This 4 Part Mini series was sent to us courtesy of Nike SB. Nike SB announced the global launch of the Zoom Paul Rodriguez 4’s on 8/21/2010. Paul went to New York to hit the streets and spend time in the studio with one of his idols, hip-hop legend NAS. The result is a 60-second commercial, directed by Nike SB’s own Jon Humphries, following Paul’s journey through iconic New York City skate spots, accompanied by music from Nas and two interviews. You have to see it here first. Thanks to our family at Nike SB, P.Rod & HighSnobiety for the Exclusive. Enjoy!
Paul Rodriguez speaks about New York as a Skate City.
We get emails from D.CREW fans all day long asking us wide assortment of things, from how many girls work in the office to what places we enjoy eating lunch at. For the most part you guys want to know how we spend most of our day. Granted, giving everything that personal touch takes a lot on man hours (if you didn’t know almost everything we do is by hand to make D.CREW products more personal. We even write your address by hand when you buy something). But to answer everyone’s question, if there was one thing that we continuously do while working, it’s listening to music. So to give you guys a little bit more insight into our colorful, crazy, chaotic world, we’re going to drop 3 videos (one per Coast. Don’t be offended if your not the Coast, it would just be to hard to drop a video for every City in America) of some of our favorite Throwbacks. Enjoy…
With the East vs. West tension of the 90’s, many artist, not named Biggie or Pac, truly flew under the radar. Now I’m not trying to say N-A-S is by any means an underground rapper, but I do feel that his earlier works like “Illmatic” didn’t get the much deserved credit it should have till well into the next millennium. With his ETHER laced lyrics, Nas earns this weeks “East Coast Friday Throwback”. P.S. Feeling like The World is Yours is a great way to start of any Friday. Stay Current on Everything Fresh by Following Diamond Crew. It‘s More Then Just Clothing, It‘s a Culture.
The newly crowned NFL Champion New Orleans Saints aren’t the only ones from the hurricane ravaged city ready to leave their undeniable mark in 2010. Enter Jay Electronica. Don’t let the name fool you. He’s not the new age, techno hip-hop, autotune using buffoon you’re used to hearing on the radio these days. Most people can only recall Weezy and his Cash Money cohorts when thinking of Hip Hop coming from the city usually known for its great Jazz roots. Oh yeah, forgot about that little label called No Limit Records that may have had a few hits here and there in the 90’s.I don’t count Chopper from one of the ceaseless seasons of Diddy’s ‘Making the Band’, (Dylan, Dylan, Dylan). Even though Jay Elect may be from the chocolate city, his sound harkens back to the Golden Age of New York boom bap. To the uninitiated, he has the vocal baritone of a MF Doom and the lyrical acumen of a young Nas. Like most up and comers, Jay Elect has the co-sign of quite few of the genre’s seasoned vets. Drake has Weezy. Kid Cudi has Kanye. Jay has the backing of neo soul songstress Erykah Badu, who just so happens to be his current beau. The two of them just brought a child into world early last month. For those keeping tabs, Ms. Badu has had the penchant of dating some of Hip Hop’s lyrical darlings. First it was Andre 3000 than Common now Jay Electronica. That’s three for three Erykah, bravo. Hopefully she won’t be dating Gucci Mane next or my theory will crumble.Nas and his usually questionable beat choices withstanding, the new Mr. Badu also found himself lending one of his musical landscapes to the QB lyricist’s last opus, ‘Untitled’. Like Joe Budden and Saigon before him, Jay Electronica also has the backing of one of Hip Hop’s preeminent producers, Just Blaze. Hopefully this time Just’s beats can take him over the perennial hump, sorry Saigiddy. They released their first official collaboration in 08 in the form of “Exhibit A (Transformations)”. Then late last year they dropped “Exhibit C” to great critical acclaim and fan reception (what happened to Exhibit B?). Two months plus into the year and it looks like Exhibit C is the instrumental for any and every emcee to spit a freestyle to in 2010. Kind of like “A Millie” two years ago. A quick comb of any Hip Hop website and you’ll find veterans like AZ and rookies like Bobby Creekwater dropping a 16 on the track. You can even maybe find the joint playing on your local “Hip Hop” radio station in between the umpteenth spin of Pitbull or Lady GaGa. With his debut album ready to drop within the year, Act II: Patents of Nobility, his hype has reached mythic proportions. Will he go the way of a young Canibus more than a decade ago and fizzle out in to a mere afterthought?Only time will tell. Until then, Elect Jay Elect for Hip Hop Prez in 2010.
