ATH KIDS is a collective consisting of filmmakers, musicians, producers and DJs, formed in 2015 by Valentin Rivera and Kareem Kalokoh. The collective represents the urban athenian culture, aiming to express Athens city’s new wave of hip hop from a different perspective.
The story is about 6 guys from different nationalities that grew up in Athens and were united by the need for creativity and the love for music, aiming to make Athenians see their city from a different point of view. Valentin, Kareem, Joseph, Majin, Dazedboi and Taj have established a lot of collaborations and 4 project releases already – having made their own mark not only in the music industry of the city but also in the aesthetics.
Their style is a major part of their identity, having an outstanding role in the music and video arts: Street style, excessive hip hop elements, modern aesthetics are combined with the unique personality of each member. This fall, they incorporate into their style a lot of elements from the look of basketball of the 90’s: a combination of jerseys and cool sneakers, like AF1. Basketball look yet again trascends into street style, inspired by hip hop and street culture.
What’s new about them? They have launched CONGO, the debut album led by Kareem, including 11 tracks, full of dark sounds and heavy hitting street anthems, paying homage to his city and African roots. In the process of thinking about the title of the album, Kareem needed a strong short name to match the sonics of the album. “CONGO” was the perfect one. The tracks are relevant to the way ATH KIDS spend their time in Athens, definitely inspired by the lifestyle and the grunginess of the city.
ATH KIDS are like brothers. Everyone works on his own project but at the end of the day, they work as one. Being different but sharing the same vision is what keeps the collective growing, along with the support of their crowd. What really makes them special is that they create a view of Athens that you wouldn’t normally see on your TV.
“This is what really brought attention to us” notes Kareem. “A multicultural collective from kids representing Athens”.
The Nike collection is available on Nike.com and Nike stores
