Fyre Festival has been in the headlines since the events epic and well-documented fail. Spearheaded by Billy McFarland and the support of investors such as Ja Rule, the event promised fans an indelible experience on a Bahamian island. The event was evidently a disaster and merchandise designer, D Bruzeis believes he should have known better.
D Bruze is an independent artist who has created widely sought after merchandise for artists such as Future and Drake. He spoke to Page Six about the work he anticipated doing for Fyre Festival, and the moment he first knew he was up for disappointment. Having always wanted to work for Ja Rule, D Bruze reached out to the musician to make merch for him but was thrown off when there was no follow-up. “Looking back, I realize now how truly unprofessional they were,” the designer told Page Six. He detailed reaching out to Ja Rule's camp and receiving a response “literally a few hours later,” and the two parties scheduled a meeting in New York.
At the meeting, Bruze presented three designs for T-shirts which drew inspiration from previous Ja Rule merch sold during his 2002, “Thug Lovin” era. The response from Ja Rule was positive but raised some red flags. "[I was asked to make] a few thousand shirts in a very limited amount of time. No money was ever discussed even though I had asked, and many emails went unanswered from them,” he shared. “I thought they ditched my proposal. I’m glad it couldn’t work out, because look at what a fiasco [the festival] was.”