One Love

Powerful scene from the movie Belly. Produced by Hype WIlliams and cut by some Youtuber to go perfectly with Nas' song One Love off Illmatic.
Classic, this is my joint right now.

Godfather Trials

Robert Deniro trying out for the part of Sonny from The Godfather. I think the final cast selection with Deniro as the past version of Vito and Michael Caan as Sonny worked beautifully but still Deniro would have made an excellent Sonny too.
Al Pacino's trials as Vito with commentary from the cast members and director Francis Ford Coppola

Jay and Ye

Just another video I drew inspiration from. This is Jay-Z and Kanye West working on the Black Album. Kanye is definitely one artistic individual, you can see Jay get lost a couple times as Ye tries explaining to him that the beats for this album are more like scores from an epic movie. I mean, the dude definitely lets his ego get the best of him sometimes but I think its just because he has no room for compromise in his vision, and thats admirable in a way. Like that old saying goes ``don`t ask for permission ask for forgiveness`` Ye just does what he wants and if people don`t like it well fuck em.
I also love the face Jay makes when he`s really feeling it.

Black and White

Was in the mood for some black and white today. Here are some black and white flicks from the restless streets of Tokyo. These are all stolen from Flickr photographer Kazushi Hirota.See more here

Lord Finesse vs Percee P

Circa 1989. This is one of the most legendary rap battles in the history of the art form. Percee P does not breathe, I don't know how he spits that many words so clearly without a break. This was all about progressing the art form, note several things right off the bat. No one bigging up their strip or crew on camera, the absence of a violent entourage, an audience that actually hangs on to every line and waits for the whole rap to FINISH. It actually makes rap battling seem something dignified, like a street battle of poets and not a contest of egos and money that we're used to today. Lord Finesse takes this one cause of those punchlines "lyrical lecture, word architecture, rap director, the best in my sector" and thats just one of many. Take it in!

U talking to me?

Classic scene from the movie Taxi Driver.

Va$htie Kola

VA$HTIE INTERVIEW from TONE on Vimeo.

I can honestly say I find a creative mind to be a huge turn on in a woman. When a girl is open minded and artistic and curious AND beautiful AND a sneakerhead well then your just talking angel material. Vashtie Kola is my wifey in another dimension and we have plenty of kids running around in Jordan 5's and bumping Pete Rock and C.L Smooth in their Fisher Price Jeeps.



Every sneakerhead's wet dream

Nice and Smooth

>When I first listened to this song everything about it had a kind of nostalgic familiarity to it. I know the lyrics have been recycled 1000 times over, a testament to the true staying power of these old school pioneers but it was something else too. I knew the beat was something familiar and then it hit me....fast car by Tracy Chapman! Man, the way they flipped it is sooo fresh. Any true old school head reading this must thing I'm such a toy for even referencing that but note I was too young to appreciate this stuff when it first came out and so had to rediscover this era through my own volition. When I play this stuff in my car most of my friends are quick to skip the track..

The late 80's and early 90's are what I consider to be the golden era of hip-hop CULTURE, which is different from the golden era of RAP or the solely lyrical form of Hip-Hop which I think ended with the fall of the Roc's dynasty around 2002-2003. When I say culture I mean the whole movement, from the music to the fashion to graffiti and breaking and the traditional Mc + Dj pairing. Thats when this whole Hip-Hop culture thing really was at its strongest and you can hear that in the music that came out of this time. When perusing the Youtube comments I noticed one presumably by a fellow hip-hop head that resonated with me. You can hear the SOUL in this music. This is exactly what today's era of Hip-Hop is missing, at least for the main run of todays rap elite. They're lyrical prose lack soul, lack a tangible connection between musician and music, and instead we have the hollow shell of formulaic club bangers time and again flooding our air waves. Whenever I go digging through the metaphoric crates of the hip-hop archive I re-encounter again and again soul, something so far removed from today's brand of hip-hop and yet something so essential to the culture as a whole. Will we ever see another golden age? I wonder...

Sadhu's

These guys had the herb smoking dreadlocks thing going way before the Rastafarian's. Sadhu's are on the last leg of the path to enlightenment and among their spiritual rites occasionally load up their pipes with Charras (weed) and meditate. Their spiritual devotion is astounding, some stand on one leg months on end, some keep their hand clenched in a fist for years so that their nails actually grow through their hands, while others stand upside down with their heads buried in the sand for years. This is an altogether different type of religious extremism from what we are used to hearing but to me I think it is worthy of admiration. These people renounce all their material and sexual attachments and live an ascetic life wandering caves and forests in search of enlightenment. Amazing

Ransom x Adidas

I gotta say much props to the Ransom crew and Neon Gorilla for these promotional drops for the Spring 2010 Ransom x Adidas line. I just found out recently that a couple of these dudes went to my old high school. I liked the line-up way before I even knew that but now it hits even closer to home. Keep doing your thing guys. Check out more from Ransom and Neon Gorilla here.
http://ransomholdingco.com/
http://www.livebeaumonde.com/