MISSION
Run it Back is from the culture. We create thoughtful and passion-driven content in the realm of sports, sneakers, and hip-hop. We’re not of the same mind, but we’re here to speak ours.
Run It Back staff
"RAWfiki" Raf Miranda
Founder
I’m a Bboy, bedroom DJ, Hip Hop head, Hooper, Gym rat, and a Sneaker enthusiast that grew up in the 90s and came into my own in the 2000s . I started Run It Back as a way to bring all the things i’m passionate about together and build a community around these outlets. What I want for myself and this team of content creators is to show a side of this culture that comes from the heart. Throughout the years of being both a practitioner and fan of Hip Hop there are a couple things i’ve learned; 1. Speak your truths and stand by them and 2. Agreeing to disagree is a chance to build and learn from one another. Community is everything and i’m going to do whatever it takes to represent the community through my love for this culture.
Jonas Luke David
contributor
I've played basketball for as long as I can remember, first falling in love as a sport, and then finally as an art form. I’m an engaged fan and active player who exudes passion for the game on and off the court. It wasn’t until later in life that I really began to understand and immerse myself into what sneakers really offered. They had always been in my purview as a young kid, but I never really had the capacity to respect and digest every small nuance within the shoe itself. The ideas of performance tech and selective materials slipped through my obsession with aesthetics. I always admired sneaker culture and the collective atmosphere of community and appreciation sneaker heads had for shoes, and at times, each other.
I'm 24 now, but lived through the 90s and early 2000s to be influenced by the nostalgia that captivated others. My musical tastes are passive for the most part, in that I rarely find myself actively searching for new or upcoming music. When a song, lyrical block, or beat resonates with me I fall in love with its meaning. Here at Rawkin It, I want you take home that same meaningful feeling through my words. I hope through my posts, you guys can appreciate the love I have towards a broad spectrum of hobbies and interests.
Erwin Mendoza
contributor
I’ve been blogging professionally since 2012, starting out as a contributor to RantSports, covering the San Diego Chargers (RIP) and currently contribute to Mountain West Wire. Sneakers have been my thing since lurking on Niketalk and InstyleShoes (also RIP) since '04. I bought into the culture because first of all, I felt fresh from the bottom up. No matter how shitty my jeans were or how wack my shirt was in 2006 my kicks were tight tho. Secondly, most classic sneakers have a story around why they exist or why they constructed the shoe in a certain way. Narratives bring people in and keep 'em around.
I grew into the culture at Nike SB’s peak and times have changed in the decade since. I intend on talking about the bigger picture of sneaker culture like what happened since 2006 and why is Nike losing the youth to Adidas? How did sneakers become an asset for street culture and high fashion? Sneaker culture has played a role in my life as an expensive hobby and lifestyle choice, and I’d like to share how sneaker culture drives the mainstream
Daniel Malicsi
contributor
My name is Daniel Malicsi but my friends and family call me Danny Boy or D Boy for short. My exposure to hip-hop came at a very early age with my uncles and Kuyas (Tagalog for older brother) all dabbling in graffiti and turntablism. As a young boy, of course, you naturally look up to your older male family members. I would sneak to my Kuyas room and watch him mess around on the turntables and I just remember being hypnotized by the spinning vinyl, the contact the needle made with the record, the way the lights hit the side of the side of the platter creating some sort of optical illusion with the three rows of dots on the side of the platter. And then there was the music, lucky for me my uncles and kuyas were teenagers in the golden era of hip-hop. My uncles and kuyas were very particular about who they would listen to. My first taste of hip-hop was A Tribe Called Quest. I just remember how raw the beats and the bass lines were and the vocals; the perfect balance that was Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (RIP). Tip gave off that very calm cool vibe and Phife was very hype, and that was a "rap" (see what I did there) from that day on I was sucked into everything hip hop and hip hop culture: shoes, clothes, style, turntables, graffiti(even though I'm trash lol), and sports (mainly basketball).
My vision is to bring folks together through hip hop and hip hop culture. A lot of times the "older heads" (myself included) do a lot of critiquing of the new direction hip-hop is going, and I'm not saying that some of these critiques are not warranted, but instead of trashing these new kids maybe there is a way to have open dialogue and educate about how to keep the integrity of hip-hop alive. As I have grown older I have become a firm believer in speaking with intent, and to me the best intent a person can have is love. Wait, I thought we were talking hip hop? Well, at the risk of losing my "thug card" some of my favorite MCs and hip-hop groups spoke about love all the time. To me, that's just the nature of hip-hop we are going to have agreements and disagreements. When you consider that hip-hop was birthed in the environment of oppression and could not have happened without the ugly element of oppression in America it's only natural that this subject matter has a very passionate and opinionated fan base. Let's try something new lets dialogue together especially when we DONT agree. At the end of the day its all love.
Albert Contreras
Contributor
As a contributing writer I hope to produce dope as fuck content that reflects the culture. I want you to be excited to read what I write, because you know it will make you think differently about sneakers, sports, and hip-hop. I have a passion for writing and I hope to use that energy here at Run It Back to create and collaborate with the whole team.
I have loved two things consistently since 1994: basketball and Hip-Hop. I started playing basketball at parks and schools in San Diego and have never looked back. I still hoop every week and regularly get buckets on local 30 year olds. I live and die with the Lakers. Always. Hip Hop was, is, and will always be the soundtrack to my life. My love for hip-hop comes from the 90’s Golden Era and the 00’s Underground Scene. All I need is a hoop, some fresh sneakers, and throw on a classic hip hop album and I am good. Peace.