I’ll upload real images once I get back to Amsterdam and can upload the photos and video from my camera

Capping off an incredible homecoming weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the second stop of the Watch the Throne tour at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. Even with the high ticket prices, pretty much everyone I talked to this past week was buzzing about the concert, by bringing together two of music’s living legends on one stage, “The Throne” had created a “be there” moment; either you were talking about what you hoped to see, or what you expected to miss out on.

I wasn’t overwhelmed by Watch the Throne the album, I think it will come to represent a significant change in how hip-hop music is produced, recorded and arranged in years to come, however at times I–like many others–was alienated by the number of luxury rap references and toasts to opulence. That said, I was excited to see how two of rap’s best performers, could bring their deep catalogues and enormous production budgets into a single show.

After an almost 2 and a half hour wait, almost an hour of which was spent in line at “Chick Fry Fry” who employed the time-honoured “keep-them-waiting-for drinks-long-enough-to-convince-them-they-could-actually-use-some-chicken-tenders” business model of concert concessions, the titans finally arrived to the album’s doddering leitmotif, before launching into “H.A.M.” whose blaring strings and powerful drums were in fact hard as a motherfucker.

The first few songs of the set were flawless, as the duo fired off a selection of Watch the Throne’s more energetic cuts, with “Who Gon Stop Me” being the definite highlight. Backed up by an impressive stage set-up that featured video montages of nature films, lasers and smoke machines, the concept looked like it would deliver on the album’s attempt to bring together “high” and “low” art in a way that felt vital despite the obvious calculation.

As the night wore on, Kanye and Jay began to take turns performing mini-sets of their hits, and that’s when the cracks started to appear. As an album, Watch the Throne felt like a Kanye West album laden with Jay-Z features, as a tour–at least in partisan Greensboro–Jay-Z felt like the headliner, with Kanye acting as a sometimes unwelcome guest to the festivities. The generational gap became apparent every time one exited the stage to let the other perform. When Jay took the time to reach deep into his bag of hits, the entire enraptured stadium dutifully raised their diamonds and followed every cue he sent in the audience’s direction. On the other hand, Kanye’s solo sets were hit and miss, and many of his attempts to draw the audience in failed to connect with the masses.

This was most evident when Kanye ascended an LED-lit pillar in the centre of the crowd to perform “Runaway” and “Heartless.” Bathed in red lights wearing a red motorcycle jacket, black leather jeans, black and pink Nike Yeezy 2’s and a grunge-style plaid shirt tied around his waist, an autotuned West crooned and ranted while advising concert goers to appreciate their loved ones in what in sincere displays of emotion that just didn’t resonate beyond his glowing totem pole.

In concert, Kanye seems to relive the moment that each song was conceived as he performs them, and in the right setting, that type of catharsis can be transcendent and powerful, but he is rendered impotent when the audience refuses to join him. Many in the crowd last night were clearly there to see Jay-Z and West’s more emotional moments at times felt like intermissions from Hova’s hit parade, which was a shame.

If the crowd came to party, Jay was more than happy to oblige them as he strung together, hit after hit, and never appeared to be having less than a ball. Hip-Hop’s first truly timeless figure delivered on every front, lyrical street tales (“Where I’m From,” “You Don’t Know”) radio hits (“Big Pimpin’,” “H to the Izzo,”) hits that shouldn’t be hits (“Public Service Announcement,”) and late career highlights (“On to the Next One,” and the surprisingly well-received “Empire State of Mind.”) The ageless God MC was pitch-perfect all night and by the time he returned to close the show with The Black Album’s “Encore,” the breathless crowd chanted his name even when he graciously tried to start a “Kanye” chant. Whether this trend continues as the tour moves forward remains to be seen, but at least on this night, the kilt-clad “Little Brother” deferred to “Big Brother.”

Tokyo is a special city. Exhausted from our whirlwind week in Kobe, I slept most of the 3-hour train ride. When our train arrived at Shibuya station, overwhelmed by bright lights and loud sounds, I felt like I had awoken on an alien planet.

Shibuya Station

Emerging from my red-eyed, sleep-deprived, zombie-like state in the back of a cab I began to see the correlations between Tokyo and New York. Based on my first impressions, I would describe Tokyo as the more humble, more considered wing of the same bird as my adoptive hometown. Where Kobe was very metropolitan and very international, there was still a sense of quaintness exuded by the people; they were sometimes too considerate, too helpful and too nice to be believable as urban dwellers. Tokyo, like New York, seemed to race at the speed of light, and despite the time we arrived it seemed like life was in full swing on the still crowded streets.

I briefly stopped by my hotel in Aoyama, which I later found out was known as the “Beverly Hills” of Tokyo (the hotel I stayed in still hasn’t found out), before leaving to explore Shibuya more thoroughly.

As bright as Times Square but as rebellious as Camden, Shibuya on a Saturday Night was definitely a visual experience, with Goths, Punks, Hip-Hop heads and of course the world-famous “Shibuya Girls” milling from club to club. One thing that surprised me right off the bat was the number of foreigners on the streets of Tokyo: not just the expected tourists, but also Nigerian club promoters, Russian ballet dancers and no shortage of white guys dressed like Japanese cartoon characters.

The next day, I tried to take advantage of the Summer Sale season and visit the extensive list of stores that I got from Kwon (the guy that brought you this, this, and these amongst others.) In addition to the usual suspects like Alife, Supreme and UNDFTD, the deep, deep itinerary he gave me included a lot of homegrown stores like Okura, Silas&Maria and the flagships for Japanese brands like Visvim and White Mountaineering. Each neighbourhood had a very distinct character that was reflected in the character and curation of its stores: Harajuku is all flash, and focused on the new, Daikanyama’s boutiques communicate class and subtlety, and Ueno’s “stores” –like the legendary Mita Sneakers–feel more like stands in a Third World flea market.

I can’t talk about Tokyo without talking about the great people that I got a chance to hang out with who all helped make the experience as comfortable as possible for me.
Thank you to:
My new homegirl Aya for showing me the sites and putting up with me while I played The Ultimate Tourist.

My best friend‘s father, the great Philip Woo for inviting me to the New York Bar of Lost in Translation fame to see you play, then taking me out for sashimi.

The view from New York Bar

Thanks to my friend Takayuki Akachi (also known as this guy), Akiko and the Tangram team, it was great to finally meet you all and I hope we get to work together soon.

Thanks to Takashi and the geniuses at Team-Lab for letting me see your mad scientist laboratory, firehouse burgers and taking me out on my last night.

And finally thanks to Ian, Toshiki, Chris and Micke from the AQ extended family for not only showing me a great time, but also helping make this project happen.

A wrap-up of the final interview to come.

I definitely underestimated Donnis when I first heard him, but the quality of the product has made me a believer and a fan. Look out for big things this summer…#spoileralert

Working on creative concepts for both brands involves a certain kind of alchemy, somewhat reminiscent of certain “unsavory” endeavours.

Even if converse is one of our competitors you couldn’t get me to pretend that they didn’t knock this out of the park. I think this is a really great example of a brand understanding and owning the concept of Authenticity. In a lifestyle space it’s something that everyone is searching for but it’s such a delicate virtue that the search for authenticity can often leave a brand looking foolish and out of touch. (See: Talking Medallions saying BOOM!)
By focusing on local heroes and acknowledging an unwritten history of New York Basketball, Converse creates an instant affinity for their brand in the viewers that know the names, faces and stories presented here while simultaneously guiding the uninitiated to delve deeper into the stories presented here, in effect they make themselves a curator of Authenticity. There are so many things going on here that I love:

• Jim Jones – To the mainstream, a one-hit wonder for the “BALLIN!” record. To New York he’s become something of a modern pillar of the New York Hip-Hop; founding member of the Diplomats, consistent radio/mixtape presence and a consistent source of street stories due to his outspoken and left-of-centre persona. Most brands would jump out the window before shooting a commercial at the Rucker with a guy who was once famously trounced in a brawl there during a Summer League game. Converse embraced everything about Jimmy including his massive ego and made him the centrepiece for the spot.
• The Background Players – Carlos Arroyo entered the NBA undrafted in 2001, has never won a championship or played in an Allstar game. However, as only the fifth Puerto Rican player to play in the NBA, he’s one of the most recognizable and loved players in basketball, especially in a city like New York. Players like Arroyo might not have incredible careers but they will always be remembered for key moments, the recollection of which becomes the stuff of legend. Arroyo holding the Puerto Rico on his team jersey towards the camera after leading the Puerto Rican national team to victory over the United States in the 2004 Olympic Tournament has already been immortalised in murals from San Juan to Harlem, representing an affection and identification that transcends medals and trophies.
  Similarly, Adrian “A-Butta” Walton’s recognition lives from moment to moment. To real NY Basketball heads, he’s most well-known for scoring 32 points on Vince Carter in a losing effort, in the internet sphere he’s known for engaging in a trickshot dual with an Energy drink (sidenote: I produced that piece) and to the hipster crowd he’s becoming well known for his performances in Converse’s Band of Ballers tournaments. Another face that could be lost to the mainstream, but is instantly recognized by the “In the Know” viewer who then recognizes Converse’s Authenticity.
  Take the same logic and apply it to the placement of Rune Glifberg, Kenny Anderson, “Black” Jack Ryan, Sammy Baca, and God Shammgod.
• Dr. J – More than his presence, it’s his presentation. Another brand might have gone out their way to tell the view “Hey, It’s Dr. J!” Where they assume you have no idea who he is, Converse gives him a big reveal that would probably make you feel like an idiot if you didn’t know who he was. Having to ask “who is that?” puts you outside the circle. Converse is challenging you to enter into that world by removing all of the idiot cues from the piece and I think a lot of companies in our category could learn from that. It’s a delicate dance, recognizing it without forcing it, acknowledging it without chasing it, finding it without announcing it.
• The Little Things – There’s an incredible amount of symbolism in the piece, which I supposed should be attributed to Director Antonie Fuqua of Training Day fame. The twitterverse is currently abuzz (atweet?) about the piece’s allusion to Nazi War Rallies. Might not be the type of controversy you want to attract as a mainstream brand, but all it does is create more conversations about the campaign and draw eyes to piece. Aside from that you have a brief shot of a pair of original Star Players hanging from a telephone wire, a look at the Band of Ballers Trophy and The Impact Repertory Theatre dancers, all of which give the piece layers that show a level of thought, nuance and (cue buzzword) Authenticity, that most marketing images in our category completely miss.

vs.

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Fame is truly a drug. More here

Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama releases a retrospective of his best works. Available here
For fans of sex, robots, women and sexy robot women.

I’ve been listening to the Distant Relatives album, and I honestly think it’s Nas’ best work since God’s Son. The partnership with “Junior Gong” has him sharper and more revitalized than he has with recent albums and I think having a creative foil to work with has reigned in his often-loose lyrical content to create an album that is sonically and thematically tight and coherent. With that said, I’d like to propose some more collaborations that could bring the best out of Mr. Jones:

terribly photoshopped image from Vibe
Nas and J Cole – Carry the Torch
While he’s signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint, I think I’m not the only one who can see the parallels between the Fayetteville-based new-comer and God’s Son. At a young age, Cole displays the same maturity, and insight that Nas did early in his career, while staying just rough enough around the edges to become a compelling personality on record that we as listeners hope to see develop and grow with time. I think “real”–I hate that term–hip-hop fans would go peanut-encrusted monkey shit at hearing the young gun trade compound rhyme schemes with the elder statesmen that laid the foundation for his style.

Nas and Jay-Z – Destroy and Rebuild
The last of the Great MC’s, like two monuments from a bygone era, Nas and Jay-Z will always remind fans of the mid-90′s, one of hip-hop’s greatest era’s when it came to solo achievements. While they are inextricably linked by their 2001-02 beef, it’s interesting to see how their careers have diverged and reconnected since then. Jay has become one of Pop Culture’s greatest crossover figures, while Nas seems to intermittently flirt with obscurity. One thing is certain, their chemistry on the two records that they’ve shared, “Black Republican” from Nas’ Hip-Hop is Dead and “Success” from American Gangster, left fans wanting for more collaborations between them, especially with Nas’ propensity to take sneaky shots at Jay post-beef.








Nas and Rakim – Bridging the Gap
This was talked about and rumoured to take place for a long time but never materialised, much to the chagrin of those “real” fans I mentioned earlier. If Nas is an elder statesmen, then Rakim is an institution. I might be wrong but I believe the closest they have come to a collab thus far were their verses on the Nike Air Force 1 song that Kanye produced a few years ago. Just like J. Cole may catch the baton from Nas (||), Nas has successfully carried on Rakim’s legacy of complex and spiritual lyricism, so this pairing just seems natural.








Nas and Scarface – The Message
The Down South Rakim meets The God’s Son, Scarface took Rakim’s blueprint much like Nas did, but applied it to sound-beds suited to his Houston heritage, which gives his country twang an impact that is both musical and lyrical. Just like Distant Relatives gives us the opportunity to hear Nas over reggae- and afrobeat-influenced beats for the first time, I think it would be dope to hear an entire album of Nas and ‘Face Mob going back and forth over the type of soulful, bass-heavy, and undeniably Southern production that Kanye, Mike Dean and T-Mix cooked up for The Fix. Scarface is one of the most somber and spiritual voices in Hip-Hop, so hopefully he would be able to steer Nas in the direction ofStillmatic era standouts like “One Mic” and “Heaven.”

Nas and AZ – Life’s A Bitch: The Album
The reason their long relationship hasn’t resulted in a full-album collaboration is beyond me. AZ was the only guest appearance on Nas’ classic first album, and the pair have appeared on countless songs together as well as two group albums with the Firm. Even if AZ has never been the most lucrative commodity, I think Nas is at a stage in his career where doesn’t need to make any attempt to relate to the 106 and Park set as that audience has been raised on a completely different type of Hip-Hop, so he could throw this out to the diehards. In fact, just release a cassette of Esco and Sosa free-styling over 90′s beats for an hour, and I think we’ll be straight.

Nas and Game – Take it In Blood
Of the many, many–many–play books that Game studied to develop his style, Nas’ probably gets the most citations lyrically. As a student of Nas, Game is a lot less subtle and more aggressive than his forebearer, and that duality created an undeniable Chemistry on the handful of tracks they’ve worked on thus far. Once again, there’s added appeal here due to the regional mixture, imagine Nas taking Game to Queens over a Primo beat, before the bi-coastal tandem bounce six-fours down Crenshaw over Dre production. Nas is probably one of the few rappers still in the game that could get Primo and Dre on the same project, in fact he’s probably the only MC still rhyming not named Eminem that could get Dre out of bed for anything less than a Monster cheque.

Nas and Rage Against the Machine – Revolutionary Warfare
I saw Nas perform with a live band two summers ago at Webster Hall, and the results were…mixed to say the least. With an inexperienced and noisy band, Nas was drowned out and never picked up the intensity to match his younger, more eager backing band. Rage Against the Machine are one of the most celebrated and influential Rock groups of the last 15 years, but lead-singer Zack De La Rocha’s poor delivery as an MC has always been a sticking point with me. Now put the band’s instrumentalists together with one of the greatest MC’s in history and what do you get? Powerful lyrics over powerful grooves and Tom Morello’s innovative guitar noises? or a sleepy sounding Nas trying to find his place in the cacophony? Either way it would make an interesting listen.

Keep thinking how young can you be to die from old age?

Drake – Light Up feat. Jay-Z

Much anticipated collaboration arrives, via the Evil Empire.
SN: Gotta love that hook…LightUp!

New Then, New Today