merry xmas

Hey I'm sorry I havent posted in a while I've had some internet trouble anyways i just wanted to wish everybody a jolly and merry xmas here;s lil treat

random ish

now this is just bananas proving once and for all that bruce lee has to be the baddes mofo ever
enjoy

alternative weekend

the strokes "you only live once"

big up to the lfny crew

the black kids "love me already"

one of the best songs i heard in a while

BAPE @ 15

So BAPE prolly one of the top brands of the decadeis celebrating its 15th year and while I wanted to do something dope I just decided to keep it simple and showcase the Teriyaki Boyz hip hop group DJ'd and founded by Babe founder Nigo so enjoy

"Zock On" ft Pharell and Busta
btw lol on Nigo in a monkey suit, Busta breakin and the crazy 88's (o'ren ishi-hi's gang) shades
but Jessica Michibata extra yummy!!!

"I still lover H.E.R" ft Kanye West
original vid w the idea of the Teriyakitube lol.

hip hop gets its pop art on- pt. 2

Artist Todd James AKA REAS is said to do the album cover for Kanye's upcoming album 808's and Heartbreaks. An avid fan of pop art (see Jetson art work in his real life living room in "Heartless" video) West already called to pop artists before for an album cover flashback to last year's Murakami designed Graduation album. So if Andy Warhol was still alive would Kanye have asked him to do an album cover? I'm just saying...

bringin down the house

So I was looking for some new house tunes and I heard Eric Prydz (call on me) new song "pjanoo" and the track is amazing but I was wondering how the track would be had somebody sang over it and amazingly I found that track. British Electro pop group The Scarlettes dubbed the track and the result is simply fantastic. They're currently working on their album but these girls are gonna be huge, their version of Pjanoo, untitled "fever" is already getting major internet play and in this world once u make it online u're set (Tila Tequila, Lilly Allen and Dane Cook) no hate just saying


another great club banger is Gusto's "Disco's Revenge" originally released in 1995 during the the great decade of house along with Robyn S "Show me love" the song is great , Gusto has a nice voice the dude in the video reminds me somewhat of Terry Crews for the Wayans movies and Everybody Hates Chris

13 years later the song is re-released and remixed by the Freemasons and the result is just sweet

hip hop gets its pop art on

I gotta give to Kanye for being innovative enough to break new grounds and bring hip hop to unused places. Kudos to Hype
Williams for directing the Bakshi- inspired "Heartless" video.


I kno some of you guys out there have no idea what i'm talking about when I mention Bakshi. Well Ralph Bakshi is an artist, director , animator responsible for probably the greatest animated movie ever American Pop here's a clip

Of course we all remember the brilliant Murakami directed "Good Morning"


I'm just saying rappers sometimes it's not about the car or the women or the bling.

gratuitous humor

so I feel all shitty today so instead of me rambling on about whatever, I chose to just post some gratuitous humor enjoy

new beginning

so i got my AUC acceptance letter today (finally) so how do u think I feel I let Peter and Cleveland show you 8-)

encore un peu d'humour

flashback l'election francaise sego-sarko



election americaine obama-mccain

allez un peu d'humour (meme si ca fait pas tjrs rire)

Art thou artsy mr Art?

You dont really read "The Breaks" from photograph Janette Beckman but u see it. It's simply because the book is a collection of pics from the Hip Hop generation from the early 80's to the 90's. I love this book cuz compared to now w/ all the ridiculous bling and all back then style was style!

vivid piece by Susy Oliveira "The girl and the bear"

her 3D sculptures combine photographs w/ foam. I think it's dope gives not only a whole new perspective on art but sculptures.

random funky ish out there

"dynamic fishing" robot fishing for $27

what do you get when u fuse a toaster and NES ? why "Nintoaster" of course!

"noriko-san" created by japanese manga artist Pyocotan lets u sleep in the train while ur stop appears on the LED screen $200

dope

In the release of his new album "Murs for president" I went back and revesited some of his previous work. One track blew my mind out completely was on the "3:16 The 9th Edition" the song "Walk like a man" was like one i never heard of before. 9th wonder use of 3 samples for a "3 beats in 1" per say song was just a stroke of pure genius. The intensity of the song was like one I never felt before perfect balance between the music and the words. Enjoy
Murs- walk like a man

dope

A while back i discovered this Japanese artist who did Baile Funk I was completely knocked out when i looked up her songs and saw the level of productions of the songs. Among her multiple trax, 1 stood out particularly for some reasons that i can't even explain (i mean i dont understand a word of what she says -she raps in japanese) but this track is just dope. So I looked for the video and found out that someone had made an awesome montage w/ it... The video is from the movie "Battle Royale" but after watching the vid, i find it amazingly fitting to the song. In my opinion it would have made a great music vid. So enjoy

koo

koo stuff out there

loop bag w/ working speakers ($36)

tokidoki msgr bag($178 pricey yes! it's just for peeps out there u like nippon stuff)

supra silver cuban ns ($85)

hederus for k-swiss ($240)

now that's just wrong

i dunno what these next 4 years are gon b like but damn that's just F'd up

what the F?

i saw this on wshh i thought it was funny

lmao 'pause! u ain't gotta pause nigga!'
damn times r so hard rappers r gettin emotional fro real hahaha

around the world in vidz

here's a lil cultural flavor from stuff buzzin around the world

from the favelas of brazil cidinho -rap da felicidade


from france lim -tout etait calcule


from the uk wiley- wearing my rolex


i wanted 2 post somn from japan but since i couldnt find any music i thought this was koo plus its a promo for my vave store uniqlo big up to soulcreative and shout out to u-ming from the missy video


enjoy

east aint looking bad rite now

ok phillies world series champ!
giants defending superbowl champ!
presidency hails from the chi
ai traded to detroit


im saying the east is lookin fresh rite now

hey i'm just saying

this is what happened when u dont stick to what you good at

before


after

flashback

Remember when it was just about them 2 and that other one was supposed to go through... shit i know for damn sure back then we could not imagine what happened this week rite

clash of the kicks

now that u did ur duty as a citixen and voted its time to get on another vote for all u kicks' lovers out there here comes the clash of the kicks

As reported on KickOnFire.com so go there and make ur voices be heard

more random ish

more random ish for ya'll enjoy

i know black people r waiting for a toaster that's gonna make some obama toast !!!

imagine if u had this growing up snowball battles would have never been the same

Random funky ish out there

In a recent tech expo in japan designers ravelled in their craziest designs and ideas for future phones among them the much anticipated google phone



dont u just miss the days when u just had simple phones that just made simple phone calls i'm waiting for the phone that makes toast now that'll b some interesting ish

comedic punchline

Those that know me know my "penchant" for comedy so I couldnt close this historical week without a little comedic note... Politics and news come to state the fact but while comedy makes up laugh lets not forget sometimes that the truth sounds better in comedy enjoy...

Tracy morgan "black is the new president bitch" in response to Tina Fey "bitch is the new black"


Man Tracy Morgan should predict the future

riding the obama train

so here are a few songs form the artists riding the obama train

jay-z "history"


young jeezy " my president is black"


kidz in the hall "work to do" rmx ft talib kewli and bun b
3

busta rhymes feat ron brownz "brack campaign


common "changes"


you'll b the judge!

look up in the sky it's a bird it's a plane it's obama

So 3 days after the election and everybody is still riding the Obama train some for the better some for the worse. While we are applauding the US for making such an historic feat, I was ashamed to see that yet racial prejudice prevails in the so called "greatest country" in the world. On my round of news articles from around the world I was taken by the right-winged conservative reaction on the Obama win. While Obama still plegdes to win the votes of "those Americans" I wish him good luck because I believe that those Americans did not vote for him out of shear ignorance and racial ignorance whilst not forgetting the fear bestowed on them by the republican party that ran a "McCarthy-ist" campaign.
To another point that seems to just amaze me. Not that i take anything out of the fact that Obama is black but Obama is mixed and while being African-American he is really African (from africa) American. Blacks in general consider his election a great victory for them but I think what made Obama win this election is that he surpassed the racial context of the campaign and just ran the campaign. I was reading the reaction of the Hip Hop community and while a lot of course were riding the Obama train as if they were the victor's campaign manager, one artist said something really relevant 'lets not forget that he is also half white!' My point being that would Obama have had such a succes if he was completely black.. and while some whites (conservatives) mainly are outraged by his victory lets not forget that he his mother is white so for me it was never a race thing Obama appealed to black america the same way he appealed to white america.
Now the entire world is viewing the Obama win as the "nth" coming of the Messiah (considering that some prior world events have been labelled as such) but I am especially interested in Africa. Yes the continent (especially Kenya) is delighted by the win of one of his sons or should i say grandson, and Africa, just like they did when Kofi Anan was appointed Secretary General of the United Nations, is waiting for its champion to come and change everything for them. But I think the Bible say (pardon my accuracy and do not think for a second that I am preaching) "help yourself and Heaven will help you." We wait for the savior to our problems but we can't even fix our own problems. We applaud the US for successful elections yet we can come together to organize elections without bipartisanship, corruption and lets not forget our favorite conflict. It really makes you think how in the year 2000's while countries are making the effort to move passed racial prejudice we move in circle like a dog chasing our own tail. So from Africa we move to the "old continent" which of course approves of the outcome of the elections seeing our the former president was so critical over the involvement in the current war. So that continent is anxiously awaiting how the president elect will resume diplomatic relations that are shaky to say the least. But my point is that European country known for their tough immigration policies should take the American election as a point of reference for better immigration policies in the future. I am speaking directly to you France who is so quick to pad themselves on the back for having successfully integrated minority political figures (rashida dati, and rama yade) but lets not forget that this is a country that had a right wing extremist go to the second round of elections four years ago.
All I am saying is that yes we have witnessed history but let the man govern. He said it himself that the task at hand is big if not gargantuan (2 wars, an economic meltdown) so he has a whole lot on his plate before he can ask the cook for seconds. So people of the world while the Messiah may be here, don't be mad if he does not move you in a palace but instead improves your living condition so as to allow you to have the opportunity to move in a palace. Not to sound geeky or cheesy, but to quote morpheus, "I can only show you the path, ypu have to walk through it."

where we came from

History made.

Well after a long blogging hiatus i had to come outta my coma to comment on this historical day. A lot was proven today not only is Barack Obama the first black president to be elected president of the United States but also the realization of the dreams of slaves all the way to civil rights leaders to see the day where we would see the example of true equality. Now the new appointed president must be an example for other countries in the world to show that equality is not just a speech it is something concrete that can happen in our lifetime. Also hoping that our African leaders will take this as an example of the success of democracy and seize to fall under constant bigatery and conflict. I especially send a call out to blacks to stop blaming "The Man" for their problems and instead accomplish success through hard work and perseverance. Having a black president does not mean that "our" lives will be better instead it means that we have to stand up and prove that "yes we can"

Cotonou

So I promised to do a detail update on all my activities since I've been to Abj. So after succesfully obtaining my passport and visa my sister, decided to take me on a 24hr mission she had to take to Cotonou (Benin). We left on tuesday nite and travelled with my sister my other sister and brother -it's an african thing (long story short they are friends of my sister that my mom "adopted" so I have another brother and sister) and a colleague of my sister's from her company. 

We travelled via Air Ivoire and honestly I was stocked to take the national airline having never flown in it before. To my amazement the crew and the captain were from south africa. So i could have just have been in south african airlines I wouldn't know the difference. Either way after a short flight we arrived in Cotonou. No disrespect to my homies from Benin but when I got to the airport I was like Damn! I mean if when I got to Abidjan it didnt feel like I came back to Africa, cotonou certainly did the trick. Anyways I'm gonna leave at that otherwise I'm gonna get some hate from my boys. Anyway we stayed at the Novotel which was really nice. Even though my sister was working, my siblings and I went around town to get a feel of the city (the gbekui -the local dish, a stew of collard greens and meat- and the Beninoise, the local beer). We were leaving on thusday and we scheduled a shopping trip in the local market. 

I had seen markets in Abidjan but you haven't seen a market until you visit "Atokpo." You can find just about anything you are looking for over there. Of course if you want to get around in Cotonou you have to do it on the "zenedjan" or commonly known as "zen" for about a buck you can get around town on the back of a  bike or a moped and since just about everybody has a bike in cotonou on top of the million of zen around the city you can bet that the air is at its freshest ;-) After a full day of shopping through the Cotonou market, riding on the zen, we had to catch our flight back home. So all in all for my first trip with my new passport I say to Cotonou nice. It was just the type of wonderful mess that I've been searching for a long time.

2 weeks in Abidjan

Hey guys I admit I've lost track of updating my blog but I've been caught up in a million things in these two weeks over here. For one thing I had to speed things up and get my passport and visa to go to Egypt, then I took some time to unwind with the fam, siblings, nephews, aunties and uncles, gramps, cousins, friends, visit my Mother's resting place (finally) and just see the town. So I'll go in details about the time here but for now it was just a little not to tell u guys I didn't forget about you here are some pics, of my sister and I my nephews Charles (doudou), Lyman (loulou) and Carl (chawarma) he got that name because my sister ate nothing but charwarmas during her pregnancy. Till next time take care of yourselves and each other Peace

from new york to casa

well i officially left new york, after a grueling check in process that cost me a fortune. The whole time in the plane it never felt for me as if I was leaving for good. I could not sleep with a million thoughts racing through my head trying to think about what's ahead and what I left behind. 

After what seemed like an eternity in the air we arrived in Casablanca. My last experience in Morocco was a pleasant one. We stayed at this lovely hotel by the seafront where I got to relax and unwind before connecting that night for my flight to Abidjan. But this time around things had to be different. I mean I would not be Black Charles if things where simple right? After sending the passengers through a million different gates and what not I just wanted to get my voucher for the hotel and just go lay down and kick it. To my big surprise, I find myself in a bus with other connecting passengers (not going to my destination obviously ) this lady tells me that unlike my previous lovely experience, this time around we are to be sent in a room and wait there for the whole day. The whole day? hold on a second I arrived in Casa at 7:35 am local time and my connecting flight is not until 9 pm so what to do? No phone, it would be to perfect for them to put us in a room that actually had some phones we could use to call our families, or internet access, oh wait they actually have that the only problem is that there's only three computers for about 40 or so passengers, and what happens to the most adventurous among us who dared bring our laptops we can not access the wi-fi because the own staff does not even know the password. Staff should I had who is doing anything but work (watch tv -in arabic of course ; chat extensively while the passengers wait for answers and my personal favorite, use the computers there for us to watch youtube videos )

I guess it takes a couple of thousand miles or so to realize how good you really had it huh?

And to think this is only the beginning of my journey. Signing off my lovelies until the next time

Leaving New York in 2 days

Well, it's about midnight so Thursday morning which only means that I'm leaving NY in about 2 days. There's a whole lotta poeple i didn't get to see but I guess they'll get to read this blog and see that sometimes you just not in control of shit and you just have to go with it. But packing all my stuff and getting rid of all the shit I accumulated over the years just remind me more and more how much I hate moving. I always yearn to have the ability to settlt somewhere but I gues it's just a common  pattern in my life so to all of you I bid you farewell see you in the next chapter!

church