The whole Amesse Organization loves Obama and everything he stands for. The conciglieries we surround ourselves also have similiar wants for the future. Change. But can we keep it funky. There is a person or a group of persons that hate the air used to make those eloquent speeches. They want nothing more than to kill him. Straight up. Graff artists immortalize his image with pieces everywhere. Singers collab and recite his words in a melodious manner. But you have your James Earl Ray's that are patiently waiting to make this story a what could've been. To turn the Obama name into a memorial street, or a turnpike in his home state. All the greats find their fate by the hands of a hatred filled pessimist. Someone that doesnt want to see the vision of another man, and one that could be in power to change something.. Its only a matter of time before a negative action is taken on his life. Security, tighten up. Obama, keep doing what you're doing. And those that are in support, even if you arent, pray. For him and those that hate Obama.
Who exactly is Ibn Jasper? He's a hard fellow to catch up with, thus the reason we have no interview with him.Its like that sometimes. But if anything, he's a barber. A HIGHLY paid barber. I mean 1500 a cut. Not only that, he's best friends (and an image consultant) with Kanye and Lupe, thus his wardrobe is SICK. You may have heard his name for the first time ever in "Paris,Tokyo". You probably called him "Ivan". But its cool. He's an ex-skater, jetsetter and kinda like Kenny Burns on the "Who's man is this?" tip. But like the Svengali, he's terribly important.
Check out this exclusive interview with THE BRILLIANCE to get a better idea. Lucky pricks.
Paris Tokyo Video
TB! > What fashion trends did you take part of that you now somewhat regret?
IJ! > What did The Game say? "I don't regret what I spit, cuz I know what I say". I not really trendy, I'm a leader, so I know what I'm doin, ya dig!
TB! > Being a jetsetter which city across the globe has the most favorable ladies per capita?
IJ! > The most flavorful ladies per capita is Tokyo, then NYC.
TB! > BSP "Black Star Power". How often do you guys have to call on it. Any crazy airport/club/hotel stories?
IJ! > Oh, we use BSP everyday. Everytime we're in the airport we use it to get in front of everybody else in line, The club is like a candy store for us, and the hotel? Too many stories to tell, i don't want to incriminate anyone, lol...
TB! > What happens when the crew is shopping and everyone sees a fresh jacket in Gucci and everyone wants to cop it? Draw straws?
IJ! > Kanye gets 1st choice of course, but he usually can only rock shit once, so that means I might get it for free! YES! But if we all like it, we all cop it, we just don't wear it on the same day.
TB! > How important is it to you to document your travels? What's your favorite photo of the last month?
IJ! > Very important. I have 7000 pics in my I-photo, and that's just from last November. My recent fave is when I took pics of Kanye and Justice vs. Simeon backstage @ the MTV EMA's, that was so much fun.
TB! > Finally, people are realizing the connection between skate culture and hip-hop aren't such a big deal. What are your thoughts on that and what's your favorite trick?
IJ! > It's funny to me that black people think sk8ing is cool now (duh). I've been sk8ing since '86, got on flow fro Dogtown in '90, and was tryin hard to get sponsored by H-Street. I'm a Vet, ya dig. Sk8ing is what gave me my " I can do anything I can think about" mindset. That's how you learn the tricks, you think about them, then you teach your body how to do them. It's the same exact thing as hip hop, with the rebelliousnes and everything. My favorite trick that I do is ollie backside grabs (Melonchollies), I think i'm the Black Matt Hensley. I just ollied over a shoppin cart 2 weeks ago, I'm 31 yrs old, so that is a major accomplishment, since I quit sk8ing for 10yrs, and just started back. I still got it!
TB! > Top 3 clothing brands/labels?
IJ! > Both luxury and streetwear oriented. I love Gucci, I like Kaws' Original Fake, and Maharishi
For the full version click THE BRILLIANCE link uptop.
Lupe and Kanye checking out Ibn's blog. You should too...chuurch. http://ferrarimurakami.blogspot.com/
Nelly and tim mcgraw. Snoop and larry king. Sisqo and Country Music Televison. There are some collaborations that really were not meant to happen. At all. But like Wendys fries and a chocolate Frostee, some things just go. In the spirit of the immense amount of collabs happening this year all over the entertainment, fashion, and culinary world, here's the Good, the Bad and the Ugly..
The Ugly
Sneaker x Jewlery
If you were to cover a gas station brand sneaker with e6000 crazy glue and kick the cowboy shit out of a soda can filled with glitter, sequins, and fecalmatter, it probably wouldn't compare to the ugly that is Kashi. It looks more like a consolation prize at a Mexican bah mitzvah (no offense hombres) then a shoe someone should try to match up with an outfit. And what makes matters worse, rappers take pics holding them up, like that validates something..ilch. Check out this interview with the creator of this God awful footwear:
TEC: Hip Hop is so homophobic. Who’s decision was it to align with Liberace?
AK: I was in my second trade shows. Everything that I do, with the little money I have, I always try to impress people. When I did this little booth in this big show, the Liberace Foundation in Las Vegas came to me and saw the shoes. They almost had a heart attack, these people. They were so impressed. I thought to myself, “Liberace might’ve been gay, but so what? It’s not a big deal.” A lot of people are homophobic and so forth; we need to respect everybody. This is who we are. TEC: Was it named Liberace before you met them?
AK: I made a collaboration with them. Together. They gave me the right to even be allowed to put Liberace on the shoe. It was a magnificent opportunity. As much as you might say that rappers are [homophobic], even 50 Cent, you’ll hear him talk about Liberace. I think it was “Stunt 101.” TEC: Or “California Love.”
AK: Liberace was the king of bling. He loved his shine.
We rest our case.
Beverages x Sneakers
I love kool aid. Reeboks are a classic shoe..whatever. But combining the two to create one of the worst collabs in history is well, nothing short of amazing. Check this. What made matters crazy worse is that it had a 2-page spread in Complex magazine. I mean come on. That's like giving the spring collection of Lugz a billboard in Manhattan. Its foolishnes, in a patent leather refreshing drink form.
The Good
Cee Lo x DangerMouse
I mean no one really credits it as a collaboration and more of just a group, but these two hail from a wide chasm in their backgrounds. Cee Lo being first generation Dungeon Family with a southern make up. And even though Danger Mouse did live in St. Mountain, GA (he even attended UGA), after moving to London, thats when things really took off for him musically. In 2005 after the two combined at Coachella to form Gnarls Barkley..well, it was Crazy.
Bape x Kaws Wow. What can be said of this joint venture besides pure addiction. Bape was already blowing up in 05, and adding the X's to the eyes just seemed to be the icing on the camo gorilla sillouheted cake. Damn those were the days.
Marc Jacobs x Louis Vuitton I mean, its a legendary compound. Marc Jacobs who started as a stockboy in some store in NY, became a fashion icon, with one of the biggest fashion lines to date. Then when you can drop a bag thats worth $45,000 in tribute to the Louis Vuitton legacy itself. You may (or may not) be saying something. You most likely are.
The Bad
MC Lyte x Whitey x Jared Lee The aforementioned individuals all got together and came up with a group. Not just any group. Oh no. A power group. With a name to rival the meaninglessness of a Danity Kane (I still dont know what the hell that is). Almost September hits you with less than great beats, mediocre at best flows, and features that'll make your heart beat in the regular fashion it was beating in prior to you learning who the feature was. Look them up on Myspace or Google them or something, I dont know.
Look, we dont want to bring you guys down with more bad collabs..so..later.
