YUMS is a line best known for its mouth watering sneaker flavors and Dirty South influence. Launched in 2007, the Dallas-birthed brand has been serving up bold colors and designs along with premium quality materials in footwear and apparel. Kiki got a chance to catch up with the creative genius behind YUMS, graffiti artist turned "Supa Throwed" designer, Tex.

Find out about Soulja Boy's and Sean Kingston's involvement with the line, exciting upcoming YUMS news and much more!

DrJays.com: How did you first get your start in the footwear industry?

Tex: "I’ve been a sneakerhead for as long as I can remember. I took the initial drawings and designs I had to my longtime friend and now CEO of YUMS, JP McDade, and he made things happen on the business end. I feel really blessed that things came together as well as they did."

DrJays.com: How did the concept of YUMS first come about?

Tex: "The inspiration behind YUMS came from me coming up with a way to blend sneakers, fashion, music, art and flavor that embodied the whole Dallas look and feel. I sketched out the brand and designs, and those original drawings are what the brand is today.

DrJays.com: Can you tell us about acts like Soulja Boy and Sean Kingston's involvement with the line?

Tex: "We're always staying on the cusp of what's new and hot in the fashion and music industry, therefore our endorsement with Soulja Boy was fitting. He was the first national artist we teamed up with and he did an incredible job getting the brand recognized on a national level.

Soulja Boy Signature Low by YUMS

"Sean Kingston was a fan of the YUMS movement as well, we worked closely with both of them and created signature sneakers that were best sellers on DrJays.com and Dr. Jay's stores."

DrJays.com: Any exciting upcoming projects/collaborations in the works?

Tex: "The biggest news outside of our new products would be our new website and social network at www.yumsshoes.com; an interactive YUMS experience. Also, our involvement with NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas. We will be hosting a YUMS pop up store at the W Hotel and co-hosting events throughout the weekend with Dallas's own Dorrough, Play n Skillz, LA Lakers’ Ron Artest, Martellus Bennett of the Dallas Cowboys and many others. It is a great opportunity to showcase the YUMS movement as well as the fashion and music movement in Dallas. "From a product standpoint, we have our current line as well as many new additions to be proud of. In December, we launched 'The B.A.Y' which is a stylish black or blue hi-top with a mix of full-grain leather and denim followed by additions to the Sweet Series with the black and red Cherry Cola and the V VS1. "In the Spring, we're launching a new 20-SKU collection of YUMS New Era 59fifty hats, as well as new t-shirts. We just dropped the original 'Grustler' tee and new big face design as well. Everyone has to check out the website, it is out of this world."

DrJays.com: You recently partnered up with the shoe charity, Soles4Souls. Can you tell us more about your involvement?

Tex: "I had heard about what they do to help those in need around the world through my church so we reached out to them to donate shoes. We sent a substantial donation of shoes to them over the holidays and will be sending more shoes to them on a regular basis. We feel really blessed to be able to partner with them and help others".

DrJays.com: What's your personal favorite YUMS shoe?

Tex: "My favorite shoe right now would be Sean Kingston's 'Time Is Money' shoe. To me it is just a very comfortable, stylish, everyday color and look for a great price."

Tex with Sean Kingston

DrJays.com: With all of the rapidly increasing sneaker brand launches, what do you think keeps driving the success of YUMS?

Tex: "New styles, innovation and hard work. Our new tee The Grustler pretty much sums up the hard work behind our success. The definition of a Grustler is 'one who both Grinds and Hustles'. That is what we do as a company and that is what describes our fans and artists that represent us. Our customers and artists are part of the Yums Family. That is how we look at it and that is what sets us apart".

See more from YUMS for both men and women on DrJays.com!

AllHipHop.com caught up with Hot 97's DJ Kay Slay to see who his Top 5 rap artists of all time were. DJ Kay Slay, who has seen many rappers come and go as a 30-year-veteran, might surprise you with his list. Maybe not, he is known as "The Drama King."

DJ K-Slay's new album More Than Just A DJ is due in stores February 9.

1. Grandmaster Melle Mel

Hands down. He touched on topics in the late 70’s and early 80’s that’s still relevant right now. You listen to “The Message,” and “Beat Street Breakdown” [from the Beat Street movie soundtrack]. Back then he mentioned “don’t be a slave to no computer.” Man n***as didn’t even know about computers in the 70’s and 80’s man! N***as didn’t have Macs! He talked about “The cheats the lies/The alibis/Man’s foolish attempt to conquer the skies/Lost in space/What is it worth/The president just forgot about earth.” That’s why they f**king with the moon and all that s**t now! They are trying to see if they can survive up that motherf**ker long enough to destroy this motherfucking planet and come back down here and start their own motherf**king nation of robots. Having n***as with barcodes on the back of their head. The s**t he talked about on that record made me say “this is the greatest rapper of all time.” I aint saying he’s just one, n***a he’s number 1 on my list. You disagreeing with me?

2. Grandmaster Caz -

You saying “of all time.” This is my era, son. Grandmaster Caz them n***as right there The Cold Crush Brothers, man they was the ones who started harmonizing and routines in Hip-Hop. Singing, fashion, the leather outfits, the belts dangling, the leather suits. Grandmaster Caz, he even wrote one of the biggest hip-hop records of all time, “Rapper’s Delight.” I gotta give it Grandmaster Caz second.

3. Nas -

Nas is just like such a deep brother. Whether he lives the s**t he speaks or not, he’s real intelligent brother. He knows how to put them songs together to make you sit back and think. I am lyrical type cat, so I like to hear stories. And of course, his classic diss record, “Ether.” “Takeover” by Jay-Z was nice, but it wasn’t geared all towards Nas. Nas dismantled that whole crew on that record dog. Please don’t make me repeat the lyrics. But you know and I know, that record was so nasty when it came out, Jay-Z did not come back with a response to touch that.

4. Jay-Z -

Jay been lyrical from day one. He came up with one of the greatest lyricists, Jaz-O and he took the s**t to another level. What made me bug out now is despite whatever discrepancy I might have had with him, man his verse on the Snoop’s remix to “I Wanna Rock” is nuts. How he breaks down everyone’s name through each verse. Made me say, “ok Jay, that n***a is nice.” And I aint with none of that dumb illuminati s**t. I believe the black man is the true living god, I am a 5 Percenter. I’m God Cipher Diving. I don’t believe in Christianity, Catholics and that other s**t, but that’s for another day. He aint no illuminati. He knows how to cause controversy and it’s real evident he’s working on album. And it’s good when n***as are talking about you in any kind of light, you can turn a negative into a positive. He’s smart and he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. This is Hip-Hop and it’s part of the business of entertaining people.

5. Bun B - Bun B, a lot of brothers figure that Southern artists aren’t really lyricists up North. Fortunately, I know better. 8 Ball & MJG, spit. Ludacris spits. T.I. spits. Lots of brothers out there that spit. But Bun B. and Pimp C. been spitting hard, RIP Pimp, for along time. Bun B has done freestyles on New York tracks. When I hear a brother go off a New York track, I know where they are at lyrically. Bun B is one of them dudes, he can rhyme on anything. I never game him a beat and he said “that’s a little to this. Can you send me something else?” It’s like that what’s you want n***a this what I’ma give you. Let’s go, and flip it. Bun B is spectacular can’t leave him out of that.

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