Price for CottonNet Supreme T's skyrockets!

I walked inside the local corner store this afternoon and was startled to stumble upon the clerk washing his feet in the rest room sink, then even more stunned to see the cost of a solid color CottonNet Supreme T-shirt had soared from a mere $4.99 to $5.99!

For those that are unaware, CottonNet Supremes are quite literally the greatest solid color shirts ever invented and available on the cheap at almost any convenient store in your neighborhood.

They are popular for any number of reasons, a few being length (sizes 1x-5x), price, convenience (since they are so widely available) and most of all comfort. A CottonNet Supreme can make a man feel like a million dollars when he opens up that package and throws on a fresh white shirt (or any color).

I've always been ofthe belief that you could take any man off the street, give him a clean pair of sneakers and fresh white tee from CottonNet Supreme, unleash him in a room full of chumps in overpriced expensive name brand clothes and he would still be the sharpest dressed man in the building. There is just nothing that can beat it.

Which is I guess why this modest raise in price bothers me so much. At a time when it seems so many of us are struggling to stretch our dollars to the max, brands like CottonNet Supreme have been there for us. By us I mean males in their teens to mid thirties of modest means living the ""urban"" lifestyle. Growing up alot of us were stuck with hand me downs or clearance store goodies, these shirts because of their affordable price offer a huge boost to ones self esteem and are worn with great pride. Almost like a street uniform.

I guess what I am trying to get at is, these shirts are the most easiest and most affordable instant confidence booster alot of us have. Their popularity is in part based upon the price. Although only a dollar more, it seems a bit steep and maybe even dulls the brands appeal a little. Especially when it seems stores are doing little more then capitalizing on the success of the brand. Something that I promise won't last if prices jump any further.

Happy 15th Birthday to The Purple Tape!

(above is a shirt I had made with the album cover on it)

I've always read that this album is what they call a "grower", meaning it takes a few listens for the listener to truely appreciate what they are hearing. I can certainly attest to that. In my case it took roughly a half decade to recognize Raekwons "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" as the masterpiece it is.

The story begins sometime around 2001 after I had prematurely retired my career as a high school basketball player, bored, unfocused and newly without any sense of a self identity. I discovered the tail end of the Wu-Tang Clans "Can't Go To Sleep" video on MTV 2. The soulfull samples, the witty consciousness of the rhymes, I was hooked. My collection of Wu-Tang albums steadily grew over the coming weeks and months, grabbing cd's anyway I could.

Back in the day there was a pawnshop my father used to frequent that had a whole wall of the store devoted to used CD's. They ran a deal that was three disc for fifteen bucks and if memory serves my purchases that day were the GZA's "Beneath The Surface" (which I think is better then people give it credit), something else and Raekwons "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" which had almost zero appeal to me that day and was really only bought out of curiousity thanks to the hype surrounding it.

At the time the narrative of the album and the dark, overly gritty atmosphere were completely lost on me. My mind and ears just weren't ready for it. First of all because the street slang and five percent nation talk sounds like a foreign language until you catch a grasp of what they are actually talking about.

Anyways, there the album sat in my collection getting a few listens here and there until about 2006. Around that time I had delved further into my love of old cult flicks from the 70's and developed a insatiable appetite for ugly entertainment filled with profanity, violence and most of all, I do stress most importantly, it must look or sound dirty. Not dirty as in perverted, I mean dirty like scratchy. When I play a record I want it to sound like the speakers are burning and filled with dirt, the way vinyl makes a sound or old film crack on the screen. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx on that scale delivered in spades. The album is so grimy that every time I listen I feel the need to shower and rinse off a layer of filth. When this album finally clicked in my head and hit me, it hit hard like a smack to the face by a shovel.

As they say, the rest is history. Cuban Linx has recieved so many spins from me since 2006 that I had to replace my original copy with a new one because it had become unplayable. Next to Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, this is the most intricately perfect hip hop album ever produced (IMO). It is the standard by which I hold all other albums (hip hop or other) accountable too. Hell, it may even be the standard I hold most movies too. Easily the greatest gangster flick ever put on wax.

By far the most influential piece of art in my own personal life. To say that I love this album is an understatement. It is a testament to the greatness of the Wu-Tang Clan (In this case mainly Raekwon and Ghostface) and the genius of the Rza that 15 years later fans still celebrate the release of the album.

NIKE ZOOM ONCORE HIGH!

I'm not normally into high top sneakers, but these shits are hot! My girl snagged these at Zoomies for a whopping $25. That is a deal way to sweet to pass up. Thanks babe! These are quickly becoming my second favorite pair of sneakers.

By the way, I remember back in the day when skaters and apparell companies were getting their panties all twisted over Nike SB's and the threat they posed to their industry. Boy how times have changed. After a trip to Zoomies I have certainly gained a respect for the growth shown by these skate board brands, their marketing is awesome. But it's something crazy when I can walk into a store and snag some Nike SB's for $25 and DC Shoes, Osiris's, etc are in the range of $100-$140. That is bananas!

New ALIFE Sneakers!

I bought these on a whim at University Mall a few weeks back. They were on sale for $14.95 and I needed a cheap pair of sneakers to beat around in so I couldn't pass these boys up. Crazy thing is they have quickly became my favorite pair of kicks. I love these things!

Eminem Sucks

Yeah that's right I said it.

With the upcoming release of his new album "Recovery" hitting shelves this Monday I am beginning to feel as though I am the only person not excited about this thing. A new Eminem album is the equivalent to a national holiday here in the United States. The guy is all over magazines, TV, radio, the internet, there is just no escaping the promotional machine for Eminem.

I know I will get attacked for asking this, but why? What is the big deal? His beats suck, his concepts are lame, his voice is annoying and his flow just ain't all that hot. He is this generations definitive cross over artist, appealing to both hip hop purist (some), soccer moms and everyone in between. When the reality is that he should be some niche genre artist with a cult fanbase at best, at worst just another aging back pack rapper with a Myspace page trying to recreate the golden age.

My feelings in regards to Eminems success have always been mixed. When I originally heard "My Name Is" it was a bit of a shock to see a white guy who kind of looked how I looked, talked like I talked and had a weird sense of humor similar to mine while being co-signed by the likes of Dr. Dre and played on MTV.

At the time things were different, if you were a white kid wearing white tee's and talking with an accent you were a bit of an outcast. The type of kid who skipped school, smoked weed and probably from a broken home. I was none of the above. But close enough to where I could easily relate to that crowd easier then the mainstream alternative.

Eminem was sort of like our anti-hero. He represented us in a way that had never been done before. White Americans have always had a counter culture figure to admire in some form or another but for my generation it had almost seemed impossible that our hero would emerge out of the hip hop scene, we were the types of kids nobody wanted to previously acknowledge existed. Americans have always liked their icons to have a little soul but not so much that they become dangerously "black".

And to me there in lies the problem with Eminem. As much as he represented a small minority of us, he quickly became the anti-anti-establishment. It wasn't long before the whole world was wearing their hair in a bleached ceasar and wearing white shirts. Rather then rebel in the fashion of someone who genuinly grew up admiring black culture and having a true love for hip-hop as he claimed, he instead allowed his people to crank up the promotional machine into overdrive and milk his cross over success for penny they could drip. The hell with bashing the Backstreet Boys, he was now on par with them.

So, to get back on point, what has Eminem done in the last ten years that is still worthy of his hype? Made one classic album, The Marshal Mathers LP, and five really crappy ones. Starred in a terrible racist biopic that should have been called Tarzan In Detroit. Was exposed by The Source Magazine as being a bigot when a tape he had recorded in his early twenties emerged of him bashing black women and calling blacks "ni**ers". Which ofcourse got swept under the rug by the mainstream media and resulted in the firing of The Source's co-founders Dave Mays and Raymond "Benzino" Scott from the magazine.

In ten years what has he done to make hip hop better? Think about how great the music was pre-Eminem then evaluate the quality of the ten years since. There is no comparison. For someone who is such a fond admirer of hip hops history how has he used his fame and exposure to make the culture better? Besides sign 50 Cent who's marketing campaign is that of Donkey Kong in a bulletproof vest. Why not sign someone with skill and talent as opposed to someone who is an easy sell.

When I look at the track listing for "Recovery" I think of everything that an album of this magnatude should be. Someone of Eminems stature could gather production and guest appearances from the best and brightest hip hop has to offer, he could provide the type of freedom in his rhymes that others are not allowed and attempt to usher in a new era of music, but he doesn't. Instead he gets a guest appearance from Lil Wayne and gets hooks from Pink and Rhianna. These are the types of gimmicks up and coming artist use to sell records. Not a guy who has sold eight hundred million units. Pathetic.

I could go on forever but I won't. On Eminems death bed I have no doubt that he will look back on his life and career and see that it was wasted. To me that is punishment enough. Hopefully he will just realize the error of his ways before it is to late and make amends for this. But I doubt that. Enjoy "Recovery".

Ninja Turtle Car!

Ok my bad for putting up the dudes liscense plate...Sort of feels like snitching or something...

Anyways...This car is fucking sick! Major props to the kat who airbrushed this...

Saw this when I was in Miami and thought I'd share.

RZA to direct Man With The Iron Fist!

The Rza, founding member and creative genius behind the legendary hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan has just been handed over $20 million by Universal Pictures to shoot his kung fu epic The Man With The Iron Fist in China this September.

First off let me start by saying that this has got to be the most ambitious fanboy inspired project to come along since Grindhouse. Not only because it is being written and directed by The Rza, (who is also providing the soundtrack!) but because it was also co-written by none other then Eli Roth, the current king of nerdy gore flicks. What a combination, and if that wasn't crazy enough The Rza has apparently been training behind the camera over the years with the likes of John Woo and Quentin Tarantino (Rza contributed to the Kill Bill soundtrack).

All of this is fantastic news and I am no doubt excited, but I must admit that as a die hard Wu fan I am a bit skeptical.

There's no denying The Rza's genius, one only needs to listen to the early catelogue of the Wu for proof of that. Rza produced albums such as Raekwons "Only Built For Cuban Linx" and Gza's "Liquid Swords" were essentially movies in and of themselves, only on wax instead of film.

Problem is, that's The Rza of days long past. The grimey, grindhouse inhabiting fanboy that crafted classic album after classic album with a potent blend of capitalism, eastern philosphy and the influence of the five percent nation just doesn't exist anymore. Now days we are stuck with a Hollywood hippy that is a hack of his former self. Producing thrown together albums with luke warm beats and doing soundtracks for any bad movie that'll cut him a check.

As a fan I am really hoping this project works out, but I also know it is a matter of which Rza will show up. If we get the early to mid 1990's Rza then we will no doubt be in for a treat that should captivate audiences and possibly inspire more fanboy friendly films. On the otherhand, if we get the cgi friendly Rza of the 2000's who never met a movie like Blade 3 he didn't like, then we are all in big trouble.

Thankfully with Eli Roth overseeing the project things should work themselves out ok, and don't be surprised if Tarantino is lurking somewhere behind the scenes with a hand mixed up in this. Stay tuned.