I've been tagged by Sickamore under one of my many aliases to share 7 details about my life. Then I have to tag 7 other bloggers to do the same thing. The whole thing is very gay. But I like the calling other people out part.
Tag n!gga!: E.T., Neffy, El Ranchero, LE Beats, Goldie, Mick Boogie, Vega
1. To paraphrase Pimp C's line in "Big Pimpin" "If I wuddun't (blogging) baybeh, I would still be drive Mer-seh-deh." Or not. I've been playing it by ear career-wise, college was just the backup plan. I really thought I was gonna become an accountant (side-hustle) until I decided that I wanted to do stuff I liked doing. Yet I still have a year left in college, go figure.
2. I've gotta be one of the most jaded people in the known and unknown universe. I understand Wale when he says shit doesn't impress him. Most of the time, unless things directly effect me my attitude is "do whatcha want" or the fan favorite "whutevameng".
3. I'm a victim of great circumstances.
4. I don't DJ nearly as often as one might think. Thanks to pretty much everyone I have daily conversation with, that's about to change.
5. I'd rather cook my food than order it. Too bad I'm almost never near a kitchen.
6. The "Too Hot For Hoodies" feature was one of my better ideas.
7. 
For experienced clubbers only!
1.15.2008
If you're in NYC this weekend // 7 Things About ANT!
1.08.2008
Nicolay & Kay Interview on The Mission Radio Show
So last night on my show I got a chance to conduct a live interview with Nicolay and Kay who are currently promoting their TIME:LINE album. Overall the interview was entertaining and informative. Listen to the full interview below and shout outs to Nicolay & Kay for showing love.
Tune into the mission Radio Show every Monday from 7-10 PM. 88.1FM, 95.3FM, 96.9FM in Miami, FL or online at WRGP.ORG
TIME:LINE February 12th, 2008
1.06.2008
SUPRA DANCE
Ok. So Main Event, E.T., and myself were doing one of our extensive PxP meetings and I decided to create this dance in between the dead time. Now we did this like 2 weeks ago; completely spontaneous. E.T. posted it on the PxP's YouTube page last night and by tonight Mickey Factz has bulletins, Laced Magazine has it on their blog, and its' popped up @ other sites. I decided to post here where it originated. Here it is, the infamous "Supra Dance". Enjoy, favorite it, add that to your myspace page, I don't care; just something for y'all to watch and laugh at.
LE Beats
A.K.A.
The Resident Hater
B.K.A.
Mr. Supra Dance
1.04.2008
No Idea's Original
Sneaker boutiques like A-Life Rivington Club and Bodega show the creativity all future stores should strive for in their conceptions. HGTV representatives don't need to design the place but at least let the store represent your own innovative blueprint. Hoping to see something fresh last Saturday, the Paid and Popular team went to Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale for the Liberty premium sneaker boutique grand opening.
The digital fliers didn't list a time so word of mouth spread of it's 6pm opening. A customer I was speaking with close to the opening time stated,"I have $200 to spend but since they're taking so long I'm not spending it in there anymore", not a good look. At 9:30pm when the doors actually opened, a crowd of restless sneaker connoisseurs and hypebeasts spilled in to find a small & brightly lit white room with a meager selection of merchandise. What immediately caught my eye was the resemblance to another established South Florida boutique Culture Kings. (see juxtaposition below; Liberty on the right)
There's no excuse for a lack of creativity. As a business owner you want to emulate the success of your competitors through innovation, not imitation.
A certain Queens MC clarifies my point perfectly:
"No idea's original, there's nothing new under the sun//It's never what you do but how it's done"
-Nas
All photographs are the copyrighted property of Kevin Clancy.
12.24.2007
Clever Kings
Paid and Popular headed down to the design district early last week to check out Culture Kings, one of Miami's premier sneaker/clothing boutiques. The owners were extremely cool and the store itself is on point. Here's a transcript of the interview we conducted with the owners Mike and Chris. Shoutouts to DJ Louie Arson for helping out!
P x P: What’s your names, introduce yourselves.
C: My name is Chris.
M: -silent-
P x P: So how’d you come up with the name of the shop, what was the inspiration for it?
Chris: The name for the shop basically was a tribute to my graffiti crew CK (Clever Kings). Traditionally the crew initials usually change up; find different meaning for the initials. I thought culture kings tribute to the crew embodies what we represent as more than sneaker culture; it represents all cultures and sub cultures of hip hop.
P x P: Where are you guys from?
C: Originally from South Florida.
P x P: Since you said the shop was Hip Hop influenced, what are your favorite MC’s or era of Hip Hop?
C: My favorite era of Hip-Hop has to be the early to mid 90's, that’s Hip-Hop at its pinnacle.
P x P: Do you guys have any other stores?
C: The Orlando, FL store. The Miami store opened up September of 2006 and the grand opening was the last week of August. The Orlando store opened in March of 07.
P x P: Do you have any other jobs/side hustles etc. or is it Culture Kings all the way?
C: Culture Kings is number one priority, no other jobs.
P x P: How many times do you visit the Orlando store?
C: I try to get out there as much as possible. Lately it has been real tough, twice a month.
P x P: Why did you guys decide to open up a sneaker boutique?
C: I Opened up Culture Kings because it was a goal of his for a long time; since I was in college. Prior to Culture Kings I was a financial advisor for Merryl Lynch and hated it. The corporate world wasn't really for me, I felt like I’d lost myself.
P x P: How did you financially ready yourselves to open up shop?
C: I made a few investments prior to the whole real estate market crashing and while I was in the financial industry; it helped me out big time and I had money from past ventures saved up. With that and a little help from a loan I got it open.
P x P: I’ve seen pictures of the infamous bathroom, what was the inspiration behind it?
C: Mike was the inspiration for the bathroom sticker design. That’s how he does his artwork; by putting a collage of pictures from early 90’s magazines. It was his rebellion for the color of the store.
M: You go to the bathroom and do your 30 seconds of business you get to travel back in time. The only thing you can see in the front is product and artwork. In the bathroom you get to go into your own little world. The bathroom is a different world you go in there and you go threw a little journey back in time.
P x P: How long did it take?
M: It started off in pieces. I get in a zone and I just won't stop I can do it pretty quickly. The thing about it is it took a long time to do complete the entire wall. Everything that is in the collage was a collection of things that I’ve collected from magazine ranging from the last 10 years. In reality it took a lifetime but physically it only took a couple of days.
P x P: Why did you pick the Design District area out of all the other possible locales?
C: First, we’re in this area all the time. We have a lot of artist friends and with the account I wanted I had to be a certain distance from Shoe Gallery and Arrive.
P x P: What’s your relationship with the Anti-Kulture Gallery?
C: The owner Rob is a good friend of mine. We have the same background and “click” on similar things. Also our success determines on the area’s success. More than likely if someone comes here they’ll probably like the things we have here and vice versa.
P x P: What do you do outside of the sneakers?
C: We do fashion shows, co-host parties… We did Hot Import Nights over the weekend that just passed. We did Hoop it Up and things like that. It's just not sneaker events. We do art events. We just do things that we like and embrace.
M: You can't just deal with sneakers because you kind of isolate yourself into one thing and one type of customer. We have the opportunity to touch so many people and so many areas. Like he said, we did the Hoop it Up thing with 99.1 Jamz; They approached us about it and I was like “let me know about it”. I made a Michael Jordan collage basketball hoop that we presented out there. We didn't make much money but it was just a cool thing to do. The whole goal about it was to reach out to people we don’t know. Same thing with the fashion shows. We've done it all.
P x P: What’s your history with sneakers?
C: Well for us we probably started this whole shit on Jordans more than anything. Not just Jordan but NIKE. Their marketing team and strategies. Us growing up watching those commercials. Nike epitomized that with Jordan. All your role models were wearing Nikes it's a common way to identify it. Basically Nike and Jordan’s were how we started collecting. I kind of don't understand the hype behind all of this stuff. I understand why it's happening but not so much the success of it. For the younger kids most of them are interested in SB's but they're interested in Jordan’s too. It's the hype with the internet they've never experienced Jordan.
M: Dave Chappelle kind of covered it with Michael Jackson. It's like a 13 year old has a dying wish to see Michael Jackson but why? He doesn't remember Thriller but it trickles down from generations before, and they feed off of that from their older brother’s cousin, but the sneaker thing is just like how a lot of other things that have blown up with the internet. The hottest sneaker magazine back in the day was Eastbay that shit was like Sole Collector. Things like that, Nike Talk, Just For Kicks, you already liked sneakers but back in the days you did it just for the love.
P x P: Why did you choose the brands that you carry?
C: Nike, just because a lot of products like AF1 are classic sneakers. The products they released were classics back then and because they were leaders with the culture, you're going to chase after what was popular back then. Nike has always been doing that even when it was a small niche they were doing collabo’s with artists and boutiques. They weren't doing it because of the market, they did it because they could. Nike doesn't make money off that shit; they make money off of mass production and mass sales. They get a white shirt and put a black check on it. They just do this shit because they can, and luckily they hired the right people.
P x P: Where’s the balance between finance and art? How do you choose what you want to have in the store versus what you have to sell?
C: When I first opened up, the brands I carried were really cool to me. You kind of have to dumb it down. It was 70% of brands I like and 30% of things I think think the public would like. Miami is pretty slow with new trends, styles, etc. so you have to dumb it down. A lot of brands we carry I wouldn't carry if it were my ideal store.
P x P: How would someone approach you guys about carrying their product?
C:We have a lot of no name brands like growing pains. A lot of them have come and gone. We are always looking for new brands. A lot of time these brands can't keep up with the rest of the season, and a lot of new ones pop up with strong graphics and do things that aren't be done.
M: If you want to get your shit into Culture Kings, it's not hard to do. You would have to do a lot of thinking ahead of time. Where do I want my shit? Arrive, Culture Kings everywhere in Miami, or do I want it in just a few stores across the country? You don't want your shit everywhere then just build a relationship. Then have your shit together. You have to be able to present yourself in a proper way. We look at anything. No one is going to go out of their way and come here to cop some corny shit. If it's hot we call them back like “Yo your shit just sold out, bring them back”. And it's up to the people but they aren't up on their grind. We are regular people you come in and talk to us and it's happened a lot and we've helped a lot of people.
P x P: What are your future plans?
C: Open up some more locations in cities that don't have too much in their area but have a strong scene. Places like Portland, and Phoenix. Places that see or contain more of an urban demographic. At one point it was really only a major city thing. There are a lot of areas out there with kids that would spend every last dollar on a place like this. It's just a matter of finding a place, finding a partner, and finding someone who can keep the integrity of the place."
12.19.2007
If you missed....
Louie Arson's DJ set on GrindTime Radio this past Saturday, don't fret cuz it's right HERE!
Arsonist Mix 1
More Fire (Mix 2)
12.15.2007
Guest DJ set by...
Louie Arson b.k.a. DJ Matches on GrindTime Radio later today @ 1pm EST
Best of 90's hip-hop, reggae & R&B!!!!!!
Don't miss out!
Bonus: Joe Budden - Mood Muzik 3
12.05.2007
Q+A with Sickamore
We've gotta be on a roll this week music-wise... Mick Boogie, Little Brother, and now the Director of A&R for Atlantic Records/former mixtape DJ and all around hustler/entrepreneur *drum roll* Sickamore. Sick, who just happened to be in my hometown of Miami, FL came through to show support for the Paid and Popular team. Partake.
Sickamore x Paid & Popular Interview Part One Download
Sickamore x Paid & Popular Interview Part 2 Download
11.20.2007
Too much $ for parking: Prefuse 73 show review
Review of the Prefuse 73 show @ Studio A this past Friday
Guillermo Scott Herren a.k.a. Prefuse 73 turned knobs, excuse me, performed in front of a 75% packed audience at Studio A (located in Downtown Miami next door to Dance music haven Club Space). Paid x Popular team members Anthony to the S.™ b.k.a. Dee Jay Main Event and me, E.T. were in the building and we spotted a regular in the Studio A crowd, Miami emcee Wrekonize(black shirt next to woman in yellow). Interesting trip getting to the venue, with us almost landing in South Beach and paying $20 for a 3 hour parking pass grrrr =| Oh and shoutouts to the street dweller that "watched" my car for 50 cents and the strip club across the street, HOLLA!
The opening band for the night was Blank Blue. They had a mellow slash emoish sound to them with a female lead, male drummer, and guitarist. The vocals were lackluster with the instruments drowning out the singer. Either a new singer, not necissarily Mariah Carey status but a little more *umph* from the windpipes wouldn't hurt, or simply turning down the volume on the instruments or up on the vocalist's mic wouldn't hurt. I'd much rather hear their instrumentals alone from this band, which were pretty decent.
Pros: bass = good back massage © Main Event along with Hip Hop drums
Cons: Hipsters, for lack of a better word, dancing off beat
The second opener was called the School of Seven Bells and their group consisted of a lead female vocalist (with maraca to boot), a female background singer/keyboardist, and a male guitarist. The singing and instrumentals were much more appealing to the ear drums this go round. They were more upbeat, with their self described "psychedelic" sound. Their "Prince of Thieves" track was extremely catchy and they had my head bobbin' throughout the set.
Pros: using Reason for drums
Cons: "Less guitar, more cowbell!"
After some mating ritual dances occurred amongst a small group of hipsters near the front of the crowd, Prefuse 73 was ready to begin his set. He had the crowd under a spell for his hour long set, which is amazing given the fact that he simply was nodding his head to the music and twisting knobs with the occasional look at his Mac Book screen. Everytime he would fade into another track where he would distort the track and blend it with the next, the crowd would go wild with screams and applause galore. He'd acknowledge the crowd by waving his hands in the air, telling us to get even more hype. His music selection was on point from top to the bottom of his set, ending on a perfectly placed track by O.C., "Time's Up" Prefuse style. He did to the crowd what every man wishes they could do with a woman, give them a climactic experience with the least amount of work possible.
Semi-lastly, shout outs to the barkeep with the ill skills kind enough to have a mini photo shoot with us
And finally, a big "boo scary hipster man, hooray red stripe!" to this dude clamoring for attention on stage here!
