by Marjorie Smith Josh Perkins, '02, business, is getting used to being a pioneer. What else can you call a guy who opens the first hip hop store in Montana? "When I call my suppliers, all I've gotta say is, 'Hey, this is Montana!' and they know who's calling," he grins. But there are other territories he's pioneering, too. He's the first in his extended family to earn a college degree, so he's setting an example for younger cousins, showing them possibilities beyond inner-city life in Los Angeles. His degree may even provide inspiration to other scholarship athletes at MSU. Although MSU has a much better than average record of graduating student athletes, there are still students who drift away from college if their eligibility (and therefore financial aid) ends before they get a degree. But Josh Perkins persevered, paid the out-of-state tuition, and got the degree. Because he graduated at the end of summer semester and missed his chance to march in MSU's commencement ceremonies last spring, his mother threw a private ceremony--complete with cap and gown and commencement speaker--when he returned home to Los Angeles. He'd gone home to turn his savings--and whatever he could borrow from friends and family--into the goods he needed to set up his store in Bozeman. He admits that many of his suppliers, his California friends, and even some of his business professors at MSU thought he was foolish when he first started talking about opening his store, Justus, the Hip Hop Emporium, in the Gallatin Valley Mall. "But I'm sure they said the same thing about Ben Franklin," he says. "Hey, man! What you doin' with that key on your kite out in that thunderstorm. You crazy?" Perkins was determined to find a way to make a living in Bozeman. He has a not-quite-two-year-old son who lives here with his mother, and Perkins doesn't want to perpetuate the same childhood he had, with a father who was never there for him. His store is named after his son, Justus. Perkins points out the dressing rooms at the back of the store in a structure covered with corrugated steel. "That's the wear-house," he says. The walls of the store are decorated with colorful murals of cityscapes painted by a friend, MSU art major Brian Knoelig. "I'm trying to give it that big city feel," Perkins explains. Is there really a market in Bozeman for big baggy pants and jackets for guys? Brief, swingy outfits for gals? Apparently so. "It's almost like it was meant to be," says Perkins. "Every month since I opened, something comes along to boost sales." He opened the store last Nov. 11 and on Dec. 8, Snoop Dogg played the MSU Fieldhouse, the first really big name rapper to perform in Bozeman. "They sold 8,000 tickets to that concert," Perkins says. Many of the concert-goers stopped in at Justus to be sure they were appropriately dressed for the event. "Then there comes Christmas, so we sold a lot of gift certificates. Then Valentines Day gave us a boost. Then in March they brought in state basketball tournaments so we had kids from other towns looking for something different." Perkins is not depending entirely on luck and the calendar. He's launched "The Dollar Spot," a hip hop music night at the Zebra Cocktail Lounge on Wednesday nights. For a one dollar cover charge, rap fans can dance to recorded music. "People say, only one dollar?" says Perkins. "I'm just trying to cover my costs--and provide a venue for what I'm selling." His business professors must be proud.