By now you should all be aware of the upcoming artshow we are having with Eyeone and Patrick Martinez at Tradition on March 21st. Here is a sneak peek of a very limited edition 'zine those two have put together for the opening of the show.
Old Works by Eyeone & Patrick Martinez 7.5" x 5" | 32 pages | saddle-stitched Photocopied on assorted color stock Hand-assembled | limited to 100 copies
We've posted some stuff from Aaron Mcgruder and the creative teaam behind The Boondocks before. Here is another classic skit poking fun at the numerous videos online showing freestyle battles that turn physical. Watch as "Tubesteak gets Chris Brown'd!" Hahaha!
Interview magazine sat down with James Jebbia, the founder of Supreme, to talk about the recession, inspiration, and direction of the brand. You can read the informative interview here.
"We’ve never really been supply-demand anyway. It’s not like when we’re making something, we make only six of them. But if we can sell 600, I make 400. We’ve always been like that—at least for the past seven or eight years. For every season, we put in a lot of work to try to create exciting stuff."
Former Mr. Madonna and "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" director, Guy Ritchie, just directed this 3 minute commercial/mini movie for Nike. This short focuses on Nike's football (soccer) campaign.
The Boston Celtics signed Stephon Marbury today after the guard cleared waivers, and the club hoped to have the New York Knicks castoff in uniform for tonight's game against the Indiana Pacers. Marbury, a former All-Star guard who alienated Knicks management, teammates and fans, was signed after having his physical at the Celtics' suburban practice facility early today. He agreed to a buyout of his $20.8 million contract and was waived by New York on Tuesday. The Celtics were expected to sign him for a prorated share of the veteran's $1.3 million minimum. Marbury, who turned 32 last week, hasn't played a regular-season game in more than a year. He will wear No. 8, formerly worn by Celtics star Antoine Walker.
Everyone knows how big of a Weezy fan I am but I have to say that I'm not supporting this wack Rock shit he's trying to do! He needs to do HIM, he's not a rockstar..
You may not know Clippers point guard Mike Taylor but you can't front on his boosts! I have seen this guy up close, he's about 6"1 only! This is incredible for a guy his size!
The São Paulo exhibition celebrates the energy of the emerging art culture in São Paulo, Brazil, the biggest metropolitan city in South America.
Calma, Carlos Dias, MZK, Ramon Martins, Silvana Mello, Speto, Titi Freak and Zezão form a group that translates this energy best, bringing fine art unique influences from pop-culture, ancient heritage, modern painting or folk art. Each artist uses pop contemporary references such as street art, tattoo, skateboarding, hip-hop, and punk, while paying close attention to their own personal heritage and research. The São Paulo show promises an intriguing exhibition.
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 28, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Free Valet Parking & Open Bar
Scion Installation L.A. 3521 Helms Avenue (at National) Culver City, CA. 90232 310.815.8840
As you you T.I. copped a plea deal and has to serve a year in prison as well as three years of supervised release including a year of home detention, a total of 15-hundred hours of community service, and 100-thousand-dollar fine. T.I. is really hitting the streets hard right now. Check out his new mixtape "Gone Till November." If your a T.I. fan you're gonna love it, you can download it here.
Damm... Cam is back on his grind! Peep his brand new video for the track "Get it in Ohio." With Jim Jones getting all the shine lately, I'm curious to see what Killa has up his sleeve for '09.
Pacific Division is making moves for all the folks on the West Coast. With "Mayor" getting steady rotation on Power 106, Pacific Division are gearing up to take it to the next level. "Pac Div" is a new cut off of their upcoming Church league Champions mixtape. This track definitely has the throwback feel of some classics from the early '90's.
Celebrity skateboarder, Rob Dyrdek, just opened a brand new skate plaza in Los Angeles. The plaza is called Lafayette Park Safe Spot, and it is over 7,000 sq. feet of ledges, rails, and flat ground. It's good to see a guy like Rob giving back to the skateboarding community.
625 South Lafayette Park Place Los Angeles, CA 90057
The homey, Eric Thompson AKA Quentin Tangarino, just shot the newest video for Tiron and Ayomari for the track "3 Drink Minimum." Thanks for showing Tradition some love in the video. Tiron's newest mixtape, Ketchup, dropped today.
Lots of dope plays, my favorites have to be #7 when AJ Price crosses dude up, stares at him after he falls and still hits the jumper! I love #3 too, Gerald Henderson of Duke has springs for legs. Enjoy!
VIMBY & UP ON THINGZ PRESENT: THE NEW CLASSICS MIXTAPE
Vimby & Up On Thingz just dropped "The New Classics" mixtape featuring Pacific Division, U-N-I, Sean Price, Fashawn and many more. The mixtape is hosted by Peter Rosenberg and the majority of the production is by Cook Classic... I produced a bonus track on there called "Obsessed" featuring Young De and Ca$his (Someone needs to steps their credit game up!). You can download "The New Classics" mixtape here.
Looks like Jay-z's protege Memphis Bleek has come out of hiding and is trying to get his name on the streets again! Here's his new mixtape Feed The Streets, Hosted by DJ Envy.
Clippers just got the biggest win of the year tonight! Zack Randolph had 30 points,12 boards in the Clippers' hard-fought 93-91 win over the Boston Celtics at home tonight. Baron Davis added 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
No one told you that dance music was all the rage now? Murs drops some verses on Ed Banger Record's own Busy P's dance track "To Protect & Entertain." Lots of L.A. name dropping going on here... But Murs is "from L.A. Trick!"
For those who don't know, Reflection Eternal is a group featuring Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek (2/3 of the legendary Black Star). Hi-Tek is one of my favorite producers, so you know I was excited to hear that they are releasing a new album in the not so distant future. Their last album was released in 2000, and featured the hit "Move Somethin'." "Internet Connection" is the first leak from their upcoming album, and it features a guest appearance from Bootsy Collins.
Kanye is the newest artist to appear on VH1's Storytellers. The full show airs this Saturday, but we have a sneak peek of his performance of the song "Stronger." "Stronger" is one of those songs that was so overplayed that I really don't have to ever hear it again... This live version definitely breathes some new life into though.
B-Real's "Smoke N Mirrors" dropped today on Duck Down records. Go out and support the homies and pick up a copy. My favorite track is "I Only Love You When We're F*ckin'" featuring Kurupt, Too Short, and Young De!
It looks like Fab wants to smoke with the big boys...
Arkansas Police seized nearly 500 lbs of marijuana on a tour bus returning from NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, this week. According to the driver, the bus was allegedly escorting Fabolous to Boston to pick up "a rapper whose name he couldn't recall."
Though Fab was not on the bus at the time of the seizure, the two men who were arrested, Edward Thimas, 52, and Robert Morris, 44, claimed that Fabolous had loaded the marijuana into the locked compartment, as well as close to $6,500 in cash, which the police also confiscated.
Though both men agreed that the marijuana belonged to Fabolous, according to the police reports, their stories conflicted regarding the pickup of the drug shipment.
Earth Crisis have posted a new song called "To Ashes" on their Myspace page. This songs comes from their upcoming album, "To The Death," due out on Century Media in May. This is the only song that I have heard from their new album, but this song is better that 80% of the music they have released in the past. Judging from this song, I am definitely looking forward to hearing the whole record.
I jacked this YouTube video from DoubleCross... This video is a humorous mashup of a Barbie dance video from the 80's with the Cro-Mags song "We Gotta Know." The funny part about this video is that it really isn't that far off from what you see at a modern hardcore show. Gone are the days of stagedives, sing alongs, and dog piles. Instead there is a big empty hole with a few kids dancing and trying to look hard! If these dancers dressed different, threw a few punches, and did a few spin kicks they would be spot on!
Mr. Autotune drops a new joint featuring the King of Autotune AKA T Pain. This new track is called "Flight School," and it's actually way better than I expected. Why wasn't this on Heartbreak?
BL'AST! were a highly influential punk/hardcore bands from Santa Cruz that existed in the late 80's through the early nineties. They were heavily influenced by Black Flag even down to the guitars that they played. Their first release for SST, The Power of Expression, came out in 1986 (it had been previously released on smaller label Wishing Well). Tradition's "It's In My Blood" tee was a blatant rip-off of BL'AST!'s cover art from their album of the same name. The above video combines a few different live shows to make a short "documentary" of the band.
We are gearing up for Eyeone's upcoming show with Patrick Martinez which opens at Tradition on March 21st. We just posted a lengthy interview with Eyeone in our features section. You can read that here.
I have known EYEONE for well over 15 years. Aside from being a talented artist (both graffiti and fine art), an amazing graphic artist, and a curator, Eyeone used to own and operate The Macondo, an all ages punk and hardcore venue (and cultural center), that lasted from the mid to late nineties. For a number of years The Macondo was the only home for punk and hardcore in Los Angeles. Eyeone currently works as an artist and recently published a book of Los Angeles graffiti called Lost.
Lost - Ten Years is a special edition book celebrating a decade of the publication of the L.A.-based 'zine Lost | Graffiti in the City of Angels. The book features highlights from the long out of print first 12 issues, as well as unpublished material from some of L.A.’s most influential graffiti writers, and the true pioneers that pushed the limits of this art form on the streets of Los Angeles. Lost | Graffiti in the City of Angels began in 1998 as a self published D.I.Y photocopied fanzine started by EYEONE of the Seeking Heaven Crew. Though Graffiti as we know originated on the East Coast, it was the L.A. based graffiti writers that set new standards, bombing freeway overpasses, heaven spots, and scaling huge buildings in the never-ending pursuit to push the limits of their art form. Just as graffiti has evolved over the years, so has LOST as a publication. We sat down with EYEONE to talk about his inspiration, the evolution of LOST, and his thoughts about Graffiti in Los Angeles.
DOOM is back with another new track leading up to the release of his upcoming album, Born Like This. This track is called "Lightworks," and it was produced by the late, great J.Dilla.
Vimby hit the streets with Coney Island based MC Torae. Torae's strong work ethic and strong vocal presence have pushed him to the forefront of the up and comers from NY. He has already worked with such heavy hitters as Premier, 9th Wonder, Clark Kent, and more. Torae spits his own brand of "Feel Good" hip hop that is seldom heard anymore.
I didn't get a chance to go the Kaws' extremely hyped up and anticipated solo show "The Long Way Home" at Honor Fraser on Saturday. I opted to check out Internal Affairs last show at Chain Reaction instead. Supertouch was on hand at the Kaws show, and you can check out a full photo recap here. The LA Times recently ran an article about Kaws entitled "Tag, this artist is definitely it." You can read that here as well.
Here are a few new tracks for all of the Wayne fans out there. The first track is called "Where U At," and it features The Game and VH1's newest reality star Ray J. The second track is called "PaYow." Both of these are slated to be released on Big Mike's "4th Quarter Pressure pt. 3" alongside tracks from Jay-Z, Jadakiss, Camron, and more.
The latest project from Nike Sportswear gives us a very insightful look into the history of Nike’s legendary Cortez sneakers. Their newest video to launch is entitled The Cortez: Adoption, and it looks back at the adoption of the sneaker into a variety of different cultures from the West Coast to the East. Participants include: Mister Cartoon, Estevan Oriol, Patrick Martinez (yes the same Patrick Martinez that is having an artshow at Tradition next month), DJ EMZ, Ken Swift (Breakdancer), and Eric Haze. You can watch the video here.
Be sure to check out our upcoming artshow with Patrick Martinez and Eyeone opening March 21st.
Strong Arm Steady performed a short set of hits at "The Takeover" event we threw with the Soul Assassins crew a few weeks ago. The footage just keeps rolling in! Expect to see a few more live sets in the next few days!
If any of you have seen Pac Div live, you all know that this song, "Mayor," sets it off everytime. This track has been getting some radio play, and comes from their upcoming Universal Records debut.
"The deal is a good relief factor for us," said Like. "It lets us know we have been doing the right thing...hard work pays off at the end of the day, and our day isn't over, it's just begun. The name of the album to look forward to is Grown Kid Syndrome. No other details to the album as of now, but we will be realeasing two mini projects before that, one called Summer League Tryouts and the other is called Role Players." BeYoung added, "The deal we received was an exceptional one and the attention and respect we'll be getting from the label is definitely a plus in this." The third member of the trio, Mibbs, closed in saying, "I feel good about signing because I can perform on a platform that can help us gain recognition to the world on a much faster pace than on our own."
Vimby just dropped their video coverage of The Takeover event we did we Soul Assasins a few Saturdays ago. Shouts out to Mils, Muggs, Chase Tafoya, Eric at Vimby, and everyone that performed! We still have limited quantities of the Tradition X Soul Assassins tee available in our webstore.
Last night I saw Stacy Peralta's newest documentary entitled Crips and Bloods: Made in America. The movie is extremely well done, and it truly shows the history behind gang violence in Los Angeles. The character driven documentary is able to touch upon the factors that led up to some of the most violent bloodshed to ever infect our country, and it is able to do so WITHOUT glorifying gang violence in anyway. SkeeTV sat down with Baron Davis, Executive Producer of Crips and Bloods. This movie is currently playing across the country in limited release, and I definitely would recommend seeing it if you get a chance.
Our Spring sale starts tomorrow, and you definitely don't want to miss this one! We are going to have tons of great deals from all of our favorite brands including Nike, Vans, The Hundreds, Crooks & Castles, Diamond Supply, Rogue Status, and more! Everything will be on sale including T-shirts, hoodies, flannels, shoes, New Eras, accessories, and more. Early arrival is suggested, because stuff is gonna move fast! See you tomorrow!
Here's a radio rip of a new leak from the long awaited "Detox" album from the one and only Dr. Dre. The sound quality isn't geat, but this track is fire! Im glad Dre isn't just rehashing his sound from The Chronic 2001. Check out "Topless" here. Shouts out to the homeys at Soul Assassins for the working link!
Kid Robot and Stones Throw have teamed up for the Quasimoto figure, which will be released February 19, 2009. The Quasimoto figure is 8-inches tall, available in equal quantities of yellow and blue, each with a brick and spliff “cigarette.”
The hip-hop artist Quasimoto (aka Lord Quas) was created by Madlib. He has released two albums, The Unseen and The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, a collection of singles, and guest appearances on albums by Madvillain and Jaylib. The Quasimoto figure is based on the character drawn by Jeff Jank.
Kid Robot and Stones Throw released a Madvillain figure in January 2007, which quickly sold out. A limited number of the Quasimoto figure are sold out at the Stones Throw store's pre-sale. The rest will be available Kid Robot and the locations listed below on February 19th.
Kid Robot is hosting a pre-release and signing tonight from 6-8 in their Melrose store. Don't miss it!
Quasimoto by Kid Robot Pre-release at Kid Robot L.A. February 18, 6-8PM
Lord Quas artist Jeff Jank signing w/ Stones Throw crew
Vimby sat down with designer Benny Gold. Benny is best known for his work with Huf and MASH, but he has also done work for such notables as Nike, Adidas, DVS, and Stussy.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Zach Randolph was suspended two games without pay for punching Louis Amundson of the Phoenix Suns in the face last night. I was watching the game and felt like it was more of a push punch to the face, he didn't really wind up. Pretty Funny though! Amundson didn't want any after either! Hahaha! Randolph forfeits $133,333 per game in salary too..
Here's a new joint from Havoc featuring the other half of Mobb Deep, Prodigy, called "On a Mission." Havoc's upcoming album, Hidden Files, drops February 24th.
Eyeone and Patrick Martinez will unveil a new collection of works Saturday, March 21st at Tradition. The two-man show will run from March 21st- April 19, 2009 and showcase Eyeone’s clean, limited color work alongside Martinez’s more colorful and bubbly figurative paintings rooted in strong social commentary. Come out and see the pair’s amazing work during a reception from 7-10pm Saturday, March 21st, 2009. More info on Martinez at www.patrickmartinez.com More on Eyeone at www.eyelost.com
TRADITION AND SOUL ASSASSINS PRESENT YOUNG DE AT THE TAKEOVER
Here's a short clip of Young De's performance at The Takeover event we threw with the Soul Assassins a little over a week ago. Keep your eyes peeled for more performance clips coming soon!
Check out the official launch party for Soul Assassins Radio: The West Wing on February 24th, 2009 at ECCO in Hollywood featuring DJ Muggs and Mr. Choc. Be sure to check out The West Wing on Sirius Shade 45 and XM 66 every Monday from 10pm-12am EST.
ECCO 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd Hollywood, CA 90028 $10.00
Here's the newest video from Kanye West... This was obviously shot before Kid Cudi was tazered at the Reebok event for rocking J's! Where's that haircut Ye was sporting at the Grammys???? Haha.
Here is the newest video from Evidence's "Layover" e.p. He's one of the best from the West right now... If you haven't downloaded the "Layover" mixtape you are missing out on one of the best releases of '08.
Kaws' first ever sole show in Los Angeles is kicking off this Saturday at Honor Fraser. The Brooklyn-based artist will be presenting new painting and sculptural work in his first solo show in Los Angeles. KAWS’ technique acts as a sieve of modern culture, filtering and re-contextualizing the images and information that he comes in contact with daily. His process is all encompassing, embracing popular culture and the visual landscape of the familiar. The work can be thought of as an overarching brand; however it is also immediate and organic. This energetic immediacy can be felt in the selection of works that he is presenting. New large paintings included in the exhibition feature his usual cross-section of familiar cultural icons painted with precise execution. The resulting pieces feature the trademark graphic quality inherent in his work. A large life-size Chum acts as a sentry in the space, watching over the works while also playing with scale and proportion. I hate these early openings, because seem to miss out on them. Looks like I will be hitting the exhibit later on in the week. Stay tuned for photos!
I got a chance to check out the Made In America documentary last night. Although it gave the long history of what potentially started gangs, I expected a little more insight on todays Bloods and Crips! I was thinking they might go into neighborhoods and show some undercover shit but its still worth it to check out! You can also get more photos and watch more clips at Cripsandbloodsmovie.com.
Vimby's newest video is with Chicago MC and Kidz in the Hall member Naledge. Check the video as Vimby follows the self proclaimed "Nerd" around his hometown of Chicago and he spits a freestyle under the train tracks.
In thought I would post this live video of Jay-Z and Nas performing "Dead Presidents" in honor of Presidents Day. Below is the original video for Jay's version as well.
For the second time in 9 months, Suge Knight got his face punched and the alleged ass-beater claims to be someone from singer Akon's camp. It all went down in a private party at the W Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona where Suge was attending a private party for All-Star weekend. Cops say they were called to the scene by hotel security who warned about a brewing fight between two groups in the VIP area. According to the Scottsdale PD website, when cops arrived, they saw a man punch the victim aka Suge two times in the head." Officers had to break out the tasers to "quell the fight." The suspect, Robert Carnes Jr., was charged with one count of felony aggravated assault, they ruled it a felony "due to the severity of the victim's injuries." Another man was also arrested and charged with one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Can't wait to see pics of Suge's face!
Baller Status just posted a photo set from "The Takeover" event we threw the Soul Assassins a little over a week ago. Shouts out to Buck for the pics! You can see more photos here.
