– Written by Hunter Petch –
What was once purely an LA-based clothing brand, Real Bad Man has transformed into one of the most prolific creative collectives on the planet. In just the month of March, they released two collaborative projects with talented emcees Elcamino and Lukah – facing immediate success from critics. Their story is one of complete originality, and is one that will only continue to grow as they release more quality projects.
Adam Weissman got his start as an art director for a few high-profile brands, the largest one being Stussy. His creative prowess and confidence in his vision has allowed him to also collaborate on a plethora of projects with brands such as Marvel, Nike, and more. He’s also had a hand in music for quite some time, releasing 3 albums and 1 EP with his band Pollyn, who have since broken up. His production skill is clearly evident throughout the groups entire discography though, as dense textures flow from track to track, the best examples of which being on their final project, Here Lies Pollyn.
Real Bad Man began as an outlet for Adam and his friend’s boundless creativity. “I’ve always done stuff for other people and I just really wanted to do something where no one could tell me ‘no.’ I could go and do whatever the fuck I wanted. (Bodega, 2020)”. His graphic design partner Noah, along with many other peers, jumped on this adventure together to create a collective that would end up so much larger than they ever could’ve imagined.
They started by bootlegging shirts for bands that didn’t yet exist. If you had a favorite band that didn’t have merch dropped yet, you could get it done by Real Bad Man. Due to their in-store work now though, that service has been more or less disbanded. They evolved into music production and label-esque activities. In 2020 they released the On High Alert EP collection, Volumes 1-3. They practically assembled the contemporary underground all-stars for these projects, featuring artists such as Boldy James, Roc Marciano, Blu, Inspectah Deck, etc. These projects put the group on the map, and were mainly produced by Adam himself.
Since then, the RBM collective has expanded to creating entire collaborative albums with artists, all of which are held to the highest standard in the hip-hop community. They’ve released 10 of these projects since 2020, working again with the highest standard of artists – Boldly James, Blu, Kool Keith, and many more.
Circling back to their releases in March, these two albums are some of their best work yet. Not to mention, releasing two of the best rap albums of the year within the same month should not be taken lightly, also considering they usually only drop 3-ish albums a year! The Game is The Game was the first of the two, released on March 15, 2024. The album centers around Elcamino, the Black Soprano Family affiliate. The production is some of their grandest to date, and El’s braggadocious style compliments it to near perfection. Comparatively, Temple Needs Water, Village Needs Peace is a conceptual masterpiece that revolves around more slow-burning cuts, and devastatingly poetic lyricism from Lukah. Both projects are phenomenal in their own right, and the songs I recommend most are “The Initiates Peace” and “No Fighting”.
Real Bad Man can’t be touched right now in streetwear clothing or collaborative albums. What can’t they do?
SOUTHPORT MAGAZINE 
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