She's got the steeze

Here's a photoshoot that took place in Oxford, UK a few months ago for the portfolio of a model. Still got the pictures and I thought it'll be nice to share a couple of them with you. :)

Enjoy!

Photos by Alexander Bakayannis

Blame it on the "Pigeon"!

US vs UK.. Hip Hop scene.

Once, twice or thrice a week we'll have a "Versus" article based on random subjects that attract our attention. Here's the first "Versus" article in which we will examine the US and UK Hip Hop scene.

So it all started back in the 70’s in New York city when the hip hop culture emerged through the elements of rapping, djing, scratching, beat boxing and sampling. The genre was associated with other musical styles such as Disco, RnB and jazz and it is generally accepted that the term hip hop was discovered randomly by a rapper named Keith Cowboy who was a member of Grandmaster Flash’s band, named Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Flash is considered to be one of the pioneers of the Hip Hop movement and along with dj Kool Herc and Grand Wizard Theodore (who is considered the founder of scratching and turntablism in general) are the people who started the whole thing almost 30 years ago. As years went by Hip Hop began getting recognition outside the United States becoming a part of the music culture in numerous countries across the world. Starting from the 80’s with artists such as Grandmaster Flash and Russell Simmons to early LL Cool J and Run DMC commonly referred to as “oldschool” hip hop, to the Golden Age (early 90’s) with its strong jazz influences including names such as De La Soul, Public Enemy and Big Daddy Kane, to gangsta rap, to the big players of the mid and late 90’s such as Tupac, Biggie Smalls and Snoop Dogg, all the way to up to contemporary artists such as Talib Kweli, Mos Def and Jay Z just to name a few.

On the other side of the sea in the UK, by the early 1990’s Hip Hop started to blend with other musical styles that were popular at the time such as Trip Hop and Drum n Bass and made an attempt to invade US soil. For someone who was not aware of what was going on at the time, it seemed like anything that came outside the US and had any resemblance to Hip Hop was just an attempt to copy the American way. That was what forced British artists such as Rodney P and the London Posse to develop a personal style that was rooted in British linguistic practices, such as using a strong accent, in order to differentiate their style from the one that was already coming from the US. The first ever British hip hop tune released on record was "London Bridge" by Newtrament and it that was released on Jive records in 1984. The first UK record label which was built up in order to promote strictly UK hip hop acts was founded in 1986. That was Music of Life label and was home to rapper Derek B who was the first UK rapper ever to achieve chart success. Music of Life later on recruited acts such as MC Duke and the Demon Boyz. Moving slowly away from its US roots, British hip hop started to develop its own sound. Some of its artists were heavily influenced by jazz, whereas others such as the London Posse were more influenced by reggae. After a long period of spreading the word around, including more record labels popping up and a Hip Hop Magazine launched (Hip Hop Connection), bands and artists such as the Herbaliser, Dj Skitz and Roots Manuva of the so called new generation emerged  blending Hip Hop with Electronica through record labels such as the legendary Ninja Tune and Jazz Fudge. In 1996 Will Ashon started up Big Dadda which was initially backed by Ninja Tune, housing acts of different musical backgrounds which all had Hip Hop as their main influence including New York City based Antipop Consortium. From the early 00’s new acts including Foreign Beggars and Jehst have been gaining in popularity and  Hip Hop as well as UK garage moved on to influence a new style of electronic music which was dubbed grime. There is also a small number of Hip Hop producers and musicians such as Fugative who have also contributed to the scene.

Written by Alexis Seitanidis.

Mikey the monkey!

Here are some pictures I took last summer with Mike Chatziliadis kitesurfing in Schinias beach and Nisakia.
Sepia is still on.

Pictures by - Alexander Bakayannis

The Pharcyde - Drop

Pharcyde landed in the Los Angeles underground hip hop cycles in the beginning of the 90’s scoring support slots for acts such as Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Slimkid, Fatlip, Imani Wilcox, and Booty Brown released the first studio album in 1991 and three years later they got their first serious breakthrough when they performed on Perry Pharrell’s Lollapalooza Festival gaining exposure to a much wider audience. Bullshit is the first single out of 1995’s LabCabinCalifornia, which their most well known album to date. At the moment after numerous departures and break ups only Imani Wilcox and Romye “Booty Brown” Robinson have remained from the original line up.

Enjoy!




Written by Alexis Seitanidis

Tuna of the Day

Uffie is the only female artist to rise to stardom coming straight out of the ranks of Ed Banger records, a label that has made a name for itself in the last 3 years. One of the label’s own artists, under the name of Busy P, came up with the idea somewhere around 2002 and since then he has recruited some of the biggest acts in the European electro scene including Justice, Dj Mehdi and Mr Oizo among others. The breakthrough for the label reportedly came in 2007 when Justice’s single “Never be Alone” entered the UK chart and became an instant hit among clubbers in the country.




Written by Alexis Seitanides.

Original Converse Jams!

http://goodhoodstore.com/?page=51&id=694&type=mens

Trinity 531 Track Frame.

Finally, the Trinity 531 LE track framesets are becoming a reality…


The Light Blue brand of bicycles was designed and hand made by JA Townsend in Cambridge.
In 2010 – some 115years after the first Light Blues – comes the Trinity 531 LE track frameset.
Designed by the great grandson of JA Townsend and produced using limited Edition Reynolds 531 tubing.
http://www.lightblue.co.uk/


Sexxxie!

TUBING: Reynolds 531 Limited Edition
REAR DROPOUTS: 120mm spaced, 10mm track dropouts
SEATPOST DIAMETER: 27.35mm
SEATPOST CLAMP: Integral classic keyed Cr-Mo.
HEADSET: 1” ITA.
BOTTOM BRACKET : 68mm English BB shell
TYRE CLEARANCE: 700c x 25mm
WEIGHT: 56cm frame 1.833Kg (4lbs and 3/4oz)
SIZES: 53, 56 or 59cm.
COLOUR: Cream or Dark Metallic Blue

Go "Cohete" Go!

Here's a friend and great shaper John Tsoutis. He is the owner of "Cohete" surfboards as he designs and shapes every surfboard is sold. He's considered to be the only Professional shaper in Athens, Greece serving the surf scene with undoubtable success until now.

Here is evidence of his work at the workstation.
www.cohetesurfboards.com

Mark Mahoney is a living legend..

Many in the business consider Mark a "living legend". He currently owns and is the principal artist at the Shamrock Social Club in Hollywood, CA. Mark started his work as a tattoo artist in Boston in 1977 (when tattooing there was illegal), where he was in the midst of the 1970s punk scene. He has stayed relevant and influential in the tattoo world throughout the 1980s and into the current decade. While he was a pivotal force during the 1980s black and grey movement, now a days he has become a hallmark on Sunset Boulevard tattooing some of Hollywood's biggest names.

Mark Mahoney is a living legend when it comes to tattooing. He is the definition of old school. Check him out in this video as he talks about his history and his shop, Shamrock Tattoo.

Enjoy!

Summertown and the living's easy

Yaw!

Fellow bloggah. Here's a page where you can browse/blog pretty much anything. From artsy shit, till cheesy tunes. Tunes, pictures, films, world news. Anything that attracts our attention and we wanna share with YOU!