As a photographer, creative director, DJ, college graduate and entrepreneur, 22-year old Tahir Murray is a reflection of many college students and young adults who have a vision, work hard, and are immensely creative. But what sets him apart is the way he is able to merge his family legacy, many creative skills, and amplify his love for Black culture and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Through his clothing line, Legacy History Pride (LHP) Murray is not just running a business that sells college HBCU apparel, he is also making a statement about the importance of HBCUs, the creativity of Black youth, but most importantly the impact of Black culture worldwide.
Murray first started developing his “self-brand” as a DJ during his time attending Howard University. But, he didn’t want to just be the typical “DJ so and so,” so he created the name Mr. Legacy while starting the brand LHP, thus rebranding himself for his future. Tahir has a deep love for connecting people and finding different ways to creatively express himself whether it’s through music, fashion, or entrepreneurship. He simply wants to share his story through the creative lens that he finds.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Tahir to discuss the legacy, history, and pride of his brand, experience as a young entrepreneur, and advice for young entrepreneurs trying to grow their brands.
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VOX ATL: What is the inspiration behind the details of the LHP clothing?
Tahir Murray: We were thinking of things that really just represented who we are, what I care about, and something that just really represented HBCUs. HBCUs help breed legacies, show a lot of pride which can be seen in the D9 (sororities and fraternities established with unique core values but shared a common goal: to educate and uplift the Black community from racial inequities), and of course have a lot of history, which is what helped us create the name Legacy History Pride (LHP).
We wanted to provide apparel that people have never really seen before and that was rooted in the HBCUs and the communities we collaborated with. As soon as I mocked up the primetime crewneck I knew it was a hit, it was just like a feeling. When people wear the product, buy the product, or put it on, we just want people to feel proud to represent the HBCU that they are wearing, similar to how proud I was to design the product.
VOX ATL: How do you think LHP is inspiring students to attend HBCUs?
Tahir Murray: One of my favorite Howard memories is when I was walking to class and someone came up to me and they had Howard shorts on that I designed and they told me they saw a celebrity with the shorts on and they said I gotta go to Howard one day and I gotta wear these shorts at Howard. It really showed me what LHP is doing in the HBCU space and how it informs kids on what HBCUs are. LHP is deeper than the fabric, it shares and highlights a lot of stories and I wanna be able to share that through fashion.
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VOX ATL: What is your advice for youth trying to use their social media to grow their brands and small business?
Tahir Murray: You have to know your community and you have to know who you are talking to and that’s really how you start. So for me I just knew the community I wanted to make products for and I stuck true to that. As far as marketing for LHP, we do our own photoshoots and stuff like that, but alot of our posts are from our audience who just wanted to show off the gear in their everyday lives and that helps build our community. Build a community but also build a foundation and have principle values that help you stay true to yourself and your company. You have to have patience too, it’s a very slow grind.
VOX ATL: As a third generation entrepreneur, what is your advice for youth who are trying to overcome barriers while building their brands?
Tahir Murray: You gotta have faith, if anything else you got to believe in yourself, because if you don’t believe in yourself no one else will. I had to fall in love with having faith in the process, there is a lot of power in the timing of things.
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VOX ATL: As a 22-year old entrepreneur, how has this ideology of being your own boss impacted you as a young adult?
Tahir Murray: I had to learn how to balance school, family, a business, basically mature really fast and be on top of everything I needed to do. Achieving all of my accomplishments in undergrad, Howard and my peers gave me the confidence for sure that I can definitely do more post undergrad.
VOX ATL: As a college graduate, do you think college is necessary to be an entrepreneur, and if so what is a good major for students?
Tahir Murray: Education is not going to stop, for whatever you do. If you want to be the greatest basketball player in the world, greatest doctor, greatest lawyer, whatever you aspire, you still gotta be a student of the craft. The good thing about college is that you can really make the best of it and you don’t have to have it all figured out. For students who want to be their own boss, college is the best opportunity for that because you’re going to new environments, being around different peers, building communities, and building your platform. You have access to anything you need and can find it on campus with students who are very talented. I know that path may not be for everyone but based on my experience college is everything cause you just have access to so much. I don’t think there is a perfect major so don’t let a major define who you are or put you in a box.
Visit the company’s website or follow Legacy History Pride on Instagram or Twitter.
