THAT ONE TIME IN HOUSTON

For the first time in 7 flight connections, I finally decided to leave the Houston Airport. This wasn’t just a random weekend for sightseeing, but a celebration of survival: my 30th birthday.

Houston was the perfect destination to bring the fourth decade in for several reasons. First and foremost I never explored the city and the culture has touched me since I learned what a slab was back in middle school. Secondly, the city is open during the pandemic. Many of you might be looking at me sideways for taking the trip, but if you know how many holistic immune boosters I take followed by periodical Covid-19 test… You’d understand my comfort. Plus I keep the mask on like Nayvadius.

Lastly and most importantly, it was my bro Ricardo’s birthday. Me and my Capricorn brother tend to effectively celebrate our birthdays during the MLK weekend. Why not attempt to do it with a little southern flair and catfish.

I bounced around brunch spots that would soon turn lounge when the time was right. Caught up with good people, and even met some new ones. All my food was seasoned with soul, and best believe the entire playlist of this trip was purple. I think I love that place.

Matty G has created a brand that not only represents his love for the city, but it cleans it up as well. With sturdy neon colored trashcans iLoveThyHood is slowly but surely painting the city orange. Let’s tap into the thought process behind this genius idea:

KG: Matty G! Tell us about ilovethyhood and why you started the brand?

Matty G: Well, I started ilovethyhood because there was an environmental issue in my area. Trash has always been an issue in Philly and for some reason everyone has been okay with it. As a commuter that has to travel from the city to the suburbs everyday for work, you can even feel that the air is different once you leave the city. You also notice that those townships have always been kept clean. These differences make you think about why the city is treated differently than the suburbs when it comes to waste management.

Simply put, it’s more people and even less money to go around. Still, I never wanted to make an excuse to not fix that issue. Stepping over trash piles from overflowing city trashcans that never get picked up, and seeing people just throw a whole platter on the ground when they’re done... It gets to you. You have to come home to that everyday. I knew I couldn’t change the money issue in my area but I saw that there was a gap there...

The gap was a lot a fucking trash and not enough services to manage it! The lack of trash cans in the area gave less opportunity for collection trash from local commuters and foot traffic. So the idea was simple: give more opportunities to throw trash away. Instead of complaining, I just made a Gofundme and was able to provide my section of Germantown with more than enough trashcans to fight back against waste overflow.

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KG: Being from Philly, what inspires you the most?

Matty G: Philly has been the backbone to my soul. If you say the word Philly you picture every person you grew up with. You remember all those memories you shared with your family on summer days. You can smell it almost… hopping on the Broad Street Line at Broad and Olney. It’s that feeling when you get off the train under city hall and walk up until u are smacked in the face with the bustle of corporate America mixed with poverty. It’s that Mad Decent block party with Elmo wu-tanging in the crowd feeling. It’s that Kandylady singing to you to by her candy stand. It’s that EAGLES chant when we’re winning a game. It’s knowing that there ain’t no other place like Philly. It’s a special honor to be from a place like this. I feel bad for those who haven’t these experiences because it’s a favorite part of who I am and the person I have become.

KG: I can relate to the picture you just painted, and concur there is no place like Philly. With that being said, how do you relate this special environment to your brand?

Matty G: ilovethyhood is Philly in its entirety. From G-town to the Bad lands, to the bottom, every part of Philly has a hood. These are the places that raised and shaped us. For better or worst, those experiences made us who we are today. ilovethyhood simply represents loving the place that made you!

Cherishing the communities that we call home and honoring the people that make up that community. Every hood gets a bad rep in some form, but if you live there you don’t necessarily feel that way. Home is home and I’ll be damned if someone tries to disrespect it. The brand represents preservating and protecting the city I love.

KG: You have a solid business structure that could definitely be useful in other cities. Do you see this extending outside of Philly or staying local? If yes, where?

Matty G: ilovethyhood is an idea.

It’s thinking about others when no one asks you to. It’s sustaining your neighborhood before asking for outside help. It’s taking action when none is seen. So to say this idea could not be implemented anywhere else would be ignorant. Trash in the inner city is not just a problem in my neighborhood but more than 200 other cities have this same issue. These places are in low income neighborhoods predominantly filled with minorities and the city officials simply ignore these sections due to lack of funding. I think that is wrong and these sections deserve more attention as major billion dollar corporation occupy the same city streets creating the waste and not doing anything to help clean up the messes they make. This goes for my hood and 7 other sections of Philly alone where waste management is left out of the discussion when it comes to budget reform. That’s where the ilovethyhood idea is inserted providing these communities with the tools and will to have a self sustainability network fighting back against littering and having their own waste management service run by the people.

I happen to monitor 4 cans in Germantown, while I have provided cans to local businesses to put out front of their storefronts. Local residence have also put these cans on their corners and bus stops giving more opportunities for trash to be thrown out. All of this decreases the litter in our environment. I now have cans in North philly, West philly, Cheltenham and Germantown. While looking after the cans in Germantown I am trying to see the impact first hand. I’ve learned that even having one can on a street that is always full of trash makes a huge difference within just a few days of being outside.

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KG: In order to motivate other creatives in Philly and other cities, what's something you would tell them?

Matty G: To motivate other creatives in my city… I would just tell them to move without fear! Simply saying, if you have an idea, do it! Don’t be afraid of it not being perfect. Don’t be afraid some people might not like it or support it. Don’t be afraid because other people are doing similar things so “why bother”. Because all of those things aren’t real! They’re just a thought that doesn’t actually exist. Granted those mechanisms helped us in certain situations but when it comes to and idea or a gift that you want to share with the world… that’s God saying just do it and I’ll do the rest! I see the proof in ilovethyhood because I literally didn’t know what I was doing until it was already happening. Just putting my idea out there caused people to help clean up the neighborhood when our stores got looted bringing different races together. That idea makes a little boy smile every time he sees my cans. His mother will even know that every time he sees a can, someone is trying to help this neighborhood. This idea has collected over 10 tons of trash off the street.

I ain’t know it could do all of that, but by moving without fear has brought me to this point. Who cares if someone is doing something similar to you? My fiancée always told me that when u walk down the bread aisle do you see one brand or multiple? And they all taste the same but that’s not stopping them from making their products. So to all those creatives out there, just do it.

The worst thing that can happen is you get bored with the idea. You can only fail if you never try... and trying is success in itself. Refine, simplify, and repeat until you find the pearl in your plot of sand. I’m on this journey too, so I’m still refining to see what works best... But I’m also still moving with no fear. At the end of the day, all you can be is proud of yourself.

That’s the only validation needed in life. God will always love you.