glorify violence, misogyny, or any of that. We wanted the kids to express themselves positively and speak about their lives,” says Wallace. “I’ve been trying to get funding to bring what I do in Marin County to Sonoma County. I feel it’s very needed in the area.”

In March 2019, STOP built a permanent professional recording studio on the Marin Oaks campus in Novato. Students can earn elective credits toward graduation for participating in the STOP Campus Enrichment Program. The nonprofit also works to empower youth through reflective self-exploration and musical self-expression to help prevent the likelihood of substance abuse, self-injurious behaviors and involvement with the criminal justice system.

Growing up in Marin City and spending time in San Quentin Prison, Wallace knows firsthand what the experience is like for minority youth in the North Bay. “Most of the troubled youth in these communities are acting out because they don’t have anything fun to do,” says Wallace. STOP is partnered with the Marin Youth Court as an alternative sentencing option for those facing time in juvenile hall. The nonprofit’s Restorative Justice program includes the option for youth to receive one-on-one mentorship from STOP staff, or complete its standard eight-week program. As for STOP’s partnership with Slick Bridge, Wallace is excited about the opportunities the shop’s location inside a mall may bring. “I think it’d be a resourceful thing to bring music production to a mall with all these kids walking around looking for something to do,” he says.

 

For more information visit the following links below:

Slick Bridge

Slick Bridge site: https://cashdrop.biz/slickbridge

The designers currently found in the shop are Bape Bros from Santa Rosa; Bobo Kwame Designs from Santa Rosa; Xcluccico from Marin; Highway 420 from Marin; InPression Clothing from Santa Rosa; Orisha from Santa Rosa, Reprznt from Santa Rosa; Rock a Milli from Vallejo; Savvish from the Bay Area; SMG from Santa Rosa and Yogi Calhoon from Oakland.

S.T.O.P. (Surviving The Odds Project)

Surviving The Odds Project site: https://www.stoproject.org/

Surviving The Odds Project YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/survivingtheoddsproject