Sunday, November 30, 2008

I'm a Nike Head..





Anyone that knows me knows my affinity for sneakers.. I've been doing them for as long as I can remember and this was before the late 90's boom and before the camp outs.. I remember going to Syracuse for school in '94 and the first weekend there going to a sneaker store in downtown South Salina and literally buying out this old asian mans stock in my size.. he had some real gems like Bo Jacksons, Hi-top Airs and my grail at the time, Mark Jackson Nike Pumps with the clear plastic box (which I still have to this day..) Anywhere I went to dj I made 2 mandatory stops.. local record shops and local sneaker spots.. Me & J-live killed a store back in '96 in Helsinki.. I had to leave vinyl behind to make space for the pickups.. haha.
Air Force 1's have always been a favorite ( along with Air Max 90's AFIII's and Adidas Superstars & Metro Atittude Hi's to name a few..) Recently I fell back on the sneaker game mostly cuz of over-saturation and my displeasure with Nike's handling of the 25th anniversary of the Air Force 1 (I didn't cop one release, they were all wack) But slowly the hype's been dying down and cats are movin' on to Supra's and anything else Weezy wears so I started taking notice of releases again. Then along came the Slam Jams.. These bad boys (pictured above in all 4 colors, made for a store in Paris) really got me going again and now I'm back full blown..



The 2 pictured above are snowboard boot inspired Air Force 1 Hi's (which I wish nike did more of) and the second one in particular is by The graffitti legend Stash..



These right here were the Black Friday catch.. Clark Kent did his thing on designing these bad boys..



Last but not least are these 1 World Air Force 1's designed by Busy P, a french electro DJ. He really did his thing on these. He didn't take them too serious and went with whatever he was feeling at the time and the result is a funky shoe.
I know my photography sucks but I should be getting some "help" soon from someone so lets see if the future images improve.. haha..

I'll be posting my pickups regularly so stay tuned..

Spiderman 4 Trailer...



Damn!! I'm kinda hyped for this joint right here.. This will be the best one yet..

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Join The Party @ Adidas..





Come out and chill wit the Kingz this Thanksgiving weekend as we play all them joints you love to hear while you try on shell toes and track suits..

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Book Review.. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"



Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is very much different than any other book I have ever read. The story is told around Oskar Schell, a nine year old boy who's recently lost his father to the tragedy of 9/11. With his father gone, Oskar is left alone and hopeless. The story takes you on a young boy's sometimes unbelievable adventure in search of answers to life's who's how's, and why's. While the trip may seem like one he's endured all alone, he eventually realizes that unbeknownst to him those that love him dearly have been with him all along.
The story is told from 3 different perspectives and this adds to the complexity but it serves for a better understanding of the characters thought process in the novel.
The book can be a complex read initially but once you get a hold of the style of writing, along with the helpful accompanying images, it flows well and quickly.
The author Jonathan Safran Foer's style is intriguing, and unlike any other writing I have ever read. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a powerful and exceptionally written novel about finding oneself. A definite must read and a book you won't soon forget.

Nunchuk Ping Pong..




Damn this is a ill ass commercial.. very well done.. I say next one should be vs. Forrest Gump..

Friday, November 21, 2008

My Jesus is Black..




...Your mind ain't ready and your heart's not open .. You need to open up your heart and be a lil' more understanding... - Black Jesus

Thnx Ed!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Bush Gets No Love At G20 Summit





Damn.. they straight disrepected him in front of the entire world.. hahaha..

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Original Flava Tuesdays.. "Memories Fade in the Coldest Winter"




For the last week since the flood that became known as Autotunes & Heartbreak leaked, I've been all over the place as far as how I feel about Kanye's latest project. Initially I cried booo as I was thoroughly disappointed of 'Ye's choice of using autotune to death.. Having had the chance to analyze the project and listening to him explain it on numerous different media outlets, I must admit it has grown on me substantially. This may even end up being my favorite album of the year. If he had left Robocop off of it, I would even go so far as to deem it a classic. It's grown man heartfelt music and Ye's definitely taking chances on this. In the age of one hit wonders and ringtone rap, I for one can appreciate it.

The video above is for a song titled "Memories Fade" by Tears for Fears. It is the song Kanye interpolated for his song Coldest Winter on 808's & Heartbreak.
click below to download the original song.

Tears for Fears - "Memories Fade"


*BONUS UPDATE
Below is a youtube clip of a song entitled "Standing on Higher Ground" off of The Alan Parsons Project's 1987 album "Gaudi". The first 15-20 seconds contains a sample used for the song entitled "Paranoid" off of 808's..




I guess Kanye was really feeling The Alan Parsons Project as he also sampled the title track off of their 1985 album Ammonia Avenue for his song Heartless. Below is super bonus track for your listening pleasure. Peep the strings at about 2:32 in..

The Alan Parsons Project - "Ammonia Avenue"

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Book Review.. "The White Boy Shuffle"



Ok so its been quite a minute between my first book review and this second one. I've read quite a few books since just haven't managed to sit and write reviews for them. I will try to pump them out with more regularity (yea I know I've said that before.. all I can say is Ima try!)
This is my first book by the critically acclaimed Paul Beatty and I chose it mainly because of the provocative title. The story details the life of nerd turned poet/basketball star Gunnar Kaufman, who begins his life growing up in the suburban streets of Santa Monica only to be uprooted and moved to Central LA because his mom felt he and his 2 sisters lacked racial identity. Gunnar proceeds to struggle with his racial identity but it's his individuality that allows him to succeed despite this world's never-ending stereotypes and labels.
Without getting into a cliffnotes type review, Beatty does an excellent job at portraying black culture in America and drills it consistently throughout the novel. The purpose or intent I think isn't to glorify it or for justification, but rather to paint it for what it really is, a depleted culture. The result is an honest and accurate depiction of ghetto life. Simply put, the social commentary and Beatty's clever use of vocabulary alone make this book a definite must read.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Jumpy..


Tonite come out and support my peoples CDTBK as they present art by some really cool cutting edge people.. right after chill out and peep a screening of Sunshowah's short film: Shades of Brooklyn Vol. 1..

Photography by Miss Cespedes

oh yea, um open bar 7-9..

See yall there..

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Original Flava Tuesdays.. Squeeze Me [II]



I love ill concept videos and this right here is one.. The group responsible goes by the name Kraak and Smaak and they're the latest in the trend of European Electro DJ/Producer groups puttin' some pretty creative stuff out to get grabbed by corporate America for marketing purposes.. In this case the company being Rhapsody.. peep the commercial below




P.S. The original record used for this is Johnnie Taylor's "You're the Best Girl in the World" off of his 1976 album Eargasm. I know for a fact I have this in the archives but am extra lazy to connect the external and bounce the mp3 yada yada.. maybe I'll do it tonite if I have nothing better to do..


UPDATE: As promised, heres the original sample..

Johnnie Taylor - "You're the Best Girl in the World"

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Mr. 26.2












A week ago Sunday I had the honor of running in the New York City Marathon. I've been a member of NYRR (New York Road Runner) going on 3 years now and had to run 9 races of varying distances from 3 to 13 miles in a 12 month span in order to qualify for the Marathon (I had actually qualified last year but injured myself 3 weeks prior to the race so I was forced to defer to this year).
Now I've djayed in front of 3000 plus people as far away as Helsinki, Finland. Helped build the second greatest (after D&D of course) recording studio in HipHop History, Baseline. I've had the pleasure of knowing and watching the greatest of all time (of course Hov) do his thing in the studio on numerous occasions. While in college at Syracuse I even had the unique priviledge to coach a basketball intramural college team of friends with 5 starters who actually all went on to play in the NFL(including Donovan Mcnabb). I say all that, not to front, but to say this.. none of those high points in my life thus far can come remotely close to the emotional feeling that came with running the New York City Marathon. The exhilaration of crossing that line is a feeling I hope I never forget.. While I had a goal of completing the race under 4 hours, I managed a 4:15 finish time and lost to Puff's time of 2003 by 1 minute an 1 second.. lol