Phat Chance

Culture magnates: Nicole DiSanto and Nolton Thomas inside The 215. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

A couple dreams of turning its clothing store into a hip-hop mecca.

by Rachel Zuckerman

Nestled between a bicycle shop and a gutted former pool hall, the storefront of the large stucco row house on a quiet stretch of Ninth Street off South seems contrary to its drab surroundings.

Passersby might stop by this former methadone clinic to eye a hot pink Baby Phat purse or velour hooded sweatshirt for sale in the store window. But beyond the rows of urban merchandise inside, The 215 also houses a dream. Its owners want to transform the space into a hip-hop mecca.

"I've been into urban culture since I was little, that's just the way I grew up," says Nicole DiSanto over the faint strains of Power 99 playing in the store. The 23-year-old heads this venture with her fiance, Nolton Thomas. She remembers coming into the city as a teenager from Wallingford to shop with her girlfriends on South Street.

Since opening earlier this year at 604 S. Ninth St., the store has been selling baggy pants, oversized sweatshirts and fitted outfits for women. Name brands, too: Roc-A-Wear, Akademiks, Baby Phat, K-Swiss. The store — adorned with the ubiquitous Scarface poster and collages of urban performers made by DiSanto — also sells DVDs, video games, music magazines, custom clothing and DiSanto's handmade jewelry. Today she's sporting her pink, purple and gold chandelier earrings, inspired by a photo in a fashion magazine.

But DiSanto and Thomas' dream transcends retail. They want The 215 to be a one-stop shop where local artists can record, produce and promote their records.

The business started in 1996 when Thomas launched Unity Brothers Production, an umbrella company that included indie hip-hop label 4Life Recordz, the O'NO recording studio and Real Life Graphics company from the Chester home he now shares with DiSanto. Their client roster includes local hip-hop, R&B and gospel acts, including Scan Scarfo, Dirty Money and Antjuan Deago. Their Real Life graphics business creates posters, CD covers and Web sites. In 2003, they started renting this $2,700-a-month building near the Italian Market. For now, the building's back area and upper floors are still very much works in progress.

The pair has been shopping a business proposal for a $421,000 loan, with more than $300,000 slotted for studio equipment and the graphics business, after being rejected for several small business loans.

Though their shop is relatively new, Thomas has been in the game for close to two decades.

"Ever since I can remember, it's been about music for me," says Thomas, 34.

In the late 1980s, after playing keyboard in a band with friends from Chester High School, Thomas became enamored of the burgeoning rap genre, especially KRS-One's raw delivery. Inspired, he created his own rhymes at his high school's talent shows and at local block and house parties.

In 1994, Thomas met Kurupt, a Philadelphia-born artist who'd achieved fleeting fame as a guest MC on Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre records. Through Kurupt he met Beanie Sigel, The Roots and Larry Gold, composer and owner of Philadelphia's The Studio.

Thomas eventually decided he was better suited to working behind the scenes and started "reading books and looking over the shoulders of engineers at studios and clubs and asking what they were doing." He also learned the ropes of studio production from an internship with Gold.

Finally, he launched Unity Brothers but it wasn't exactly lining his pockets with gold. To pay the bills over the last nine years, Thomas has worked for his cousin's contracting business refurbishing old houses.

By 2003, Thomas decided he had accomplished all he could in Chester and that it was time to expand. The proverbial lightbulb went off: What if a band could record a CD and have the art and promotional posters designed all in the same place? (Most studios only offer recording services; mixing and graphics are done elsewhere.)

"The studio would be [ideal] for small entourages," explains Thomas. "Big studios have the problems of distractions. This will be a home base where people can feel comfortable with the surroundings."

The cavernous future studio space was designed by ROPD Inc., the firm that created studios for Wu-Tang Clan and assorted rappers; DiSanto's father knocked down the existing walls and installed drywall complete with soundproofing. Though it reeks of fresh paint and the walls are stripped bare, one can tell where the drum and vocal booths, a preproduction room, control room and lounge areas will one day fit in the hollow shell.

"Right now it looks like crap," DiSanto admits. "But it's going to look very professional soon."

Bands should start recording in late spring. DiSanto's received requests for studio hours from managers of "all different types of bands," including rock artists who come in noticing the sign out front.

For now, DiSanto says revenue from the store will float the graphics and studio.

But what sets the couple apart from others with dreams and no financing, they feel, is the confluence of the arts they hope to bring to their space. "We want music, art and fashion all coming together under an inner-city culture," says DiSanto.