SUBTERRANEAN: Radius

W e d n e s d a y , M a r c h 1 8 , 2 0 0 9

"The best thing about Radius is his ability to transcend Gangster & Conscious Rap."

Last time I did this, I gave you Son of Ran, a California emcee just beginning to get things moving. Today we are jumping to Newark, New Jersey. I've been listening to Radius now for five years. He has never released an album and I couldn't find any info on him on the Internet until three years after discovering him. I just had a bunch of random tracks that got let loose on the Internet and a name. It was a random download off some private site that led me to his music.

Finally five years later he is starting to make some progress towards releasing a legit project. An actual LP from Radius is much needed with the state of Rap these days. Over the years he has released two other mixtapes that included Lost Cause & Radius vs. Just Blaze vol. 1. Now he has released the prelude mixtape "Process of Elimination" to his actual album which we will hopefully see soon.

The best thing about Radius is his ability to transcend Gangster & Conscious Rap. He seamlessly unleashes a stream of lyrics that one second describe his gritty situation growing up to dropping similes & metaphors that beg you to rewind, re-think and respect what you just heard.




Radius- "Process of Elimination" (download)

I recommend the songs...
*28 Bars Later- Samples the movie 28 Days Later.
Don't Stop The Fight- Master of the quick flow showcases his slow flow on Hard drums.
*A Star is Born- This song is too nice.
I Wonder- Shows why spitting truth about yourself can make you even better than lying.
*Really Don't Try- Seriously I wish him and Fifty would get in a wax battle so he could rack him.
Dark Light- Epic beat and deep flow.

Check here for downloads of other Radius mixtapes and his thoughts on the new mixtape.

-Keith

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Black Irish Edition

T u e s d a y , M a r c h 1 7 , 2 0 0 9

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY FROM THE B.O.P. (We must have some Irish blood in us somewhere?)



Here is a bit of background on the song from the artist, followed by the download.

A few notes on this song’s creation. If you’ve listened to NO CLEARANCE, then you’ve probably recognized the Duj’s affinity for holiday tunes. Well this beer-drinking, parade-watching day seemed lonely, so we had to give it an anthem. St. Patrick’s Day also happens to be my birthday, so I’ve seen it all the way from green cupcakes in school to alcohol poisoning at the parade.

When thinking about what the concept for the track would be, I kept remembering the term “Black Irish”. Now all that really means is an Irishman with Black hair, but it definitely got me thinking about flipping the term differently. Taylormade hit us with a beat that he had produced a while back. The bagpipes and funky bassline were exactly the backdrop we’d needed to get this song going. After telling Rhet & Mas about the idea on Saturday, I got a call from Apex excitedly telling me that he was having a brainstorm. Apex is the Duj’s resident actual-factual Irishman, so of course I had to listen to this idea. “Yo, I’ve got the perfect title for this song…it should be called Black Irish”, he said. “It already is,” I replied. This synchronicity seems to happen a lot in the world of Dujeous, and when it does…it usually means we’re on the right track.

Ape, Mas, Rhet, and I recorded the song Sunday night in Harlem at Mas D’s crib, over a perfect smorgasbord of Popeye’s & Guinness Stout. Before we arrived, Mas D had written his own version of an Irish drinking song that he wanted to incorporate into the recording somehow. We all agreed that it wouldn’t be right to record an Irish drinking song without getting drunk first, and so it began. 5 hours later, I had finished engineering my 1st session ever (sorry for the distortion, D!), and nearly every surface was covered with those brown glass bottles that we know so well. Ape came through with the hook, and we even managed to get D’s long-lost Uncle Schamus on the adlibs at the end. And so in honor of St. Patrick’s day…BLACK IRISH.

Black Irish-Dujeous

Thanks to Dujeous Twitter for the update!!!

-The B.O.P.

Streetwear Grading System: Red Tops

M o n d a y , M a r c h 1 6 , 2 0 0 9

Every streetwear brand tells a story, some talk about the gritty life of New York streets, others tell the story of southern California's skate culture, but rarely (ok, not so rarely) do streetwear brands get so caught up in making marginally humorous flips of logos that their purpose is telling the story of mind-numbing logo flips.

Enter Red Tops.




If I see this in a shop (right...) and the screen print looks like this, they should give you some kind of award. I don't know if they give awards for streetwear (I certainly wouldn't--I guess if they did they'd have to hand them out to every brand, like the remedial classes in high school), but DAMN even I would LOVE to wear photo clear images on my shirt! Who cares if they're totally irrelevant to 99.9% of people out there.

Lack of creativity: 8
Gaudiness: 8
Cost effectiveness: 6
Reappropriation: 6
Overall streetwear scale grade: 7/10




Woah, now this is what streetwear is all about! Don't you feel it coursing through your veins right now? Ya know, the rush of adrenaline that you're only able to feel if you have both a misguided sense of thuggery and a serene willingness to attach said thuggery to your paypal account balance?

Lack of creativity: 9
Gaudiness: 8
Cost effectiveness: 8
Reappropriation: 10
Overall streetwear scale grade: 8.75/10




The one thing I gotta say about Red Tops is they really take me back to streetwear's heyday of '06, where anybody would buy ANYTHING (not to be confused with aNYthing). Yep, rest in piss police, fake thugs, street art (that's kinda weird...but hey), swagger jackers (I hate those TOO!), snitches, wack brands, whea--wack brands? YOU HATE WACK BRANDS?!? SELF LOATHING WILL NOT GET YOU BOUTIQUE ACCOUNTS IN '09! Try Hot Topic...

Lack of creativity: 8.5
Gaudiness: 7
Cost effectiveness: 9
Reappropriation: 8.5
Overall streetwear scale grade: 8.25/10






Yeah, I know what you're thinking: Western Promises might be it, it's got everything you could want in a tee. Reckless reappropriation of logos? Check. Cost effective? At two colors, it's about as effective as it can get. Lack of creativity? Yup. Gaudy? Yeah. I can't even make a joke. It's like we're playing basketball and I'm a freshman and Red Tops is a 12th grader, but they're 12th grade Kobe Bryant and I'm ninth grade Sean Marks. This sucks.

Lack of creativity: 9
Gaudiness: 8.5
Cost effectiveness: 9.5
Reappropriation: 10
Overall streetwear scale grade: 9.25/10

--Ira

The B.O.P. Presents: Party

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The B.O.P. had a get together this weekend in honor of Friday the 13th. Originally it was to be a costume party but the costume element was scrapped at the last minute due to total and utter lack of interest. Those who arrived costumed were not let in. Needless to say, having a hanging beer pong table comes up clutch.


These guys switched shoes so they wouldn't look like herbs. What herbs.


Luckily, Asian Mike Miller was in attendance. And some how managed to get into roughly fifty percent of all the pics. Thanks Asian Mike Miller, thanks.


People partied, others looked on from the background in disgust. But damn, is this guy a snazzy dresser, what a tee!


People partied, some straight-eyed the camera, others gleefully smiled (please note that he has no idea he's getting his pic taken and is just gleefully smiling, without reason).


Once Compound tee guy started to get violent the party went south real quick.


AND INTRODUCING OBLIGATORY SHOE PICS. Sigh...


Asian Mike Miller maybe doing the Niketalker dust-dust-pull thing, I believe. At least his shirt doesn't say "I'M A NIKETALKER."



--Ira

Party Reminder: Vol. I Know How To Surf

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IT IS HIGHLY SUGGESTED THAT YOU WEAR COSTUMES TO THE PARTY but they are optional.

We will be Celebrating the great day of FRIDAY THE 13th in style at the Tricky Ricky Lounge. 3 things to look for at this party will be...

1: DRINKING

2: THE STANKY LEG

3: SWAG SURFIN


TAGLINE: I HOPE YOU WEREN'T PLANNING ON GETTING LUCKY TONIGHT.


-The B.O.P.

Will The Thrill For St. Patty's Day....

T h u r s d a y , M a r c h 1 2 , 2 0 0 9

These showed up...big thanks to the Captain...

Wilson Chandler will be rockin' em on Tuesday night for St. Patty's Day.


'WC' logo by good friend Chad Little...He was featured as Focus:Artist in my third article for SC three years ago...it's funny how everything comes full circle.

For detailed pics & info...CHECK HERE...

And long overdue but thanks to Krabby for the sweet St. Alfred's tee.



And Keith was lovin the Taffeta...whatever that means...



-Nick

Your Thursday Night FIX!

T h u r s d a y , M a r c h 1 2 , 2 0 0 9

Blu & Exile's Below The Heavens came out in 2007 and was by far the best album of '07 and probably '08. Tonight Exile makes his way to Portland by way of Thursday night's hiphop extravaganza THE FIX. I highly suggest you make it out to this.



THE FIX: MYSPACE

-Keith

Weird Things I Kinda Want (and You Should, Too)

T h u r s d a y , M a r c h 1 2 , 2 0 0 9

The chair has been done, and most would say done well. I mean, after all, it has stayed basically the same for a long time now. Most just view it as something that isn't really in need of a make over and serves its exact purpose. Well, it does, but what if it could do it better, and look way cooler doing it? Well, then, you would have this:

This is the "Ruby" rocking chair designed by Pouyan Mokhtarani. It looks very interesting and other-worldly while also seeming to be functional. It looks like it would rock well, and it has individual water filled cushions for each side of your posterior. Oh, the comfort.

via dvice

-jt

Barack Obama Is An Adult?

T h u r s d a y , M a r c h 1 2 , 2 0 0 9

This is nothing to make a big deal over, but what really is? The fact of the matter is, I love that we have a President with less and less bullshit around him and I can blog about it. Who doesn't want to hear the President swear like a Sailor with scurvy and a bad case of potty mouth.

Here is the standard...



Here is the fun...



All of his cussing is a result of the President reading the audiobook version of Dreams From My Father, his autobiography. Don't get all paranoid, he's not crazy or going to hurt you. He's only reading from a book!

Listen to each individually if you'd like here.

-Keith

The Manliest City I Know!

W e d n e s d a y , M a r c h 1 1 , 2 0 0 9

Okay, it's not Portland. Recently a poll from Business Week described us as being the "Unhappiest" City in the country. What kind of shit is that? Now we are at the bottom rung of "Manliest" Cities. We have been ranked the 47th "Manliest" City out of 50. The poll comes from Sperling's Best Places. Nashville tops the list that uses factors such as the number of Sports Teams (c'mon MLS,) hardware stores, and monster truck rallies...etc. This is preposterous.

Might I remind you people that my native Portland is home to a syndicate of Strip Joints. I'm sorry but that is much more manly than your monster truck rallies. We have more Strip Clubs per capita than any other city in the United States, probably world. I know that this year Springfield, also located in Oregon, was pushing for that title but they are too small to matter. Although I must give Springfield its proverbial props. Seven strip clubs in a town of 58,000, that's 12 per 100,000. Seattle is ranked number 40 on the "Manliest" list and yet in 2006 only had four strip clubs. 1,2,3,4



Source: Biz Journal

-Keith

Major League Soccer in Portland?

W e d n e s d a y , M a r c h 1 1 , 2 0 0 9

It is all entirely possible that we could see a MLS Portland team by 2011. Paulson, the owner of the Timbers, is apparently trying to make it as painless to the taxpayers as possible and believes this is a risk worth taking. You can read the story here.

If it goes through it means updates on PGE park to make it a full on Soccer stadium and a new Beavers Baseball Field. That will change up the whole Thirsty Thursday dynamic. You can't help but love drinking until you shouldn't drive and then walk right outside of PGE and step onto a Max train. It was so simple to not get a DUI.

We'll have to wait and see, but the Soccer bloggers are saying with the addition of MLS in Seattle this year the two front runners for 2011 are Vancouver B.C. and Portland, which would create a desired NW rivalry.



-Keith

The Late Vegas Magic Recap!

W e d n e s d a y , M a r c h 1 1 , 2 0 0 9

I'm late. Who cares. Went to Magic last month with my friend Jenny...

Some studying on the plane (not by me of course).

Touchdown in Vegas.

The first people we see when pulling into the hotel, which is the sign that it's gonna be a good time!

Yes, those are rhinestones on the middle-aged woman's ass and yes, they read "GUN."

The economy's a bitch, even Lot 29's getting touched.

Magic's kinda serene in the morning.

I tried taking this guy's pic four times. This is the best one and yeah, he's staring directly at me. You can't see it, but he's got rhinestones on his hoody, pants and shoes. Note to self: rhinestones are appropriate for any garment.

Nick I was missin' the big camera family.

Be unique 'cuz everybody at magic is so unique they're all the same.

New streetwear brand: Softwear by Microsoft (WITH CAPSULE COLLECTION BY COMMON! OMG!!!)

Magic's got you covered Keith.

Dining in elegance.

Stussy X Fruition X somebody else party. HUGE line but I was rollin' VIP BITCHES!!! I felt like Del or something. And I arrived with a girl....to a sausagefest streetwear party! Crazy!

Party People.

Stussy Art.

DJ Deer in headlights.

Party people IN FLASH! The party was stupid packed, got there at 10:30 and had to take off by 11:30, luckily it was enough time for six Red Bull and Vodkas.

Classy joint.

Where would Hip Hop Site be located? Next to Freakin' Frogs and Whiskey Attic, of course.

Yeah, that's a FOURTEEN dollar combo meal...

..But I found a better place. And a big fuck you goes out to everybody who's been in Vegas with me and NEVER told me there was an IN-N-OUT here! Fuck you Keith, Nick, Mikey, Cam, Dane, Sam Soong, Sam Huff, Brendon and anybody else I've had passing contact with.

Obligatory food pic.

All done.


-- IRA