"STRANDED..I AM" is derived from Balistik's former movement S.O.S.A. (Stranded On Strand Ave). Like many, Balistik comes from the struggle. As he began his journey with music, he incorporated all that impacted him into his art. Strand Ave. was the street that he grew up on and where a lot of his early life experiences were had. We all have impactful childhood moments, events & memories. So the thinking was, you could take "Strand Ave." out and replace it with the street you grew up on.

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Fast forward to 2014 and Balistik began a "re-branding" of his whole campaign. Surely, we all feel "stranded", misunderstood and/or marginalized for many reasons. Whether as creatives or human-beings thru race, gender, class, socio-economics, etc. So, conceptually the idea or notion of feeling "stranded" applies to all people. Fashion & Music, are just two platforms to express those sentiments. Thus, STRANDED..I AM.

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CORE TENANTS:

1) Self-Discovery - learn who we are inside.

2) Self-Empowerment - nurture our passions.

3) Self-Fulfillment - purposeful; ourselves/others.