2008 has been a great year to finally move forward as a nation and as a people. As our culture continues to merge and make this interesting blend, one of the more forward-thinking individuals comes in the form of Peter Hadar. In this edition of GIANT Life, the New Jersey weirdo takes yours truly on a trip to Planet Strange.
Born an anomaly in New Jersey, Peter Winstead Jr. had pretty much everything placed at his feet. Blessed with a doting mother, he attended the best schools and grew under the wisdom of those around him. Yours truly, on the other end, had to figure it all out. So, when the two of us finally met up at Pieces in Brooklyn, the day was going to be an interesting one.
Hadar has built his name from the ground up. Amassing kudos from URB, Billboard, VIBE and magazines, respectively, his determination for greatness is astounding. I had been bumping a few songs off of his sophomore release Well Dressed For The Art Show and was interested in learning more about the interstellar alien from Planet Strange.
But first, I had to get a few things in order.
Even though Hadar may be “well dressed” for the art show, I, on the other hand, couldn’t dress for dinner if it was outside of my apartment. Figuring this to be a blessing in disguise, Peter played stylist while we discussed the rule of thumb for dressing and why his music isn’t so strange.
“One has to have confidence in whatever he or she wears,” Hadar explained. I’m an Ohioan born guy from folks raised out of Louisiana – what did I know of Yoko Devereaux or Mishka? “You can take ordinary pieces and mix them with something that is name brand and continue to push your own individual style.”
It is that uniqueness that has won Peter Hadar praise from the R&B world’s shining princes like Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Roberson and Rahsaan Paterson. His name grew through those ranks after styling his musician friends for gigs, but how would he fare for yours truly? (Check out the gallery below)
After leaving Pieces with a newfound awareness of what it meant to have “swagger” (don’t like the word, personally…), we bounced out to the Mishka store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The store was being retooled and getting fresh for the public, but I wanted to know more about what Peter Hadar thought about how being weird is cool.
“It [being weird] is cool, when it’s effortless, but it is okay to experiment as well,” Hadar stated. “But when you’re trying to sound [different] and be cool so hard that people notice, because you’re loud and not because it’s dope, then you’re reaching.”
While he’s still reaching to get the masses aware of his international takeover, Peter Hadar has his Space Suit nearly finished and you should take a trip to Planet Strange sometime – it’s an insane bag of awesomeness.
MAIN PHOTO: Keith Selby
