When JD Sports approached Sydney rapper Dibz about linking up on a forthcoming ASICS campaign, he had the opportunity to make this one personal.
“They asked me if there was anything specific I wanted to include in the shoot, and Franklyn Street was the main one,” he tells Complex AU. “That’s where I met everyone. That’s the start of the origin. It was only right we went back there.”
And so they did. The campaign, promoting JD Sports’ exclusive ASICS range, runs with the tagline “you don’t have to move on to move forward” and takes place on the Glebe street where Dibz grew up, showcasing the rapper kitted out in footwear and apparel from the retailer’s ASICS range.
“We used to always see the older boys wearing fresh ASICS,” he says. “That was what we used to talk about—’one day we’ll be rocking them’. Now, here we are doing advertisements. Especially for the boys around here, that’s an accomplishment. It’s a trophy we’re proud of.”
Shooting the ASICS campaign on location was a full circle moment which allowed Dibz to put the spotlight on his friends, neighbours and mentors that he grew up alongside.
“My family’s first house was in Glebe. We lived there for something like 26 years and I’m not even 26 yet,” he says. “We’re basically the only ones who’ve moved out. Everyone else is still there. It’s the same block—nothing’s changed. It was good to show what it really is.”
When asked about what Glebe really is, Dibz gestures towards the way his area is often portrayed in the media—we talk about its reputation as a crime capital—which he thinks lacks perspective.
“I’m not gonna sit here and say I grew up in the worst conditions. There’s always someone who had it harder,” he says. “But we had our own struggles. We didn’t have it all, but we weren’t without either. And yeah, sometimes we made decisions that made it harder for ourselves.
“It wasn’t always smooth, but it made us who we are. And I know there’s people out there who can relate. This isn’t a contest about who had it the toughest. It’s not about that. Glebe’s full of love—we’ve always been open arms. We’re not gangsters like people try to say these days.”
If anyone’s equipped to know, it’s Dibz. Not only has he spent most of his life in the 2037 postcode, but he’s proudly represented it in his music since starting out in 2019. His latest release ‘Welcome to Glebe’ is a fiery statement of intent, putting his hometown on the map in a dexterous flurry of bars.
“That one’s actually a bit old, it had been sitting around for a while,” he says. “We were going through old tracks, found it again, mixed it, and it came out clean. So we ran with it, shot a video with help from Bad Apples, and it ended up doing well. I was mad happy with how it turned out.”
It’s a level up from a rapper who fell into the game almost by accident in 2019. Inspired by the likes of ONEFOUR and 21 District, Dibz started making songs alongside his friends in the spirit of friendly competition.
“It was never a dream,” he says. “One of my mates made a track, and I thought, ‘I can make a better song than that.’ We were just having a laugh. So I made something, and even though it didn’t take off, back then it felt like it did. I posted a video, people cared, and I was over the moon.”
Half a decade later and Dibz is one of the brightest faces on the scene. With his music reaching new heights and his face on billboards across the country, the sky’s the limit. Dibz is coy on what’s coming up, mulling over whether he can talk about the “big features” on the cards, but plays it safe.
“I’ve got some big things planned, he says with a smile. “Keep your eyes out.”
Still, Dibz is active. He’s working on basketball events for the kids in the area, giveaways and community activations. Although Dibz has the momentum to propel him very far forward, he has no plans to move on from Glebe. Even as his face is plastered on an ASICS campaign across the nation, Dibz is still firmly focused on his legacy that started on Franklyn Street.
Shop the latest JD exclusive ASICS footwear and apparel collection now, online and at your nearest JD store.
