Saturday, February 23, 2008

Kid Sister On The Count & Sinden's "Beeper" video


Yep, I love Kid Sister!!

Red Tide Performing Live @ Esca in Sarasota Feb 29


DJ Kief, alongside Kensi, is hosting Friday nights at Esca in Sarasota.
They will be spinning hip-hop, breaks and electronic music from 9pm - 2am.
On February 29, 2008, Red Tide will be headlining the night.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Get Yer Dance On

Saturday Night


Feb 18 Monday Night
Thursday Feb. 21

Friday March 21 @ The Orpheum!!!!

Friday, February 15, 2008

New Balance "Chinese Opera Mask" Pack

I MUST HAVE THIS SHOE!!!
Developed by New Balance Japan, check out "The Mask" pack.
It consists of 3 New Balance 576's, each coming in strong colors, inspired by traditional Chinese Opera masks. Embossed graphics, premium suede, patent leather, reflective 3M material, mask embroideries and many more details.
A little info about Chinese Opera. The main color in a facial makeup symbolizes the disposition of the character. The facial makeups date a long time back to the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties at least. Simple patterns of painted faces are found in tomb murals of that age. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), improvements were made in the skills of drawing and in preparing the paints, leading to the whole set of colorful facial patterns that we see in today's Jingju (Beijing Opera). The art of Bian Lian (literally translated as "face changing") is a part of Szechuan Opera dating back to the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century. Bian Lian involves very fast mask changes to signify different emotions.
Now that you're super educated about chinese masks you, like me, may ask why they didn't include a color or a mask changing capability into the shoe pack. Wouldn't that have been cool!?! It would have maintained the theme and added an element that no other shoe company has really developed yet. Colors that change due to temperature, or masks that change when they move would have really set this shoe off. This is what NB should be doing with the Ndividual pack, by the way...

Thursday, February 14, 2008

A New NB Blog I AM NOT ALONE!!!

Hooray!
:-)

here's what the nbkicks blog is all about:
nbkicks.com is dedicated to all things related to New Balance, from the fashion foward classics collection to the cutting edge NBX line. NBKicks and its network of sources will work to keep you up to date with new model releases, reviews, and buying guides.
Go check out NBKICKS
Do this immediately!

Crate Bros. "Sensual Seduction" Party



The Crate Brothers deliver another star studded event.
This time for Valentine's Day.
DJs Ladybird, Becca & Jamie.
doors open 10pm
Free before 11pm

Moe Pope & Headnodic are "Megaphone"

The ladies from NatAural High Records have done it again! Ever since I met Debby & Kandy at SXSW a few years ago I knew that these girls had something special. They've released nothing but heat from their label, (Jern Eye, Spear of the Nation, Omni, Spank Pop, Lunar Heights, Bavu Blakes) inked a deal with Koch for distribution (women with business sense in the hip hop game are mad sexy!!) and now they deliver another solid album for '08.

Moe Pope & Headnodic Are Megaphone is tight from start to finish! Headnodic's beats compliment Moe Pope's flow on each track. And while they do have some very talented guest appearances from the likes of Oh No, Zion I, and Gift of Gab, as well as Moe Pope's crew, Project Move, this duo stands on their own. Like Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Eric B & Rakim, Moe Pope & Headnodic are bringin' back the producer / emcee duo in a big way. Plus I can't forget the sweet cuts from The Oakland Fader's DJ Platurn.

Download "Drop"
Download "Danger Danger" ft oh no & gift of gab

In4mation Spring '08 T-Shirts

In4mation has started releasing their Spring 2008 collection. For now they only released t-shirts, but judging from their large cut & sew offering last season, you can for sure also expect more to come this season. My man DJ Nak-1 has already been rockin some of this gear but that's just how he rolls, always a head of the curve. I'd love to get a hold of the shark jaw tee...

Get yer Kid Sister "pro Nails" T-shirt

If you’ve been paying attention to kicks-n-jams, or the music scene at all, you’ll know Kid Sister is a rising star, having just signed to Downtown Records. Her second single, “Pro Nails” feat. Kanye West dropped recently so Fool’s Gold decided to put a tee out with artwork by Dust La Rock from the 12″ sleeve. You can purchase guys and girls tees here. Get ‘em while you still can!

Amp Live of Zion I does Radiohead remixes

After a cease & desist order put the breaks on Amplive's Radiohead "In Rainbows" remix project, the online music community reasonably wondered if the tracks would ever see the light of day. Well, here they are.

While the Oakland producer/DJ acknowledges that he probably should have contacted Radiohead (who were not involved in the project) to seek approval prior to making his interpretations publically available, an agreement has been reached between all involved parties and Amplive has been granted permission to release Rainydayz Remixes for free to the general public. Effective immediately, the eight-track record is available here.

Rainydayz Remixes is composed exclusively of source material pulled from In Rainbows, re-envisioned by Amplive and complimented by vocal work from Too $hort, MC Zumbi of Zion I, Chali2na of Jurassic 5, Codany Holiday, and Del The Funky Homosapien.

Barak Obama For President!!

Chris Holmes, made a remix of Barack Obama's South Carolina victory speech. And because kicks-n-jams is endorsing Obama for President I wanna share a couple videos with you.



and here is the Will I Am "Yes We Can" video

New Balance M574 NDK Ndividual



The next drop of New Balance Ndividual sneakers have landed at Overkill. The Ndividual Series enable you to change details like the laces and logos in different colours: black and neon yellow. The logos are attached by a velcro and come in neon yellow, neon camo and grey camo. Black, high quality leather upper with silver logo stitch. I like the idea of these sneakers far better than the execution. They should shy away from the "high quality" leather (suede would be better) and focus on other aspects. Maybe a different colored sole or a mid sole with more flavor. Add a lace lock or get more interesting with the eyelets. Right now the shoes come off like something your dad would pick up in a desperate attempt to remain "hip," whatever the hell THAT means! There is still potential for this series but they gotta get on it now before they completely lose public interest. It's funny that they drop this design called Ndividual and then turn around and can design truly original series like the "super team" family and the "hungry dragon" stuff. You can do better NB!!!

Sandpeople "Honest Racket"



So it's no secret that I am a West Coast music fan. Sandpeople is a crew from the West Coast (Portland in fact) that I know almost nothing about, but I saw the CD cover, and checked the song listing, and saw that my man The Grouch, of Living Legends, was on the album. So I had ta check it out. Turns out these Portland kids make a pretty nice album. "Honest Racket" is a well put together record with tightly woven beats and lyrics. Not dance music by any stretch but thinking man's hip hop that will get the neck snappin' if ya take the time to embrace it. I fully recommend the album. Go check 'em out and pick "Honest Racket" up.

Download "Real Estate"

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Ta'Raach and Blu are C.R.A.C. Knuckles


C.R.A.C. Knuckles (Collect Respect Anna Check) consists of Blu and one of my favorite emcees, Detroit MC Ta’Raach (formerly known as Lacks). Check out these tracks from their album, "The Piece Talks," which is due out in April. I seriously cannot wait for this record to drop.

Download "Love Don't"
Download "Buy Me Lunch"

Nike Air Zoom Talache Mid

Quite simply I love this colorway. I don't know if I'd wear this style shoe but the colorway is a dead knock off of the Dunkesto Ronaldino. I love that shoe too.

The Air Zoom Talache Mid. Check out the leather covered mid-sole.
SoldOut has them in stock now in two colorways.

New Balance M574 Reptile Pack


New Balance presents an interesting new pack - the M574 Reptile Pack. It consists of three styles, each influenced by a different reptile - Snake, Lizard and Alligator. Overall the sneakers keep a subtle look and feature premium materials on the upper. These leave me a little cold (haha reptile...cold haha). A little derivative of the luggage pack and they coulda really gone out there with this kinda design. Like on the dragon release last year. Instead this pack is a high end but conservative shoe that I respect but would probably not pick up. It seems like these are an exclusive for the Japanese market. Via Conope.

New Balance A09 Hemp Pack is Tight


The A09 pack are new release sneakers made entirely of seamless hemp. Currently available in Japan, there is no guarantee we will see them in the Western market soon. More as the story develops. Saw these on the Conope site (can't read it at all but nice pics over there).
I have not been very interested in the NB A0 releases so far and the graff style N really turned me off but I am finally seeing NB do some interesting design with the style and this is the first of the line that I would definitely rock.

Provider x New Balance 1500


SNKR FRKR drops a nice surprise on us with the scoop on this interesting collaboration.
Australian store Provider teamed up with New Balance to work on the 1500 model. The outcome is a nice black/charcoal/blue colorway, with the entire upper coming in premium suede. The sneaker will be released in March and will also come with matching wayfarer sunglasses.

Check the interview at snkr frkr dot kom

Via Sneaker Freaker.

Reebok x Kool Aid

Reebok brings the ruckus with a nice colorful collaboration with that summer sensation, Kool Aid! Matching colors, smiley faces. Is this the return of late 80's acid rave?!?! I don't know but I'm diggin what they are doin here. Check the website Reebok X Kool Aid for more pics.

New Balance MT580J International Limited Ediiton



This is a HOT SHOE!!!!!


An Internation Limited Edition sneaker by New Balance. The MT580J comes in three colorways. The model should seem familiar, mainly due to the various collaboration between Undefeated, Stussy and Hectic on this model. In this release it comes in a grey/neon yellow colorways as well as in black/purple and white/grey. The Black Purple is my favorite. The subtle, distressed shading and materials combine with what is my favorite NB style (the MT580 rules!) in a bangin' shoe right here.

Mita in Japan will release all three styles on the 9th of February. I just hope they make it over to the U.S. of A.

More pics here

New Balance Fall '08 Preview


High Snobiety released a Fall '08 New Balance preview. Some new stuff comin' from New Balance. Some I'm feelin' and others I'm not. But all in all NB is mixing materials and colors with an eye toward uniqueness. So I can't hate on that. Check it out for yourself.