Hey readers!

If you’re into hip-hop/rap check out IllRoots.  I met these guys Saturday at the New Era store, good dudes.  I peeped the blog on Sunday and they really have some good content.  They reppin’ for the DC Metro area and the site seems to get quite a lot of hits so…*cough* good exposure *cough*.   Stop by and show them some love.

L$D

She’s so G.R.I.T.S.

He’s our favorite guy in the neighborhood.

When I think of Michigan, I think of three things: Great Lakes, J. Dilla and, most notably, Motown.  Yeah, when I think about Michigan I think about the music.  Much of that music, however, gets ignored by mainstream and becomes those rare finds in the bottom of the barrels at your local independent record stores.  But, Michigan’s own Thirty won’t be ignored by you all–so please, pay attention.

The 25 year-old producer from Ann Arbor, MI has been making some big moves on  the music scene over the past few years. Thirty, who got his moniker from a friend as he started DJing, has worked with artists such as Freeway, Rick Ross, Stat Quo and MC Breed just to name a few.  He’s even had a chance to work alongside fellow producers Dr. Dre and Jazze Pha.  Though he hasn’t always been a producer, he has always held a job in music.

“I started djing at 14.  I would do my high school parties, college parties, eventually got into the club scene by the help of two cats Chill Will and DJ G-nice who were doing a lot of clubs around the southeastern Michigan area.   They taught me a lot about the whole DJ and club scene.”

“[…] Around 18 I decided I wanted to do more because I understood from djing how to put the music together and keep a person’s attention, so I wanted to make my own. [I] saved some money and got an MPC-2000 and after that it was curtains,” Thirty said.

Seven years later, Thirty is producing versatile music and molding new artists to breakthrough the industry.  He is a producer in every sense of the word.”I  will actually produce you.  I’m not just making beats like all these beatmakers running around trying to get placements. I want to bring the best out of anybody I work with[…] these cats making beats all day are composers, get it right! After I make a track my job is just beginning,” Thirty said.Currently, Thirty is working with and developing his artists on IMG/Frontstreet Oseeola, whose album will be released nationally later this year, and Braulio, a talented songwriter from Angola.  He’s also busy finishing up placement projects with Ludacris and Jeezy.Though he is showing success in tapping into other regions, Thirty is sincerely putting in effort to get Detroit back in the music scene.”Detroit needs a makeover, everybody is stuck on this ‘gangsta shit’ which is cool every once and a while but we need versatility. I think Detroit is like the hater [capitol] for real, nobody wants to come together and work, everybody thinks they can do it themselves and that’s why the music is so lackluster.”"As far as myself helping out the Detroit scene, well, I feel I have a ear for great music that the masses can enjoy in any genre.  These cats just have to see the vision and let me take them somewhere outside of all this killing and pushing weight […]Let’s go Detroit! There’s a lot of talent out here its just not being executed right,” Thirty said.In the future, Thirty hopes to work with R&B and Pop artists like Trey Songz, Justin Timberlake, Amy Winehouse and Anthony Hamilton.  The young producer is also looking for other producers in the area to form a production team.I hope to see Thirty and Detroit music back on the scene real soon.  For more information please visit: www.myspace.com/thirty82SHOUT OUTS: Frontstreet/IMG, Dave Kelly, REVIVE streetwear boutique in Birmingham, MI…. that’s my fam right there Oseeola and Aaron, check em out. All my arab cats, Braulio, Jab, Byrd and everybody that fucks wit meh! and of course the fam, b.e.z

This bi-yearly publication focuses on those garments we love the most, T-SHIRTS!  It’s based out of Australia and, in my opinion, an excellent publication if you’re trying to get your t-shirt brand noticed. Past features have included varying types of brands from The Hundreds to The Imaginary Foundation.  I have never seen it on the stands anywhere out here in Atlanta but that doesn’t mean you can’t pick one up in NYC or LA.  If you’re interested and you’d like to subscribe, visit MagNation.

Remember back in the day when women dressed up for every occasion? No matter what the style of dress was, there was always a fedora, newsboy, cloche or anyone of the many popular hat styles to complement the outfit. Well, Hungarian-born milliner Krisztina may just have hats creeping back into our wardrobes again.Krisztina, founder of Kankalinhats, isn’t just sticking to millinery tradition either. She is creating unique fashion forward pieces that are truly works of art. However, she doesn’t consider her work to be hats but hatlings.“I don’t like to call my creation hats (because they are not) and I don’t like the word fascinator. So, after much brainstorming with my friends on Etsy we came up with the word ‘hatlings’. So there, I make hatlings!”“A hatling can be worn by young and mature, thin and voluptuous, classic and quirky. There is a shape and color combo for everyone,” Krisztina said.Kankalinhats began shortly after Krisztina moved to London’s Chelsea area and attended a real English wedding. After researching what to wear she saw the hats and immediately fell in love. She enrolled in a taster course at Kensington and Chelsea College, found herself deeply enamored with millinery and continued to learn more about the craft in a proper course later in autumn where she had the opportunity to study under hat-artist Ian Bennett.Krisztina came up with the name kankalin, which is Hungarian for primrose, because she felt it was a good, strong brand name. And primrose is also her Canadian boyfriend’s favorite word.Currently residing in Brighton, Krisztina is busy branding Kankalinhats and working on her upcoming collection based on new and modern materials such as nylons, plastics and crystals. She is also planning to work with British style icons Duffy and Alexa Chung.Even though hat popularity is constantly faltering, Krisztina has faith that her creations will keep her consumer’s interest.” I think that in the traditional sense hats’ fashionability might be faltering, but I also think that today’s fashion is all about the individual. I hope people will want to express themselves by wearing my less than traditional creations.” “I feel 2008 might be the year of the hatling,” Krisztina said.For more information on Kankalinhats please visit: www.kankalinhats.etsy.com or www.indigoroses.com.SHOUT OUTS: Thank you for finding me! It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful people are, the amount of incredible art around!More photos below. ⇥ Continue reading

I got the Fall 2008 lookbook for CTRL Clothing in my inbox a few weeks ago. Go to their website and check their stuff out. (Had the wrong photos up so now y’all have to go to the website, my bad).

L$D

Hey COMEUPKIDS and L$D readers.  My spring break started yesterday promptly at 5:45PM and I am seriously taking a BREAK!!  I am going to use the week wisely gaining income towards that come up.  I’ll be back in a few days.

Tanekeya Word is a 24 year-old contemporary and figurative artist born in Clarksdale, MS and raised in Milwaukee, WI. She’s spent the last few years in the nation’s capital, however, completing her education at Howard University and perfecting her craft. Though still new to the professional side of art, her company, Neka: Art by Tanekeya Word has recently acquired Moet-Hennessy USA as a client; that is surely a come up.

But of course come ups like that don’t just happen over night. Prior to being a full-time artist Ms. Word has had a many a side hustles as a writer, a fashion designer, a k-5 teacher, an art coordinator, an account executive, a PR director and a sales associate.

A true art kid, Tanekeya began in the arts at a very early age.

” My mother is an artist but chose to become a nurse in order to take care of her 4 daughters. Yet, she immersed us in various arts programs and I fell in love with the visual arts and writing. She later sent my sisters and me to an arts middle school in Milwaukee, WI. There I began writing plays, poetry and drawing. It was not until my last week of high school that I picked up a paintbrush and fell in love with that too,” Tanekeya said.

Tanekeya is inspired by life. The symbol she uses for her company is an ankh with a paintbrush at the tip to symbolize “Art is Life!” She also notes urban culture, emotions and women as major inspirations.

In current times, African-American art is becoming more of a rarity amongst African-American artists. Tanekeya also expressed her concerns and thoughts on the state of African-American artists.

“The art world needs more African-American artists in the forefront and many African-Americans should invest in the arts instead of things that depreciate. As well, the world should invest in African-American art because it is lively and very worthy of appreciation. We too are America so we should be supported. ”

“I am a novice with the collecting of African-American art in corporations; but, seeing though commercial companies are marketing to our group all of the time…you would think they would use our money to acquire our art. I know firsthand that Moet Hennessy supports African-American art I have a few friends in their collection and they have a wonderful branding ambassador,” Tanekeya said.

Despite of the roadblocks on the way to her come up, the artist still has outstanding future goals. Some of which include designing an Absolut bottle and adorning the walls of Tyra Banks’ “America’s Next Top Model”.

If you’d like more information on Tanekeya Word and her artwork please visit: www.tanekeyaword.com.

And a new L$D CUK tradition… SHOUT OUTS: “Support the arts…shout out to emerging artists AB (www.absgreatmusic.com), my boy R. Alexander Clark (www.signaturepiece.com), photographic genuis Kea Dupree (www.mykea.com), web designers Anthony Abernathy and Elisa James, graphic designer Neal Jones, MAC Pro/makeup artist to the stars Jada Bruner and of course my powerhouse art manager Regina Abernathy. Last but, certainly not least I love you Mommy and smooches to all my sisters and my girls on the come up. Thanks Darling and Comeupkids for the opportunity and much success to you all because I love what you are doing!!!!”

Hungarian-bred milliner that makes us all want to start rockin’ headpieces everyday.

London-based creative. Her “Deal Maker/Breaker” should be an essential dating game.

Check back in the coming week for more on these COMEUPKIDS.

This statement may be a little biased but if you’re looking for some of the most creative talents in Atlanta, just go to the AUC. Again, that statement may be biased because I’m an AUC scholar but trust me on this. I’d like you all to check out Art Nouveau Magazine. It was started last year by several students from Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse and Spelman Colleges. The writing is good but I really would like for you all to focus on the fashion editorial photoshoots. I swear it looks like they jacked photos straight out of VOGUE or W Magazine. None of the models would be considered “professional” by industry standards either. Ahh…the TALENT! First it was LateBoots (and they’re so successful) and now comes Art Nouveau Magazine… Atlanta might just mess around and get a serious Fashion Week out here thanks to the AUC.