Streaming! For Us… By Us

Why not us?

That was the question four friends from New York City asked themselves in 1992 when they decided to come together and create the clothing line FUBU—“For Us, By Us.” For the ’80s and ‘90s babies, we saw the vision. We accepted it by way of rocking their clothes, spreading the word, and fully appreciating that one infamous 1999 Gap commercial that had LL Cool J, covertly, with the FB hat on his head, freestyling “ready to go, for us, by us—on the low.” Daymond John (of Shark Tank fame), Keith Perrin, Carl Brown, and J. Alexander Martin couldn’t buy that kind of nationwide advertising at the time…without spending a dime. Fast forward three decades since its inception. After over six billion dollars of apparel sold (in department stores like Macy’s and Forever 21), and with streaming services being the worldwide leader in how we consume entertainment, those four brothers from “The Big Apple” asked again, “why not us,” and threw their hat in the streaming pool by launching the For Us By Us Network.

“Now we have something different. There’s a lot of other streaming services out there, but when you say it’s ‘for us, by us,’ it’s different,” says Martin, who spearheaded this addition to the FUBU portfolio. “It’s synonymous with culture; it’s synonymous with today’s people; it’s synonymous with what’s going on in life. And we felt that no one else can take that from us. And no one else can have that, as well.”

Hey, owning any Black-oriented brand was, and still is, extremely tough back in the early ’90s, when FUBU began—let alone fashion. Creating your own network? Sheeeeeiiiiiiiiiiit, you can only go to Bob Johnson as the only example of that kind of Black excellence when he launched BET in 1979. Since the pioneer blazed that trail, networks and channels like TV One, Cleo TV, Bounce TV, OWN, and more recently—and notably—Revolt–have followed that trail. But, let’s keep it a buck; not that many Black homes and households can afford the ridiculously high prices for cable services in comparison to its online streaming counterpart. The numbers don’t lie. “Internet-connected device penetration among Black households increased by eight percent. And today, 17% of Black families that report having access to an SVOD (Streaming Service On Demand) have combined access to at least four SVOD providers.”

The numbers don’t lie, and Alexander knew that before tipping his toe in the vast SSOD waters.

​​“We have curated African-American content that is of the highest level,” Martin expressed. “I have gained a very deep comprehension and awareness about the urban consumer and what appeals to them in the form of not only fashion, but entertainment,” Martin expressed. “For Us By Us Network was created so that we could provide quality content for the culture.”

That content—which one can experience on Roku, Apple, Amazon Prime, and Samsung TV for $24.99 per yearly quarter or $79.99 yearly—includes titles like the Michael Jai White and Mickey Rourke drama, Take Back, tongue-in-cheek indie comedy, How To Tell You’re A Douchebag, cooking show, Chopping It Up With Oakley, and, yes, ratchetness like The Making of Saucy Santana and The Real Side Chicks of Charlotte.

As For Us By Us Network co-founder Roberto “Rush” Evans said, “our platform will be unique and I’m excited that we will be able to deliver an extraordinary library of movies, series, and original content to the hip-hop culture and lifestyle.”

Followed by Martin, “it’s for the people—we listen to what you want and that’s it.”

Boom…why not us?