![]() ![]() ‘Official’ around Inglewood hasn’t always meant restoring autonomy for victims of the prison industrial complex though. He needs to see we’re official around here.” He just got out and I’m trying to lace him up when he comes by in a minute. “One of my homies, Keebo, been locked up for 17 years. Some members of the new staff are rearranging items while 2 Eleven holds court. On one of the first racks I see three shirts emblazoned with ‘Cypress Drop That Shit’, merchandise for L.A. The shop sells clothing and is filled with custom shoes, jeans, shirts, jackets, hats, socks, and other apparel from popular national companies like Bathing Ape and Adidas, but mainly focuses on smaller Los Angeles brands, especially those from Inglewood. ![]() The Serving Spoon is getting ready to close for the day, but The Level Up store is buzzing right now. The two are connected by a soft maroon awning that wraps around the strip. It’s tucked back about 20 yards from the road in an ‘L’ shape strip with The Serving Spoon as a neighbor, a staple breakfast joint that’s occupied the space since 1985. The physical shop has been updated in the past year - now ‘LEVEL UP ON CENTINELA’ rests above the door - but The Level Up Store was serving Inglewood before the sign was finished. He answers the technician’s questions then, after checking the matching gold outline of his Nikes, notices me and announces, “It’s a good day you came, I just got my LLC today.” It’s early January of last year, so when rapper 2 Eleven, the owner, emerges from the glass storefront, he’s donning a white Lakers hoodie with Kobe Bryant’s #8 on the back. Specifically, he’s looking for the proprietor of 1409 Centinela. When I’m in earshot, I hear him asking for the owner to come outside. At a strip of businesses on the 1400 block of Centinela Avenue in North Inglewood, there’s a cable technician balanced on an awning and untangling a ball of primary-color wires. ![]()
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