RZA's new record label is....Dr. Pepper?!

Wait! Did I just read that right? "RZA drops exclusive EP through Dr. Pepper's 'One of a Kind' studio sessions." Yep, Complex has teamed RZA with Dr. Pepper to produce tunes for four up-and-coming artists (Rockie, RAC, Robert DeLong, and female singer songwriter, Tinashe.) 

"What makes me one of kind...each indivdiual is unique in themselves. I don't need to sound like him, be like him, look like him or act like him. I know that there's no other me and if you like me there's only one place to get it...from me! 

"First and foremost, I'm hop hop! That's my foundation, that's my roots. That's what moulded me into a musician. But, the thing about hip hop is it's a style of music that encompasses all styles and because I'm a hip hopper I'm actually a part of all music genres." RZA

Despite my cynicism about corporate's seeking street cool endorsements, without Dr. Pepper's support these tunes wouldn't be free to download. What do you think? Does this collaboration sound hot?  (Yes, I'm that easily swayed! ;) )

Check out the video of the project and stream or download the four tracks below.

Complex magazine names the 50 greatest street artists

Complex is braver than I am by publishing its list of Top 50 street artists. Ok, it was actually drawn up by Vandalog's young Editor in Chief, R.J. Rushmore.

What will happen? For sure some folks named will let it go to their heads. Others will continue with their work undistracted.  Let's hope those that needed recognition got it.

Complex's Top 50 street artists

For me, it was good to learn the names of some new artists. Enjoy the list here.

#Chinkyeyed hosted LMNO and L.A.'s rap talent

It's Super Bowl weekend, but the only thing that mattered was the Chinkyeyed gig in Pasadena this past Friday.

I went for the beat battle where 16x producers go head to head. That's grimy. But, Cali's rap fans were there for LMNO, aka Leave My Name Out. This ex-Visioniaries crew member was headlining the night and after at least eight releases he had plenty of tunes to perform.

Jukebox Here's a dope selection of 3 tunes from LMNO for your listening pleasure.



Sadly, Visionaires and LMNO are strangers to me so I had to catch up. LMNO has been in the public eye since 1993 when he got his first break and is associated with Ras Kass and D.J. Rhettmatic, a fellow Visionaires crew member. To some, he's probably infamous for being the Christian and vegetarian rapper!

LMNO also pops up as #59 of 165 in Complex's White Rapper Encyclopedia. But don't judge. Check out his performance and love from the crowd. LMNO should be in your iPod, car, whatever! Dope. "Grin and Bear It!"

Complex reps old skool graffiti

Complex magazine used to be a must-read, until I got doomed out by the relentless marketing of yet another re-issue, special collaboration between Brand X and Designer Y, or limited edition! But what else do you expect from a magazine that boasts "Buy. Collect. Obsess" on its spine!

However, Complex sometimes goes old skool, back to the time when style wasn't just about the money and the marketing. I stumbled upon this fashion shoot in the...Girls Gallery section ;) Snigger!

Check out the TC-5 graffiti. I'm not sure all the artists are part of that infamous crew, but it takes me back to the 80s! Those guys came through Los Angeles recently at the Crewest Gallery. If you missed that read more in this posting.

Is this my favorite blog?

So I was told about Olivia Munn's blog...if you're into kinda boring coverage of Comic Con in San Diego then this is for you! If you're not (that's me!), but you still think Olivia's hot ;) then click and be merry!

I see that she's also a new columnist in Complex mag where I first spotted her...the latest issue has her rating deodorants?! What does she know? She's half Asian and we don't smell!

Graffiti Intellectualized...Norman Mailer RIP

I was online at Complex mag's blog and saw the news that Norman Mailer, Pulitzer-prize author, journalist and founder of the Village Voice passed away today.

I must admit I don't read much, but I do remember that Mailer wrote the foreword to a classic (rare) oversized book called "The Faith of Graffiti". It has full of color photos by Mervyn Kurlansky and Jon Naar that capture the early, crude graffiti tags and pieces that terrorized NYC’s subway trains in the 70-80s. Here are some excerpts and pics from the book.

"The notoriously tough guy author intellectualized the graffiti movement in its early beginnings—’Faith’ was published in 1974—when hand styles were still being developed and most of the letters were very primitive. Mailer was fascinated by the art form, writing, “What a quintessential marriage of cool and style to write your name in giant separate living letters, large as animals, lythe as snakes, mysterious as Arabic and Chinese curls of alphabet.”

“Slum populations chilled on one side by the bleakness of modern design, and brain-cooked on the other by comic strips and TV ads with zooming letters, even brain-cooked by politicians whose ego is a virtue - I am here to help my nation - brained by the big beautiful numbers on the yard markers on football fields, by the whip of the capital letters in the names of products, and gut-picked by the sound of rock and roll screaming up into the voodoo of the firmament with the shriek of the performer’s insides coiling like neon letters in the blue satanic light, yes, all the excrescence of the highways and the fluorescent wonderlands of every Las Vegas sign frying through the Iowa and New Jersey night, all the stomach-tightening nitty-gritty of trying to learn how to spell was in the writing, every assault on the psyche as the trains came slamming in.” -Norman Mailer

'As seen in Complex magazine'

adidas has begun to reach out to trendsetters online. Not content with just promoting products online, adidas has set up a integrated campaign to link its website with products that are featured in Marc Ecko's hip buyer's guide magazine, Complex.

So, now this people can go buy products featured in Complex's fashion photo spreads in this section. Cool, but kinda obvious.