Antenna Magazine x Summer 2011 x Elijah Wood
I somehow convinced Kaity Velez to let me write at length about good ol’ Optimus Prime for the Summer 2011 issue of Antenna Magazine. Elijah Wood on the cover above, latest Transformer 3: Dark of the Moon trailer below. Megan Fox lost. [Spotted at Antenna’s Tumblr]
KRS-1 x Air Jordan III x Fresh for ’88
Yes, there was a time when Larry “KRS-1” Parker (and thus Boogie Down Productions) had the rap game on positive smash. When he stepped out of the Jeep rocking the Black and Cement Grey Air Jordan IIIs (0:48 mark) in the “My Philosophy video (directed by Fab 5 Freddy)… Official streetwear before there was “streetwear.” Fresh, for ’88.
Oprah Interviews Ralph Lauren
Oprah conducted the first televised interview with Ralph Lauren in 20 years. Yep, O chopped it up with the man born Ralph Lifshitz (in the Bronx!), creator of the ultimate lifestyle brand that bears his name and whose wears and apparel have been co-opted and flipped by a legion of freshly dipped Hip-Hop heads. A fave quote from the interview, posted at Oprah.com:
“I didn’t have a vision as in, This is where I’m going. I had a vision as in, ‘This is what I love to do.’ The ties, as simple as they were, looked very different from other ties. They were wide and unusual. I never said to myself, ‘I’m going to be the greatest.’ I just wanted to do my own thing. I’d worked for a tie company, and I said, ‘Can we do this kind of tie? I think we could sell them in New York.’ This older guy who ran the company said, ‘No—the world is not ready for Ralph Lauren.‘”
Will post a rip of the new interview—it aired yesterday (May 18)—if and when it is available, but there are clips from the episode on Oprah’s site including a tour the Double RL ranch.
Aspiration leads to inspiration. Right DP?
Vodpod videos no longer available.
RELATED:
VIDEO: Random Axe “The Hex”
“Fxck peace, I’m a beast bxtch/I pop pellets in a person I’m a piece of shxt, P!”—Sean Price
Random Axe is Black Milk, Guilty Simpson and Sean Price. This is all you need to know. Video for “The Hex,” lead single from the self-titled album due out June 14 on Duck Down Records. Hard body rap, strictly.
VIDEO: Mercedes Benz – The History of AMG
One of my dream “fly whip autos” is the Mercedes S65 with the AMG kit. The above video explains why that “AMG” tag is so crucial. One day, when gas is cheaper… [Peeped at Hypebeast via AutoBlog]
The Wu-Tang Clan and RZA: A Trip through Hip Hop’s 36 Chambers
I wrote a book and I think it’s pretty good. The Wu-Tang Clan and RZA: A Trip through Hip Hop’s 36 Chambers via Praeger and available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other spots. I’ll start promoting it one day, I swear. Check it out sometime.
VIDEO: Tez McClain “Jordans & A Gold Chain”
Spoke my piece about Tez McClain’s “Jordans & A Gold Chain” a while back, and there is now a visual to the track. Mad pairs of Js on the must have list are seen in this Rock Jacobs directed clip. [Sidenote: Air Jordan 3 True Blues >. It’s the elephant print hit by the laces that does it for me. But any OG colorway will suffice.]
Below is Tez’s video for “Untitled,” directed by Chilly-O, over yet another LT Moe production.
VIDEO: Ab-Liva f/ Pusha T “Who’s Better”
There’s a certain language that rhymes spitters speak and recognize in other quality MCs. Listeners recognize it too and it’s an intangible quality that makes the Re-Up Gang (Malice, Pusha-T and Ab-Liva) one of my favorite groups.
Fine, plenty of artists—too many actually—try to relay cinema worthy tales of excess and outrageous drug dealing, but more often than not they come off flat and hackneyed in the process. More Splenda than fishscale. Clipse and Re-Up on the other hand have an uncanny knack for finding witty metaphors and clever turns of phrase that keep their rhymes sounding fresh. Also, those really paying attention will note that said music holds much more than coke tales and actually contains ample doses of reflection, rumination and righteousness amidst the bars and beats.
Plus, if you’re going to name your next mixtape Long Live the Cane, how can your team not be ill? All that is to say that this Ab-Liva joint called “Who’s Better” was a pleasant surprise on this post-Osama Bin Laden got murked day. Pusha-T on the hook, with no salmon colored garments in sight. [Props to Mikey Fresh via Big Homie]
Slang Rap Democracy 