CURREN$Y-PILOT TALK 2

@CurrenSy_Spitta - The making of Pilot Talk 2

On “The Day,” a track off this year’s Pilot Talk, Curren$y boasts, “There is not a adjective to describe how I work/Hard is not enough, brother, I’m tougher.” That line crosses our minds when we bump Curren$y’s Pilot Talk II, which drops today, because it reminds us that at least some rappers live up to their word. PTII is Spitta’s second album this year, and he’s got another two albums already lined up. Although he’s made sacrifices to make this record happen—forgoing sample-based production due to the independent nature of his label, DD172—the album finds Spitta in the midst of yet another burst of creativity. To document it all, we cut through a thick cloud of weed smoke and got down with Curren$y, Ski Beatz, and most of the artists involved in the project to create The Making of Curren$y’s Pilot Talk II, a track-by-track breakdown of his album...

Airborne Aquarium

Produced by: Ski Beatz & The Senseis

Curren$y: “Ski did a crazy beat and I fuckin’ rapped about a bunch of shit. At the end I named it that. I mean, the song isn’t about a flying aquarium, you know?”

Ski Beatz: “It was me, Curren$y, and Little Stevie—Steven Baker, that’s Dame’s nephew. I was going through samples trying to find something ill. And Little Stevie heard this sound and was like, ’Yo, that’s dope!’ And Curren$y was like, ’Yeah, that sounds like some Sea World shit. Like some dolphin music.’ So we chopped it up and the [my house band] The Senseis came in and played on top of it. Curren$y dropped those lyrics in and it was a match made in heaven.

“Sometimes I’m searching for tracks, and he might hear something, and he’ll say, ’I like that sound.’ Then I’ll try to make a beat out of it. But most of the time, I’ll just make a beat that I think that he’ll rhyme on and say, ’Yo, I got a track. Check it out.’ And he’ll come down and listen to it and say, ’Okay, that’s dope.’ Then he’ll start writing. But I have no idea how he titles his songs.”

Michael Knight

Produced by: Ski Beatz & The Senseis

Curren$y: “David Hasselhoff portrayed one of the coolest people I’ve ever seen. He had a talking Trans Am, wore a leather jacket in the dessert, and he wasn’t fuckin’ hot—thus he was cool. He had massive hair, which is why I’m not cutting my hair. He got the chick every time. You know the show is only thirty minutes, so within that time he saved the world and had sex with some chick he didn’t know from the previous episode, so he is baggin’ a new bitch every fuckin’ time. So fuckin’ Michael Knight. How can you argue with that?”

Ski Beatz: “I’m actually a co-producer on that. Well, me and John Cave of The Senseis. He just started playing this guitar lick, put it down, and we tracked it out in the computer. I basically treated it like a record, and just took it and chopped it up, added drums, and gave it a hip-hop feel. It’s dark, but at the same time there’s something about it that attracts you to it. It’s hypnotic. Definitely a taboo beat.

“I always make the beats for him. I know exactly what I think he sounds good on, and nine times out of ten he feels the same way. I don’t just make beats. I don’t have a list of beats that I play people. I make a beat for you.”

See the rest at Complex Magazine

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LAST DIRTY SECRET x DIRTY PARAFFIN

.3RD DECEMBER 2010.

MORGAN BROS

Morgan Bros is an lifestyle apparel project, manufacturing high quality street-wear inspired by classic cuts instead of modern trends. The Cape’s multi-cultural style fuels the labels creativity. Breeding progressive change from the beautiful yet gritty West Coast.

"Influenced by independent films, hip-hop, international, pop & sub culture. They dont sell out, they keep it real out here and live how we feel.

"We dont chase paper, we chase the dream…

We Run This Town!"

Kings of Leon in South Africa

As you may already know the King of Leon are coming to South Africa. The announcement was made using Big Concerts Facebook and Twitter pages yesterday afternoon. More details are being released on Thursday on 5fm’s breakfast show but we’ll also keep you in the loop. Check out the Big Concerts release below

“At last we can confirm that the Kings of Leon are coming to South Africa! For all the tour dates and ticket details catch the 5FM Breakfast Show on Thursday morning. Be sure to put this one your Christmas shopping list!” – Big Concerts.

GAZELLE INTERVIEW BY WWW.DONTPARTY.CO.ZA

Every so often you meet creatives that really inspire you. They drive your passion and rip you from the dark underworld of insecurity that you sometimes go through as an artist. For me, one of these inspired groups is South Africa’s own: Gazelle.

Fused with a passion for good music, creativity, intellect, a social conscience and a zest for fun Gazelle, combines art with fashion with Africanism to represent this country in all its splendor to the world.

We do quite a few interviews with intelligent people from all over the worth in all their respective fields, but this one, I can honestly say, is one of those ones that I will really cherish in my ‘scrapbook’ from this website. So without further ado,

THE GAZELLE INTERVIEW

• You’re living across the Atlantic now. How does that feel, do you miss SA?

I’m an adventurer, I always like to explore and experience new challenges so I think this new move is just a part of how I have been living the last 10 years. I surely miss SA and many things about it but like this I miss many places that I have experienced and rather appreciate where I am than long for where I’m not.

• What is living in New York like?

It is exciting, fast, very challenging and damn expensive. If you don’t swim here you will sink, but the thought that any moment something might happen that completely changes your situation keeps you going. It has so much to offer and I already love being a part of the city.

• Your journey as a struggling South African artist to a very well known an established one (I often here your tracks circulating on radio stations like 5fm) was quite hard-fought. Does this move to the states seem at all daunting to you seeing as though you’re a much smaller fish in a much bigger pond? I guess what I’m asking is: did you go out there on a whim or did you have certain things in place, like an album deal etc, before you went over?

I think for an artist the struggle never ends. Even probably the most successful musicians in the world look for the next challenge and goal. It’s not easy at all but I guess that is what makes it exciting. It has been really hard and it still is, although our music is on the radio and we’re on tv were still fighting our fight and keeping our heads above water. I think success to the outside world can easily be misunderstood. Yes I might be writing this response from a remote exotic island in Tahiti but I’m surely not as rich materially as most accountants my age but I can say I am much richer than many in life and experience. Most places that I have gone have just been on a whim, I believe that you have to aim at creating your own opportunity, don’t sit around and wait for someone to give you a chance. With the USA I’m taking my time building it slowly like I had done in South Africa and Europe, step by step.

• You are about to record a track with the amazing ‘Peaches’. How did this come about and when can we expect a track preview?

We’re planning to do a big tune for Berlin. We are busy producing the tune for the Vice Magazine and Smirnoff international exchange event at the end of November. It is quite exciting to do songs with people that you are a fan of. I have been fortunate that through my whole life I’ve been able to work with people that had been my heroes. I still remember the day that I made a track with Teba Shumba for the album. It was a great honor since I was a big fan for a long time.

• What kind of reaction are you getting from your music overseas?

Every place is different but fortunately we have never had a bad response. We have had great responses performing for people in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Ukraine and South Africa. I guess different cultures react differently, some go mad and some show their appreciation in a different way.

• Are you still as motivated and impassioned about music as you were, say, 5 years ago?

Yes I would think so, but every day is different, it is not easy being completely independent apart from any corporation that makes business; although we are looking at the long run of building something on our own. So we stay motivated and keep on going.

• You have always had such strong African influences in your songs and media presence, now that you are no longer living in Africa how has this influence changed or adapted in New York and how are you representing your African heritage over there?

It is a part of me and always will be. I guess not every song or act in the future that I shall do will all be completely influenced by Africa but even some of my new solo work that I have been recording is quite African influenced. I think the most important is to be authentic and use what you have and is a part of you rather than trying to be someone else. That is what makes you unique and interesting to others.

• A lot of your music has a political undertone, mostly expressed through videos like ‘Just Now’. Why does African politics seed into your music?

I see it as a very important responsibility that any artist has to use their position to speak about things that matter. I think we live in a very fucked up political situation where a new regime is forming and it is up to young artists to speak out against this if no politicians are willing to. I mean there are almost no young leaders in South Africa we can look up to that are challenging what is wrong within our country. So I believe it is the responsibility with all public figures to do this.

• How does it feel to be selected to represent South Africa in the Smirnoff Exchange project and are you excited about this challenge?

It is a great honor of course and we surely will share what SA music is about to the world as we have done in the past.

• What can the people of Germany expect to see in your show?

We have one of the tightest bands together; a Gentleman’s backline band. So musically we’re gonna blow them up. As usual we are bringing the theatrical spectacular, so they can surely prepare for some surprises.

• You do a lot of fashion collaborations, as with Inoue Brothers. What influences do you draw from the Fashion world?

We have established a brand called Ubuntu with our partners that is doing really well. We have just signed some of the best designer shop accounts around the world like, Comme des Garcons, Dover Street Market, Beams, Storm and for this season Barneys which we are very excited about. It is a long process of investment and development, so it’s not really financially viable but we are fortunate to give work to countless of crafts people in South Africa to support their families. We have the ambition to build the brand annually to be able to establish our own production facility. This is how we make change in SA, real positive change that creates opportunity. It is our philosophy to share opportunity as we receive it.

• What future projects can we expect from Gazelle? Anything on the horizon that we should keep an eye out for?

We have started our own record label called The Imperial House of Africa with which we are finding new talent from Southern Africa that we can share with the world. Using our network of international connections we aim to give the artist, through the label, the same opportunity as we have had. We are also currently working on our new album that has gone through a one year process of pre production which I am very excited to share soon. We also have a couple of new music videos coming out that has been in a long process of production.

If anything you all should keep an eye out for this talent in the future! It seems that they have great things coming for us all! Thank you Gazelle, you are true artists

2BOP!

The Story

2Bop started in 2004 as a way to turn a passion for classic video games into a form of expression.

2Bop draws inspiration primarily from games that were popular in South Africa at corner shops and arcades in the1980’s and early 1990’s when gameplay was key and graphics if they were good were an added bonus. Disadvantaged areas during apartheid South Africa had little to offer in terms of exposure to cutting edge international design or computer technology but the bootleg arcade games that used twenty cent pieces (a 2Bop) to play at the corner shop were a window into what was happening in the outside world. These games granted access to excellent electronic entertainment and exposed the 2Bop crew to intuitive and engaging interface design, game design, graphic and sound design primarily from Japan and North America. And so began a long fascination with the medium that shows no signs of stopping.

Punks Jump up to get beat down, Inspired by river city ransom and the Brand Nubian track

Mykolas take on The Viewlix arcade cabinet layout, popularised by the Mad catz Tournament edition arcade joy stick that the blew up with Street Fighter IV

Nike Air Max 1 – Black/Black

No red or green here. Fresh for the holidays, Nike paints the Air Max 1 black-on-black, turning the classic athletic sneaker into a street demon. Apart from the mean color-up, the shoe features an air heel for soft landings, waffle outsole for grip, and a synthetic/mesh upper for adequate air flow. Put this on your wishlist or pick up a pair at your go-to Nike account.

Vans Era 45 Tortoise

Known for consistently cool releases, Vans continues the trend with this Era 45 Tortoise, another gem from the California Collection. Colored like a tortoise, the shoe features premium leather, brass eyelets, and a gum sole, a subtle touch that unites the sneaker. These are creeping into accounts now.

NOWNESS: Art Basel Miami 2010 – KAWS

George Condo – American Contemporary Artist

George Condo, born in 1957 in Concord, New Hampshire, is one the great American contemporary visual artists. Both a painter and sculptor, Condo has had his work exhibited at the Guggenheim, Tate Modern, and Whitney Museum, among dozens of other museums. His work investigates the genre of portraiture, pulling inspiration from American caricature, European history portraits, and Greek mythological figures – often in a dark, yet humorous style. 2010 has proven to be a year of major mainstream collaborations, with Condo teaming up with Supreme New York to create 3 skateboard decks and most recently, working with Kanye West on his latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Below Condo sits down with New York Magazine to discuss each of the 5 covers he put together with Kanye and the story behind each one.

Cubist-style portrait of Kanye

On Kanye’s first visit to Condo’s studio, he blasted “Power.” “Immediately,” Condo explains, “I started having all ideas about these mythological creatures and volcanic landscapes. Parts and pieces from Macbeth. Parts and pieces from some sort of sci-fi landscape.” But when Condo heard the song’s hook, from King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man,” he told West he wanted to paint a portrait. The next afternoon, West came back and posed. “It’s sort of cubist, you know, this portrait with all these different dimensions to it. Like an African mask with almost a modern face. I wanted to get that feeling that he’s almost a Miles Davis-like guy.”

Naked sphinx straddling Kanye

“That’s a good painting,” Condo says matter-of-factly. “She’s a kind of fragment, between a sphinx, a phoenix, a haunting ghost, a harpy. And then Kanye is also in some sort of strange 1970s burned-out back room of a Chicago blues club having a beer — so far away from the real Kanye West that it’s just a scream.” In painting Kanye in such an outrageous situation, Condo says, “I was challenging him with the imagery as well. He said, ‘I’m shocked, but I like it, and I gotta go with my gut feeling.’” This cover’s already been banned by Wal-Mart and Apple’s iTunes Music Store, much to Condo’s disgust. “The superimposition of people’s perceptions on a cartoon is shocking,” Condo scoffs. “What’s happening in their minds should be banned. Not the painting.”

Ballerina

Condo remembers that West came to his studio between eight and ten times over the course of the summer. The ballerina — a concept that later worked its way into West’s “Runaway” film and performance at the VMAs — came from one of those visits. “We were hanging around one night, and we were listening to that tune ‘Runaway,’” Condo recalls, when his wife, Anna, showed West a a shot of French dancer Sylvie Guillem moving in slow motion. “And somehow Kanye grabbed onto that idea of the ballerina,” Condo explains. “He just said, ‘Hey man, I’d like to have a great ballerina painting.’ I thought of a ballerina toasting. You know, ‘let’s toast to the scumbags.’”

Head with sword

“I really like that idea of a Shakespearian thing,” West told Condo about this painting of a severed head wearing a crown. The piece’s two contrasting styles — “cubism and classicism forged together in a single painting” — dovetail, Condo says, with West’s music, with its “layers of different styles happening simultaneously.” What did Kanye see in the picture that made him like it? “His tragedy was a kind of exile that Kanye imposed upon himself,” Condo says. “He was free from exile by having the cathartic moment in the image. He’s alive in the painting, you know what I mean? In a strange way it’s like, he opened his eyes.”

Priest

Surprise! Def Jam sent us this photo on Friday, telling us to use it to replace the painting of the headless crown. Explains Condo: “[Kanye and I] talked about paintings in the early baroque era depicting religious figures, and wanted to push that out into the open in today’s world. It mirrors the ‘paranoid’ riff on one of the tracks.”

Daft Punk – Dazed & Confused Interview

Responsible for the most anticipated film score of the year, Electronica duo Daft Punk sat down with Rod Stanley for the December 2010 issue of Dazed & Confused to talk about the Tron: Legacy-project, their past, present and future. Here are some excerpts of the conversation:

“This project is by far the most challenging and complex thing we have ever been involved with. Coming from our background of making electronic music in a small bedroom, and ending up having our music performed by a 90-piece orchestra, with some of the best musicians in the world…We are lucky to have had the opportunity to experience some powerful moments artistically over the years, but recording this orchestra was a very intense experience.”

“A cello was there 400 years ago and will still be here in 400 years. But synthesizers that were invented 20 years ago will probably be gone in the next 20. Synths are a very low level of artificial intelligence. Whereas you have a Stradivarius that will live for a thousand years. In the past, we have worked with clashing genres like disco and heavy metal, and here we would do it with film scores…this idea of the ultimate retro-futurism.”

While the whole interview can be found in the December 2010-issue of Dazed & Confused, you can read more excerpts of the conversation here. Tron: Legacy-soundtrack is released December 6th.

Lupe Fiasco Presents The Intro To “Food & Liquor II”

Here is some footage of Lupe Fiasco presenting some bars of the Intro of his forthcoming Food & Liquor II-album at the Marquette University Hip Hop-forum. It looks like the rapper still intends to release the sequel to his debut album after his upcoming Lasers-LP eventually arrives in March next year. Stay tuned.

Jay-Z to Bring 40/40 Clubs to U.S. Airports

Partnering with Delaware North Companies, Jay-Z announces his plans to stretch his renowned 40/40 sports club concept into airports all across country. Further details on this partnership can be read below:

Delaware North Companies, a global leader in hospitality and food service, has entered into an agreement with Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club that will bring the exclusive sports bar concept to select airports across the United States.

In the first phase of the agreement, Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality Services will give travelers access to the elite, modern sports bar to watch the game of their choice in an opulent lounge setting, all without leaving the airport. The division of Delaware North Companies operates dozens of national and regional brand restaurants and shops at more than 20 major U.S. airports.

MF Doom Australia Tour 2011

The mystical rap legend announces his plans to begin a mini-tour throughout Australia and New Zealand beginning this upcoming March. Make no doubt about it, there will be no MF Doom imposters this time around. Below are the first dates available on the tour, but stay tuned for further information. Doom’s latest project Gazzillion Ear is currently avaialble now through Lex Records.

DOOM IN AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND, MARCH 2011

TUE 22 MAR. – ZEN, AUKLAND – NZ
WED 23 MAR. – THE FORUM, SYDNEY – AU
THU 24 MAR. – THE ESPY, MELBOURNE – AU
FRI 25 MAR. – METRO CITY, PERTH – AU
SAT 26 MAR. – THE GOVERNOR HINDMARSH HOTEL, ADELAIDE – AU

Kanye West & Nicki Minaj Conquer Billboard

As expected, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj took over the two top spots on the Billboard charts. Despite his decision to leak most of the album’s songs prior to its release, Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy gained the number one-spot with more than 495,000 copies whereas Ms. Minaj’s major label premiere Pink Friday pulled 375,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine (Tracklist)

Reliable purveyor of Chillwave sounds, Chazwick Bundick, better known as Toro Y Moi, has official announced his sophomore offering. Titled Underneath The Pine, the follow-up to his celebrated debut Causers Of This will see its release on February 22nd, 2011 via Carpark. In order to get you amped up properly, listen to music from his side-project Les Sins and check out this excellent rework of his “Fax Shadow” by Shlohmo. See the tracklist of album numero dos below.

Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine (Tracklist)

01 – Intro/Chi Chi
02 – New Beat
03 – Go With You
04 – Divina
05 – Before I’m Done
06 – Got Blinded
07 – How I Know
08 – Light Black
09 – Still Sound
10 – Good Hold
11 – Elise

Drake Reveals New Album Title

After celebrating one of this year’s most successful debut releases, Drake is not showing any signs of slowing down. In the new issue of GQ, Drake reveals the name of his second offering – Take Care. Information surround the project are scarce, but the artist disclosed that frequent collaborator 40 will handle a significant part of the work behind boards and that Justin Timberlake might appear on the LP as well. Stay tuned.

KANYE WESY "RUNAWAY PROJECT" PART 3-GALLERY