The Wellington Papers are a New York-based music collective led by native Gothamites HB Wellington & Lex Verlock. Their music pays homage to the electrifying clashup between uptown sophistication and downtown energy that defines life and love in the Big Apple.
Both HB and Lex were raised in New York City—HB in the Bronx and Lex in Manhattan. The high schools they attended gave them a window into some of New York’s most exclusive and well-heeled social scenes, but HB and Lex were also dra...
The Wellington Papers are a New York-based music collective led by native Gothamites HB Wellington & Lex Verlock. Their music pays homage to the electrifying clashup between uptown sophistication and downtown energy that defines life and love in the Big Apple.
Both HB and Lex were raised in New York City—HB in the Bronx and Lex in Manhattan. The high schools they attended gave them a window into some of New York’s most exclusive and well-heeled social scenes, but HB and Lex were also drawn from an early age to the raw energy of the streets, plunging deep into to the graf, skate, and mid- 1990s New York hip hop scenes. HB and Lex first started producing music together as roommates at Columbia University in the late 1990s, setting up a small studio in dorm room #44 and doing production not only for underground artists, but for platinum acts as well: Studio 44—which comprised HB, Lex, and a mutual childhood friend of theirs, DJ Unit—produced Tony Yayo’s hit song “I Know You Don’t Love Me.” Lex also likes to remind HB that their first live performance took place during these days, when they walked out into the middle of Claremont Avenue to serenade two lovely young ladies in a sixth floor window above.
Then, life intervened to split the team up for a few years, enabling both HB and Lexto explore and digest new artistic ideas and formats individually. Lex, something of a polyglot, went off to study international affairs and work as a journalist in Washington, DC, but expanded his musical chops by playing in blues and bossa bands around the District. HB, a uniquely gifted designer and graphic artist, turned his talents to fashion, co-founding the now-iconic streetwear company Orchard Street. Threads by OS—as the brand is known among connoisseurs—soon appeared in videos and live shows on the shoulders of such tastemakers as Jay-Z, Nas, Mos Def, Diddy, and Lil Wayne, while their now-famous limited edition Nike Dunks sold for thousands on e-Bay (even JudeLaw copped a pair), prompting Reebok to sign OS to a landmark collaboration deal.
During this time HB also began to experiment with broader musical soundscapes- -still rooted in hip-hop, but moving beyond the genre, incorporating rock, ska, and even ragtime elements, crafting a new way of speaking through music about the streets and the city, without many of the limitations that hip-hop had begun to impose.When Lex came back to Gotham with fresh inspiration from his studies and travels across the Middle East, Latin America, and Russia, the team was reunited andreinvigorated, and The Wellington Papers was born. Their music, still rooted in the playful realism of 1990s hip-hop, now also draws on a unique blend of punk, surf rock,ska, and dub influences. Their largely freestyled lyrics—at once savvy, sincere, and light—reflect the unique adventures and misadventures of their New York upbringing.
Even beyond the studio and stage, HB and Lex are outpacing the creative competition. HB is the Creative Director of Archive 1887, a high end t shirt line curated from Sony Music’s 120 year old archive. His iconic designs featuring Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan, Peter Tosh and others have crashed the gates of high fashion to much fanfare. Lex, for his part, hops between Moscow and New York as an investment consultant for Fortune 500 companies and investors, and can be seen from time to time on cable news networks carefully choosing his words about Vladimir Putin. Lex also starred in a short film that was accepted to Tribeca Film Festival 2008, and has composed the music for two films submitted for Sundance 2011.
The Wellington Papers already have several videos on YouTube—including one for their classic and hauntingly melodic single “Jackie.” In their first show with a full band, they blew the roof off of the Red Door club in New York City with a Fashion’s Night Out kickoff show sponsored by J Lindeberg, Public School, Converse, Hennessy Black, and the undisputed sneaker-fiend mecca of the world: Flight Club.
The Wellington Papers — Stay tuned. Stay up. Win.
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