Monday, February 29, 2016

ATLAS, THE NEXT GENERATION



A new version of Atlas, designed to operate outdoors and inside buildings. It is specialized for mobile manipulation. It is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects. This version of Atlas is about 5′ 9″ tall (about a head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs.

KICKS: KOBE XI EULOGY / NIKE JADE SWOOSH AIR MAX 1 / NIKE AIR HUARACHE / NIKE AIR FOAMPSITE

            

   

        


Pick up this latest release from select NSW accounts around the globe for $100
        

        

MUSIC: KATY B FT CRAIG DAVID, MAJOR LAZER - WHO AM I / TINASHE - GENIUS OF LOVE

        


Katy B links up with Craig David and Major Lazer for her latest visual for Who Am I produced by Major Laze.
        


Tinashe is back with the release of her latest visual for Genius of Love.

MUSIC: FRENCH MONTANA FT ASAP ROCKY - OFF THE RIP (REMIX) / JUICY J - DURDY

         
French Montana connects with ASAP Rocky to shoot an official visual for the remix to Off The Rip directed by SpiffTV
     


Juicy J drops his latest visual for Durdy produced by Southside, Sonny Digital and Metro Boomin directed by Riley Robbins.

ASAP ROCKY ATTACKED IN NEW YEALEND


According to TMX ASAP Rocky got jumped by a bunch of guys in a dispute over an elevator ride in New Zealand … TMZ has learned.
According to sources way down under … A$AP was at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland around 3 AM local time. He has a concert there Thursday night. We’re told he was getting into an elevator with some girls, and 3 guys wanted to get in also — but A$AP told ‘em there was no room left, and then it was on.
We’re told the guys jumped the rapper, punching him in the head and face … while he tried to protect the girls.
Witnesses say the suspects knew who they were dealing with because they were yelling … “F**k A$AP!” Hotel security eventually broke it up until cops arrived and nabbed one suspect — a 35-year-old local who was booked for assault and resisting police.
It’s unclear what, if any, injuries A$AP suffered … but as of now he’s still scheduled to perform.

Monday, February 22, 2016

RIHANNA FT. DRAKE - WORK

        


Rihanna finally unleashes her brand visual for her latest single called work featuring Drake.
        


The song becomes Rihanna’s 14th leader, lifting her past Michael Jackson for the third-most No. 1s all-time. Plus, DNCE dances into the top 10 with “Cake by the Ocean.”

Thursday, February 18, 2016

MORNING COFFEE PAINTING BY K.O. BROWN - FEEL FREE ARTZ


THE RAP GAME - COOL WITH ME (NEW VIDEO) #ARTBYSKIP

        




MUSIC: YOUNG DOLPH - GET PAID / MIQUEL FT TRAVIS SCOTT - WAVES

        


Young Dolph is back with the drop of his brand new video for Get Paid.
        


Miguel and Travis Scott have return with an official visual for Miguel latest single Waves, which was shot at the Wildheart Motel concert in California.

VAN STYLES - TUNNEL VISION / SYDNEY MALER VISUALAPPAREL.COM


SMES-009
SMES-003
SMES-007
SMES-006
SMES-004
SMES-001
SMES-010
SMES-008

NIKE ROSHE DAYBREAK NM

Nike Gives the Roshe Daybreak NM the Vintage Treatment
Last month saw the debut of the latest Hiroshi Fujiwara-designed hybrid for Nike Sportswear and now the design is getting a followup release in vintage form. Combining the Daybreak runner of the 1970s with a contemporary Roshe NM sole unit, the aptly named Roshe Daybreak NM builds on its original combination of navy and white with a “Vintage” pack that harkens back to the Daybreak’s ’70s heyday. The result is two decidedly old school make-ups: one in “Tuscan Rust,” the other in an Oregon-like combo of green and yellow.
Look for both pairs to be available from NSW stockists like HAVEN later today, February 18.

ADIDAS YEEZY BOOST 350




Kanye first promised that anyone who wanted a pair would eventually get one, and seeing that the Pirate Blacks are back in action, a re-release of the Turtle Doves…

KENDALL JENNER IN CALVIN KLEIN UNDERWEAR

        


Kendall Jenner ends the video with a voiceover of her saying, “Together we are stronger than we could ever be alone.



RIHANNA X PUMA / NIKE AIR ENTERTAINER PHANTOM

        


All three colorways are available beginning next Friday, February 26th at select Puma
Nike Air Entertainer Phantom

Nike Air Entertainer Phantom now available for $130

MUSIC: YOUNG THUG READS THE LYRICS TO BEST FRIEND / SIA CARPOOL KARAOKE

        


Young Thug’s songs are often great. They are also often difficult to understand. Here, the rapper reads his hit “Best Friends” like a bedtime story—clearly, slowly, and using words you can actually comprehend.
        

James spots Sia in Los Angeles and asks her to carpool to work as they sing some of the biggest songs she’s performed and written, including “Chandelier” and “Diamonds.”

NIKE TERMINATES MANNY PACQUIAO


Nike terminated its endorsement contract with Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday after the Filipino boxer made derogatory remarks toward same-sex couples.
“We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent,” the company said in a statement. “Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community.”
Based on Pacquiao’s comments, a spokesman confirmed that he is no longer on the company’s endorsement roster.
Pacquiao has endorsed Nike for a little more than eight years.
“Have you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?” Pacquiao said on a Filipino television station earlier this week. “If you have male-to-male or female-to-female [relationships], then people are worse than animals.”
Pacquiao apologized on Twitter within hours.
“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,” Pacquiao tweeted. “Please forgive me for those I hurt. God bless!”
In the tweet, Pacquiao had a video message in Filipino wearing a Nike shirt with the special logo the company has for him.
“Nike is in the business of selling its products to as wide of an audience as they can, and Manny’s comments were insulting to a lot of people,” Arum told ESPN.com.
Source: ESPN

KICKS

adidas Originals' Tubular Nova Gets the Primeknit Treatment
adidas Originals' Tubular Nova Gets the Primeknit Treatment

colette Dresses Dr. Martens' 1461 3-Eye Shoe in Polka Dots
colette Dresses Dr. Martens' 1461 3-Eye Shoe in Polka Dots
A Closer Look at visvim's Deliberately Aged Powell Boots
visvim's Deliberately Aged Powell Boots

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

YE ALI - GUCCI UMBRELLA


Ye Ali flexes his versatility and switches its up for his latest. After taking us on a trek through strip clubs, rising LA-based talent Ye Ali (one of picks for artists to watch this year) links up with Nessly and Lil Aaron for "Gucci Umbrella." It's produced by Jett Dean, who laces Ali with a beat that sounds like it would fit someone like Key! as well as it does him. The song is infectious, all melody, and features some essential Gucci Mane samples. You can check out "Gucci Umbrella" below.

DAWN RICHARDS - SOBER


London-based artist et aliae and D∆WN (Dawn Richard) collide for the former's latest, "Sober." Released in support of her forthcoming EP Rose, "Sober" comes to us as the project's lead record and a showcase of the experimental sounds at play in et aliae's creative mind. Speaking to FADER about the effort, et aliae says,"'Sober' was written as a song which plays on contrasting dark and light energies." et aliae cites the track's "distorted percussion versus the sparkling mallets, the warm choral harmonies versus the bright vocal stabs, the struggle between 'intoxication' and 'sobriety'" as proof. She also calls D∆WN "the perfect voice" for the "journey" that is "Sober." Her vocal collaborator returned the praise, saying joint releases like this are "organic" and "magical." You can stream the track below. Just last month, D∆WN revealed her latest single.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

FEELFREEARTZ - #ARTBYSKIP


YOUNG THUG - WORTH IT

        


Young Thug decides to drop off his brand new video for Worth It produced by London On Da Track and directed by Be EL Be. Young Thug  new mixtape Slime Season 3, is due to drop sometime tomorrow.

KICKS: NIKE HYPERLIVE/ NIKE AIR FLIGHT HUARACHE/ JORDAN GS EDITION/ NIKE AIR MAX 95

The "Net Collector's Society" Welcomes the Nike Hyperlive Silhouette
The "Net Collector's Society" Welcomes the Nike Hyperlive Silhouette
Nike's Air Flight Huarache Low Silhouette Receives a Clean "Ostrich" Makeover
Nike's Air Flight Huarache Low Silhouette Receives a Clean "Ostrich" Makeover
Jordan Brand Puts a Twist on its GS Edition of the "Bred" Air Jordan 1
Jordan Brand Puts a Twist on its GS Edition of the "Bred" Air Jordan 1
Nike Air Max 95 Essential "University Red"
Nike Air Max 95 Essential "University Red"

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE 2016 GRAMMY EDITION MEAN TWEETS




From time to time we highlight some of the nasty things people post about famous people by asking those famous people to read them aloud. This is #MeanTweets Music Edition #3 featuring Meghan Trainor, Ricky Martin, James Taylor, Little Big Town, Common, Ed Sheeran, Kelly Clarkson, Charlie Wilson, Blake Shelton, Wiz Khalifa, Josh Groban, Demi Lovato, The Killers, Drake, One Direction, Lionel Richie, Rita Ora and Mumford & Sons.

2016 GRAMMY AWARD WINNERS




The 58th Annual Grammy Awards were held Monday night. Here is a list of some of the big winners noted with an asterisk *.

Best rap album

“2014 Forest Hills Drive”: J. Cole
“Compton”: Dr. Dre
“If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”: Drake
“To Pimp A Butterfly”: Kendrick Lamar *
“The Pinkprint”: Nicki Minaj

Best country album

“Montevallo”: Sam Hunt
“Pain Killer”: Little Big Town
“The Blade”: Ashley Monroe
“Pageant Material”: Kacey Musgraves
“Traveller”: Chris Stapleton *

Song of the year

“Alright”: Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears and Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
“Blank Space”: Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
“Girl Crush”: Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town)
“See You Again”: Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth and Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth)
“Thinking Out Loud”: Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran) *

Best new artist

Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor *

Album of the year

“Sound & Color” by Alabama Shakes
“To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar
“Traveller” by Chris Stapleton
“1989″ by Taylor Swift*
“Beauty Behind the Madness” by The Weeknd

Record of the year

“Really Love” by D’Angelo and the Vanguard
“Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars*
“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
“Blank Space” by Taylor Swift
“Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd

Best dance recording

“We’re All We Need”: Above & Beyond featuring Zoë Johnston
“Go”: The Chemical Brothers
“Never Catch Me”: Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar
“Runaway (U & I)”: Gallants
“Where Are Ãœ Now”: Skrillex and Diplo with Justin Bieber *

Best pop duo/group performance

“Ship To Wreck”: Florence + The Machine
“Sugar”: Maroon 5
“Uptown Funk”: Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars *
“Bad Blood”: Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar
“See You Again”: Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Pluth

Best urban contemporary album

“Ego Death”: The Internet
“You Should Be Here”: Kehlani
“Blood”: Lianne La Havas
“Wildheart”: Miguel
“Beauty Behind the Madness”: The Weeknd *

Best alternative music album

“Sound & Color”: Alabama Shakes *
“Vulnicura”: Björk
“The Waterfall”: My Morning Jacket
“Currents”: Tame Impala
“Star Wars”: Wilco

Best rock performance

“Don’t Wanna Fight” : Alabama Shakes *
“What Kind of Man”: Florence + The Machine
“Something From Nothing”: Foo Fighters
“Ex’s & Oh’s”: Elle King
“Moaning Lisa Smile”: Wolf Alice
Source: CNN

VANITY PASSES AWAY AT 57



Vanity, whose real name was Denise Katrina Matthews, passed away in a Fremont, CA hospital on Monday … according to sources close to her family. A few months ago she set up a GoFundMe page, and said she’d been diagnosed with sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis — an inflammation of the small intestines.
She also battled crack addiction in the ’90s, and after a 1994 OD her kidneys were shot. She had to undergo nearly daily dialysis treatments.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/15/vanity-dies-singer-nasty-girl/#ixzz40I9COlhO

Monday, February 15, 2016

MUSIC: 2 CHAINZ - WATCH OUT / FABOLOUS FT. DAPHNE LARUE - STARTED SOMETHING

         


2 Chainz is back with the release of his brand new visual for Watch Out produced by FKi and directed by Motion Family.
        


Fabolous decides to drop his brand new visual for Started Something featuring Daphne Larue produced by araabMUZIK and directed by Gerard Victor.

DA BRAT NEW CO-HOST ON "DISH NATION"

        

After a guest-hosting stint on Dish Nation this summer, Da Brat has been made a permanent fixture. The syndicated entertainment news program today named the rap artist as co-host on the Atlanta-based team, announced Stephen Brown, EVP of Programming and Development, Fox Television Stations.

KEVIN HART vs OLIVIA MUNN LIP SYNC BATTLE/ CRAVETAY - HELLO/ NEIGHBORS 2 TRAILER

        


Olivia Munn brings a crew – WWE’s Big Show, “Dope” star Chanel Iman, Charlotte McKinney & Taylor Swift squad member Jaime King – out for her performance of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” while Kevin Hart throws down to Onyx’s “Slam.
        

Video Alert! CRAVETAY releases her new visual to “Hello” directed by Mike Kalombo.

        

The comedy stars Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Chloë Grace Moretz and Selena Gomez, and hits theaters May 20th.

KYLIE JENNER x PUMA

Kylie Jenner Officially Signs With PUMA
Last week we reported that a Kylie Jenner x PUMA partnership may be in the works, to which Kanye West full-heartedly stamped out with a few words of his own, rooting for the Kardashian family to stay behind team adidas.
Now, a new report from Nice Kicks confirms the deal has indeed been sealed  thanks to a little visit to the PUMA booth at Agenda Las Vegas. Kylie will be joining current PUMA ambassador Rihanna, who’s been signed with the brand since December 2014, as a brand advocate that will entail a string of collaborative releases and campaigns. Official photoshoots have apparently already taken place.
Stay tuned as we await more news on this story. In the meantime, check out Mr. West’s entertaining tweets of his vote against the new deal here and here.
Kylie Jenner Reportedly Set to Join PUMA

RIMOWA x BEAUTY & YOUTH UNITED ARROWS

BEAUTY&YOUTH UNITED ARROWS x Rimowa Collabo Is Quintessentially British

    New from German luggage company Rimowa is this collaborative effort with Japanese retailer BEAUTY&YOUTH UNITED ARROWS. Utilizing a charming “Milk Tea” beige outer color, the jetsetting favorite Salsa model is upgraded externally as well as internally, with an all-over “Sydenham Palace” print based on archival designs from 2010. Along with the four Salsa sizes, a packable clothing case is also available, with the matching all-over print for maximum travel coordination and a design combo that is all things English. All items are available now for pre-order over at BEAUTY&YOUTH UNITED ARROWS, with a delivery date of mid-March.

    Saturday, February 13, 2016

    FEELFREEARTZ - #ARTBYSKIP



    MUSIC: TEYANA TAYLOR - TOUCH ME/ B.O.B - BLANK MAFIA/ TYLER, THE CREATOR - PERFECT

            


    Teyana Taylor is back with the release of her new video for Touch Me directed by Chaz “Destiny” Morgan & Teyana Taylor.
            


    B.O.B.  decides to drop his brand new visual for Blank Mafia off his recent project WATER.
            


    Tyler the Creator finally unleashes a brand new video for his recent track called PERFECT directed by Wolf Haley.

    RITA ORA'S BEST STYLE MOMENTS

    Rita Ora seems to be one of those artists better known for her image as opposed to her talent as a singer (yes, that’s what she does professionally). Though she’s been signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation imprint since 2008, released a debut album, Ora, back in 2012 and holds four UK number-one singles, including “R.I.P.,” “How We Do (Party),” the DJ Fresh-featured “Hot Right Now” and “I Will Never Let You Down,” the peroxide-haired beauty is mostly recognized for her collaborative efforts, be it with fellow artists, brand endorsements or magazine spreads.
    Lauded for her taut physique, striking looks and idiosyncratic style, the Kosovo-born, London-raised artist has been regarded as one of the most prolific fashion icons of today’s youth generation.
    With a sophomore album looming ahead, it appears that Ora has been making headlines for everything but her music as of late. So, while we continue to familiarize ourselves with all her past music endeavors, we’ve rounded up some of Rita Ora’s most celebrated collaborations that helped put her on the map.

    CK One, Spring/Summer 2011

    art8amby
    When Calvin Klein launched its first-ever unisex fragrance, ck One, back in 1994, the brand unveiled a searing black-and-white ad campaign that featured some of the era’s most influential youth figures, such as Kate Moss, Stella Tennant and Jenny Shimizu. In 2011, the American fashion house decided to expand its ck One imprint into a full lifestyle brand, which was followed by a campaign that resurrected its ’94 predecessor by enlisting the shoot’s original team, including photographer Steven Meisel and creative director Fabien Baron.
    Capturing the modern youth psyche that defined ck One’s now-iconic images, the CK team casted a series of burgeoning “it girl” talent that Baron described as “young, cool, interesting, and charming for what they represent to people,” which included soft grunge starlet Sky Ferreira and then-19-year-old Rita Ora.

    Superga, Spring/Summer 2013

    Kim Gray
    In 2013, Rita replaced model/influencer Alexa Chung as the new face of Italian footwear label Superga’s Spring/Summer 2013 campaign. Ora’s deal with the label turned sour months after the ads were unveiled, however, when Superga accused the Roc Nation singer of breaching her contract by wearing a pair of the brand’s rival sneakers, Converse, which ensued in a £100,000 legal battle.

    DKNY, Resort 2014

    Fashion Gone Rogue
    Photographed by Lachlan Bailey in Times Square, the platinum blonde starlet continued to stride through campaign deals when she took over Cara Delvingne’s spot as the new face of DKNY in 2014.

    adidas Originals, Fall/Winter 2014

    Mum 'n More
    Marking the first of many collaborations with the Three Stripes, Rita first teamed up with adidas Originals with a capsule collection back in 2014 that included a range of graphic sportswear offerings.

    ‘PAPER’, April 2014

    Celebmafia
    For their April 2014 “Beautiful People Issue,” boundary-pushing magazine PAPER featured Rita as their cover star in a provocative, Catholic-themed shoot complete with an ornate crown by Dolce & Gabbana.

    Roberto Cavalli, Fall/Winter 2014

    Fashion Gone Rogue
    Though not unfamiliar to working with luxury labels, the Albanian beauty hit it big when she was graced as the new star of Roberto Cavalli’s Fall/Winter 2014 campaign. Lensed by Francesco Carrozzini, the glossy shoot echoed the classic Hollywood glamour set forth by Marilyn Monroe and accentuated the singer’s sultry appeal.

    ‘Elle’ Korea, November 2014

    Snobette
    For Elle Korea’s November 2014 issue, Ora starred in a shoot that brought forth her trademark flashy-sporty edge where she was seen wearing several pieces from her own adidas-collaborated collection.

    Coca-Cola EU, 2015

    Coca-Cola
    In 2015, the singer became the face of Coca-Cola’s European ad campaign. The images imbued a very film noir aesthetic, with the singer looking ultra elegant in a lavish satin red gown by London-based label Veni Vici while perched atop a vintage piano.

    Sexy Fish, 2015

    Evening Standard
    The singer embraced her inner Little Mermaid when she starred in this aquatic photoshoot to promote London restaurant Sexy Fish (yes, that’s actually what it’s called), which opened its doors last October. For most, dressing up like a mythological sea creature has the potential of looking like a tragic Halloween costume, but for Rita, the getup proved effortlessly seductive.

    ‘Lui’, February 2016

    Highsnobiety
    While she’s certainly no stranger to flaunting some skin, the singer did what most pop stars do once they’ve reached a certain level of fame – bared it all in front of Terry Richardson. While this isn’t the first time the Londoner posed for the shock jock photographer, she really amped up the sex factor by posing completely topless in the February 2016 issue of Lui.

    YEEZY SEASON 3





    Who checks their email on a Sunday anyway? And yet, six days after Kanye tweeted about YEEZY Season 3, that’s when the initial invites for the megastar’s colossal fashion show-cum-album listening party went out. I only found out via my editor, who then blessed me with the assignment to cover the show on February 11, and was told that details would be forthcoming.
    Just securing invites to the show was a process of subterfuge. There was a Midtown hotel involved, and a finite time window where you had to check in with someone at the lobby, then make your way upstairs, where an escrow coordinated with the YEEZY illuminati to confirm the number of invites your team was supposed to have. For some people, this took a matter of minutes, for the less fortunate—hours. YEEZY Season 3 purgatory was in a pretty nice location, though. We were among the lucky ones, and received our Madison Square Garden tickets and Season 3 coaches jackets in under half an hour.
    Yes, like the previous two collections, there was a wearable piece of YEEZY Season ephemera that accompanied most invites. For those keeping score at home, Season 1 was a half-zip Tyvek anorak, and Season 2 was a long-sleeve camouflage T-shirt from Rothco. This time, it was a lined deep green snap-button coaches jacket. This particular one was made by Augusta Sportswear and will only set you back roughly $18 for one sans all the Yeezy Season 3 branding. I didn’t see any of these at the show, but wouldn’t doubt if people had worn them there.
    The day of the show, we arrived at Madison Square Garden a little around 3 p.m. Checking in was a relatively easy process, but there was a holding pattern in the mezzanine. A long line that snaked well into the mezzanine from one of the entrances turned out not to be for the show, but for one of many Willo Perron-designed merch tables—silver cubes made of a cross-hatched metal you’d often see on New York City streets.
    The merch included plenty of gear emblazoned with “I Feel Like Pablo” in a signature typeface associated with artist Cali Thornhill Dewitt, indicating that these pieces were a collaboration. The backs of sweatshirts, tees, and hoodies were splashed with lyrics from West’s new album, The Life of Pablo, which none of us had heard yet. One said “We on an Ultra Light Beam/This Is a God Dream” from the album’s first track, “Ultra Light Beam.” Other merch said “Any Rumor You Ever Heard About Me/Was True and Legendary” on the back, lifted from a G.O.O.D. Friday track that didn’t make the album, and the origin of “I Feel Like Pablo”—West’s collaborative song with Kendrick Lamar, “No More Parties in L.A.”
    Celebrity and nerd-celebrity sightings occurred while waiting for doors to open. Storm Copenhagen owner Rasmus Storm chopped it up with a few industry heads. Demna Gvasalia, the designer of Vetements and newly-minted Balenciaga creative director, wore an oversized bomber and deconstructed hoodie of his own design, while picking up tickets from the will-call window like everyone else. Actor and jewelry designer Waris Ahluwalia, after being barred from air travel in Mexico for refusing to take off his turban during a security check, was home in time to make the show.
    Soon enough, the doors opened, and people began filing towards their respective sections and seats. Of course, the first place many headed was straight to a queue for the other merch booths. Meanwhile, the numerous food stands and bars were open for business, so I did what any sensible person would do, and polished off a few beers while waiting for the show to start. Two Stellas later, I finally made my way into the Garden proper, and first glimpsed the massive stage covered in a brown cloth. People were fanning it to create a wave effect, which at the time I assumed was just for show.
    Then the Jumbotron came on, showing North West clad in a white hoodie, signaling the entrance of the royal family. The Kardashian clan strutted out, followed by Kanye West, clad in a maroon long-sleeve tee that was selling for $60 at the merch table, and a black dad cap with “Yeezus” on it. In his entourage was Travis $cott, Pusha T, Kid Cudi (wearing a raccoon hat), and Lamar Odom, clad in a Yeezy Season 1 camo trench coat, making his first public appearance with Khloe Kardashian since a serious health scare left him hospitalized.
    Laptop in tow, West and his squad perched behind the sound booth, and plugged in the aux cord to end all other aux cords, then took the mic and announced he would be playing his album. He introduced the first track, “Ultra Light Beam,” and shortly after the music started, the cloth over the stage was peeled back, revealing the entirety of YEEZY Season 3 onstage, and some 1,200 similarly-clothed extras surrounding it. The installation was the work of performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, who has worked with West for the past two seasons. Whereas Season 1 and Season 2’s imagery drew upon Roman phalanxes and played on the notion of military formations, her statement here skewed more towards a refugee camp.
    West would go onto play the entirety of the album, while the Jumbotron stayed primarily focused on the models onstage. Sure, there was plenty of dancing, blown smoke, and all-around good vibes permeating from the sound booth, but to speak of the clothes specifically, the collection is everything you would expect from the YEEZY line, but a little bit different. There’s oversized outerwear aplenty, from puffy down jackets to shearling coats to full-length furs on A-list models like Naomi Campbell and Veronica Webb.
    On the male models, which included Young Thug, red-haired rapper Lil Yachty, and a non-smoking Ian Connor, Dries Van Noten-esque paneled track pants are styled with oversized salmon-colored sweatshirts. Near-banana-yellow fleece jackets and hoodies and highlighter-orange half-zip anoraks add a welcome injection of brightness into a line known for its drab color stories. The pricey distressed sweaters from last season return in artichoke shades, and there’s even a touch of leaf-print camo to jackets and hoodies, while a more subdued olive camo is rendered on a mock-neck sweatshirt. All in all, it’s the same stuff we’ve seen before, but this time, with a few new colors. If you weren’t a fan before, you won’t be converted this time around. And if you were expecting a radical departure from previous collections, then you’ll be sorely disappointed.
    Notably, the models are all minorities. Despite the admittedly ludicrous instructions that were leaked, it’s still a watershed moment for a fashion industry severely lacking in diversity. If Beyoncé’s “Formation” video was an affirmation of black power, West’s YEEZY Season 3 and Beecroft’s refugee camp staging serves up some social commentary and identity politics of its own. It’s a shame that message is mostly overshadowed by people going crazy over the album and finally hearing “Wolves” in CD-quality sound.
    When the album finished, West embarked upon one of his trademark diatribes, revealing his insecurities by asking what people thought of the album—then the clothes, making it excruciatingly clear where his priorities lie. There were plenty of gems, like West saying “I love you like Kanye likes Kanye,” but he also showed his appreciation for Carine Roitfeld, the former Vogue Paris editor who now helms CR Fashion Book, whom he thanked for being a “real bitch.” Two years ago, Roitfeld put Kim Kardashian on the magazine’s cover, which West regarded as her first fashion cover. He also showed his gratitude for his team, Vanessa Beecroft, and adidas – “for paying for this.”
    Meanwhile, adidas got some immediate return on their investment. Not only did the show see the debut of a redesigned Boost 350, but also the 1050, a more weatherproof version of the 950 duck boot with a retooled sole. Oh right—and then West got the stadium to loudly chant “Fuck Nike!” before dropping a new version of his Nike diss song “Facts.” Ironically, he remained a staunch defender of Michael Jordan, telling the crowd: “No, no not ‘fuck Michael Jordan,’ Michael Jordan is our boy!”
    Around this time, people had slowly started to file out of the stadium. Some noticed a lull in the merch line, and spent the rest of the show waiting to buy gear. But you could still hear what was happening onstage and see the images on the Jumbotron—at this point, the show had superseded the collection.
    While speaking to the crowd, West confessed one of his dreams was to be the creative director at Hermés, and talked about the time he went to San Francisco to attempt to get a video game made before showing the trailer on the Jumbotron. Called “Only One,” the game consists of guiding West’s late mother, Donda West, to Heaven—sometimes with the help of a winged Pegasus. Set to a reworked, pared-down version of the song from which the game takes its name, the minimal art style, bright backgrounds, and mottled clouds had West’s fingerprints on them. That was the last big reveal before thanking everyone for coming out, and segueing into a short DJ set by Virgil Abloh as the remainder of the audience, unsure if it was truly over or not, looked at each other, Kanye-shrugged, and slowly began to shuffle out.

    HOW THE INTERNET KILLED "PLAYBOY & PENTHOUSE"


    During his groundbreaking and sexually-awakening study which was conducted during the 1940s and ’50s and that involved nearly 17,000 men and women, Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues found that 54 percent of men and only 12 percent of women reported being erotically aroused by seeing photographs, drawings or paintings of nude people.
    Whether you consider yourself a sexually enlightened person or not, chances are you’ve come across a piece of pornography in your daily, weekly or monthly affairs. It used to be you had to seek it out – inconspicuously venturing inside a convenience store or XXX bookstore to purchase a slice of erotica that got your juices flowing. But today, it’s as simple as logging on, and getting off.
    According to estimates from Scandinavian research centre Sintef, 90% of all of the data that the human race has ever produced has been generated in just the past two years alone. Of that digital imprint, 37 percent of everything left behind on the Internet is related to the field of pornography.
    Whereas 20 years ago we began worrying about our carbon footprint, when historians look back on the new millenniumour legacy will focus on what we littered the Internet with.
    With the news that Playboy was ditching their revolutionary stance on nudity which had been in play for over 60 years, to Penthouse’s decision to shutter their physical printing of magazines, the timing for each – despite existing during the downfall of print – still seemed surprising given their fields of specialty and human beings unquenchable thirst for watching total strangers do the nasty.
    So what gives? How did two legendary entities who specialize in sexuality fail to thrive in an era that wants it now more than ever?
    fansshare.com
    According to lead researcher Gilbert Wondracek, who presented his findings in a paper at Harvard University about the economics of porn, 9 out of every 10 visits to porn sites across the whole internet is “free,” and makes money by directing traffic to pay-for-use sites (or even to one another).
    In disecting Wonracek’s findings, the Massachusetts Insitute of Technology (MIT), noted, “Unlike online ad placements by Google and affiliate marketing schemes by Amazon, adult sites do not rely on code that resides on the sites sending them traffic that could help verify that traffic is generated by humans and not click bots. As a result, the researchers found that it would potentially be quite easy to defraud not only users, but the traffic brokers and for-pay porn sites that enable the vast ecosystem of free adult media sites.”
    The current pornographic strategy is a direct response to how the industry began to shift in the mid 200os – peaking at roughly $13-$14 billion USD in 2005 and falling to just over $5 billion USD in 2013, according Dan Miller, the executive managing editor of XBIZ, a publisher that focuses on the industry.
    The so-called “changing of the guard” is a reflection of the speeds consumers began to expect when it came to Internet connectivity. Although dial-up speeds aren’t completely dead yet – thanks to a dedicated 3 percent user-ship base in rural communities who lack the financial resources to switch to broadband – that eight-year period saw 97 percent of all Americans abandoning modem technologies for faster speeds.
    vogue.com
    Gone were the days where you had to let a sexy picture unfurl down the page like you were getting flashed by someone stood behind horizontal mini-blinds, twisting them open one slat at a time. To borrow a signature porn trope, with the increase in Internet speeds, a person could skip from the pizza delivery man, to the tip, at rates never before experienced.
    In addition to the speeds at which people could access movies and images, so to was there in a shift in what connectivity itself could allow. The new millennium was marked by the newfound legal battle regarding peer-to-peer file sharing — a debacle headlined by legal cases against the likes of Napster, Limewire, KaZaa and others.
    It should come as little surprise that the porn industry’s all-time fiscal sales high took a steep downturn after a reported 70 million people admitted to using file-sharing. What’s more, only 16 percent of those people between the ages of 16 to 28 thought they were doing something morally wrong.
    By 2009, a CBS News poll found that 58% of Americans who followed the file sharing issue considered it an “acceptable” behavior.
    thrillist.com
    When Playboy announced its new direction in October 2015, Scott Flanders, the company’s chief executive, said “that battle has been fought and won. You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture.”
    The numbers would support his assertion – as Playboy‘s subscription base had gone from 5.6 million in 1975 to about 800,000. In turn, the United Stated division of the imprint was losing $3 million USD a year.
    The move to remove nudity from their magazine was not without proof that they were on to something. As The New York Times noted, “In August of last year, its website dispensed with nudity. As a result, Playboy executives said, the average age of its reader dropped from 47 to just over 30, and its web traffic jumped to about 16 million from about four million unique users per month.”
    foxnews.com
    Whereas Playboy and Penthouse centerfolds used to be how people fed their voyeuristic tendencies, the rise in social media sharing across Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat has given everyone the ability to be fawned after. People are no longer satisfied being a third party participant when it comes to sexuality; they also want to be the prize as well.
    According to Pew Research, 34 percent of adults aged 25 to 34, and 22 percent of adults aged 35 to 44, have sent or received sexually explicit material on their cellphones. Additionally, 17% of the recipients forward the image to someone else. Thus begins a new cycle of porn viewing where there’s actually a narrative element attached to the appendages in question.
    Sure, the success of Kim Kardashian’s sex tape and infamous PAPERMAG photoshoot is proof that people are still very interested in seeing recognizable celebrities in the buff – a hallmark of the Playboy business model during their glory years – but even Mrs. West’s best attributes were mostly flaunted in a free.99 manner despite physical copies of both the DVD and magazine available for purchase.
    thenextweb.com
    If any additional proof is needed that the Internet figured prominently in Playboy’s decision to change their aesthetic, look no further than their first non-nude cover featuring model Sarah McDaniel which seems to both be an ode to Snapchat and selfie culture.
    In the past, legendary Playboy centerfolds like Pamela Anderson gave you a glimpse at what a person could never have. Everything was bigger; the hair, the breasts, and certainly the production value of the spread. It seems that Playboy is trying to fight the pervasiveness of porn in our society with a little bit of restraint. While the rest of the world is fighting to “free the nipple,” Playboy has abandoned a weapon that isn’t so secret any more.

    THE CUSTOM LAURENT DUTRUEL LAND SPEED RACER BUILT FOR BONNEVILLE

    The Custom Laurent Dutruel Land Speed Racer Built for Bonneville
    Despite falling into the category of “function-first” design, the purpose-built, Buell-engined land speed racer from French motorcycle customizer Laurent Dutruel is both aesthetically pleasing and unbelievably fast. Created to reach speeds of 200 km/h on the Bonneville Salt Flats, the machine features an impressive 980cc V-twin engine, Mikuni HSR 48 carburetor and no suspension. Inspired by Japan’s Saga MC Hagakure motorcycle, Dutruel’s creation shows off a painstakingly crafted, fully bespoke, exhaust, fuel tank, frame and fork system. More work from Laurent Dutruel can now be found at the official website of Zen Motorcycles.

    DRAKE REVEALS "KENTUCKY BLUE" OVO x AIR JORDAN 8

    Drake Reveals "Kentucky Blue" OVO x Air Jordan 8
    In the midst of coaching the Toronto team during the NBA’s All-Star games and receiving the keys to his hometown, Drake is undoubtedly having an event-filled weekend. Nevertheless, he took to Instagram to unveil a pair of OVO x Air Jordan 8 retro sneakers in a Kentucky blue colorway. The timing doesn’t seem coincidental as Jordan Brand dropped the Retro 10 “OVO” today, alongside an apparel collection. While there’s no word yet on whether these are player exclusives, we’re hoping more information will be revealed soon.

    Friday, February 12, 2016

    #ARTBYSKIP


    MUSIC: BEYONCE - FORMATION / YOUNG THUS FT. QUAVO - F CANCER (BOOSIE)

            


    Beyonce decides to surprise everyone by releasing a brand new single called Formation produced by Mike Will Made It.         


    Young Thug inks up with Quavo for his new visual for ‘F Cancer (Boosie) directed by Be El Be and features an appearance by Boosie Badazz.

    TIMBERLAND NEW 6 BOOT RED NUBUCK COUNTRY OF CANADA / AIR JORDAN 4 WHITE CEMENT