As we approach the release of Coming 2 America, Nas’ HSTRY brand has unleashed a collaborative apparel collection in support of the sequel.
The 13-piece limited edition range takes cues from the original 1988 film and its fast-approaching follow-up, as it includes bold colors, graphics, and patterns that celebrate the cultures of both Queens and Africa. There’s an assortment of crew neck tees, a colligate-inspired sweatshirt, six-panel snapbacks, a “Motherland” beanie, and a batch of premium sweats.
“I’ve been a huge fan since the original movie came out in 1988,” Nas said in a statement. “Our brand HSTRY is all about celebrating history, with an emphasis on Black History, African History and Royalty. With this collab we aimed to capture that royal essence of Zamunda while representing the street style of Queens NY to the WORLD.”
The hip-hop mogul also touched on the newly launched range during a remote sit-down with the film’s stars Eddie Murphy and Jermaine Fowler, who play King Akeem Joffer and Lavelle, respectively. The men discussed some of their favorite memories of Coming to America’s, the movie’s impact on pop culture, and the long journey to its sequel.
“The movie had ended on some, ‘And they lived happily ever after’ thing, so we never thought about doing no sequel,” Murphy said. “And then over the years people would approach me about doing a Coming to America play or a Coming to America TV show—the movie just kind of stayed around … Out of all my movies, Coming to America is on TV all the time; they be playing it for 24 hours straight on different channels.”
Murphy acknowledged that the film had become a cult favorite, but he didn’t consider doing a sequel until 25 years after the original.
“Both movies are my ideas … The second movie, I wasn’t going to make until the script was right,” he continued. “We really worked on the script for four years. It was six different versions of the script before the script got right … I was aware that the movie had become a cult movie and there was people who really liked the movie … I’m not having people be like, ‘Oh you fucked up. I can’t watch the [original] now.’”
Toward the end of the conversation, the men begin discussing the fashion in the original film and the way the costumes have changed in part 2.
“We have the great [award-winning costume designer] Ruth Carter… she is a genius and she took it the next level ...” Murphy said. “The clothes in the movie, the hair, all that stuff, we never ever see anything like that … all Black folks be looking like this, like kings and queens and princes and generals … we just don’t see that on the screen.”
You can watch the full interview up top. The HSTRY x Coming 2 America collection is available now on at HSTRY’s online store. The range will also hit Nordstrom.com, Nordstrom’s NYC store, and Selfridges.com in the near future. You can check out the pieces, modeled by Nas, below.
Coming 2 America will premiere March 5 on Amazon Prime Video.
