[Photo & Video] Ol' Dirty Bastard's Son, Boy Jones, in Brooklyn

 

 Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s first-born son, YDB (aka Boy Jones/Young Dirty Bastard) in Brooklyn.

YDB performs “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” on the 36 Chambers stage at Rock the Bells NYC 2011.




RIP ODB.

[Behind-the-Scenes] Fred Money's New Video for "Fright Night" Feat. Dipset's J.R. Writer & Sen City

I went up to Washington Heights to shoot the behind-the-scenes photos of Fred Money's new video for "Fright Night" featuring Dipset's J.R. Writer and Sen City. The single is off Fred Money's "Money Rules The World 2" mixtape. Check out Hip Hop Beef's behind-the-scenes video and my photos:

More photos after the jump!

[Photos] Big Sean in Toronto

I was given the opportunity to shoot Big Sean backstage, following his Toronto show last weekend. He threw down at Kool Haus to a crowd of over 2,000 fans.  Check out a couple of the casual shots I took:

Big Sean's debut album "Finally Famous" is scheduled to drop June 28th. 

Twitter: @BigSean | Web: uknowbigsean.com | Facebook: Fan Page

[Photo Shoot] Collective Efforts in Atlanta, GA

To view the full photo shoot, feel free to check out the public Facebook album here.  Much love to the Collective Efforts crew, D-Nice at Moods Music and of course to my good friend/mentor Carlton Mackey, for assisting and setting up the shoot.

Behind The Scenes In Atlanta: Collective Efforts

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet and shoot one of Atlanta's best hip hop crews, Collective Efforts.  If you haven't heard of them and you're a hip hop head, you should get up on that. You won't regret it.  Here are some behind the scenes photos courtesy of my friend and mentor Carlton Mackey.

Stay tuned for my photos of the CE crew.

Street Poetry in Atlanta's Little Five Points

In March 2010, I held an open photo shoot in front of Criminal Records, in Atlanta's Little Five Points.  The shoot was for the Atlanta chapter of my I...I'm Sky High project.  One of the shoot participants was Maurice.  He was chilling around the spot, saw me and my crew setting up for the shoot, and came over to see what was up.  When he approached us, he introduced himself as a street poet and asked us to give him three words and in return he gave us a freestyle poem based on those three words.

You know how sometimes, when you meet someone, you instantly know that they are a very special kind of person?  Maurice made an impression on me.

Fast forward a year and some change, I was back in Atlanta's Little Five Points, about to get into a shoot with the amazing hip hop crew, Collective Efforts, when I spotted Maurice hanging out in front of a store.  Carlton and I stopped to chop it up and reminded him of our shoot a year ago.  He didn't pass up the opportunity to freestyle for us, except this time he asked for five words.  We gave him:  collective, vision, photography, hype and Toronto.  Since we included the word "collective", we waited until the CE Crew arrived so they could hear it too.  This is what Maurice gave us...

He left out "vision", but we're not mad at it.  If you're ever in the A, stop by Little Five and check for Maurice.  You'll be glad that you did.

Toronto Loves Kicks

"Toronto Loves Kicks (TLK) is a movement dreamt up by two ordinary young men with an extraordinary passion to empower the youth of today to become the leaders of tomorrow by using an extremely creative empowerment tool known as sneakers. This unique brand and organization strictly caters to the often misunderstood, yet incredibly influential urban and sneaker culture.

One of the main goals of the TLK movement is to become a valuable resource to the community by creating events that illustrate signs of change. It is with this in mind that TLK has decided to host “United We Sole” a buy/sell/trade Sneaker Expo that will bring together people of this culture from all races, ages, gender and class. The event will feature over thirty vendors selling some of the most rare and exclusive sneakers and/or merchandise on the market. Sneakers will be showcased from the past, present and future and will attract sneaker collectors from both the major urban centres and the smaller markets where events of this nature do not exist. Most importantly “United We Sole” will positively unite the mainstream urban culture with the lesser known sneaker sub-culture, blending the two; helping to eventually eliminate the boundaries of race, age, gender and class."

This is going to be a huge event, finally uniting sneakerheads of Toronto. Be there!

New Ink!

It's been several years since I've had any ink done. Last year, if you would've asked me if I wanted any more tatts, I likely would've said no. That was, until a concept for a design came up in my mind a few months back and I fell in love with the idea. I searched around for some reference photos and researched Toronto tattoo shops. I finally found an artist I felt good about: Alie K. at Adrenaline. She knew exactly what I was after and came up with a better design than I ever could have imagined. I'm so ready for shorts weather.

Stencil prepped & ready to go

6 hours later

Check back for photos of the healed up tattoo soon! xo

Mac Miller - Donald Trump [New Video]

Speaking of Mac Miller...the video for his track "Donald Trump", off his upcoming album Best Day Ever, dropped a couple hours ago.  Maaaan, I love this kid's energy!  Check it out:

Mac Miller Live in Toronto

I caught Mac Miller's concert at the Opera House in Toronto tonight. 

Damn.

I've been to A LOT of shows in my day so I feel experienced enough to say that the concert was one of the LIVEST music events I've ever been to. The show sold out the original venue and was later moved to a larger venue to accommodate the demand and was sold out yet again. 300+ fans showed up to his meet & greet at Livestock today. I think that's a fair indication of the love this city has for the 18-year-old emcee from Pittsburgh.  After witnessing the energy he puts into a live performance and the love he shows his fans, I've got a new respect for him.

 If for some reason you've slept on Mac Miller, cop his mixtape K.I.D.S. and stay in the know:  his album Best Day Ever is set for release March 11th.

In the meantime, check the iPhone video I shot of him performing my personal fave Mac Miller track "Poppy". 

For more on Mac Miller: Twitter | Myspace | Web | Facebook

Magnetic Man x John Legend

This track is HARD.  The visuals are even HARDER.

The EarPeace! Radio Show [Thurs. Jan. 6]

Be sure to tune into The EarPeace's Ladies Night radio show with dope girl ToughLove NYC as your host!  I can't wait to hear her chop it up with Tennille, DJ NIRE and my homegirl Eriks from C.O.P. Mag, tomorrow. Find the show at PNCradio.fm from 10pm-Midnight (EST).

My Interview with Alee

The lovely Alee interviewed me for her website, Alee's Perspective.  Click here for the full interview. Be sure to check the rest of her blog, she's dope!

Raps and Gems, Throwbacks and Timbs [December 28, 2010]

TOUGH LOVE NYC

I've been a fan of Tough Love NYC for awhile.  On a recent trip to NYC, I had the pleasure of shooting the bawse lady Jes up in Queens for the upcoming book Girls Got Kicks.

Jes is a graffiti artist who turned her iconic J-heart into a brand and has been successful in doing so.  If you're in the market for some new gear, be sure to check the online store.

 

*Photos courtesy of Tough Love NYC myspace page*

"Tough Love NYC is a representation of Jes’ persona and the like… Girls who played rough with the boys and yet did their hair to look cute for the exact boys they competed with."

For more Tough Love, get in the know: Web | Twitter | Facebook

LOVABLE BADASS - Artists on Artest

This past Saturday, I attended an art show celebrating the "Lovable Badass", Ron Artest.  Several Toronto artists dedicated pieces to Ron Ron in a variety of mediums.  As you know, my Lakers <3 were in town so guess who stopped by?

Feel free to check out my Facebook album for more photos of the art work and event.  In the meantime, here are some video highlights via The Basketball Jones.

Always falling in love with your neighbourhood.

 

The cliche goes: "a picture is worth a thousand words".  To me, a picture is worth a thousand emotions.  When you look at this photo, what do you see?

Shredded jeans?  Bright red kicks? BK sweatshirt?  Gritty subway?

I didn't take this photo with the intention of anyone but myself seeing it.  When I aimed my iPhone down and clicked the camera, I actually wanted to capture the way I was feeling.

I had spent the day in Bushwick choppin it up with Andy at Post BMX Shop, walking down Flushing, eating soul food, talking to strangers, getting a pedicure and sneaker shopping...all while listening to a playlist I'd put together for a day just like that one.

Mos Def's "Pistola" was coming through my headphones when I snapped this while waiting for the L train at Morgan Ave. station. It was a perfect day.  Walking around Brooklyn with a smile on my face, mad love in my heart, a special someone on my mind, and good music in my ears.

That's what I see when I look at this photo.

"Close encounter, got you wide open.  Heartache got your boombox going.
Music and vocals, lonely and soulful.

You back at the scene where your sweet dreams are so true." Mos Def - Pistola