Jake Davis: Motion Man

One of the more interesting video portraits i've been drawn to in a while. Some of his work has caught me, even while i was oblivious as to who was creating. Check out a little bit of explanation and background about Jake Davis and his work. This came from one of my favorite sites in the whole galaxy, a daily inspiration for me.

My Top 5 Albums of 2010

I'm back with my 4th installment of my personal best albums for the year passed. Once again here are the rules:

1. The albums are selected from what i have personally heard
2. There is no need to argue because my opinion is what i deem to be the total after tax, it's nothing else to add.

This was a good year for music's sake, at least as far as I am concerned. Before I delve into the list i have to do the obligatory honorable mentions. J.Cole finished the year so strong with his Friday Night Lights mixtape [Correct, I count mixtapes as they are the new albums.] and followed up on the momentum his labelmate Wale's mixtape More About Nothing. I am utterly grateful for Kanye's GOOD Friday series, that's an album worth of material and it keep me musically fed all fourth quarter. And my last honorable mention is Kenneth Whalum III, simply phenomenal, see post below.




5. Drake - Thank Me Later
As amazing as i think this album is there is one deficiency, i didn't feel like he finished quite a few songs. He delivered one verse on many of the songs [See "Light Up", "Up All Night", "Unforgettable", "Miss Me"]. The one thing that i feel Drake does better than a lot of artists, he doesn't waste any words. All of his bars are hearty, very little cliche statments or metaphors/similies that don't really mean anything. The album is relatively personal and you feel like you get a grasp of his journey, even dating back before the music; tidbits that shaped Aubrey's well-rounded outlook on life which he fights to hold on to after his introduction to the fastest life he's ever seen. I would be remiss if i didn't mention the versatility of what he does, a major part of the reason he instantaneously strolled to the top; he sings with acceptable precision and is easily one of the better new rhyme-sayers. He's that rare.




4. Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon II
I hate to repeat myself so I'm going to try to highlight some points i possibly left out of my Cudi post late last year. Cudi does a LOT with his music, it's quite versatile. One of the things that i like about his album is that it's really an adventure. Artist development is very hard to find these days, but so is album development. Cudi's albums always feel like stories that you can follow and not just a collection of songs. When you can get in the booth and take people where you want them to go and not where they want to go, that's special. Also i had to give him credit -- which often eludes him from what i hear -- his songs tend to have quite a bit of a message, sans the ones where he goes on his "stoner" binge.



3. Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives
I was mildly surprised at how mammoth this album was. Now when i say that, don't think for one second-hand on the watch that i didn't assume it was going to be good. I just had no way to predict it would be this good, considering i 'thought' i didn't understand Damian Marley. The island influence on this special delivered this to my heart. The synergy these two created was top-shelf, it makes Jay-z & R.Kelly look like 4th grade homework [I shouldn't have done that, as it was demeaning, but comparisons work wonders for perspective]. Frankly, it's hard to explain this album, which is another reason i used a comparison. Just trust me that it's great.



2. N.E.R.D. - Nothing
This is the best #2 I've ever posted, it hurts me to even associate this with a silver medal. This album means so much to me and as contradictory as this sounds, it is my favorite album currently. The undertones of social commentary in the lyrics are sheer genius. I tell people this is my life manual [behind the Bible of course]. The music comes from left-field, yes even for N.E.R.D., but it works so well with your ears. I am convinced that Pharrell has a voice suited perfectly for music, it's magical and unclassifiable. The layers in N.E.R.D.'s music is so much more developed than what i usually hear these days.



1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
This album is so complete it forced me to move my own favorite to #2. The first observation i had when i heard this is, there's at least two songs within every song. He creates so much mood and build in each song, nobody shifts the music like Kanye. Another amazing feat he conquered was turning a bunch of features into a positive and not a negative. Kanye is a symphony director that organizes the people with the sounds. He put 11 highly acclaimed artist, a few legendary, on the same song and it came out sounding amazing. He does the complete gamut when composing, and i had to give him his just due for just that. I wouldn't be surprised if he mixed the album himself. When i listen to this album i can't even go find another hip hop album to put in without it sounding simple, this simply dwarfs all of it's contempararies. The one thing i can always thank Kanye for is pushing the envelope. If you can stomach more of my superlatives about Kanye go back and read my previous post.

To Those Who Believe:

It's no secret to anyone who frequents this blog that music is a critical part of who i am and when i find something with layers and depth that really speaks to me, I must share. I just purchased the jazz album of an incredible young man from a lineage you may be familiar with, his name on and off stage is Kenneth Whalum III. The album is entitled To Those Who Believe.

For my generation--somewhere below 35 and above 18-- Jazz has become antiquated and we no longer spend time with this inspirational and culture-building art form. Most of our distance is created by lack of accessibility and connectivity. A healthy portion of the jazz artist we knew/know are at least 15 years our senior so we never found a connection with them, although a lot of that music was just as incredible. A young man like Kenneth Whalum who was bred musically by one of jazz's elite (and I'm sure there's more to his story that i don't know) has the proper foundation and the right placement to really be a torch bearer for the resurgence of a genre. He is authentic enough for traditional jazz aficionados who are usually more roped off in their own music VIP section, but he walks amongst the crowd of the socially aware, those who talk and interact with more people on a day-to-day basis than our parents, as a lot of our friendships and acquaintences are still closer to fresh than they are old; these people disseminate information like highly contagious viruses. Therefore I think this young man has the credibility and appeal to get people to listen to jazz once again. Here's a brief caesura, my dad would be proud of me right now.

Despite that last paragraph please don't make the mistake of thinking this was about his "hip" factor. The music is stellar, and this i know as i've sat in my dads car listening to jazz for hours upon hours through my upbringing, i've been to the record store with dad many times and also sat on the back porch with he and his jazz. This is character building material--and i mean that--, something i would recommend to every human i know. I will probably play this for my grandad and send a copy to my dad, I have already smothered my friends with this album (they were appreciative though). If you can give this a listen, i am most confident you won't return to me unhappy.

Click HERE to view the album.

Mapping America: Every City, Every Block

I was doing my NY Times perusing and I discovered a fascinating feature, for knowledge's sake. This is census information compiled from 2005-2009. You have the ability to put in your zip code and see the population distribution along with smaller radius'. If you just had the thought, "Eh that's cool but I'll keep going", do both of us a favor and just take a peek at it and you'll be intrigued by something. For instance I looked at the disparity between the opposite sides of hollowed 8Mile Road:


NY TIMES: MAPPING AMERICA

8Mile is the horizontal line that separates the coagulated blue dots from the liberated green dots, with a few other colors finding space amidst the open suburban range. I'm sure every region has its own idiosynchrisies, check your own out.

New Munny®™

I showed everyone my blank Munny™, but since I have completed him. Here are a couple of pictured that more than likely show the fun I had. I'll have you know it was such a relaxing thing to do, I'm sure I'll paint more of them.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Paul Labonte

A gentleman by the name of Paul Labonte created a book entitled "Photographs Inspired by the Rap Music That Once Inspired Me", which instinctively caught my attention. Although i do not have the book, what was unveiled to me felt a little shy of what i thought it would be. I actually felt like he could have crafted a little further. However check the video for his personal audio.

Kenny Scharf Mural

This mural blinds all the monotony of the world with one glance. It turns a sidewalk into a museum. How do you dress your life? Well i would like to dress some parts of my life like this. I'm sure it is painfully obvious now that i love this mural.

Burn Rubber x New Balance F&F Recap

Since i mentioned the shoes in my last post i felt it was only right to give you slight recap gift wrapped by my compadre @Skighwalker. Very nice visuals for what took place. You have to be plunging your head under high water if you weren't there (including myself, as i was tied up). While I'm at it Cliff has relaunched his blog over at www.cliffskighwalker.com, check my panel on the right.

New Balance x Burn Rubber: MT580BR

My closet (or Burn Rubber), located on 202 W.Fourth St in Royal Oak is sharing their biggest accomplishment to date in a week. Very proud and motivated by my guys @OhShitRoSpit & @BurnRubberRick. I'm not going to do too much talking, I'll skip right to the meat and potatoes, pay attention.

Historically the New Balance MT580 is a shoe released out of Asia with various collaborators. This marks the first time that the shoe has been collaborated on and brought through by the New Balance America team.

In business since 2004 Burn Rubber is Metro Detroit’s first premium sneaker boutique. The Burn Rubber name is a play on a phrase from the Motor City’s car culture. The name came from the comparison of the use of sneakers on a person to the use of tires on a car. Burn Rubber is known throughout their community as the place to get hard to find, limited edition sneakers and clothing.

Burn Rubber made the shoe their own by applying a shop colored theme and utilizing materials in unique ways. The custom designed argyle pattern that lines the inside of the shoe was created to incorporate all of the company’s branded colors. A reflective 3M material, originally developed to reflect light for night running, was also used throughout the mostly gray shoe to give the design another dimension. The majority of the shoe design is comprised of New Balance’s premium nubuck and gray mesh, and completed with a touch of patent leather and a classic gum sole.

As one of the most recognizable aspects of the Burn Rubber brand they have chosen to include the shop’s mascot on the hangtag provided with each shoe. The Chef, originally created to be “just another T-Shirt design”, ended up taking on a life of its own. The photo shoot for this project was done from the perspective of a chef and was intended to bring light to the story of Burn Rubber’s popular logo & style.

The Burn Rubber MT580 will be available on November 26th at www.burnrubberdetroit.com and at Burn Rubber’s Royal Oak Location (202 W Fourth Street, Royal Oak, MI 48067).

For the sketch and my man @BurnRubberRick 's insight go touch his site.
There are also Wallpapers to download for your phone. Head over with your mobile.

The Influencers: Trends & Creativity

I've slated myself to read a certain book by Malcolm Gladwell (Shout out to The Roots) but I haven't gotten around to it. This is a small piece that points out a little of what Gladwell talks about. Most of us are very aware of trends and the ebbs & flows they take along time, however everyone does not look at trends the same. There are spectators that watch and eventually have a "Eureka!" moment once the trend is front and center; but there are also those that have that "Eureka!" moment at 2:38 in the afternoon on a mundane Tuesday in August. The principle is simple, either you make them or you follow them. Check this film out and see if it peaks your interest, and see where you stand. I know where i stand.