Archive for January, 2011
these colours don’t run January 11th, 2011
For his fourth publication [“Photographs inspired by the rap music that once inspired me”], Montrealer Paul Labonté – or Paul 107 - has chosen to pay homage to the music that influenced and inspired him during his early days [as the title suggests]. Some shots sail dangerlously close to the wind of cliché but others are beautifully observational and characteristic of a genre that has touched the lives and shaped the image of so many people across the globe.
His previous titles include Bully: It’s the pits, a dedication to status dogs – which, as anybody who’s ever watched the news will tell you, is a polemic and topical subject here on our shores too these days [double page spread, below].
Posted in design, fashion, music | Comments (0)
you start to sound like Confucius when making up excuses January 10th, 2011
2011: a time for truths. When it comes to Chris Brown, I wouldn’t call myself a fan. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I despise him as a human being. Before the unforgivable, I thought him a mere fool, after seeing a clip of him on Sesame Street [an iconic part of my childhhood but don't go trying to sell yourself as a credible RnB star to me 15 years later OK]. And then the story dropped. Soon after the photo. I know there are two sides to every story, but a man who puts a finger on a woman is no man through my eyes, and it’s fair to say from what I saw he went a lot further than raise a fist.
That said, excellence does deserve to be recognised, and whilst I ummed and arghed about whether to post this or not – whether to take the black and white moral highground – I can’t deny that Deuces is one of the musical highlights of 2010. Made all the better with the help of Drizzy, TI, Fab, and Andre 3000. In fact Dre absolutely blew the rest of them out of the water with that verse. Legendary.
Kanye’s effort however falls so far off the mark it’s almost pittiful. And from an individual who memorably claimed in 2010 that “I try to compete against the past. Michelangelo, Picasso, the Pyramids” all that serves to do is prove that he has one hell of a long way to go. And that’s setting aside the comic ridiculousness of the statement in the first place. Sorry Ye.
Posted in music | Comments (0)