Banksy punks Paris

This is classic! The videos say it all...


How much do you think those Paris punk'd CDs are being sold for? Probably not the effect Banksy wanted to have, but there are entrepreneurs everywhere.

Banksy brings it to LA

You gotta love Banksy. Bristolians in LA love Banksy. The Beeb even came over to report on his show that happened downtown on Hunter St. off of Sante Fe.

The show commenting on disproportionate wealth, dysfunctional economic policies and false idols was pretty ram-jam on Saturday afternoon when I headed down there - ironically I'd just dropped off my Gucci loafers in Beverly Hills for re-heeling! But I get the message...

Here are my videos and photos for y'all...





As it happens, I met Banksy at the video game exhibition at the Barbican a couple of years ago when Steve was managing him and before he put his booklets and prints together. I bought a couple of sets of the booklets from Rough Trade and was thinking about how many of his art booklets he's sold? Let's say 250,000. At 5 quid each. Let's say he gets 2.50 quid = 625,000 quid or $1.2m?! Who needs a publishing deal? DIY.

Rakim Allah

It's the House of Blues, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles on a Friday night and it can only be one thing: Rakim Allah, one of the foremost lyrists in rap. Ever!

Ah man, Jase got us tix at the last minute so finally I was gonna see Rakim! I was excited. As we waited to get our wristbands in the 'Industry' guest list line an entourage turns up. And Rakim himself walks by...for a moment he looks up and I just stare at him and just nod, knowingly. He was dressed like a boxer going into the ring with a towel over his head and a cap on. Best of all, I managed to catch a few shots of him getting the security frisk outside before the HoB.



The gig was your traditional DJ and MC set up with Kid Capri in the house. Oh, and for a special guest...the one and only KRS One. Arrgghhh! What a billing: Rakim and KRS One? OMG! KRS let off some freestyle lyrics, Rakim played his new joint. It was awesome people. Check out the photo above which features Kool Herc...I didn't know he was in the house!



Oh...YouTube came thru: Check this MTV freestyle featuring Rakim and KRS! Word!



Check out the Paid In Full album cover. That era of Dapper Dan's ghetto couture was really something. I was in Harlem in '90 trying to get myself a Dapper Dan custom suit, but no one would serve me. I went twice, but no one wanted to serve an Asian I think. So F*&k them...I got my own one made without their help. Check out my LV custom baseball jacket.



I designed it and got it tailored in '91. Word! And over a decade before LV got their 'ready-to-wear' sports casual range together. The street has had such a profound affect on couture and designer fashion. Just look around...

May be Rapnews.co.uk said it best: "Wearing designs by Dapper Dan made you feel hood rich." No one at Louis Vuitton will ever understand that!

adidas 'run tings'

Who needs eBay when you've got the adidas Originals store nearby?

I got my haircut at Rudy's this weekend and always wander into the adidas store to check things out afterwards. And was it worth it...I found the 'rasta' satin track top I was fiending over on eBay. I love it! It was $70 less than eBay too.

What wasn't so cheap was the 'Sign of Times' retro leather baseball jacket that was in store. $600 smackers..Lord 'ave mercy! This jacket was in NYC when I first visited in 1989. The leather on the retro is soft, the toweling stars dope, but $600 can buy you a trip to China where they make that shite! Come on...Hey, if it gets anywhere near $300 you know I'm picking that freshness up!



Have you seen the 'Cities' campaign that adidas has launched? Selected cities around the world are the center of a new range of apparel and sneakers. Here are some pics of the range... I'm not saying it's cool (I think the shoes are a bit wack), but take a look yourself. adidas could've done better on the "I heart London/New York/Beijing" etc. t-shirts.

Block Paaarty

Ja, Britt and I went to see Naama in her new revamped Reserve LA store on Fairfax which she now co-hosts with FreshJive. It's cool to have clothes in there, but the books stocked have changed and now I'm not sure what I'd ever buy there. Still the clothes were kinda 'fresh'.

Up the street there was a block party. Literally, the street was blocked off and a DJ played tunes as a huge BBQ was cooking up brats and burgers. The stores were open and a bunch of the trendiest, cutest girls rolled up to hang out on a sunny Monday Labor Day afternoon. Nice.

Britt poked holes in the whole sneaker culture brain-washing. Check out the Nikes she's holding in the new FCLA sneaker store on Fairfax: "these are ugliest pair of sneakers EVER!" Hahahha! There were a whole heap of retro Air Jordans in there for $200-450. "Why are these popular? What do these people think of the Third World labor used to make their sneakers...? I don't wanna wear Air Max 95 from when I was at high school..."