For twenty-two years Rebel and Rage has been forming. Growing. Developing.
It started off as an inside joke about the popular statement "stand for something or fall for anything" that materialized into something more than just an idea. It became a feeling, a rising lump in the back of your throat that makes you question if you're gonna be sick or if you're just really, really excited. We also sound like we could be a really shitty battle cry for some at-home baby-boy who is sad that they accidentally swiped left instead of right on their tinder match they didn't know they might have wanted.
Or... it could mean much more than that. It could be the strength that a single mother has to get her kids to bed when they just won't listen after a long work day. It could be the strength of a broken heart to try and risk love again after being absolutely fucking decimated. It could be the courage of a scared young person to come out to their family and friends when they've been hiding a part of themselves for way too damn long. It could be the strength to just wake up and face another day when all you want to do is give up.
In this modern era, there is a keyboard warrior or activist around every corner. Someone with an opinion, or a big feeling that they can't wait to tell you about. Agree with them, someone tells you that you're wrong. Change your opinion. Whoops, wrong again. Now you're an ingenuine asshole. Turn left, you were supposed to go right. Stand up; nope, sit down. It's a mad-house everywhere you look. Turn on the T.V. and get slammed with commercials about some magical pill that'll let you live a little longer albeit with some crazy list of homicidal side effects. Change the channel to the news to escape and get blitzed with news about some new extreme disease that's out to kill us all. Politics thrown in your face left and right telling you how someone is letting you down followed by a puff piece about how injecting yourself could shed unwanted pounds without having to go on diet or go to the gym. Okay, you've had enough, so you shut off the T.V. and grab your phone. Let's open up some social media and see what our friends and followed pages are up to. Bam, forty-five minutes have gone by doom scrolling shit you didn't even know you needed, but someone did. Every action watched. Every movement recorded. Someone out there knows you better than you know yourself. But hey, Donovan from 10th grade home room just got a promotion at his job, and Terry just got back from a vacation. Sure must be nice to have extra money these days while you're out here just trying to make ends meet. So let us toss on our shoes and get out and start the day. Walk out the door and the smell of shit hits you right in the face. Neighbors dog dropped a fresh bomb in the yard. We'll get to that after work. Jump in the car, battery is dead. Piece of shit vehicle anyways, but no money to get something better. Trying to afford these outrageous bills. Sure seems like our parents and grandparents had it better. Maybe they didn't, I'm sure someone out there will tell us how they had to walk up hills to school, both ways, in the middle of a blizzard with nothing but holey socks and a rucksack. Call an Uber, get to work 10 minutes late. Traffic is a bitch lately. Boss is a dick and calls you out because this is the 3rd time in the last two months you've been tardy. Shit happens. Emails are through the roof. Perhaps it's not emails, but a fuck pile of work. Either way, just another day. You listen to Brenda complain to a coworker about how her boyfriend is a piece of shit but refuses to leave him because they share a dog together. Lunch time hits and you're off to grab a quick bite, but fuck... you remembered your car didn't start and the nearest decent food spot is a 10 minute walk away and you only have a half hour lunch. Ain't worth it. Chug some water and doom scroll some more. We'll get a good dinner later, after we pick up the dog shit. Back to work. More emails. More work. More ammunition for the corporate greed machine, but hey. It pays the bills. You're off the clock at 5:00 but didn't leave today until 5:20 because someone had the total audacity to email you back at 4:58 after you've waited for their response all day. Figures. You take the bus ride home because, well, today sucks and you need a breather. It's also cheaper than a Lyft. Uber isn't much better. Or vice versa. Can't tell anymore because they change their prices as often as your ex changed their phone lock screen password. Get home, pick up the dog shit. Neighbor is outside washing their vehicle, completely disregarding their dogs shit pile in your front yard. Typical. Bag it and tag it. Onto dinner because damn it, you deserve it. Nothing good in the fridge. Mac N Cheese to the rescue. A friend texts you, asking you if you want to get a beer tomorrow. The idea sounds great but you don't get paid for another couple of days. Money's tight, you reschedule. After dinner shower and a shit. Couch for some more doom scrolling. Was that a yawn? Yeah, sure was. Man, I really should go to the gym. Maybe when I have a few more bucks for a gym membership I'll go. But that sounds expensive. I should just go run. Ugh, I could really use some new shoes though. It would be worth the money if it's for my health right? Damn, I'm broke. Wish I would have done something different in my life. Maybe I should get a new job. That sounds scary though. Something new. At this age? I don't know. I'm still young enough, but do I want to learn something new? Eh, not really. More doom scrolling. Laugh a little, scroll a little. Shit, it's 1:00 am. I should go to bed. Car alarm. Are you kidding me? Pillow over head. Did I set my alarm. This is life. Repeat.
Not everyone's story looks like this, in face... most don't. Some are far worse. Sadder. Angrier. More depressing. More racially charged. More threatening. More lethal. Add in some kids perhaps. Sprinkle in a bad Divorce. Flavor it with a hateful ex that is emotionally abusive. Add a dash of entitled pricks that think the world owes them something. Lying, stealing, manipulating. More politics taking away your freedoms, more drugs promising more solutions and more easy fixes. More, More, More. More diseases. More incurable ways to die. More brain rot to keep your attention and keep you addicted to the cures they provide to the problems they've have created.
Perhaps it's someone in your face calling you a fucking idiot. Perhaps that person calling someone a fucking idiot is you. Maybe they deserve it? Maybe they don't. Does it even fucking matter? Do you even fucking matter? Does anything seem to matter anymore? Does anything even make sense? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
If you've felt angry over a world that doesn't make any goddamn sense anymore, we see you. If you've been held down when all you've wanted to do is try to stand up on your goddamn feet. We get you. If you're tired of trying and trying and trying and all you do is get kicked in your teeth at every chance and opportunity, we feel you. Life ain't easy, so why should you be?
Rebel and Rage is more than just another clothing brand some woke or ignorant asshole decided to whip up in their grandmother's basement. Other poor unlucky brands have already used up that angle. This is your wake up call to answer and deal with the monotony and bullshit in your life. It's a call to arms. A coup d'etat to the rat race of life that you didn't sign up for. It's standing up for what is right when everyone and everything around you tells you it's wrong. It's the voice inside that says "I'm sick and tired of this bullshit".
It's the 4:00am wake up call to get to the gym. It's the resignation letter to your pedo boss. It's standing up to the asshole at work who won't shut their bigot mouth up. It's supporting whatever the fuck it is you believe in and not backing down. It's being true to yourself, being true to your beliefs, and reading between the growing lines of bullshit that surround us each and every day.
It's time to wake up and Rebel and Rage against the injustices everyone else is too scared to confront. It's time to become the hero of your own story.
J.M.
Creative Director
rebelandrage.com