London’s i-D Magazine recently caught up with Treated Cult general Million $ Mano to talk about a few things for their latest installment of i-N Conversation. Mano talks a bit about being in the Windy, the meaning behind the Treated Crowns, his favorite Chicago producers and more. Peep a couple of excerpts below.
What is Chicago like?
Man, Chicago is a juxtaposition of anything and everything that is something. It’s a melting pot of so many cultures, so many races and so many different walks of life. That’s why I feel like I’m an awesomely well-rounded person. If you have the Chicago hustlers spirit… in any other city, a Chicagoan will have the upper hand advantage in my opinion cause there is no industry in here and it forces us to work harder.
What does the Treated hat mean? I heard you refer to it as a crown.
This crown, it means a lot and I made this for something, not only for my Chicago family that I identity with but I made it for honourable people to identity with. A lot of people would think that the design just came from the Old Compton hat but it’s way beyond that. A lot of people don’t know that in Chicago in the 90’s, the beauty supply stores had all black snap backs with white stitching and Old English crown letters that said South Side, West Side, all the parts of Chicago that people were from. I’m from the South Side so I had a South Side hat, even though it was from the beauty supply store it was still dope *laughs*. We made these hats so legitimate people can have something fresh to identify with. Life, Honour, Love & Power! That’s Treated Crew!
Check out the full piece here.