Vlogger, Luke James Wears Be Glitterati In Cherry Bomb Album Review

Luke James #NotTheSinger reps Be Glitterati in his review of Tyler The Creator's new album, Cherry Bomb. Shoutout to Luke for the props! Oh, and his reviews are really good by the way so give the man a like and subscribe to his account.

Just Do It Origin

Wieden and Kennedy coined it. We lived it.

Designing the Stop Sign

I'll be G*d Damned if a lot of my projects don't go exactly like this :). This is an oldy but a goody that the good folks at QBN reminded me of just now.

Lion Hunter X Verena Rizg

Lion Hunter is the new home for Mo of Curvy Geekery. She's one of my favorite local creatives and bloggers so I expect greatness from whatever she touches. The Lion Hunter recently took sat down with local Renaissance woman Verena Rizg for a brief interview and performance. Visit Lion Hunter for more on Verena and browse around for more dopeness.

50 Cent on The Breakfast Club

It's scary how smart Fif' is sometimes.

Lupe Fiasco - B*tch Bad Commentary

When Lupe Fiasco released Food and Liqour a few years back I was really into his work. He was a dope rapper with great production and his music provided poignent commentary on the issues that inner city youth face. He's since expanded his portfolio and become somewhat of a social activist and at times has taken positions that have sparked controversy. He also became really successful and his music took a decidedly more commercial turn and I eventually lost interest in him. I'm not mad at his venture into "pop rap", because I realize that he is in the music BUSINESS and it's his job to sell records and reach the biggest audience possible but it wasn't my thing.

My personal taste in hip hop runs the gamut from socially concious rap to gangsta. I can't event put my finger on what makes a song good to me. I just know it when I hear it. Bitch Bad is one of those songs that effects me on a number of levels. First; I think it's a great song. Second; It's a song with a positive message that hits home with a lot of people without sounding like a church sermon (Not that there's anything wrong with church sermons :)). Third; With a title like "Bitch Bad" your typical gangsta rap fan might give it a listen and hopefully learn something in the process. As a father I feel conflicted daily as I listen to music that often portrays women in a negative light and worry about the day my daughters are old enough to stumble across my play list. Bitch Bad is all about kids being exposed to these messages and how they don't have the life experience to separate fact from fiction in entertainment. In defense of hip hop I think this applies to everything, including other genres of music, television and literature. Context is king and without it we are all capable of being influenced by shiny things that look cool. In the video below Lupe breaks down his thinking behind the song.

Tony Fadell: On Setting Constraints, Ignoring Experts & Embracing Self-Doubt

Great video for anyone interested in project management.

J is for Junkie

J is for Junkie is a really powerful documentary by Corey Davis and presented by Greedmont TV about some of the homeless and drug addicted of Atlanta. Corey became fascinated by this subject matter through his absent father who is also a drug addict. 

Bad Things That Could Happen

This is so weird but so good. I'm designing a series of posters for plays being put on by Daltheatre that focus on some of absurdities of every day life the same way This Is It does with this video. Photography by Thomas Bolwell, sound design by Andrew Kinnear, music by Andrew Kinnear and Joseph Pelling and make up by Elizabeth Barlow.
Props Staple Design

Influencers

This is a really inspirational video by R+I creative. I'm a day late and a dollar short with this video but it's too good not to post. It features discussions about how trends are born and the select few that have the power and confidence to set them. Ironically, the people in the video talking about influences are all influencers in their own rights.

Super There Will Be Blood

Competition work by Tomfoolery Pictures for for Empire Magazine's 'Done in 60 Seconds' Competition. This is just plain dope.

Ralph Watson - Shadow Dance

The homies over at LDNstudio in London fired me over a new video for Ralph Watson's, "Shadow Dance". Like the video for Londinium before this, they produced this with zero budget except this time they took a leap across the pond to Chicago. The concept behind the video is based on the idea of a homeless nomad trying to make sense of the world around him. Big ups to Chicago native Graham Baclagon for doing an awesome job shooting this.

The Radiant Child

Really dying to see this. Jean-Michel Basquiat was truly ahead of his time. On a side note. Is it just me? Or does Kid Cudi kinda look like dude?

Around Tha Town Video

Helmet cam video of North-West Oakland by Theo from AllOut Productions. Background music is a beat called 'Move On Up' produced by Dig Dug from Agartha Audio.

Nappy Roots - P.O.N. Video

P.O.N. was one of my favorite songs on the SMKA produced The 808 Experiment 2 and is also featured on The Nappy Root's latest project 'The Pursuit of Nappyness' that dropped yesterday. Check out the album and check out the 808 Experiment 2. It's loaded with heaters from a range of dope artists including, Aleon Craft, Joe Scudda, Tanya Morgan, Kyle Lucas, Pill, Yela Wolf and a whole lot more.

Prof-ac featuring Blac – Stalker (Video)

Sorry I've been slacking on my updates lately. I've been really busy and will be for the next little while. I'm giving the blog a little vacation time but we'll be back. Here's a new video from my boy Prof to the C. He's goin in and as always his bars are sharp as razors. Check it out and tell me what you think. Shout out to Shawn Simmons of Fotogenik Photography for the visuals and Smitty for the beat.

B. Dolan Interview for UGSMag

I caught up with Strange Famous signee, B. Dolan to talk about his new album Fallen House, Sunken City. The dude is on some revolution/change the world type shit.  Check out the interview at ugsmag.com. In addition to that, check out knowmore.org, an organization started by B. Dolan and Sage Francis, that encourages corporate responsibility when it comes to the environment and workers they hire. 

White House N*ggas – AbCents + Postell Pringle featuring Eddie Murphy

This song is from the AbCents, Postell collaboration album, "The Mess You Made". It always provokes a knee-jerk uncomfortable reaction in me because of the continual use of the n-word. That being said, the song speaks to what is on the minds of a lot of people. (Whether they want to admit it or not). It tackles the unfortunate fact that some black people still feel that they are little more than n____ to the population at large. I don't personally share that belief but when, incidents like the one that went down here in Nova Scotia recently happen I'm forced to step back and wonder sometimes...

Curren$y + Stalley: Address

Curren$y and Stalley take a trip to Jamaica for a new video. The song is crazy and I like the casual way it's shot. Creative Control did their thing on the visuals.
Props to Hip Hop At Lunch

The Giving Tree (Video Teaser)

This is a teaser for a video that Mal of Landmind Hip Hop and I are collaborating on. Mal's handling the music and I'm handling the visuals.