DEAR LAWD - (LASTARYA) THIS AN OLD VIDEO I MADE FOR THE SAINTS CAUSE WE 12-2 AND WE ON TOP

Skillz – 2009 Rap Up

The ‘09 Rap Up — Check, Yo Yo
I’m Bout To Put This Thing Again, ‘09 Is Outta Here
20-10 Is In The Building, Time For A New Year (YURP!)
Your Boy Skillz Back On His Grind, Let’s Run It Back And Re-Cap 2009

DC Starts Off The Conversation, Cuz We Was In Yo’ Town For The Inauguration
We Froze Our Asses Off, It Wasn’t Just Me — That Was A Small Price To Pay To See History
Biggie’s Movie Came Out And Got Shine, Ne-Yo And Jim Jones Got Scrappin’ Up In Loui Voutton
TV’s Went Digital, The Government’s Lame; Y’all Bought Them Boxes? To Me The Shit Still Looks The Same
And I Don’t Care About The Fate, Of John & Kate — You Feel Sorry For Anybody It Should Be The Plus 8
Having 7 Siblings Can’t Be Calm, But I’ll Take 20 Of Them Before I Take One Octo-Mom
50 & Rick Ross, That’s A New Level Of Beefin’. Lebron Got Dunked On And He Ain’t Want Us To See It
The News Of Chris & Rihanna Broke In The Streets. T-Pain Got On The Golf Cart And Broke Some Teeth
Tiny & Toya Got A Show? Thats Crazy. Tiny, You Gon’ Get A Second Season? (Yeaa Baby!)
Run DMC They Got Their Own Street, And Jojo Got Caught Trying To Spark That Leaf
Man The Game Is Bananas — For Playing Hip-Hop, Me And Jazzy Jeff Got Kicked Out Of Kansas
Rick Ross’ Shades Was Phony & Fake, And To Re-Newcomer By The Name Of Drake
The Industry Got To Get It In Gear, Cuz Its Bad When A Mixtape Is Really The “Album Of The Year”
And His Vid Wasn’t Bad But I Was Mad At Them Breast I Never Had (Breast I Never Had)
Eminem & Mariah, Sounded Bitter — And We All Took To This New Thing Called Twitter
Where You Could Follow Peeps Just To See What They Say
And If You Want To You Could Follow Me @SkillzVA

It’s that time of the year. More of the transcribed lyrics + CDQ after the jump.

Bernie Madolf, He Was Playing For Keeps. Amber Rose Became Famous Without Having To Speak
Black Eyed Peas Rolled Deep, They Blacked Perez Hilton’s Eye And Made Him Pee In The Middle Of The Street
Lil Wayne Did It Big, He Said He Wanted To F- Every Girl In The World And I Think He Did
Chris Brown — Now That’s My Guy, But How He Do An Interview And All Y’all Notice Was The Bow Tie?
The Media Went Hard, Chris You Want Us To Forget Just Say What Really Happened In The Car
Rihanna, She Kept Quiet — Until She Had An Album To Sell But We Still Ain’t Buy It
Mike Vick & A.I. — Back In Action And We Were Shocked By The Loss Of Mr. Michael Jackson
I Never Thought That Star Would Fall To The Ground, Mike Was Huge — The News Shut The Internet Down
Through Your Music, You’ll Live On My Friend And I Know We’ll Never See A Talent Like You Again
I Gotta Man Up, Cuz Even I Was A Fan Of.. The Real House Wives Of Atlanta
I Love Kandy’s Song, But That Kim? (That’s A Dirty Low Down Monkey With A Weave On)
Tardy For The Party Brought Us Some Joy, But It Never Left The Ground — Just Like The Balloon Boy
And To The Parents, I’m Gonna Say Wah-Lah! You Named Him Falcon? But That Don’t Mean He Could Fly
Far As R&B Goes, Trey Songz Is The Guy And I’m A Grown Man, But I’m Scared Of Lady Ga-Ga
Drake’s Knee Kept Saying “Hey Bruh, Just Sit” — And Kanye Snatched The Mic From Taylor Swift
Then The World Couldn’t Stand Him (I’m Really Happy For You — I’ma Let You Finish)
Man I Think He Playing That
The Government, Yea They Think They’re Slick. What Happened To Clash & Clunkers, That Shit Came & Went
The Hangover, Was Funny As Hell.. And So Were The Rappers Who Couldn’t Stay They Ass Out Of Jail
Jay-Z Went On Oprah And Hit Number 1, She Gave Out A Lot Of Chicken, But She Ain’t Give Him None
H1N1 Is Causing Drama — And We Was All Shaking Our Heads At Lil Mama
Like, “Why Was You On Stage? Nobody Gave You A Cue, And With A Head That Big, You Should Have Thought That Through!”
Nicki Minaj Gave Female MC’s Some Help, But If She Signed Your Boob You Should Be Ashamed Of Yourself
Whitney Houston Got Back To Working — And Kids Came Up With This Thing Called “Jerkin”
Where You Take Dancing & Rappin, Combine The Two — Newsflash: That Ain’t Nothing New
Nas & Kelis They Couldn’t Get That Thing Back — Diddy Holla At Me If You Want That Ring Back
Jamie, He Blamed It On The Alcohol And Maybe That’s What Made J-Lo Fall
Health Care Got Passed And That’s Whats Good, But The Idiot Of The Year Is Tiger Woods
(It’s Uh, It’s Tiger..)
Could You Say Fail? Who Else Is Named Tiger? Why Would You Leave The Name On The Voicemail?
He Changed The Game I Suppose — Who Would Have Though He Was Putting 18 Holes
T.I. Came Home, After 7 Months.. I Can’t Watch Monique’s Show, Cuz She Yells Too Much
And We Mourned This Year, I Got To Say — Every Other Day.. Somebody Passed Away
Mr. Magic, Roc Raida, My Man Baatin, Darian, And My Friend A-M
It Was A Very Sad Year To Say The Least, So To Everybody We Lost.. Rest In Peace

Uhh Ya Boy Skillz And I Did It Again, Welcoming Y’all To 2010.

DOWNLOAD: Skillz – 2009 Rap Up

Real Shame: Wild Fight Gets Ugly On A New York Train On Christmas Day! (Woman Gets Sucker Punched & Dropped)

WSHH Bunny - Pinky & The-Body *Warning* Must Be 18yrs Or Older To View [Tag Team Pornstar Edition]

UNDERATED 2009

I can already smell 2010's freshness strutting it's way around the corner and every other blogger on the block has made an end of the year list. I feel obligated to put something together. So I did. But it's not your typical best-of list. Everyone knows Drake slaughtered '09, all music critics and their little sisters loved the Animal Collective album, and both Phoenix and Passion Pit juiced up their fanbase with two of the most solid albums of the year. We've covered that pretty substantially and you don't (shouldn't) need P&P to confirm it by putting their names above a bunch of other musicians'.

This list will go over some of the acts that killed it in '09 and didn't get the 4 foot trophy to show off. Here is some great music you might have missed. In no order, these are some of the most underrated acts of 2009.

Miike Snow

Miike Snow is singer Andrew Wyatt and production duo known as Bloodshy and Avant. They released their self-titled album in the middle of 2009 and it got some love and blog hype, but this is the kind of album that wipes its ass with most of the best-of-the-year lists. "Animal" is without a doubt one of my favorite songs of the year. Nothing beats Swedish pop done right, and the production on this album is top notch.

Miike Snow - Animal | YouSendIt

Theophilus London

By the end of 2010, I'll be surprised if you don't know how to pronounce Theophilus. He started the year with This Charming Mixtape, a wildly eclectic project grabbing influence from all the corners of a busy music room and ended with "Humdrum Town", his most accessible, polished song to date. Theo spits with an intelligent passion and does so over beats that never sound like the last 20 rap songs you just listened to.

Theophilus London - Humdrum Town | YouSendIt

The White Panda

Mash-up masters. This duo came with an incredible stream of mashes that never failed to make heads move. By combining extremely mainstream elements with sometimes obscure indie and electronic sounds, they managed to make slightly ironic bangers that appeal to everyone. (Except maybe hippies. But statisticians have predicted that hippies will be extinct by July of 2010.)

The White Panda - Stuntin Like My Energy | YouSendIt

Mayer Hawthorne

Who says that white guys with glasses and suits don't have soul? I swear, you could sneak some of his songs into a 1960's classic R&B mix and no one would raise an eyebrow. I'm convinced that the only reason A Strange Arrangement didn't make it onto more 2009 best-of lists is because people didn't know it was new.

Mayer Hawthorne - Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin' | YouSendIt

Chiddy Bang

Chiddy Bang has built up some strong momentum in 2009, but it's been done in a unique way for a hip-hop blog. By sampling Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, and Passion Pit, Chiddy Bang was embraced by the indie rock and pop blogs long before hip-hop sites started giving them love. It's a testament to how universal their sound is. It's definitely hip-hop, but their mixtape The Swelly Express has something to offer everybody.

Chiddy Bang - The Opposite Of Adults (Kids) | YouSendIt

J.Cole

I wasn't sure if J.Cole belonged on this list. He's not really underrated, because most people put him up there as one of the top up and coming emcees and label The Warm Up as one of the mixtapes of the year. The thing is, he was featured on The Blueprint 3 and a lot of people I talk to (who don't frequent hip-hop blogs) still have absolutely no idea who he is.

J.Cole - Lights Please | YouSendIt

Little Dragon

I got hooked when I heard "Blinking Pigs", then I got the whole album Machine Dreams. One by one, songs rotated as my go-to tracks. The Swedish group makes electronic pop driven by Yukimi Nagano's whispery vocals and create an interesting brand of pop without all the sugar and bubble gum wrappers.

Little Dragon - Blinking Pigs | YouSendIt

Free Energy

Free Energy is a 5 piece band from Philly with a knack for crafting pop rock songs with an emphasis on the rock. With a co-sign and a little production help from LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, these guys are bound for success. Their sound is like classic rock with a whole lot of 2010 sprinkled on top.

Free Energy - Dream City | YouSendIt

Discovery

This is another album that made some noise when it came out, then quickly seemed to disappear from the radar like a lecturer at an ADD clinic. The album, simply titled LP is a collabo album made by members of Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend. It's an extremely colorful, shamelessly simplified electronic pop album that has been described "R&B for hipsters". With choruses this catchy, I don't know how this one slipped through the cracks of some fickle listeners' brains.

Discovery - So Insane | YouSendIt

Part 2 might be coming soon, so if you have any ideas of who you think should be on this list, leave it in the comments.

R&B Session Pt. 19

Got 22 R&B joints for ya'll this go round!! Track listing & download below.


Babyface - "One Good Thing" | Mediafire

Corinne Bailey Rae - "I'd Do It All Again" | Mediafire

Nicole Scherzinger - "I'm A Cheat" | Mediafire

Beyonce - "Waiting" | Mediafire

Track List:

Babyface - "One Good Thing"
Beyonce - "Black Culture"
Beyonce - "Waiting"
Beyonce - "Waiting" (Stargate Remix)
Bobby Valentino - "Baby I'm Coming Home"
Bobby Valentino - "Stilettos & A Tee"
Corinne Bailey Rae - "I'd Do It All Again"
Ginuwine - "Crazy"
Ginuwine - "Next Door"
Jaheim - "Hickies On My Neck"
Jaheim - "Closer"
Jamie Foxx - "Straight To The Dance Floor"
Jamie Foxx Ft. Tank - "Marching On"
Lloyd - "Sexcapade"
Mary J. Blige - "Brand New"
Monica - "One In A Lifetime"
Ne-Yo - "Bedroom Walking" (Reference)
Nicole Scherzinger - "I'm A Cheat"
Nicole Scherzinger - Sexy Fresh"
Nicole Scherzinger Ft. Pharrell - "I M.I.S.S. U"
Rihanna Ft. Grafh - "Hard" (Remix)
Shonie Ft. Trina - "What Do The Lonely Do"

R&B Session Pt. 19

A Bathing Ape Spring 2010 Collection Preview

Today we can already give you a bit of a preview from the various A Bathing Ape Spring 2010 Collections. The preview includes new Bape Camo exclusive products, a Milo Safari series, the URSUS Bape Collection in collaboration with Tet from WTAPS and also the A Bathing Ape Is AMBUSHed line, a collaboration with Verbal’s Ambush brand.

Many images fromt the Bape Spring 2010 Collection follow after the jump.

DJ Premier x Nike Air Force 1 Low

26 December 2009, 20.19 | Posted in Sneakers | No comments »

Today first detailed images of the DJ Premier x Nike Air Force 1 Low have dropped. The sneaker comes as part of the same series as the DJ AM Dunk Hi, that we already presented to you a while ago.

The DJ Premier designed AF1 Low comes in a black, dark green, dark blue colorway with multiple premium materials used on the upper. Several details have been laser engraved onto the upper, including DJ Premier, written over the two heels. The in-sole comes with an all-over design, the outer sole is translucent with a design underneath and the upper also comes with contrasting stitching, matching the colorway of the tongue tag. Furthermore DJ Premier is written on the laces and the lacelocks. Look out for a release soon.

Many detailed images of the DJ Premier x Nike Air Force 1 follow after the jump.

Mr. A Bathing Ape by United Arrows | A First Look

After a small announcement a while ago, we get a first little look today at the new Mr. A Bathing Ape by United Arrows Collection. For the first time Bape will actually be providing mens suits, along with accessories.

Some more images of the very classic looking Mr. A Bathing Ape by United Arrows Collection follow after the jump.

Via Nigo, Men’s Non-No.

Prevent Your Icy Sole from Yellowing

Posted by KicksOnFire - December 26, 2009

Our recent purchase of the Air Jordan 11 Space Jams brings up a great opportunity to discuss a vital issue. At one point of your life as a sneakerhead, you have been faced with this dilemma. How do you keep you icy soles from yellowing? Before looking at some potential solutions, let’s first understand the process of how our icy soles get yellow.

Whether you kept them in your closet or wore them vigorously, keeping your soles icy is quite inevitable. Why? Because the yellowing happens due to a process called oxidation. Oxidation is the combination of a substance with oxygen. Sadly, when your icy soles are exposed to oxygen, they turn yellow! How in the world can you prevent them from turning yellow then?

If you wear your shoes, yellowing of the soles can’t be avoided. So, you are going to have to accept that you are NOT going to be wearing these shoes. Now some of you guys are probably thinking: “I just paid $175 for these Space Jams, I am wearing them!”. As a collector, I personally like to buy multiple pairs of my holy grails. In this case, I wear one pair and keep the other pair on ice. But not all of us can afford more than one pair so lets discuss best ways of keep you soles icy as long as possible.

Stay off grass, dirt, gravel and things of the sort. If you are walking with your friends and they take a shortcut via the grass, do yourself a favor and walk around. It’s NOT worth it. Do not wear in the rain! Water is your worst enemy. Water will give you the nice yellow bottom for sure… No rain or snow puddles because moisture and oxygen = yellow soles.

“As the inventor of Sea Glow, I thought you all might be interested in how it works, how it should be used, and the precautions you should take. Visit islandgirlproducts.com to order Sea Glow. Yellowing on the surface of white or clear synthetic rubber is due to surface oxidation and staining, and will be removed by Sea Glow or Island Girl Pink. However, yellowing that goes down deep into the sole is mainly due to the natural slightly yellow color of the rubber that, when new, is corrected by a flourescent “optical brightener”, which eventually stops working and HAS to be activated by the small amount in UV in regular daylight. By soaking down into the rubber, the highly flourescent additives in Sea Glow will neutralize the yellowness, but only in the presence of sunlight. Once this has happened, the rubber will stay this way as long as it sees daylight every few days (sort of like a battery being charged). On solid white rubber, the Sea Glow does not need to penetrate very far at all.”

Via. KicksOnFire.com

Men's Fall | Winter 2009-2010 Trends & Style Guide

We've gotten many many emails inquiring about the Fall/Winter trends post, we're sorta tardy with it, but hey we have lives-- busy ones at that. Nevertheless, without further ado we present to our stylish/intelligent/fly/super-cool readers... The Official Urban Gentleman 2009-2010 Men's Fall Winter Fashion and Trends.

Conservative Dapper

(above: clothing by designer Calvin Klein)

Being polished, being perfect, being well-groomed-- these are the makings of a conservative man. He gets his haircut every week, he gets his shoes shined, he opens the door for a lady, he knows to undo the lower button on his 2-button suit jacket when sitting down, and to just as quickly button it up as he stands. This, is the man that women dream of.

Editors notes: There has been so many colors, so many styles, so many... well, there is just so much going on with men's fashion these days. You have guys bringing back the eye-catching hairstyles, the cross colors, the bright plaids, and much more. So this, Conservative Dapper, is like a break, a relaxing break from it all. It's a return to simpler, easier, classic times. This is my favorite trend for the fall and winter.

To get the look: Trench coats, suits, crisp white button downs, tip-clips, white pocket squares, perfectly polished lace-ups.

Hard Studded

(above: clothing by designer William Rast)

Hard times call for drastic measures. Some people are recession proofing their lives literally, while others are taking the figurative route. This means roughing up the wardrobe, showing the world that "you got this", you're hard and you know it, you're tough and a few troubles really don't phase you.

Editors notes: To me this look is like Pony Boy meets Michael Jackson. You take the main edginess and ruggedness from the guys of the Outsiders and mix it with the jeweled/metallic/shiny/studded MJ from his "Bad era". The late world icon has inspired alot of us this year and this trend is where his inspiration is placed for the fall and winter.

To get the look: Torn/ripped/worn jeans, leather jackets, studded everything- shirts, shoes, accessories, jackets, white t-shirts.

Assorted Swank

(above: artist Kid Cudi)

The men of the world are pleased with the fashions they have been dealt over the past year or so; therefore many of them have decided to just combine what they have learned. They mix their military jackets with their nerdish glasses, they combine their college cool tees with their Thom Browne inspired pants and oxford shoes. This season many guys are opting to be fashion connoisseurs, their phrase "we collect fashion, we create style".

Editors notes: I've said it once, I've said it twice, and I'll say it again-- men are lucky. Why? because their trends change so slowly allowing them to revel in trends for quite some time. And more than ever I have seen stylish guys mixing it up quite nicely- Retro Bandstand mixed with Geometric Retro Nerd mixed with Clodhoppers Delight with a little College Cool on the side. It's like whatever is necessary to look fly is what guys are doing... daring to be to different by adding their own spins on the hottest trends. To that I say "touche'."

To get the look: band-jacket, cardigan, loafers, glasses, graphic tees, harem pants, torn jeans.

It's a Man's World

(above: actor Brad Pitt)

As Men's.Style.com stated "enough with the skinny shit". I think we're all tired in some way or another of going out and seeing grown men in girl jeans, v-necks so low we can see their belly-buttons. We know there was a call for androgynous looks last year and men wanted to express their feminine side, but some people took it too far and now we have to re-instate manhood.

So that means get inspired by the manliest men you know then get either rugged or classic. Think Ocean's 13-- Rusty, Danny, Rueban, Basher, and the whole crew- all men, all masculine, all stylish, but in their own way. We're not saying be cookie-cutter models of gq men, but we do want you to "man up".

Editors Notes: "Ahhh (pleasant sigh of relief)" I feel like I just drank a nice tasty soda pop after being parched for an hour... well not literally, but that's the feeling I get when I think about this trend- it's just refreshing. Starting from this summer we saw all the men in Hollywood roughing it on the beaches- letting their beards grow in, chest hairs grow out. They were indirectly telling the world- it's time to be men again, so let's continue this trend for the fall. (I was going to make this apart of the summer trends and I did touch on it a bit in some posts, but I knew it would be better placed in Fall/Winter.)

To get the look: dark denim, perfectly fitted suits, ties, elegant and serious fedoras (none of that funny colorful ish), wing-tips, boots, blazers.

More 2009-2010 Fall Winter Styles:

Other trends: Band/Military jackets are still at large, v-necks (there's a boycott against deep v's though), velvet ( ties, jackets, loafers).

Accessories: tie-clips, brooches/buttons, gold watches, knit ties.

Colors: Grays and dark tones.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have posted our Fall|Winter Style Guide on your site or plan to PLEASE have direct links back to this posting. It's wrong to copy and paste complete articles without including links to the original source. Urban Gent Fans, if you see this puh-leez call them out on it. (we added this note b/c there have been reports of this happening, thanks guys!).

Stay Tuned for places to get these looks.