Mos Def goes to Japan

Great video series from current.tv following the mighty Mos Def. This is a mixture of behind the scenes, concert footage and interviews with Mos Def as he tours Japan with his new album "The Ecstatic."

Stevio's video of Mos Def in California 2009.

Mos Def in Huntington Beach, CA 2009 from stevio on Vimeo.

Love to hate it...Japanese fashion

Since I've been away from London the mighty pound has kept cool retail concepts buzzing. That restaurant concept (open for 80 days?!) Flash has come and gone. Now another fashion victim's paradise opens. Nowhere is a jv between BAPE and Undercover (another Nipponese hothouse label) and takes over space in the basement at the ultra chic Dover Street Market. Whatever happened to Kensington Market days, eh?

If you're interested in seeing the store (supposedly a replica of the Harajuku, Tokyo spot) and new, exclusive products and re-editions of LAST ORGY 2 pieces then get yo'self to London, kids. For me I'll just carry on selling bootleg BAPE gear on eBay... :)

As you can guess, I only wrote about it to diss it. I'm a hater, yup!

It's a b-boy weekend on MTV

This weekend on MTV in the US comes a chance (well four to be precise) to watch "Planet B-Boy" one of the most engaging films about a b-boy's ascent to world champion. More accurately, this is a film about five b-boy crews repping their countries (France, South Korea, Japan and the USA), but you get up-close-and-personal with key members of the crews and their motivation to succeed. It's addictive viewing and real reality, not fake shite!

Tune into MTV
January 11th, 11.00am PST
January 12th, 12.00am PST
January 14th, 1.30am PST

Last summer, director Benson Lee was interviewed for UCLA Asia Institute. It's a dope interview that gets into the thinking behind the film. When asked about why he chose to focus on the "here and now" of b-boying, Lee said:

"If you're gonna do any justice to the history, you either just skim it, or you go for broke. The history...it's like a black hole. Once you get sucked in, it's kind of hard to get out. You are constantly walking on eggshells. And you are constantly questioning the authenticity of information and you know it's a scientific approach with no scientific evidence. It's all just like "I was there," "He wasn't there," or it's just constant bickering. It's very political, there's a lot debate within the community. I'm certainly not the person to go in there and say that this is the definitive history. It's actually much safer not to do that. The last group I want to disrespect are the b-boys."

Food fighter...hiiii-yah!

Recouperating after a late night and a few beers demanded greasy food and lo-culture...MTV reality shows... yet satisfyingly addictive! Then I witnessed this guy...the four-time Nathan hotdog eating champion [drum roll pleaaaase]...Takeru Kobayashi...





The prize goes to...But may be this little distraction from my sweetheart Olivia Munn is more interesting? ;)

BAPE, BAPY, APEE...Hmmm

I checked out the BAPE store in Taipei - a large ~4,000 sq ft, 2 storey retail statement. On the ground floor is the regular "A Bathing Ape" gear, although the sales guy distinguished between the black label collection. Yea, whatever ;-)

Upstairs was more interesting to me. There I saw the "BAPY" and "APEE" lines -for women and femal teens, respectively. It made me think of the Portfolio article I read about the struggles Nigo, BAPE's founder, is facing as he and his team try to create a worldwide brand that still has some significance to his peers and fans.

It reminds me the challenge Stussy had in the early 90s. To compare, BAPE has worldwide sales of $59m ($24m more than Stussy)!

On researching, my revelation was that one of Toyko's Major Force record-label founders (and Wild Bunch collaborator), Hiroshi Fujiwara, ventured into clothing and apparel (Goodenough and Head Porter) which are now some of the most revered Japanese streetstyle labels, oft quoted by cool hunters.

Human beatbox...world champs

Do you know The Roots? Then you know Rahzel...and his Robocop obsession. He's good (see the clip below), but in terms of versatility I think the the (white) Europeans have got something going on! ;-) Seriously!



YouTube delivers proof
Quality beatboxing comes from Belgium's Roxorloops (?!) and London's Killa Kella who freestyles with Supernatural! Here's Roxorloops...he beats the competition with his sound effects...listen for the echo.



Check the lyrics
This clip below shows Supernatural freestyle rhyming over Killa Kella's beatbox skills. Oh, mate...I've got some Killa Kella 12" from 2003. London, baby! Check the video. It's the ill-est freestyle for years!

Check the rhymes: Korea, Japan and the Louis Vuitton flow is just outstanding, dog! ;-)



If you want to learn more about Supernatural, read this interview. I, for one, didn't know he's been on the scene for years.