AN IDEA: What Exactly Is A Culture Creator?
Here’s my latest and greatest from AN Idea. Shouts to the whole team at AgencyNet…
Thanks to Pills Montano (Creative Media Group) for the opportunity to speak at this year’s Latin Mixx Conference. Big shouts to the panelists on the “Making Your Mark” discussion Manny Gonzalez (Hennessy), Tony Martinez (Kinetix), Tiffany Hardin (Translation), and Nelson Garcia (GlobalHue).
On Wednesday of last week, I moderated a panel entitled “Making Your Mark” at this year’s Latin Mixx Conference.
The conference, now in its 5th year, is half entertainment summit, half information session and attracts a pretty varied audience of DJs, artists, and industry folk. To kick off the panel, I delivered a presentation (available below) covering a few areas of interest including: personal branding, the marketing and publishing landscape, and the role that today’s public-facing entertainer must play to thrive in the modern information economy.
BMF = Biting Many (of your) Friends.
Love his rhymes lately. His brand?
Not so much.
Cover’d Conversation: Curren$y’s “Pilot Talk”
Read more…
#decisionFAIL
I was going to put together a thorough analysis of my disappointment as a result of what happened this past Thursday, but the reality is that…
1) most sports writers perfectly captured my perplexity, letdown, and the implication of his self-inflicted de-coronation,
and..
2) there are some choice lines from “B.M.F.” that adequately reflect the events that transpired:
On The Eve of Decision, Some Rationality.
Regardless of what’s actually happening and saying, it’s looking good for US.
RESPECT BROOKLYN.
It’s about 1,000 degrees (no Craig Mack) in NYC right now, but who’s complaining?
Here’s a little kinetic typography to hold it down as we continue movin’ on this side… Respect to Cookin’ Soul for putting this together… Spotted at NahRight (peace to “The Originators” Dre & Eskay)…
More SUITS soon enough….
Dispelling Dispositions: ‘Souls of My Young Sisters’
One of the most pressing and unspoken issues when it comes to the plight of our community in today’s United States is the disparity of success. A study was released yesterday that illustrates how drastically the wealth gap in this country truly has widened between African-Americans and Caucasians. While the situation is alarming, to understand its true origin, one must look deeper than the numbers and into the mind state of its community’s individuals. Therein lies a sensibility wrought with years of conditioning to accept and not thrive, to “be good” without question- a very militant, “spoke when spoken to” disposition.
(In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discussed the real-world implications of this cultural hurdle in his anecdote of Colombian pilots’ apprehension to speak firmly to a Caucasian Air Traffic Control during a mid-air crisis- all passengers on board died as a result of the subsequent crash.)
The silver lining is that with every generation, the winds of change descend to create a more empowered disposition; a new zeitgeist that defines the culture. This is what’s described in Souls of My Young Sisters, a collection of experiences written and edited by Dawn Marie Daniels and Candace Sandy, intent on helping renew the identity and sense of purpose that has been diluted throughout history. With a foreword written by Mary J. Blige and contributions of 60 female authors, including the homie and extremely talented Dee Vazquez, the narrative attacks the problem of confronting authority and establishing one’s own truths and reality through the personal anecdotes of these young, progressive women.
I give much respect to Ms. Daniels and Ms. Sandy for bringing awareness and insight around an issue that’s so pervasive in our cultural landscape, in a time where “change” seems to define the times, and ultimately, the success of our people. The book is available… go cop.
For more information, visit Souls Of My Sisters
HYPERlocal: Spike Lee x Lemon Andersen x Absolut = ABSOLUT BROOKLYN.
ABSOLUT BROOKLYN is a Limited Edition flavored Vodka created in collaboration with Spike Lee.
It is a blend of Red Apple and Ginger that captures the vibrancy and uniqueness of Brooklyn and the creativity it inspires.
“Brooklyn wins again.” – Jean Grae (and damn near everyone I know from the borough…)
You KNOW I’m happy about this one.
Happier to find out that the 750ml 1L bottle (their 4th in the “American City” collection” is in collaboration with Spike Lee.
Enthused at the fact that the homie Lemon provided this prose that will be located in the recipe flyer:
Sitting on the tenement stoops
Brownsville steps
crown heights flights
funky medina repetoire
5 star borough
tree lined blocks
somewhere in the world
Brooklyn’s in the house
and you know we won’t stop
spreading love
cause that’s our way
From the small morsels of information that I’ve read, it’ll be released in 2 months. All the brand buzzword banter that I hear on a daily basis about the importance of “community” and “culture” can be accomplished simply by doing it and committing. Thank you, Pernod-Ricard USA for giving this humble Brooklynite more fodder for my geocentric rants.
Catch me at the launch party.
SUITS!
More Kicks Than Chun Li: MySneakers App
Before Steve Jobs & Apple addressed the issue of clutter by announcing the advent of “app folders” at his Keynote for iPhone OS4, a lot (a lot meaning most) of my ADD-riddled homies were victim to a phenomenon that plagues most iPhone users: downloading apps left and right, but actually using very few of them (some none at all).
This is probably a result of users not finding utilities that are essential to their lifestyle; first-use irrelevance is a death sentence for these apps. My homie Louis Colon, who in a former life was the founder/owner of Laces Boutique and Kicksclusive Magazine, has looked to change that with his iPhone app called MySneakers (available in the App Store starting today). We’ve already seen sneaker magazines and blogs make their content available in the form of an iPhone app, which, for better or worse, provides the users with information that they need to stay in tune with every release date, rumors of collabs, and what designers are doing in Beaverton. Perfect timing as the industry begins shifting it’s product delivery strategies wholly towards the digital landscape.
My Sneakers 1.0 delivers release date information, store details, aggregates popular blog content, and a offers a robust look at an almost infinite amount of kicks (all the information one would need to influence purchase decision) in an easy-to-navigate user interface. It also allows users to post their discoveries to their respective Facebook or Twitter friends/followers. Not bad.
If you’re an iPhone/iPod Touch user reading this, and have an insatiable appetite for Mikes, Foams, Chucks, Uptowns, or whatever, I implore you be the early adopter that you think you are, and check out the application.
Rasta Monsta v. Crisp: A Brand Analysis.
Last week, a few of my homies and I were talking about HBO’s “How To Make It In America”, specificly about how we would consult Cam, Ben, and René on their respective business ventures (if the show was real, of course) given the events that have transpired by the end of the first season.
In the real world, their brands- the scrappy, upstart denim line Crisp and brilliantly-named energy drink Rasta Monsta- would both be considered “challengers” (if considered at all) in their respective categories. To add some context, I think it’s fair to say that both the streetwear apparell and functional beverage industries are hyper-competitive, riddled with high barriers to entry, and, for lack of a better word, cluttered.
Nonetheless, below (click to enlarge!) is a very basic, straightforward analysis of both brands that I’d apply to clients during early project phases. Based on the exercise (which was solely based on my individual knowledge of the category’s landscapes along with what I’ve gathered from watching the show) I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, but it IS interesting how both Crisp and Rasta Monsta have unique traits that could benefit them in the long run.
I’ll say this much though: you’ll be surprised at the magic that a wrapped stepvan and free samples can make! (HA!)
HBO get at me!
