Completing the iNternets Celebrities opus of the 2007 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival is the video we call ‘The Lost Tapes’. What’s incredible is that we actually made four (4) shorts out of the entire day.
A huge shout goes out to CASIMIR NOZKOWSKI, who directed, edited and withstood 150 degree temperatures while RAFI and I drunk free beer and made fun of wack rappers. IAN ‘Doc’ SAVAGE on the lenswork. Our sleepless editor was Young TERRENCE = T Money Clip, and a shout even goes out to 40 DAWG for putting in work with the i.C. and carrying the weed.
More iNternets Celebrities videos are being chopped and stirred as we speak so don’t be surprised one day when you see the sweet black and white cookie that is DALLAS and RAFI on your television screen. Okay, maybe you can be a little surprised.
Shouts to my dudes at ThinkTank Marketing who put me on the list for the Adidas event commemorating the release of the MUHAMMAD ALI ‘Classics’ shoe designs. Just last week I previewed the offering made by Puma in homage of iconic Hip-Hop artists and I shitted on their production all the way. It was a disingenuous campaign by Puma sneakers, and worse still, a lousy co-branding effort with Music TeleVision to attach themselves to Hip-Hop in a place that they didn’t belong to because they never earned it to begin with. MTV tried to ride in on Puma’s ghetto pass and they both got booted from the DP Dot Com sneaker champagne room. Only Holy Grails allowed.
The three stripe brand, Adidas, at least does their homework. Where Puma traded their legacy in athletic footwear to come to the dance with posers, Adidas does an about face and reaches into their rolodex vault of classic artistic icons. I can see why COMBAT JACK fucks with these cats mostly. Adidas kept it real without pandering to, or making a mockery of their subject. The designs featured represented the greatest of all time in a most honorable way.
The first design I peeped was done by a graff artist named CEY.
CEY is a childhood hero of mine because he grew up in Queens, and he used to bomb out of the Union Turnpike layups. CEY, COPE, NE, MIN were all the kings of the Queens Boulevard subways. CEY also designed the first Adidas ads for RUN-DMC. As a matter of fact, CEY still puts in graff work and he invited me to visit the Fun Factory in Long Island City next month when he puts up a new mural. CEY is a classic cool motherfucker and I will never be above copping some fanboy shit for my archives.
The second design that was on display was done by another truly iconic pop artist in American culture who puts even ANDY WARHOL to shame. LeROY NEIMAN has been creating his impressionist influenced paintings for over fifty years. You have seen his paintings everywhere and you may not have even known dudes name.
NEIMAN has painted portraits of ALI previously for magazines and his brush strokes effortlessly capture the heroism and courage of one of America’s true heroes. That is the mark of a great artist when they can transfer the idea of greatness and majesty to their subject matter. I ain’t mad at you one bit Adidas, and your lazy, poser cousins from Puma need to take notes on how shit should be done.
My little sister is named ADAKU. We all grew up on the same block together. Peep the profile of her personal courage she submitted for the Roc-A-Wear ‘I Will Not Lose’ advertising campaign. Shouts go out to all the beautiful single mothers that find the time to raise the babies and visit DP Dot Com for their daily bread.
Let’s go in easy this week since it’s smack in the middle of what I like to call Black History Month II. The other Black History Month is only twenty eight days, and it’s during the winter, and it’s like bricker than a muv out that muv.
Mind you, I still believe in celebrating any Black holiday by spreading love MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.. style, but August is the month that’s hot like Mother Africa, and Mother Africa is a fiiiiiiiiine bitch.
It’s stays going down no matter where you live in Black America this month and the next two weeks will be for me and the lady to enjoy what’s left of the summer. If you live in the quad-state NY-NJ-CT-PA area, or if you plan to visit NYC over the next two weeks you should get at me over the e-mail and I will put you on the e-blast list. Basically, you’ll get more shit to read.
