New Balance 1300

Seriously, I am moving to Japan and laying down a sleeping bag at Shoe Planet because I am never leaving that spot!!!
These New Balance 1300s come in three different colorways. Yellow/Green, Purple/Pink, & Teal/Orange. Nice design on the heel box and mid-sole. Suede and mesh materials. These kicks just look light and comfortable to me. I'd rock 'em in a second!

Kids New Balance 410 "Toy"

Shoe Planet has some more New Balance Japanese designs that I have never seen or heard of before!!!
This kids NB 410 is called the "Toy."
An almost candy like veneer on these 410s draws the eye. At any moment I expect 'em to turn into a Transformer or something! Velcro, no laces, and a dope "N" pattern sole set this shoe off. More a sock than a shoe with a hard toe and heel box. I'd wear it if I were a kid.

New Balance M574 "Basket Weaver" Pack

A New Balance M574 pack that I'll call the "Basket Weaver" pack is out in Japan. It consists of two 574's, a teal/black/white and a grey/black/white colorway. The design is a little too "crafty" for my tastes but an ok idea and execution. Why does the japanese market get these hot wild designs and the American market stays locked into the same ole same ole??? Baby steps I guess...Gotta crawl before they walk, or run or whatever.

The pack is now available at Shoe Planet.

New Balance Easter Display at Lazy's house

In the words of The Grouch, "You ain't artsier than me!"

New Alife Spring '08 T-Shirts

Alife NYC has released a large batch of new Spring 2008 t-shirts. This drop includes some classics in new colorways, one long-sleeve and also several Krink collaboration t-shirts. Alife makes good stuff!!

Puma Unlimited Hi & Lo "Limited Edition"

Despite the oxymoronic title of this post, I am feelin' this Puma Sneaker. The Puma Unlimited Hi & Lo's were first introduced in 1991. Mita Sneakers has two limited edition packs. They gave them an upscale make-over adding fat laces with vibrant colors as well as croc skin. Both sneakers come in three colorways and will be available as of April 21st.

Nike Air Max 97 Lux "Rainbow"

I have to be honest, I like these sneakers but I don't know if I could ever rock them. I'm the most flamboyant color and design sneaker head out of all my friends. But even I have to take a step back on these rainbow joints. They look cool though...
the AM 97 Lux "Rainbow." The base color of the sneaker is white with a multicolor pattern going over the sneaker. I really dig the disco influenced insert! It is now available at Bingo Runner.

Nike Air Max Light "Mexican Blanket"

Hey look!! Nike takes cues from a New Balance material! Here is an Air Max Light colorway, that has arrived at Size?. The Japanese give it a fresh face in this limited colourway with a touch of stingray material, patent and perforated leather and Mexican bandana style trim on the ankle piece. Even though a pretty wild mix of colors and materials, the sneaker keeps an overall clean look, mainly due to the white base color.
Via Hypebeast/Sneakerfiles.

New Balance CM576 MC Special Edition

Check out this special New Balance 576 version! this was never put on sale (thus assuring it's status and legend). Since the brand is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the shoe this year, they gave it out as a present to their best retailers. It mixes different New Balance sneakers out of the 20th anniversary collection into one, featuring a multitude of materials and colors. I love these vibrant colors and am totally ready for anbody to send me a pair.

Shoe Planet has only two of these in stock now and is auctioning them off!

Vans x Supreme x Bad Brains Sk8 Hi

I'm not a fan of these Vans at all but I am a huge bad brains fan so here ya go...

New Balance x Stussy x Undefeated x Hectic - Triple Threat MT580 "Synthetic"

The Triple Threat project of Undefeated, Stussy, Hectic in collaboration with New Balance continues this season and once again they worked on the MT580. And can't we all be thankful that new balance has finally answered our prayers and has begun to release 580s in the U.S.A.! The "Synthetic" pack consists of three colorways of the New Balance MT580. These are a seeming return to earlier colors and I for one am excited. The vibrant colors and materials are a welcome change from the more subdued sneakers that New balance released throughout the fall and winter. The pack will be released on the 26th of April in Japan.
info via Nextedge.

New Balance M1400 "Chicken Run" Pack

New Balance released a new pack of M1400 Made In USA sneakers - the Chicken Run Pack. It consists of three colorways of the M1400 and only premium materials have been used. The sneakers have an embossed running man graphic on the upper. This is a nice lookin shoe!

New Balance A10 "Olde English"

New Balance drops these A10’s for the Japan market. A 574 silhouette, this A10 has a canvas upper and features a new Olde English twist of the famed “N” logo. I like it! Look for these to drop in 3 colors (black/yellow not pictured) at various NB retailers in limited quantities.

Info.Image: Sneaker News

New Balance 576 limited edition 20th Anniversary

New Balance celebrates the 20th anniversary of their iconic 576 model this year. I like this design alot. Don't know if it's for everybody but hey, what can I tell ya?! I'm odd like that.

They developed a futuristic version of the classic - the M576E. It comes in several colorways and is now available at Mita.

New Balance Spy Vs Spy Drops

The much anticipated New Balance MT580 "Spy vs. Spy" pack has finally been released at Mita .
The pack consists of a white MT580 and black MT580 with a striped inner lining and the weapons of the spies in red embroidery.

THE GROUCH - SHOW YOU THE WORLD 4/8/08

THE GROUCH - SHOW YOU THE WORLD
(04.08.08, Legendary Music)

On his first solo record in five years, The Grouch offers his usual well thought out, yet straight forward rhymes. But his production is more varied, sophisticated and polished than ever before.

“I worked on this record for almost three years,” notes The Grouch of how he’s developed as an artist. More, this record was an idea that sprang to mind after the birth of my daughter, Rio, in 2006. As soon as she arrived all I could do is think about wanting to show her everything that I love. I was quickly humbled when I realized I was learning as much from her as she was from me.”

www.legendarymusic.net

Track Listing:
01. Microphone Intro
02. Watch Watch (featuring Mike Marshall)
03. Clones
04. Artsy
05. Favorite Folks
06. Yardwork
07. God Bless The Elephant (featuring Abstract Rude)
08. Show You The World (featuring Raphael Saadiq)
09. The Bay To LA ( Featuring MURS)
10. Mom & Pop Killer
11. Never Die
12. Shero
13. Bring It Back
14. Hot Air Balloons (featuring Bicasso and Scarub)
15. The Time (featuring Marty J)
16. Breath

Aceyalone in Tampa Monday March 24th

Monday March 24th
Aceyalone hits The Orpheum
In Tampa, Florida

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.

Get Yer Dance On

Saturday Night

Feb 18 Monday Night

Thursday Feb. 21

Friday March 21 @ The Orpheum!!!!

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...

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"

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.

Dirt E. Dutch & Breez Evahflowin Are "Troublemakers"

Since I'm on this emcee / producer duo kick I wanna let you know about a new project from Breez Evahflowin. This time around the Stronghold emcee teams up with producer Dirt E. Dutch for a collaboration on Little Ax called "Troublemakers."
The tracks that Dutch delivers on this record may be some of the best production that Breez has ever had the opportunity to spit over. Breez doesn't disappoint either. He's spent years carrying the Stronghold crew's rep from battle to battle but it looks like he's finally gonna get some recognition as a writer and not just a battler. Check out these tracks and go get the album fools!

Download "Killhumanati"

Touch & Nato Are The Representatives "Intelligent Design"

Touch & Nato hail from Alberta, Canada. What I know about Canada is they have pro wrestlers, and snow, and beer. Now I find out they've got some pretty dope hip hop talent as well. These two have released a project they call "The Representatives: Intelligent Design." The album features appearances by Wordsworth, Cadence Weapon and others and Nato delivers solid production from start to finish. So pay attention and get down with a producer, emcee duo that you maybe never heard of before.

Download "Somethin' Real" ft Wordsworth
Download "What I Really Wanna Say" ft Cadence Weapon