“All it took was that one meeting in person and they were able to see the vision. The rest is history.”
We have covered standout Mass rapper Termanology and his Good Dad Gang lifestyle for years, and have seen it grow to include everything from hats to philanthropic efforts.
So naturally, we had questions about their new Father’s Day collaboration with Ewing Athletics, who partnered with Good Dad Gang to create a “limited edition colorway featuring premium accents such as a croc upper, chrome accents, a speckled ice sole, and special co-branded packaging.”
Designed by Termanology & DJ Trase, this Ewing Rogue “features a forefoot cross strap support system coupled with neoprene midfoot inserts along with an Eva midsole for lightweight cushioning.”
We asked Term how it came to be.
We’ve spoken about Good Dad Gang a few times, but it keeps on growing. What have been some developments in addition to the sneaker?
Well, I started the Good Dad Gang movement in 2014. So we went from a hashtag on social media, to an independent clothing company, to now doing major collaborations with larger brands worldwide. We also love giving back to the community and throwing multiple events annually, like our Backpack Giveaways and toy drives.
How close or far away from your original plan for Good Dad Gang are you today? Was this always the direction?
To be honest, I originally never had a plan for the brand. It started out organically and when the movement started to grow in popularity beyond my control, I knew I needed to take it more seriously and turn it into an actual company. But about four years ago, I set a few goals for the brand and most of those goals have been met, like the major collaborations with Gangstarr (DJ Premier), Diamond Supply Co, 8 & 9, the sneaker collaboration with Ewing Athletics, multiple billboards in Times Square for Father’s Day and the commercial DJ Premier helped us put together with LL Cool J, 2 Chainz, Fat Joe, Ice T, Logic, The Lox, and more. All of those were just a dream at one point and took a lot of hard work and dedication to make them actually come to life.
At this point, do you consider it a clothing company? Something more? How do the people who wear and buy it feel about Good Dad Gang? What do they tell you?
I would say the Good Dad Gang is considered a worldwide movement. Definitely much more than just a clothing line. The way we conduct business and generate revenue is mainly through the clothing line, but the reaction to the actual meaning behind the name is our strength. The Hashtag #GoodDadGang has 2.8 million users on TikTok and over 60,000 on Instagram, many of the people who use our hashtag don’t even know we are a clothing company. There are over 96 people who have the Good Dad Gang tattoo that we know of. Every time someone gets the tattoo and we catch it on social media, we give them a number and we post them on Instagram and Facebook. They love the recognition and we love to see people representing our brand. The amount of people we help every year with the backpack giveaways is incredible. Last year we were able to give away 800 backpacks in one day.
I know there have been many celebrities to wear your stuff, but who have been some ones that have really been especially amazing to you?
One of the most special celebrities to co sign the brand is Jamie Foxx. Jamie reached out to me a couple years ago as he was in love with the brand and had been wearing one of our hats to the set of his new show every day. He told me he “always got compliments on the hat” and “he wore it so much that people actually thought it was his brand.” He went on to shoot several videos and pictures in the Good Dad Gang brand which ended up on social media. We are forever grateful to him for introducing our brand to his following.
So, without further ado, tell us about the sneakers. How did this all come to be?
About four years ago, I asked a friend of mine DJ Trase (who is a brand ambassador for Ewing) if he could connect me with the owners of Ewing because I had a great idea to make a Good Dad Gang sneaker collaboration with Ewing. What originally caught my eye was that they had been recently doing a bunch of collaborations with rappers like EPMD, Capone-N-Noreaga, AZ, and others. I sent a couple emails with my original pitch but nothing really seemed to stick. As the Good Dad Gang brand began to grow and we were proving we could sell some units with our other collaborations, I felt like it was time to shoot my shot again. So about two years ago DJ Trase brought me in to have a face-to-face meeting with the owner. All it took was that one meeting in person and they were able to see the vision. The rest is history.
How much of a sneaker head are you? What are some of your favorites?
I am a huge sneakerhead. I always had a love for sneakers. My mom always tells this story of me getting a bunch of money for my fifth birthday and she brought me to the mall to spend it. She was expecting me to go straight to the toy store and I walked into the Foot Locker and spent all my money on sneakers. The thing about collecting sneakers is, it can be a very addictive and expensive habit. I would say I have owned over 1,000 pairs over the course of my lifetime. I probably have about 150 pairs in my house right now. My all-time favorites are the all-white Air Force 1 by Nike, the Jordan 3s, Jordan 4s, Jordan 8s, and Jordan 11s.
What role did you get to play in creating the Good Dad Gang kicks?
Ewing gave me a choice of about 12 different styles of sneakers to pick from. I picked the model I liked best, which was the Rouge. Then I insisted on making the shoe all=black because I wanted people to be able to wear them all the time and black sneakers tend to go with everything and last longer than all white. Then once I had those basic designs locked down, my boy DJ Trase took it from there. He was the one who decided to make it a black lux leather, with crocodile skin, he added the icey clear bottom, and the logo on the laces that was all him. The owner Dave also added a few things and once we were all happy with the design, we put it in motion.
And finally, where can we get a pair?
The sneaker is available right now exclusively at EwingAthletics.com. We also have a tab on GoodDadGang.com that would take you to the sneaker as well.
A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.