Bobby Hundreds Talks About His Struggles With The Asian and Asian American Communities In His Own Words

For more than 15 years Bobby Kim, who goes by Bobby Hundreds, expressed himself through his iconic streetwear brand, The Hundreds. Now with the release of his book, “This Is Not a T-Shirt: A Brand, a Culture, a Community — a Life in Streetwear,” he tells the world about his personal and brand journeys. Here, in his own words, Hundreds talks candidly about what he hopes to achieve with his first book, his painful childhood memories, the importance of a private life and the lack of love he’s received from the Asian American community.

I’ve never talked to anyone about this. Not even to my therapist or my wife. I’ve been broken. I’ve had my ego bruised … a lot. Crushed. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve hurt a lot of people. I’ve been humbled so many times. I have so much baggage that it’s really hard for me to consider myself better than anybody else.

I wrote in the book that when people meet me they’re like, “I thought you were going to be a total asshole.” I guess that’s cool for me to hear. Because our space, the streetwear world, is fueled by ego and bravado. And there’s so much machoness in it. That never spoke to me. Maybe because I grew up in an abusive household where I had a gigantic, angry Korean dad barking at me, treating us like we…