Listen: Gypsy Sport’s Sounds of Summer

Last September, a diverse group of models spontaneously appeared in Washington Square Park, strutting through the iconic 77-foot Tuckahoe marble Washington Square Arch, in a guerilla presentation of the cult label Gypsy Sport’s Spring 2015 collection. Now, just in time for summer, the sportswear brand is releasing T.G.I.F Vol. 1— Thank Gypsy It’s Friday—a Spring 2015 mix inspired by that show. “We are dropping this mix as a soundtrack to the summer,” says Rio Uribe, the brand’s creative director. “Especially for those Friday nights when you’re getting dressed to go out,” adds the designer, who just picked up the CFDA’s NYFW Men’s SS/16 emerging designer award.

The independent label Doom Dab-produced mix features tracks from some of downtown’s freshest voices. “As a kid ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ was always the go-to album for the newest Top 40 songs,” explains Uribe. “So, I asked our friends at Doom Dab, who were all at the show, to curate a summer mix with the best and newest underground tracks.” The underground flow of rappers K Rizz’s “Imagine If” and Jay Boogie’s “Cuerpo,” balances out Lafawndah’s sensual collaboration with Dj Spoko, “I Lost My Fear,” to create what Uribe describes as a “sonic melting pot.” Vogueing beats serve as interludes to familiar hits from the likes of Depeche Mode and Los Mirlos.

T.G.I.F vol.1 also serves as a kind of meditative mix. Jerome Williams, one of Gypsy Sport’s ambassadors, speaks over several tracks in riddles that share the brand’s design philosophy. “Gypsy Sport is not only here to cloth your body but your mind and soul,” says Williams laughing over the beginning of the hour-long mix. “Gypsy Sport is for everybody,” he later imbues over a deep house beat. The mixture of the mainstream sounds with the experimental cooing of the downtown set gives the mix a global vibe and serves as an undeniable ode to the worlds that influence the brand’s worldly streetwear aesthetic. “This mix is perfect for a rooftop party,” notes Uribe who pauses and says, “Brooklyn vibes.”