Mohammad Masoud of La Estrella (Photos by Julien Carr)

Step into La Estrella corner store, and it just may look like your typical convenience mart. 99 cent Arizona stocked in the fridge? Check. Blunt packages lined up like a color spectrum behind the counter? Check. Rap Snacks? Che...wait rap snacks too???

To the keen observer, La Estrella is a little different from the regular corner store. To most, it's a regular store, but to others within the Chicago art scene, La Estrella is a creative hub. The store itself is fully immersed in hip-hop culture. From the "The Cornerstore Was My Gift Shop" sticker by Chicago designer Joe Freshgoods on the front door to posters of Qari and Greensllime's Operation Hennessy on the window to the strictly Chicago based music that consistently plays over the speakers. This store is, quite frankly, Chicago as fuck.

"I'm Mohammad, Mohammad Masoud. I am your local corner store owner. I was born in San Francisco, but I grew up in Chicago until I was 17. Then I moved to the Middle East for 7 years. I lived in Germany for a year in those 7 years and came back to Chicago in 2015."

Mohammad's journey to owning a corner store was an unlikely one. Growing up Humboldt Park, he spent a lot of his time in his father's corner store. Too much time if you ask him. His pop would put him to work to keep him out of trouble in the streets, and because of just how frequently he was inside the store as a kid, he grew to hate working inside of it. After high school, he traveled and studied abroad in the Middle East and Europe, where he experienced many life-changing experiences, especially regarding the treatment of Muslims and Arabs around the world, which gave him the spark to be a catalyst for change. So when he came back to the states in 2015, he took over La Estrella, located among the furthest West outskirts of Chicago at 7000 W. Diversey.

"It's looked at in our community that people who takeover corner stores are people who are mostly from the Middle East that have horrible English or guys whose parents gave them the business and they don't really wanna improve it, they just wanna keep it as it is. There needs to be something that changes. From the culture to the community and to the business itself. I think it was after Calez and Kembe X did a video in the store, and it hit me like 'man, I could do a vision.'"

That vision was to convert the shop into a genuine community space. Turn it into a place that serves the people in the neighborhood beyond the basic groceries. Where creatives can come in and express their own artistic vision, and provide a safe space for the neighborhood youth. It wasn't until this past year though that he was finally able to start putting in the work to turn that dream into a reality.

"The thing is, I had the shop for like two years, and I couldn't do nothing because there was a problem with the building. I was just sitting, writing down ideas —I got notebooks full of stuff. Then last year was when I got the green light, and since then I haven't stopped. There is a goal and a vision I wanna do, but you know, it takes time. We opened a little smoke shop. It's not even like I have a lot of stuff, but I'm just telling the community 'hey, we just opened this up, and as business progresses and we can buy more products, you will see more.' Right now, I'm trying to set-up delivery and pick-up for the winter. We just started a rewards program. The money that comes into the business has to go back into the business. There was this one song by DJ Khaled with Nas, I think it was 'Nas Intro.' Nas says 'we give 'em our food stamps and they take their kids to college' and it hit me like I don't ever wanna be like that. I don't want no one to ever say that I made mines and didn't lookout."

The cornerstore has been a staple in the culture since the very beginning. It's the centerpiece for virtually every hood. Think about how many of your favorite artists have music videos set inside one and the numbers of bars that exist about picking up hot chips and cheese. Joey Purp and Saba’s “Cornerstore” revolves around that shared experience. Perhaps the most well-known dedication to the neighborhood corner store was from Chicago's own Lupe Fiasco's classic "Food & Liquor." Joe Freshgoods created his own homage to the corner store at this past summer's ComplexCon —where his pop-up was the star attraction. We may not consciously think about these shops other than the spot we grab our blunts and munchies, but the corner store subtly has played an integral role in the development of all of our lives.

"The corner store is super significant to the culture itself. Where did your mom and pops shop? One customer told me there's always life on the corner. There are little things that when you come inside a corner store, it's different than when you go inside a Target or go inside a Jewel. When you come in here, there's a different type of relationship. Little things that remind you where you're from. I see it as very important, and everyone needs it. YBN Cordae just the other day dropped a video in a corner store. It's like everywhere you go, every artist has a corner store video." said Masoud.

Allowing artists to come in for shoots has been something that Mohammad has been accustomed to since the days he worked in his pop's shop. The first video he ever remembers being filmed in his father’s corner store was for a group that grew up down the street by the name of BBU. They recorded the video for their song “The Hood” with GLC back in 2012. Mohammad has always had a love for art since the early days of his youth, so when he finally came back home, he figured to continue that tradition with his own store. Often times, people will just reach out to him via Twitter.

Qari & Greensllime’s Operation Hennessy cover art

"Last week we had Stripmall (Productions). They did a video for this dude from Canada who has like 18 million streams on Spotify. It was all just random. Eli Major, with my boy Jay Caves from Heart of The City, did a video here this year. We had Qari and Greensllime come in and do the cover art for Operation Hennessy. This year we've had big names, lowkey. Like big names have just been coming in and showing love. Taylor Bennett had a video on MTV, and I watched it like 'damn, no one might know, but I know that's my shop.' Looking at MTV when you're young, you think about 'will I ever be apart of that?' Now it's like yeah, I really am apart of the scene. Whoever in the city, if they’re good people, I let them shoot."

Perhaps the most important name to show love to the shop recently is Joe Freshgoods himself. A week before he was set to become the All-Star MVP to Chicago's very first ComplexCon, Freshgoods pulled up to the shop to create a short film that would serve as the promo video to his exhibition. The fact that someone like Freshgoods, one of the most respected names in the city, decided to use La Estrella for his own ode to the local corner store was a massive milestone for Mohammad and his vision for the shop.

"Joe Freshgoods called me out on Twitter like three days before the shoot. He DM'ed me like, "Hey, can I use the shop?" I legit went crazy for a week and a half with painting and little things just so he can express his vision even though we're not really at the point that we want, but at least the store looks good for him. He always shows love. I respect the hustle everybody has in the city. You could tell the people who are really grinding for their money, just grinding for what they wanna believe in. Joe was cool. He needed shelves for his hats, and I showed him where they were since I was just cleaning them, and one of the shelves made it to ComplexCon. I didn't make it to ComplexCon, but I'd be looking at pictures and be like 'damn, that's the store right there.'"

Being able to recognize something from his own store instills Mohammad with immense pride. Sure, most people wouldn't have recognized the store in the video or the hat rack at ComplexCon. Still, the idea of knowing one's own contributions to something significant can act as a reminder that you're doing something right. It creates an "If You Know, You Know" type of moment. In a city like Chicago where everything is earned, Mohammed is making strides to making his shop the next local business that the creatives acknowledge and respect.

And he's only just getting started.

"The merch is coming. I was talking to a dude yesterday about getting rolling trays with the La Estrella on it. Supreme has a brick. Why can't I have a spatula with La Estrella on it? But at the same time, it's good quality. I've been trying to plan to do a mural outside because last year, the city took down my signs. I talked to my boy, and we'll paint it, but then we'll do something for the community itself where we invite them to draw or spray paint on pegboards, and we put the pegboards inside or we have them just outside to leave a mark just so they know that this their neighborhood. I've thought about doing a silent auction where an artist puts their stuff in the store, people come in and see that artwork, and then the money goes into something in the community."

As he puts it, he's just finally starting to put the finishing touches on "phase one" of the store. With phase two, he'll be able to really start doing things outside the box. It's a slow process for sure, but his motivation is fueled by passion.

"I've thought of commercials, but that comes with phase two. It's cool because there's no limit to what I can and cannot do. Look at Joe, he has his Snapple collab. You can do anything. I wanna see wherever I can reach. Companies these days, you know they don't talk to corner stores, especially if you don't got big money. I wanna see if there's a new way of changing the whole game. Everything is fucking changing now, and it's hard. It isn't how it used to be. I want to look out for the neighborhood, I wanna look out for the people, I wanna make a secure corner."

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