SETTING SAIL AND STANDING OUT: King Saladeen And Yuga Labs Team Up On A Collection That's As Bold As It Is Bored!

Vibrant colors shaped by a childhood growing up among the gray streets of West Philadelphia will be coming to swampy shores this week as artist King Saladeen and Yuga Labs team up for the Bored Ape Yacht Club's first ever Anchor apparel drop, that hopes to put the Yacht Club in the BAYC.

On Tuesday, The BAYC will drop a limited-edition collaboration collection that’s fit for the sea featuring an all new T-shirt, bucket hat, and an extremely limited burgee flag.

 

Each piece blends the timeless look of the Yacht Club with King Saladeen's signature bold, colorful style.

“The inspiration behind the look was of course the Yacht Club,” he said. “Something very clean and relatable. Once you see the products you’ll see how I integrated my style with their style. I think it was a perfect mesh between both of our styles. I think that everybody’s going to love it.”

 

For King Saladeen, his unmistakable style wasn’t just for fun. It was born from a desire to stand out in the otherwise colorless streets of West Philadelphia where he grew up.

 

“Everybody wanted to be cool and stand out,” Saladeen told the BAYC. “My vibrant colors come from just being able to stand out from being from a place with no color. If you’re from Philly or any urban city inside of America, it’s usually the browns, the tans, the grays, and that brick color. But when I traveled as a young kid I would go to Florida and other places and there’d be that pop of color. That’s when I noticed something’s a little different.”

 

That signature style has since earned King Saladeen collaborations with brands like Rolls Royce and Lamborghini, landed his work in Art Basel exhibitions around the world, and now brought him to the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

 

For King Saladeen, the collaboration is especially meaningful because of JP Bear, the original character at the center of his artwork.

Much like the BAYC has spent years on its mascot Curtis, Saladeen has spent years building the world around JP Bear, and he’s  always admired what the Club has done with Apes since 2021.

 

“I just wanted to be a part of it because whoever was doing that art behind the scenes and creating those characters in those spaces,” he said. “I was like damn, that’s what I see JP doing at the next level. To be part of the community now is kind of surreal and I cant wait  meet a lot of the members.”

 

The Gazette will continue to follow King Saladeen and his BAYC Anchor drop. Stay tuned for updates!