After being teased with a screen capture on Kanye’s blog last week, the long awaited video for ‘Flashing Lights’ has finally made its way to web. While I love the twisted plot and the featured ‘eye candy’ (damn, Rita G!), I’d be lying if I said I was totally blown away by the video. After ‘Can’t Tell Me Nothin’ the whole slow-motion, Kanye plus model in the desert concept just doesnt hit as hard this time around. Guess I was expecting a little more. There are few rumors going around that this may only be a trailer, or at least one of several videos that were supposedly shot for the track. Who knows…But for now I guess I’ll take what we have. At the end of the day, Kanye’s still one of the few hip hop artists whose videos continually go above and beyond the usual cookie cutter joints that flood the market. Peep and discuss.
The Adidas brand has played a tremendous role in hip hop culture, but what do you really know about the Three Striped Giant? This brief, but clever ad traces the history of Adidas–from the brand’s humble beginnings in Germany, as the brainchild of Adi Dassler, to its current status as international sneaker and sportswear icon.
Wow, the part about Jesse Owens receiving one of the first pair of Adidas in 1936 from Adi himself…that’s major!
With several new formats to choose from, including Blu-ray and HDVD, buying dvd’s today isnt quite as simple as it used to be. However, if you’re thinking of going “Blu”, you may want to reconsider. Crave’s John P. Falcone gives us 5 reasons why we should hold off on the Blu-ray format…for right now atleast:
1. Nearly all current Blu-ray players are obsolete.
2. Blu-ray is best on a big-screen TV.
3. There are still very few movies available on Blu-ray.
4. Blu-ray still has growing pains.
5. Prices have nowhere to go but down.
Timbaland and Verizon Wireless are preparing to embark on the next phase of mobile music: full length mobile albums.
As Verizon’s mobile producer in residence, Timbaland will produce one song per month throughout 2008. Each month, he will work with a different artist on a track while touring the country on the Verizon Mobile Recording Studio Bus, which will also capture making-of footage for V Cast subscribers on a dedicated Timbaland channel.
Each mobile Timbaland track will be released days after it is produced. Songs will be released as a full-length download, ringtone and ringback, and will be available only through V Cast and Verizon. At the end of the year, some sort of compilation “album” will be released exclusively through Verizon, according to Ruth. Whether the music is worked to radio during the exclusive period or made available via broader distribution afterward is up to Interscope.
Over the past few years, the music and mobile phone industries have cashed in tremendously on the growing popularity of mobile music–ringtones in particular. In 2007 alone, more than 220 million ringtones were sold, raking in a whopping $567 million in sales. Add to that the growing number of hip hop artists that are practically molding their careers around the creation ringtone-friendly music, and you can easily see why the mobile market has become a goldmine for the music and mobile phone industries. Read the rest of this entry »
For some time now, folks on nearly every end of the web have been trashing Hurricane Chris’ recent shoe collab with Fila—the Fila Helmsman. To say the very least, the shoe takes a huge “L” in the looks department. But what really has people buzzing, is the fact that the Helmsman bites the design of Prada’s Linea Rossa sneakers in a major way. Not a good look, but in all fairness, it’s also nothing new. Most of the hip-hop inspired/endorsed footwear that we’ve seen over the past few years have all borrowed (some more heavily than others) from previous shoe models. The main differences in this case however, seems to be the fact that 1.) the Helmsman is produced by Fila (a brand name that holds very little weight in today’s sneaker scene), 2.) it’s endorsed by Hurricane Chris (a little know rapper/ringtone artist), and 3.) there are very few modifications to its design that differentiate it from the Prada original (so you end up with what appear to be back alley Prada knock-offs). Maybe Fila should have gone in a differnet direction with these. At any rate, I’ve yet to see anyone rocking the Helmsman’s in the streets, but I have started to see this Fila tv spot quite a bit lately.
One of the greatest hip-hop producers of our time!
In honor of his birthday and legacy–its been nearly two years since Dilla passed away–Stones Throw has dropped the lateast (and last) installment of J. Dilla tribute podcasts, “Thank You Jay Dee Act 3″ mixed by J. Rocc. Listen, learn and get familiar.
After 8 years of George W. Bush, and with a new president set to take office within the next year, Storefront for Art and Architecture and Control Group think its about time the White House received a much needed redesign. Here’s your chance to make it happen…sort of:
On occasion of the election of the 44th President of the United States of America Storefront for Art and Architecture, in association with Control Group, challenges you to design a new residence for the world’s most powerful individual. The best ideas, selected by some of the world’s most distinguished designers and critics, will be featured in a month-long exhibition at Storefront for Art and Architecture in July 2008 and published in Surface magazine.
To commemorate the legacy of the Wu-Tang Clan, Guitar Center has teamed up with Wu frontman RZA, and legendary electronic pioneer Bruce Forat to release a series of limited edition Roland MV-8800 drum machines–8 units to be exact. With such a small quantity being produced, these babies aren’t gonna come cheap. At a hefty price of $5,999, each unit comes complete with Forat customizations, including a custom paint job inspired by Wu’s “8 Diagrams” album, and a private tutorial session with RZA himself. I know the “limited-edition” title gets thrown around quite a bit these days, but for the tutorial session alone, this collaboration certainly earns it! Look for it in stores this month. Couple page scans from the latest Guitar Center mailer after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Officials at Roosevelt High School outside of Washington, D.C., are doing their part to crack down on an alleged underground “fight club†operating within the school. This isn’t some Tyler Durden, beat the crap out of your opponent kind of fight club though. Not at all. In fact, no physical acts of violence actually take place. Instead, members of this fight club face-off in verbal match ups and share videos of the events on sites like YouTube and MySpace. Simple freestyle battles captured on video. Unfortunately, school officials don’t seem to see it this way. According to one news report, students that have been featured in the videos have been punished by the school, and parents are now being warned about the club’s growing popularity on campus. A little extreme, don’t you think? It seems like yet another case of hip-hop culture being misinterpreted in all the wrong ways. So sad. You be the judge, check out the video clip above (direct link)…full story at the link below.
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