This video was taken from ExtremeMedia’s vimeo account, spending 24 hours in the life of two grime DJs -Elijah and Skilliam-. Click here to download their latest mixtape and here to subscribe to their blog.
”Since we started this blog we have met, and had dialogue with loads of interesting creative people from all over the globe, and it is difficult to accommodate all of them in what we do. Trav, the editor of this video is an all round artist, from the abstract stuff he has done to the walls in my room, to this video, he is a really talented guy.” - Elijah on the Butterz blog
Before we engage on this journey, I must first sate that prostitution is a serious social issue that has tarnished many people’s lives. Therefore in no way shape or form is this article glorifying that lifestyle. In fact the article aims to do the opposite and begin to identify how the pimp pathology has found itself in our living rooms, continuously promoting the manipulation of young women.
I always find it funny that people claim that prostitution has been around since the beginning of time, as if this prehistoric reference all of a sudden offers the justification for the exploitation of females. But what seems to always get to me is the how Pimps are seen as the charismatic Casanovas, who so many men are envious of their natural skill to keep their woman in check, while the woman on the other hand gets the privilege of sharing a name with a gardening appliance.
The Popularisation of P.I.M.P in the 1970’s
The 1970s saw an influx of African-American movies, in response to the declining revenues in Hollywood. The new genre dubbed ‘Blaxploitatio’ is considered by many to be the turning point for Hollywood, as it was able to attract a previously uninterested black audience to the cinemas. But with this new found lane came some terrible and at time humorous representation of urban stereotypes, such as the Pimp culture. The average PIMP and Pusherman in Harlem were never as glamorous as they may have been presented in films like ‘Superfly in 1972′. This later translated into the music of that day, with artists like Curtis Mayfield glorifying such as a lifestyle in their music and it is pretty much becomes self explanatory why today’s hip hop artist who grew up listening to this music are now fascinated about being the ‘drug dealers’, ‘fly’ and ‘P.I.M.P
Many of you would be able to recognise the snippet on the video below between 0:58 to 1:17 from the Jay-Z intro entitled ‘Prelude’ on his Kingdom Come album.
Hip Hop artists carrying the torch
If ever there was a medium or genre that seems to happily embrace the pimpologic ideals of the 1970s movies, its Hip Hop music. Many blame hiphop for the mainstream crossover-or regular usage- of the term pimpin’ in TV shows such as MTV’s Pimp my ride. But I would have to say that it will not be fair to place the burden solely on hiphop’s back especially when the subtle aspects of pimping techniques were evident on our TV screen’s way before Don Majic Juan got his hands on his first Stacey Adams shoes.
STAR TREKS’ MR MACK DADDY
Look how Khan Noonien Singh of Star Trek demonstrates what many now consider to be the ‘Pimp’s hand’, the manipulative techniques which makes the female beg to their partner’s mercy, even though he is in the wrong. The scary thing is that this type of thing happens everyday, and for Star Trek -which is is bigger than any hiphop artist or album ever released- to be showing this in our living rooms, there seems to be something wrong with how we portray women in mainstream media.
It can happen to anybody..believe me
Remember Maia Campbell? No, well she played Tiffany Brown on ‘In the House’ with LL Cool J in the 90’s as well as appearances in ‘Moesha’ and ‘Sister Sister’.
Well here is a video of her in LA, with her Pimp, who I am sure you have noticed is not as Fly as Snoop Dogg or as well spoken as Mr Kahn and is actually nothing more than a low life spineless twat taking advantage of a woman in need of some serious help.
Conclusion.
Pimping ain’t easy, has to be the greatest urban myth if ever there was one. Any man -or woman- who makes money from the business of selling someone else’s body for sex, cannot even begin to comprehend or have the right to us to use the terms ‘aint easy..’ If anything pimping must be easier now than ever with female self esteem at an all time low. So maybe its time we started to make Pimping harder for these low lives, by portraying them for the clowns that they are and building the self esteem of the women in our society, with more videos of hardworking ordinary women then booty shaking video cameos and glossy magazines reports of Z-list celebrities new tummy tucks.
I am going to start by showing you a snippet of how these clowns SHOULD be portrayed…Peace!
After a good 20 minute scout of some our favourite US sneaker sites, we are able to bring you a few images of what ‘Nikey’ is working on for the coming winter and early spring 2010. Although there seems to be a few images available, the images below are of trainers that we consider to be worth our readers consideration. But if you are into the Jordans and basketball trainers then feel free to check out Kicksonfire.
UK grafiti artist INSA has teamed up with Nike to promote the sports apparel brand’s IAM1 campaign. The artist is well known in the underground scene for his infamous INSA Heels trademark, which many consider to be his way of expressing his fetish for high heels. In this particular project the artist has documented his seven day journey around the city of London, painting 35 pieces.
The show will be taking place at London’s NSW 1948 pop-up shop and runs from July 17th – July 26th, 2009.
Promotional video
We should be at the event and will upload the pictures here on the website, so stay tuned. For those of you looking to attend, see you there.
Nike Sportswear 1948
Arches 477-478
Batman’s Row
Shoreditch, London
Adidas launched their skateboarding website earlier this week with loads of content geared towards the promotion of the new Dennis Busenitz pro model Fall 2009 collection . Click the link below to access the website.
Here is how the Dennis Busenitz trainer looks, which I have to admit will tickle a lot of our readers fancy. Definitely our cup of team here at the BSmag HQ. We have also attached a video to the post, which shows the making of the trainers and how it was actually inspired by the classic Adidas football boots such as the ‘Copa Mondial’ and the ‘Samba’.
Nike has released images of the different trainers, colours and materials that they will be releasing later this year as part of the Nike Sportswear Fall 2009 Collection. Below is a selection of the ones currently released, and this post will be updated whenever we are able to get our hand on new ones.
As of the 1st July, Kanye and LV fans will be able to get their hands on the rappers LV shoe collection. After seeing videos and images of the different shoes from Highbobiety website, we were impressed with the detail of the designs. Although not all the styles and colours were our cup of tea and would not expect it to be of many of our readers.
But here are the few designs which we feel are well worth a consideration.
Low White LV x Kanye Wests
High Grey, Brown and Pink LV x Kanye
Low Grey, Brown and Pink LV x Kanye
Here is the promotional video done by Highnobiety, for the launch.
According to the website the shoes will be available globally at the LV shops, so feel free to give us your feedback if you happen to purchase or simply get a look in.
Here are the pictures of the Nike x Futura Air Force ones due to be released in the spring of next year. The trainers come in two colours one in White and Orange and the other in Gray and White. Both will feature different graphics from the artist Futura, in different parts of the shoe.
The new Nike Air dunks are due to go on sale at some point in July this year as part of Nike’s SB collection alongside pretty impressive Bruin and Blazer high SBs. Not sure if the pictures do them justice but I am sure with a decent attention to the laces, they could be pulled off this summer.
n many cases, the built-in Text Widget can be used to add new abilities to your sidebar. The Widget Plugin allows you to specify how many text widgets you need. Once you have specified the number of text widgets you need, each of those widgets is added to the "Available Widgets" column in the Presentation, Sidebar Widget Administration Panel.
n many cases, the built-in Text Widget can be used to add new abilities to your sidebar. The Widget Plugin allows you to specify how many text widgets you need. Once you have specified the number of text widgets you need, each of those widgets is added to the "Available Widgets" column in the Presentation, Sidebar Widget Administration Panel.
n many cases, the built-in Text Widget can be used to add new abilities to your sidebar. The Widget Plugin allows you to specify how
