I had a chance to stop by The Armory Show yesterday afternoon; it was my first time going through and I was thoroughly impressed.

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[Their] generation is about something completely different. Let me tap into their generation and see what they like. because if I kept my mind on what I like … I wouldn’t make it. I gotta always stay relevant.

-Snoop Dogg on the “Juan Epstein” podcast, 12/22/09

Drake’s triumphant first official single was released several hours ago to the web (exactly where, I have no idea, but Twitter has almost completely replaced my need for HOT97- a tear almost comes to my eye saying that), and he officially enters the commercial landscape in grandiose fashion. (As if anything less was expected). In efforts to blot out the forthcoming groundswell of hype, I downloaded from one of the what seemed like hundreds of available links everywhere to indulge in the sh*t the GQ golden child was shovelin’.

DRAKE. OVER.

The ability to instantaneously and utterly completely command the attention of the Twittersphere and spread throughout social media like a steroid-infused game of telephone is uncanny. And yes, there is much to be said about his behind-the-veil superteam and his engineered success, but if history serves us correctly, it’s best to focus on the content- which up to this point, has been quality. Despite my preexistent skepticism, I can now affirm that I’m intrigued at witnessing the progression of (and working with) the millenial generation’s first true cluster of relevant artists (excluding KanYe, who birthed their style).

Thank him later.

SUITS!

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…trash in the form of advertising that is. Seen on the R train this morning. *womp*

“Ivana Bowlmor”? Shame on you!

I guess if I saw the ad, it counts as an impression, but ironically, being impressed would be the last thing I’d describe my experience as.

In terms of appealing to us  natives using motifs that reflect their sensibility, FlatRate still wears the crown:

SUITS!

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Peace to the fam Ariel x Charlie & always-super-on-point Michelle Ten.

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Advertising Age debuted an exposé today (in their “Digital A-List 2010″ section) about Lady Gaga and her unfathomable, drought-defeating anomalous rise to acclaim in which they attribute her success to social media. While I don’t completely disagree, I’m not sure if Gaga’s time in the spotlight has been a landscape-definining case study for social media marketing.

I’ll elaborate….

While the numbers suggest her to be a social media rock star by Web media standards (a combined 8 million fans on Facebook & Twitter, and a disgusting amount of cross-channel views & impressions *Cam face*), her campaign to the top hasn’t exemplified any market-defining activity or out of the ordinary use of the space- she’s a champion of the old model ruling with an iron fist in the new media environment.

But for how long, and to what extent?

Using Twitter as an example- at 2.8 million Twitter followers with only 255 tweets, Lady Gaga hasn’t exhibited the “socially engaged”  behavior that us marketers advise our (non-human) clients to exemplify. Her machine (Akon), her brand associations (Polaroid, Beats by Dre, Mac, Virgin Mobile), and her alliances with various areas of lifestyle have largely defined what we’d consider to be her brand ethos, and have had a balloon-like effect on her perceived status. Not to mention her timing- 2008 witnessed a renewed general interest in electronic “pop” music, as evidenced by the domestic popularity of Daft Punk, Justice, etc.

The argument here is that the digital landscape has simply provided a means for her story and persona to proliferate amongst people who were genuinely affected through a traditional media onslaught – and that she’s done right by it by virtue of her embracing it, even in the limited extent that she has. We live in a world where music sales are diminishing, yet consumption is at an all-time high. That simply means that to affect the bottom line (in this case music sales), popularity within the digital space is a metric that, when combined with great PR and key integrated marketing approaches, can move the needle. Mashable’s Alex Mann asked the right question in his piece on Gaga’s social media explosion: “if there was an absence of free channels to hear Gaga, would her album sales be higher? Or, does the social media universe only perpetuate and support her existing successful career?”

I truly don’t know. However, if anyone is in the right to set digital precedents to use culture to push product, she’d definitely be the most fitting.

Stay tuned.

SUITS!

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Sometimes yelling into a filtered mic is what you need to get the creative process started.

WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND

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Here is the very oft-requested audio from a super dope episode of Table Manners featuring DJ Wonder a few months back. All for your listening pleasure.

Oh, I’ll be liberating a bunch of the sessions and DJ sets from our guests over the next few weeks.

DJ WONDER x TABLE MANNERS

Peace to Wonder, Yonny, and Jayson Rodriguez for bringing relevance to holding down Delaware.

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…all in the name of fashion, of course (check the 0:30 mark).

Taken from yesterday’s FW10 Y-3 Show at The Armory.

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While the rest of New York City was undergoing a phenomenal blizzard last week, HBO hosted a screening for hyped “How To Make It In America” in Chinatown.

[BTW, I had an opportunity to weigh in my thoughts on the show for AOL's new site, The BVX. Proceed when you have a chance.]

As a true reflection of downtown New York City’s “on to the next one” social scene that serves as the show’s crux (which usually brings you to the most random and obscure of venues and domiciles), the event was executed in an unmarked (there goes that word again) building on Eldridge Street, complete with weird lobby and manual elevator operator. The space was revealed to be a very quaint loft/gallery, adorned with art and a slew of people who look like they could easily been cast for the show.

I had to bounce before the screening began, but I’m sure it was the same show that I saw two weeks ago! HA!

Peace to Cornerstone/FADER for bringing that to life.

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Earlier this week, the really good folks at 94×50 & NSW flexed their creative + marketing muscles and allowed me to partake in a very uniquely curated one-night experience.

It basically happened like this…. a delivery man showed up to my office with a mysterious paper bag (with the exception of my name etched in Sharpie, it was unmarked). I opened the bag, and removed its contents-  a miniature orange Nike box, suited for either a baby or  an adult with abnormally tiny feet. Inside the box was a burner (if you don’t know what that means, please watch The Wire), and a strip of paper with instructions to text my name to a random number. It texted me back with a time and address.

Now, there aren’t many brands that could pull of a Matrix-esque invitation process and keep the mystique (and expectations) high, but if there is one thing I know, it’s to never ever-ever-ever-ever-ever come here no more doubt Nike.

I showed up to said location, my expectations wide open, and there was a party bus waiting on the corner. Jumped on the bus, and saw a bunch of colleagues, friends, and influential people I hold in high regard on board. I sat down next to the homie Jonathan Mannion, and asked him what this was all about, to which he responded, “I have no idea”. If he didn’t know, it was safe to assume nobody did.

The bus took about 20 of us to Tompkins Park, where Bobbito (random!) was in the middle of the playground, along with a bag of DD hot chocolate. After greeting everyone, he kicked off the evening with anecdotes on his career, and the role that the Air Force One played throughout. (Light bulb!) I know a lot of self-proclaimed and industry-recognized sneaker/cultural anthropologists/historians, but I’ve never encountered someone who is as genuine about his affinity for sneakers, their underlying stories, and their cultural relevance, as this man. As a marketer in a volatile industry (and consumer) landscape, it’s an anomaly to witness someone who lives way beyond advocacy to the extent that he does- he’s now the validator for the brand, a conduit for its ongoing relevance.

Bobbito @ Tompkins Park from suitsiswatching on Vimeo.

After his monologue, we boarded the bus again somewhat reassured enlightened, and were off to destination #2. After about 10 minutes, we pulled up in front of an unmarked building (for a brand that owns the world’s most iconic logo, it sure has a fixation with unmarked sh*t), boarded an elevator, took it to the 6th (or 3rd- I can’t remember) floor, and walked down the hall into a studio…where Clark Kent was waiting for us. In the same vain as Bobbito, he kept the evening’s program going by offering his unique perspective on Ones. He also broke down his next collaboration with the brand, and per his request, I won’t go into it. But it’s ill. Like super dope ill.

After about 30 minutes in the studio, we got on the bus again for what would be our last stop of the evening- Crif Dogs/PDT in the Village. I’d never been, but I heard about it, and I was pretty hungry. So I OD’ed. At the end of the night, they gave us each a pair of the buttas.

The above slideshow has all the evidence. (I had no idea what I was getting into, so all I had to boot was my iPhone. It was pretty dark throughout, so apologies for the less-than-spectacular imagery- you can check Yoshi’s pics and account of the evening here…)

In retrospect, it was very well-presented, and impressive shot in the arm to the unique culture that was bred, and still lives, here. Peace to Heron, Kristen, Will, Will P., Jonathan Mannion, Va$htie, Chad, Scott, Yoshi, Susana, Bradley C., Chris Vidal, Paul Rivera, and shouts to NSW x 94×50 – you guys really bodied that, and illustrated a sensibility and passion that usually gets lost within the process.

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