Ermis Martinez, EMartinez Flics
Jaylen Brown Teams with Johnny Cupcakes to Give Back to Boston
Saturday on Newbury Street in Boston, the rain did nothing to dampen the energy and excitement or trim the line flowing from Johnny Cupcakes all the way down the street.
First in line was an individual who said he arrived at 3 a.m. to ensure he was in the front.
No matter how long the wait, once inside Johnny Cupcakes, a well-known Boston retail store, which is home to a unique setup that includes t-shirts displayed in refrigerators and the smell of cupcakes wafting through the air at the entrance, Celtics star Jaylen Brown was gracious with his time.
He signed autographs, took pictures, engaged in one lengthy conversation after another for several hours, and, like the people there for the event, had a smile the entire time.
Saturday saw an idea that first came together "20 years (ago) on a crowded backstreet in an alleyway in Philadelphia" come to fruition.
"We've been saying we want to work together for 20 years," shared Set Free Richardson, founder of Compound, a creative collective and gallery that fuses art, sports, music, and fashion.
Richardson continued, "We just never pressed the issue. And he doesn't have cupcakes here, (and) Jaylen doesn't have no juice." The idea to launch this event, despite the absence of baked goods and beverages, "happened over a luncheon with us, and we called Johnny, (he) picks up on FaceTime, (a) great man for doing that, and me, him, and Jaylen all came up with the idea."
After getting the ball rolling during that lunchtime conversation, they quickly built the momentum needed to stage Saturday's event. Deadlines spur action, and the commitment to hosting this collaboration before the start of the 2023-24 NBA season served as added fuel.
And what does it mean to partner with a two-time All-Star, All-NBA selection, and one of the biggest stars in Boston?
"Jaylen has been great. He's just an average, nice dude who happens to be really good at basketball and has a big heart. And when he came into the store, he was like a kid in a candy shop and was like, 'We gotta do something,' and he noticed all the little details.
"And he's a busy person, but his phone was away, and he was just in the moment the whole time. (When) he was here, (he was) like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And then we went to dinner right after, and that's where all the creative came together."
"Boston, I say it's one of the most cultural places in America," added Richardson. "My company is called Compound. So, it's about bringing things together, people, concepts, and ideas. So, it's not two better people that I felt were put together between Johnny and Jaylen. And it was like just that whole Boston synergy, and you look at the NBA and the Celtics on this level and then streetwear and culture and what Johnny did to me, they're on the same level, and so, it's a compounded cupcake and juice."
Johnny also shared, "My Mom can't believe it. And my Dad can't believe it. I got friends messaging me, including people I haven't heard from in forever. But it's all good. Yeah, it's great, and he texts me randomly and throws around ideas. We're all in a group chat. Yeah, it's like I've known him forever, but we really just met like a month ago, two months ago."
Their fast-forming friendship is why "This is just the beginning," according to Johnny. "I'm sure we're gonna have a lot more projects after this."
As Richardson put it, "It's a lot more in the oven baking."
And while visitors get a charge out of the unique setup at Johnny Cupcakes, it's evident that seeing them have a great time provides an energy Johnny thrives off of.
"You walk in here, and we don't sell food. "It smells like a bakery, looks like a bakery. All the shirts are in refrigerators. You buy a t-shirt, (and) we pull it out of a smoking oven. And to see people feel like a kid again for 5, 10, 20 minutes that they're in the store, it makes me keep coming back in (to) retail.
"And retail is a scary industry to be in. But if you like putting puzzles together, you have something to do every day, and today happens to be a really good puzzle, and we're excited to see where it goes."
Ermis Martinez, EMartinez Flics
Malcolm Durr and Shawn Clarke, co-creative directors of 7uice, were also happy to see the collaboration achieve its goals of creating exciting designs and orchestrating an event that provided "something fresh for the city (and) good energy for the city."
Clarke added that from the cupcake aroma that greets people when they walk in the store to the refrigerator doors at the entrance and displaying the shirts in fridges, "this store (is) built on an aesthetic, it's artistic, which is what 7uice definitely strives itself on, so this was a no-brainer collab."
And when Brown signed his record-setting veteran supermax extension with the Celtics, he expressed the desire to make a significant impact in the region he stars in, attacking the wealth, education, and opportunity gaps, including by bringing Black Wall Street to Boston.
Saturday, Durr conveyed, "If anything, this is just the first step in our efforts in the city."
That includes this tease of something happening shortly, with Clarke saying, "Hang around for the season opener, Oct. 27. We're gonna have something very special for the city. A very special collab. It's another Boston-based collab."
Brown's been giving back to the local community since the Celtics selected him third overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. His initiatives with the 7uice Foundation, dedicated to fighting systemic racism, including through the Bridge Program, which works with the Community Biotechnology Initiative at the MIT Media Lab to provide science and technology opportunities for children in local underserved communities, earned him a spot in Boston Magazine's list of the city's most influential individuals on multiple occasions. His efforts toward civil rights and racial equity made him one of the Boston Globe's Bostonians of the Year in 2020.
It's exciting to see the 7uice he gets from realizing the revolutionary goals he can actualize after signing the most lucrative deal in league history and by boosting Boston with initiatives like the one on Saturday at Johnny Cupcakes, which had people smiling ear to ear as they came to one of the most unique setups in the city, where they got to spend time with an NBA star.
