Toy Story

Some DJs endorse clothing brands. Others open tea shops. But A-Trak is doing something a bit more playful—he’s designed a toy for Kid Robot.

Dubbed the Grateful Bear, the eight inch vinyl figure is a swaggering polar bear with sunglasses perched on his head, a fish in his back pocket, and a square that looks suspiciously like acid resting on his tongue. Although A-Trak claims “whatever’s on his tongue, I don’t know – I don’t even know what acid looks like,” the psychedelic drug would certainly explain the Technicolor igloo that comes with the set.

The former World DJ Champion wasn’t working alone—graphic designer Dust La Rock was his partner in crime for this project, which took about a year to finish up. “We were working on a bunch of stuff, so whenever we had a minute it would be like, ‘Oh yeah, the bear, we gotta design the bear!’ And then months would pass,” explains A-Trak. It wasn’t the first time this duo collaborated on a project; they met “four or five years ago,” when Dust La Rock designed a flyer for the DJ, and “it’s been magic ever since.”

And though it’s not all fun and games for A-Trak—he’s hitting the road with Rye Rye and Treasure Fingers this Sunday for a summer-long tour—he promises that the Grateful Bear is only the beginning. “The next thing? Energy drinks,” he says with a laugh, pointing to a six-pack of Amp energy drinks arranged on the table next to him. “For my trademark energy.”
REBECCA WILLA DAVIS