Help Save Haiti Event Raffle & Auction items | Part 2

Here are a few more items we will have available to raffle and auction at the “For The People: Help Save Haiti Event”.

My man Paul Middleman, the creative director of Stussy, has donated some amazing stuff. Can you say collectible? Holy shit.
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Stussy x Bape “desert camo” jacket. Japan only exclusive from the mid 90′s.

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Stussy x Hiroshi Sunglasses. About 3 years old. Shape designed by Hiroshi Himself— also the pair he currently wears.

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Rza as Bobby Digital promo toy from his 1998 debut album— this bus has a record needle and will drive on a record and play it. Bong.

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This is very interesting— Hiroshi Fujiwara Nike Presto miniature toys from 2001. Hong Kong bootleg that Paul picked up on a trip to China.

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A nice Porter messanger bag Paul bought 3 seasons ago to bring some stuff back from Japan— Very dope.

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These Tiffany x Nike AF1 lacelocks were an exclusive given to attendees of the One Night Only event in NYC.

Yeah I know!!

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This picture obviously isn’t mine but I have the Air Jordan IV Thunder & Lightning Pack – both shoes with matching jacket! Donated from my man George our Brand Jordan rep. My man!!!

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From my man Harmeet of Puma— one very big Puma Suede!!! Peep my phone for size comparison!

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My man Levi Maestro sent me some of his MK13 tees he did with 13th Witness and his Gourmet x Pepsi friends and family colab. Big shout to Maestro knows!

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My muthafuckin man OG Slick blessed us with some canvas work!! Amazing donation from a legend!

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The Cult Leader Ill Bill has sent 6 limited “Ill Bill” New Era fitted caps! La Coka Fans stand up!!

See you there— bring your heart and your money!

Help Save Haiti Event Raffle & Auction items | Part 1

Here is just a taste of the items we will have available to raffle and auction at the “For The People: Help Save Haiti Event”.

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My big homie Bun B has donated the AJ 23 Finale that was only available in 23 accounts world wide. The last color of the last of the numbered Air Jordans. Holy Shit. Bun signed the box and sent me a pic.

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My big brother Danny Boy of House of Pain and La Coka Nostra has donated a pair of the infamous HOP Adidas Campus. The designer of the shoe and founder of HOP has also signed the box! If you missed it last St. Patty’s day… here is your chance to get yourself right.

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My good people at Mitchell & Ness has donated a Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan Limited Edition 1984-1985 authentic rookie jersey. 1 of 1,264! This jersey represents the moment the game of basketball changed forever. Want it? Come through!!!

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The New Balance 574 Clips pack was one of the most limited and sought after set of shoes of 2009. Well guess what? My friends in the PR department at New Balance have donated the set of 4 for the event!

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Nike SB and Supreme partnerships are always incredible and most wanted. Our people at SB have looked out once again and have donated the red and green Supreme Bruin! We also will have a couple pairs of Blue Lobsters to raffle off.

Good Wood NYC x For The People: Help Save Haiti Event

For The People: Help Save Haiti Event has joined forces with Good Wood NYC to create these incredible pieces exclusively made for our event. These pieces will be available for sale at the Goodlife in Boston on Sunday night (peep flyer in previous post).

Only 15 pieces available in black and 35 in natural wood and feature the quote “L’Union Fait La Force” (Union Makes Strength) which is featured on the Haitian flag. The back features the Brek.One “B-Man” logo holding a cleaver to represent our partnership.

We will also have tees available at the event featuring the same artwork.

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FOR THE PEOPLE: HELP SAVE HAITI EVENT

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Most of us live in a world where a really bad day consists of morning commute traffic, a slow line at Starbucks or being the 25th in line at a 24 pair sneaker release. We, including me, sometimes take for granted the blessing we are allotted on a daily basis.

Regardless of the location, the horrible tragedy that has taken place in Haiti should open our eyes to real pain and hardship. Many of our friends and colleagues have yet to locate their family members who were affected by the natural disaster. My family in Puerto Rico is but a few hundred miles from where the earthquake hit. I could have easily been someone trying to locate my grandmother— the thought is surreal and makes me very sad and uncomfortable.

At Concepts I have friends I work with directly affected by the tragedy so this has hit home. Another friend of mine, Brek.One – who is Concepts family, is also Haitian. We have decided to work together to do our part with the resources we have. I have reached out to friends in my industry to donate some cool product for our event. We will raffle off most of the product with some pricier rare stuff auctioned off.

This is all going down this Sunday night at the Goodlife in Boston (location details on flyer).

Please join us to bring awareness and raise cash funds for OUR people of Haiti. I want to emphasize the RAISE MONEY part. Buy as many raffle tickets you can and donate as much as possible at the door. It is for a great cause and everything counts.

Brek.One, The Bladerunners and Devlin will be providing the entertainment.

Special Collaboration with Good Wood NYC: Limited edition “Help Save Haiti” pieces to be sold at event.
Special Collaboration with Quinton: Limited edition “Help Save Haiti” snap back cap to be sold at event.

Product donations by:

Concepts
New Balance
Nike SB
Mitchell & Ness
Bun B of UGK
Dr. Romanelli
Danny Boy of House of Pain / La Coka Nostra
ILL BILL / La Coka Nostra
Paul Middleman of Stussy
Puma
Diamond Supply Company
Columbia Sportswear
Sorel
Maestro Knows
St. Alfred of Chicago
Mark Batty Publisher
& more….

We hope to see you there…. again, emphasizing the bring money part!!!

It takes two to rock in 88.

It was 1988 and I was a 10 year old absolutely obsessed with hip-hop music and culture. I didn’t even refer to it as such because is was as normal to me to listen to rap music as it was to eat grandma’s Puerto Rican food. With out the internet to fuel ones need for discovery, I would walk from my neighborhood to Strawberry’s (the local record store – now closed) to cop cassettes and help a DJ friend at the time boost vinyl.

Its hard to explain how important 1988-1989 was for hip-hop music and how much of a contribution it made to my development as a person. Everything was so new: let me explain. When Slick Rick dropped his single “Children’s Story”, it was the first time I have ever heard a rapper recite a story in a rap that was so vivid, animated and complete. He invented that shit. When I heard KRS One’s voice for the first time on “My Philosophy” it was like I was at a self help seminar! Let’s not even start an Eric B and Rakim conversation— they were so serious, it made me serious! The things these artists were doing were literally the first time they were being done. Can you say that about any one artist today? Probably not. Absolutely not.

One song in particular that really made an impact on me was Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock’s “It takes 2″— for a few reasons.

1- It was amazing – first and foremost.

2- My DJ friend that I used to steal records with had the Lyn Collin record “Think (about it)” which is the original sample used for that song (and many other hip-hop classics). He used to cut up and sample the record before I actually heard “It Takes 2″. Shit, might have been his favorite record because we heard it a lot! To know the origins of the record made an impact on me.

3- It became incorporated into the theme song for YO! MTV Raps which was religion for me. Would not miss a show and when we finally could afford a VCR it was dubbed, re dubbed and re re dubbed.

Fast forward to present day and Snoop Dogg has resurrected the Rob Base song for a modern day hit (and tribute…) and I’m not mad at all. It was a reminder of what was but a confirmation that what happens today is with direct influence of yesterday.

From Lyn Collins to Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, to Snoop Dogg, to the numerous rappers that ended 2009 freestyling over the Snoop Dogg instrumental – the seed Lyn planted in 1972 has provided the fruit we eat today.

Below are the videos for the Rob Base smash, Snoop’s joint and the foundation Lyn layed.

Enjoy.

And yes I am getting old….

Celtics / Adidas Phantom II

Gift from Adidas to Concepts

Celtics Phantom II with an Adidas basketball signed by #43 Kendrick Perkins.

Big thanks to Shaun Fitzpatrick.

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The G.O.A.T.

While in Vegas at a Nike VIP party I had a chance to see DJ Premier do his thing live. Growing up on the East Coast Premier was “That Dude”. There is no mistaking a Premo beat. The heavy drums, the soulful samples, the ability to draw from other hip hop artists lyrics to make the beat and sample speak without him using his own voice. Premier has always been someone I have looked up to in hip hop and having the chance to meet him and watch him spin was an honor.

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In no order, here are a few of my all time favorite Premo beats.

 

Like I said this is just a handful of the hundreds of tracks that Premo has done that moved me.

Big Daddy Kane – True Hip-Hop Stories

What you on huh? Dope or dog food?

D-Nice does it again with a new episode of True Hip-Hop Stories featuring the King Asiac Big Daddy Kane!

Explains the making of “Ain’t no Half Steppin”… FUCKIN CLASSIC.

Put you on: Smoothe Da Hustler

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The money stasher, gun blastin’ razor slasher-

Sometimes in Hip-Hop, something great flies by like Halley’s Comet but instead of just missing Earth, it makes an impact. It crashes, changes the delicate balance of our environment but eventually breaks down and disappears. In 1996, I heard something that I would never forget by the name of “Broken Language”. Smoothe Da Huster hailed from Brownsville Brooklyn and hit the ground running with a new style and a strong crew.

I have no doubt if he had continued with the momentum he had at the peak of his popularity, Smoothe would have continued to make some of the best music coming out of Brooklyn.  Da Hustler with his younger brother Trigger The Gambler, DV Alias Christ and the rest of the “Next Level Click” embodied Brooklyn somewhere between the Boot Camp Click and Biggie, and were arguably neck and neck (and at each other’s throats at the time) with M.O.P.

Nothing is new under God’s sun but sometimes you can take just enough from the greats and combine the ingredients in a way that has never been heard before. He had the confidence of legendary BK king (Asiatic Nobodies Equal), Big Daddy Kane, the street narratives of G Rap but the balls to experiment lyrically like a Redman with the vocal clarity of KRS-One and the loyalty to his crew like the early Wu-Tang era.

Homage has been paid to the classic “Broken Language” by a few artists but none hold a candle to Ill Bill’s “Cult Leader” off the Non Phixion album “The Future is Now”.  Peep the first few bars below:

“The cult leader, the war-monger, armed with four high-powered
firearm barometers; I visited Andromeda
The human cloner, the donate to my fam organ donor
The morbid odor of corpses lowered, the coroner
The cult leader, result needer, the skull and bones bleeder
The chrome heater, the soul eater, the tome reader
The cloak and dagger magnum packer;
convert star systems to active vacuum
The illest shit since Manson had goons…”

Smoothe Da Hustler made a tremendous impact on me as a fan and has earned a place an the Hip-Hop history books.

Go find Smoothe Da Hustler’s “Once Upon a Time in America” and Trigga’s The Gambler’s unreleased Def Jam debut “Life’s a 50/50 Gamble”.

Real recognize real. Download joints below and the Broken Language lyrics are posted for your reading pleasure… learn em, you’ll be quizzed.

Broken Language

Broken Language Pt 2

Bonus: Danger Pt 2 (street mix) – Blahzay Blahzay f. Smoothe Da Hustler, Trigger Da Gambler & Darkman

Your welcome.

_______

Smoothe Da Hustla f/ Trigga Tha Gambler
Broken Language

[Trigga]
Uh, base your eyes on the guy
No kind of worries if I die
So pussy guy try
Dangerfield steppin my way
Bodies get cremated on a Friday the do or die way
Your death threater, sender, head spinner
Rap beginner, light dimmer
3-knockout count winner
Your gun reacher, bustin shot teacher
Your funeral service church preacher
Your black hearse coffin seeker
The body polluter, the gat shooter
The Brownsville wild Brooklyn trooper
The cock d mountain mover
The face basher, the mista brain smasher
The ax waxer, the drug money stasher…

[smoothe]
The money stasher, gun blastin razor slasher
The human asthma breathe taker
Body dump waster
The Glock cocker, block locker the rock chopper,
The shot popper, the jock cock blocker
The face splitter, human disgrace getter
The lady shitter, phone joneser
Sneak over fuck your babysitter
The chronic smokin, gun totin hearse initiator
The crack supplier, the human drug generator
The honey gamer, the chicken tricker
The slick the long dick pussy sticker
The ready to bust that ass kicker
The track maneuverer, the box barrier
The off of the dome rapper
The c-74 ox carrier….

[trigga]
The gun seller, the chest sweller
The stick up smack bank teller
The money-back dweller
The stitch provider, the guess rider
The clip inserter, bullet shooter experter
The man next to murder…

[smoothe]
The ho bitch disser, the cunt man, the I don’t want clan
The stunt hitter in 34 days in a month man
The front man, the Brooklyn representer
The beat down center, the two brothers
The hottest niggas out this fuckin winter

[trigga]
The girl cheaters, the beef ass beaters
The street sweep keeper, the body to concrete meeter
The blood skeeter
The weed smoker, the liver choker
The spot stop broker, the rugged picture poser
The card scrambler,
Royal flush same suit brouke the gambler
Nasty amateur damaged ya,
Snatch masta without the camera

[smoothe]
Camera, the beer guzzler
The slug to your mug tuzzeler
The drug juggeler, the crazy thug hustler
The Lexus wanter
The chain-ring and bracelet flaunterer
The chamber smoker
The mansion havin sauna soaker
The corner stander, the style crammer
Take over spot block commander
The Glock on cock handler
The razor spitter
The fast dough casper getter
The transmitter, North Carolina vagina hitter…

[trigga]
The ass kicker, internal heart dark sticker
The red scope body hitter
Here to hang wit digga and a buddha niggas
The trigga happy, father gun call it papi
My gun blow out waves patterns to keep your hair nappy
The to the death thinker, M.O.P. bell ringer
How about some hardcore fan singer
The jam swinger…

[smoothe]
The Nautica wearer, the Karl Kani man
The missed to get jigged, the fly man
Notorious ready to die man
The knower killer, the expert slinger
The white girl gang banger
The Virgin Mary fucker, the Jesus hanger
The vital kicker, the drug dealer and title stripper
The idol flipper
The cross breaker and bible ripper….

[trigga]
The black history driver
The racial thinker
The 9 to 9 to 5 offer the jaw sinker
The hell fighter, the revelation writer
The Egyptian spirit inviter
The black body bag tire
The money stasher, the (      ) crapper
The a-k-a club basher
My brother gotta record racker

(Back and forth)
The battle spinner
The grand prizewinner
The life and death beginner
The 95 interstate highway to heaven sender
The cocaine cooker, the hook up on your hooker hooker the 35 cents short on my 2 for 5′s over looker
The rap burner, the Ike the Tina Turner ass whippin learner, the hit man, the money earner
The tologist without the derma me and my little brother
The cock me back, bust me off nigga undercover
The glock to your head pursuer
The Big Daddy Kane, Little Daddy Shane over doers

House of Pain @ Concepts interview

This is the interview we did with House of Pain after our super successful Adidas Campus launch at Concepts.

A lot of history in the room, H.O.P., Dante Ross, Ill Bill, Slaine and Slick… It was a blessing to have everyone there at the same time and another blessing to rub elbows with legends.

Peep video below.


HOUSE OF PAIN & ADIDAS Campus 80 Sneaker Release: St. Patty’s Day from Peter Dudgeon on Vimeo.