Jay-Z feat Rhianna & Kanye West - We Run This Town

iHope you ROCk, i mean, live before you die-Wally.Vega

Fuse Presents Kanye West: Live From The Chicago Theatre

One of the most prolific artists of our generation, Kanye West, recently had the opportunity to perform in his hometown of Chicago at the “Stay in School” benefit concert and Fuse TV will present this live on national TV. Titled “Fuse Presents Kanye West: Live From The Chicago Theatre,” and airing on July 25th, this special will show the concert sponsored by the Kanye West Foundation S.H.O.W. (Students Helping Our World), a charity organization established in the honor of Kanye’s late mother, Dr. Donda West. Kanye West’s Foundation S.H.O.W. partners with schools and community organizations to give underprivileged youth access to music production and academic support programs.viauristocrat

iHope you live before you die-Wally.Vega

A Kid Named Cudi - Poke Her Face

Oh.HI.Yo!

Find your swank. think insane. be urbane

Get Familiar: Mr.Hudson

MR HUDSON [FEAT KANYE WEST] - SUPERNOVA from MrHudson on Vimeo.

find your swank. think insane. be urbane

Get Familiar: Drake- Best I Ever Had

Directed by Kanye West

find your swank. think insane. be urbane.

Get Familiar:Consequence

Consequence feat. Kanye West & John Legend - Whatever You Want

I hope you live before you die-Wally.Vega

Kanye West x Louis Vuitton Release Announcement

According to Complex, the long wait for Kanye West’s collaboration alongside Louis Vuitton will finally come to a close, as the kicks are scheduled to see an “estimated” release tomorrow, July 1st, at Louis Vuitton flagship locations worldwide. Three styles will hit LV accounts, including The Dons, Mr. Hudson, and Jaspers, with prices set at $870 USD and above.viahYpEbeasT

ihope that you live before you die- Wally.Vega

HypeBeast x Kanye West x Louis Vuitton

As the Kanye West x Louis Vuitton footwear release date approaches, insights into various facets of Kanye West’s life are revealed. Topics include actual work designing the sneakers to his own personal thoughts on fashion, music and his personal life. The whole interview can be seen here but a selection of the most interesting answers can be seen below.viahypebeast

LV COLLABORATION

How did your collaboration with Louis Vuitton come about?
I already knew and looked up to Marc Jacobs. Then Louis Vuitton called me and said they had this idea for me to do shoes. I was really excited about the opportunity. I don’t know if they quite knew what they were getting into asking me to help create something!

How did you work with the teams from Louis Vuitton?
We’d fly out there. They’d have ideas. I’d have ideas and I’d start sketching. I just sketched every idea in my head, women’s, men’s, everything. In the end Louis Vuitton had to narrow it down because I had SO many ideas that I wanted to get out.

What was your image of Louis Vuitton before you became so closely involved with the company, and have your impressions evolved in any way as a result of the collaboration?
They’ve always been my favourite aspirational brand from the day I bought my first wallet. Actually I used to dream of being able to buy their trunks and put them round my house.

Why sneakers? (I know you are supposed to own at least 400 pairs)
Because they’re a great entry point for people who can’t afford the trunk, you know. Also, sneakers, I think, are a way of displaying where you are mentally.

What was your inspiration for this collection?
I was inspired a lot by the movie Dune—remember those big padded collars they wore? Well I did that padded look as a flap at the back.….

And what socks would you wear with those?
Well, that’s interesting. I wanted to make a tube sock with an LV patch on the side to go with them.

STYLE AND FASHION

Who is an exception to that rule?
The singer, Rihanna, who is 21. She’s kind of like a genius because regardless of how many stylists she has, I know she does it on her own. That’s an innate talent, having style like that. It’s kind of like the way people play sport, some people just hit the shoots into the net better. Yeah. Fashion is a sport in a way.

Are you a fashion genius?
I don’t think I’ve reached genius level yet. It’s good. But its not good enough for me. I want to be better.

Who are your fashion icons?
Michael Jackson is the best dressed person of all time. Not today, I can’t say that, but in his hey day. When he was wearing all those jackets covered in Swarovski crystals. And then all those leather jackets and Mickey Mouse t-shirts and those tailored pants and penny loafers. Michael Jackson, he was for real.

What is your favourite item in your wardrobe?
My vintage Levi’s jeans jacket. It’s the perfect, perfect jacket. Someone told me it was really, really good because it’s got the big ‘E’ on the label, which means it’s from a certain year.

What do you think is different about French and American attitudes to fashion?
Well, I notice if you’re in the ‘hood’ in Paris, you dress in a hoodie like they do back home. I love that, that the look is straight out of America. Because it wasn’t always thatway.

MUSIC

How do you find the ideas for your music?
I get inspired by concepts, theories, philosophies.

Give me an example.
The saying ‘What Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stronger’ was an inspiration for the song
Stronger.

If you hadn’t been a successful Music artist, what would you have liked to be?
An author, maybe. Although I have already written a book.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
Me! Meaning my mistakes, I’ve learnt so much from them!

PERSONAL

How would you describe the experience of Paris / France?
Y’know, when I first went to Paris I used to HATE it. Now it’s one of my favourite cities in the world. I compare Paris to a girl that you meet at a bar who is very rude to you, who you end up falling in love with.

What do you like most about the city?
I like the heritage, the attitude. The vibe I get from Parisiens is highly educated, highly cultured and very impatient. And I’m into that. Paris forces you to step up your game. It forces you NOT to be ignorant about things.

How do you take criticism? There are plenty of people, I notice, who like to criticize you on your blog, kanyewestunivercity.com.
Well, you have to figure out why people say those things. Like, were they having a bad day or something? Actually, I think it’s kind of fabulous, people saying stuff like Kanye, you’re a faggot, or Kanye, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. That’s a great blog comment! Because of course I’m taking myself WAY too seriously.

Still. What’s it like being such a fashion icon? Kids of eleven want to dress like you…
Well, you do have this ability, when you are famous, to set trends just by being photographed and that’s really not fair. I shouldn’t get any more credit than the next person for, say, bringing back those Linda Farrow flying shades, I just happened to be wearing the aviators that to me were the most ‘normal’. That doesn’t make me a fashion icon though. People who have TERRIBLE style have the ability to set trends.

How do you deal with your fame?
I deal with it by realizing I’m kind of confined in my walking TV show. Sometimes I feel like I’m an animal at the zoo, with everybody the other side of the glass wanting to see the monkey overreact. It’s a little like being in a cell, but what’s good about living in a cell is I have cellmates. Jay-Z, he’s definitely in my cellblock.

What are your goals, then?
If it’s the last thing I do, I want to drop all the bravado that most urban rap artists carry. I want to make new good stuff and not brag about it. Just to do it. One of the other things I’m going to do is to take my next fee—I charge at least $100,000 a verse—and donate it to my charity (the Dr Donda West foundation he started up with his late mother to combat high school drop out rates).

In what aspect do you consider yourself Number One?
Actually, I don’t think I’m number one at anything…except for learning.

So the ability to learn is excellence for you?
I think so. You can never stop learning. Like my grandfather who is 90 and just took a painting class.

ihope you live before you die-Wally.Vega

Kanye West - Paranoid

KANYE WEST "PARANOID" feat: RIHANNA Dir: NABIL from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

I hope you live before you die- Wally.Vega

Kanye West feat. GLC & Consequence - Spaceship (Video)

Spaceship from kwest on Vimeo.

viaYe

I hope that you live before you die- Wally.Vega

808’s and Heartbreak better than THRILLER?!

Its 1982. Reagan is president, the book The Color Purple is published, the movie E.T. debuts, The San Francisco 49ers won the Superbowl, unemployment was 9.7%, and I was not yet born. Rest in peace Satchel Paige. In the music industry if you had not heard of The Rolling Stones, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, or Stevie Wonder, you were either living under a rock or dead ( in which you would be living under thousands of rocks).Ozzy Osborne was biting the head off live bats at concerts. Some parts of Asia also began to use compacts disc to distribute music. In the United States, however, moving units was becoming more difficult than finding a black man at a bar mitzvah. Then out the night that covered him black as a pit from pole to pole, Michael Jackson thanked whatever gods may be for his unconquerable soul.

On November 30, 1982 Epic Records released Michael Jackson’s sixth studio album, Thriller. Even though Thriller went on to sell 27 million copies and remain in the top ten of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks, initially it received mixed reviews. Before the album had seen packaging and promotion, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones debated heavily about the direction Michael wanted to pursue musically. There was even talk about not even releasing the album. No one had tried Rock &Roll influenced production and pulled it off. No one had done a song with a black man and a white man arguing over a girl, civilly. No one had constructed music videos are art. None the less, Thriller was the first of its kind. An African-American artist’s videos had never been aired on MTV let alone TWICE AN HOUR. No other artist at the time had released seven singles from one studio release. Not that it was an esteemed privilege, but he even got to meet President Reagan. There were singers and then there was Michael Jackson.

It’s 2008. Gas is $1,240,932,200 a gallon. George W. Bush is still the dumbest man in America the Northern Hemisphere. February had 29 days. United States troops are still in Iraq. AIDS is an epidemic pandemic. Unemployment is 99.9%! 50 Cent has had a reality show. Barack Huessin Obama becomes the 1st African-American to be elected President of the United States. The music industry can’t sell more CD’s than a foreclosed bank. With iTunes castrating the music industry’s ability to obtain royalties, artists continued to watch The Boondocks for album gimmicks and music video treatments. Then on September 7, it was premiered. Kanye West premiered “Love Lockdown” on the MTV Video Music Awards.

The next day the internet began to buzz in a frenzy that reminds Midwest residents of those pesky cicadas. Questions flooded every blog, website, and Facebook status: “What’s wrong with his hair? Is he doing an R&B album? Why are his pants so tight? Was he really wearing his heart on his sleeve?” A month later when Rocafella Records/Island Def Jam released his fourth album, 808’s & Heartbreak, the chatter did not stop. The public loved and hated the album. He hated the auto tuner. She loved the emotion. He loved the creativity. She hated the absence of rapping. It seemed that slumber than music industry had been interrupted by Kanye’s cries on the cd’s opening track “Say you will.”

Music was sleeping walking, in a trance, before 808’s and Heartbreak and released. It caught everyone by surprise, and they became angry, disgruntled, and HOPEFULLY motivated. Boundaries had not been explored before the conception of Thriller. It opened doors, closed gaps, and reached for the stars. Both albums were courageous, showing no regard for the social implications that could and would be attached. Creativity and innovation do not exist in time, they are infinite entities that people cannot stereotype and categorize with their degrading astigmatisms. The most beautiful art is usually appreciated in retrospect because unlike creativity and innovation, logic lacks foresight.

Which album is better? I think you know the answer to that question…

Or do you?

Until next time. Find your swank. think insane. be Urbane.

Third time's the charm

The Louis Vutton Don is partnering with the real Louis Vutton Don for six designs of sneakers. The first two didn't really tickle my fancy, but these shoes right here....THESE SHOES RIGHT HERE....are BAD!....like Halle Berry bad.....like Michael Jackson late 1980's bad....like Jordan 96' bad!......BUT unless the bookstore buys back these books of "higher education" for the price that I paid for them, I shall NOT be rocking them. The price point is too rich for my blood. I'll stick to my dunks & blazers. Until next time...Find your swank. Think insane. Be urbane.

Its THAT time again...

No. I'm not talking about Thanksgiving, Hanukkah's, Kwanzaa, or Christmas....but the coveted fourth quarter of music. Artists like Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne kept the summer hot and now that the leaves are starting to fall from the trees, the Giants of Hip Hop are awakening from their hibernation.

Last week I talked about the heavily anticipated release of T.I.'s Papertrail. This week lets discuss high climatic release of Kanye West's fourth studio album "808's & Heartbreak." He dramatically unveiled his new single "Love Lockdown" at the MTV Video Music Awards, back by the blaring African drums that would have made Christopher Reeves ( God bless his soul) tap his feet! I recently was watching Ellen (CHANNEL SURFING) and he was a guest on her show and he premiered the video for his new single. It looks as if the Louis Vutton Don was inspired by the movie "American Psycho,"but his hair looks like he's still on that spaceship from the Glow in the Dark Tour. As usual his creativity seems to be unmatched as I was drawn in to actually anticipate the events that were to transpire throughout the video.

Now another artist who is slated to release in the heavy fourth quarter is Kanye's label mate Common. His last two albums have been superb to say the least and I'm very elated to see what kind of music he and super producers,The Neptunes, can conger up. His first video, The Announcement was laid back, yet party inspired. I recently saw his second video, Universal Mind Control. This is definitely left field but, how many of us play baseball anyways?

Now videos are supposed to enhance songs, but in this video, Common EMBARRASSED his acting coach. The song is very upbeat and break dance-esque and he never comes out of his "too cool for school" shell. But don't take my word it, watch it for yourself!

Until Next time..- Find your swank. Think insane. Be urbane.