Issue 14: Fashion & Style by CopyWrite Magazine

ISSUE

SPRING 2019

ISSUE FOURTEEN

FASHION & STYLE. INTERVIEWS W/ VEE ADAMS + VON ALEXANDER 1 + BASIA ROSE + SPAIDEZ + CHILL SWEATS

“s t e e z ” f r o m o u r e d i t o r

issue ten: fashion & style (w/ vato)

ex fabula stories: destinny fletcher & matthew lewis

making it fit w/ basia rose

self taught: inspiration from vee adams

chillin’ w/ chill sweats

spaidez, the entertainer

von alexander: dare to be different

modern mystique // spring fashion

SPRING 2019

ISSUE

CONTENTS

ISSUE FOURTEEN

FASHION & STYLE. INTERVIEWS W/ VEE ADAMS + VON ALEXANDER + BASIA ROSE + SPAIDEZ + CHILL SWEATS

ABOUT THE COVER ––

S H OT BY S E A N C H R I S V I L L A T E R R AC E D E C O R AT I V E A R T S M U S E U M FA S H I O N F E AT U R E D E S I G N S FA S H I O N F E AT U R E M O D E L S C U R AT E D BY VATO V E R G A R A S E E M O R E O N PAG E 4 5

CONTRIBUTORS

E D I TO R - I N - C H I E F / L E X I S . B R U N S O N C O N T E N T E D I TO R / L AU R E N “ H O N E Y ” G R A N I E L A FA S H I O N E D I TO R / VATO V E R G A R A INTERN JOURNALIST / CARRIE NONI MAHONE I N T E R N J O U R N A L I S T / A N I JA H W H I T E

S P E C I A L T H A N K S TO / K E LV I N “ DAY N AG E ” C R O S S

VO N C A N O N

T I F FA N Y B E A N

M O DA M U Ñ E C A

SEAN CHRIS

B LU E C L I P S E FA S H I O N

E X FA B U L A

D E S T I N N Y F L E TC H E R

BASIA ROSE DESIGNS

M AT T H E W L E W I S

V E E A DA M S

DIANA MORA

R A S H A D N I C K S O F C H I L L S W E AT S

LOT U S FA N K H

S PA I D E Z

SHINDIG COFFEE

VON ALEXANDER

V I L L A T E R R AC E D E C O R AT I V E A R T S M U S E U M

MUTHAHEN

O U R C W FA S H I O N M O D E L S

CopyWrite Magazine Media & Design, LLC currently runs as a Milwaukee-based organization. All images are not licensed or owned by CopyWrite. For any questions regarding photos, future advertisements, future employment or any information about any featured artists, producers or creators, please contact us at copywrite.mke@gmail.com.

@thrudirtyeyes

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

I S S U E

F O U R T E E E N

“STEEZ” FROM OUR EDITOR. If you ask me about my personal style, I’ll probably say something goofy like “Light work. Slight work. Eeeeoooowwww”, *In my Cardi B voice*. I have never really just had one type of look. I’m a “dress how you feel” girl, and then accessories. Only thing that is consistent is the earrings. (Because leaving the house without earrings on is a crime . . . and I’m standing on it! LOL) Over the years my “look” has morphed with age, lifestyle, profession, and even relationships. Once upon a time nerd frames, chucks, and cardigans were my go to. Then it was ripped tights, sand boots, and oversize shirts (ahhhh, how I miss art school). Now I’m more likely to be seen in a faux fur, high waist jeans and gaudy gold accessories (bling bling). But don’t get it twisted, sometimes I dig into my room sized closet and pull out a look that just feels right in that moment. I may be channeling Nefertiti (ankh me baby), Brooklyn, New York late 90s, or Afrofuturism circa a year that hasn’t come yet. You never know. However, it’s not really the clothes that make the look, it’s the confidence that you carry in anything you wear that says a lot about you. As Jidenna says, “I don’t want my best dressed day in a casket”. So when I step out the house, I’m serving up Lexi (or is it Dirty?), and unapologetically so. I’m giving personality, not trend. I’m rockin instinct, not “designer”. If I’m showing skin it’s a fashion statement not a branding mark. I put in the effort, even to look effortless, because when everybody else is looking to turn heads, I’m trying to look in the mirror and feel good about me.

As I have become more comfortable with who I am, more people compliment me on things that I just think are normal. Like that damn burgundy Adidas crop top velvet track suit or my leopard print booties, people just can’t get enough. (Dem just da basics boo! LOL) But seriously, when our Fashion Editor brought the idea of doing an issue all about personal style and fashion to the mix, I was a little concerned. Why? Because this isn’t a fresh off the runway, one size fits all, commercial standard of beauty, type of magazine. And that’s the point. Expressing who we are genuinely, through our personal aesthetic, speaks beyond the filters and likes of social media. It liberates us. It challenges us. It gives a whole new reason to say “You better Slay!”. So to all my funny looking, unicorns and glitter, Sazón seasoning extra, hair wrapping, nose piercing, belly chain, 6.0’s or stiletto, wearing people . . . You betta work! /Dirty

@vatomke

FASHION SURGE: STYLE

(NOUN) A SUDDEN POWERFUL FORWARD OR UPWARD MOVEMENT, ESPECIALLY BY A CROWD OR BY A NATURAL FORCE.

“It

A dangerous time has come. One where cut throat “doers” and half-stepping “sayers” move in tandem. all a look.” Thestarts symbiosiswith has become destructive and what will happen next is unknown.

Why is Style important? Why is Fashion a thing? It’s about the appeal of A push forwhich understanding a time that lacks clarity, urges the gatekeepers of the something, makes in the eyes dance.

creative movement to awaken from their docile state and shake the world like an earthquake, drown the doubters like hurricanes and put fear in the hearts of man like Since the beginning advocating for artistic talent across the wild fires…”They” canwe no have longer been be controlled. wethe document defiance young (but invasive) cultivation, strategy city. In Asthis weissue, peep scenethewe have of become invigorated by the the personal to sustain vetted ranks with the willingness to train new recruits and the vantage style and the stories of individuals right in our own community. point of the shooter who exposes the battle as it unfolds. It also challenges social responsibility and stigmas that annihilate our forces before we even become active.

We have always put your own twist to the fashion scene in MKE but this As the shift in the world confidence startling, we use our AND cultureSTYLE as a has been an opportunity to placebecomes emphasis on FASHION as a forcefield, barricading us from the reckless and corrupt. Opening up seats at the table, true NECESSITY in all aspects of ART! we ask for the strong willed to join our ranks.

Since WEisSTAND FOR THINGS URBAN, in Issue There no longer roomALL for the undecided, so choose up. 14 you will see how we embody “Fashion” as a primary factor of that lifestyle, from the first page verySURGE. last. You will learn what gives some very talented THIStoIStheTHE individuals the confidence to navigate their day to day lives’ in music, design, and entrepreneurship, with fashion and style. It is important to understand that imagery, appeal, and style makes us unique to who we are. Look close and you might just see, it’s more than the clothes, it’s the process. Welcome to the Fashion & Style issue. /Vato (Fashion Editor)

Ex Fabula Story:

destinny

fletcher & matthew lewis 8

d e s t i n n y f l e t c h e r ’s s t o r y What personal style means to me is to have an understanding of my own personality and voice to speak. As a writer, performing artist, and community health worker, I am constantly reminded to always have a voice of the people as well as a voice of change. Recently, I have discovered the journey of naturally “locing” my hair. This journey has contained trial and error, along with courage and self-awareness, which is something that I promote in my work heavily. My journey started on October 27th, 2018 where I was contemplating doing something I had never done before, and something soul-searching. Throughout this journey, I had inquired about music at the time, how it affected the ability to evolve artistically, and the stimulation of what made it magical in our daily lives. With this opportunity, I took a chance at utilizing the

m a t t h e w l e w i s ’s s t o r y I would describe my personal style as experimental-schoolboy-realness-comfort-chic. Sort of Denise Huxtable meets Tai from Clueless meets Paris is Burning. It is magazine cutouts of Vogue and J-14 on my bedroom wall. It is reruns of Living Single, Girlfriends, and A Different World. It is Destiny’s Child and Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip on loop. It is the Hardy Boyz and Lita. It is Nickelodeon and MTV’s Top 20 Video Countdown. It is lots of denim, earth tones, t-shirts, warm sweaters, and Doc Martens. It is a smidge baggy, but still snug. It is a culmination of all the things that make me feel happy and beautiful. It rides on this feeling of softness and magic. I know I’ve hit the mark when I’m walking in the world and it just feels right. My style is shaped a lot by my love of the 90s and early 2000s, along with bits of queer media I stumbled upon growing up. Part of understanding my own identity was finding ways to fit these bits of softness and femininity into

COMMUNITY

album, “Awaken, My Love” by Childish Gambino, for my “Loc” dedication. I used it to address my experiences from childhood development, to adolescent revelations, and finally a selfempowered adult. This album gave me the opportunity to be conscious of my growth, my love for the arts, the ability to conquer such a task that is community work, and to remember the roots in which I’ve come from. One of my favorite songs from the album would be “The Night Me and Your Mama Met”, featuring Gary Clark Jr. This was because the art of love and storytelling in the music without any words, or for lack of a better term, without restriction. It is as simple as creating an opportunity with who you love and what it is about them that you love. I fell in love with this album when it was released because of my love for old school funk, natural vibe, and of course storytelling. What also made me choose this album to indulge in my “Loc” journey was that it allowed the emotion of being free and being socially aware of who I am in my own flesh.

I have always believed in my capability to cause friction in settings that prevent others of being unique and those who promote only normality. The idea of normal, even, is to understand that no one has a definition of what that is in the life of an artist, a community worker, or a writer, and to have all three of those characteristics is a matter of being different. So, for my “Loc” journey, I discovered myself in ways of empathy and the realization of being a creative Black woman in the city of Milwaukee. With that, I’ve found my “roots”, my soul–searching through personality, growth, and affection. I’ve never been this much in tune with my identity before until I “Loced” my hair. And I don’t see myself looking back. @deolindaab

my style, without sticking out too much from my peers. Not out of shame, but out of just wanting to exist in my skin without it being a spectacle. Some trends were more successful than others. It was easier to translate T-Boz or Khadijah James into “boy” than it was, say, Posh Spice. In the times that things don’t translate well, if my style is too “out of the box”, things can be scary. I’ve had to fight, I’ve been called awful things, and sometimes, I’ve just been stared at. In these moments, I think about all the people I admire. I think about all my favorite music and movies. I think about the love of my family, which gave me the permission to be myself. And I’m okay. I keep going. And I look good doing it. Some of my favorite pieces are ones passed down from people in my family. Sweaters and jackets from my mom and brother, hats from my grandfather. Mixing them with my own clothes, I see the lineage and the love I’m from.

Ex Fabula is thrilled to partner with CopyWrite Magazine. This partnership will combine different forms of expression and produce a space for community members’ true, personal stories in written and visual form. By connecting the stage to the page, both Ex Fabula and CopyWrite will reach new audiences, connect with new storytellers, and build community.

@carrietrapshaw

“MAKING IT FIT” W/

Basia rose BY A N I JA H W H I T E

TAILORED FASHION

Have you ever seen a business bloom overnight? Never huh? Well, that’s what we said until Basia Rose Designs appeared on the scene. From Pop-Up MKE vendor, to having her own permanent brick and mortar, Basia is hard to miss. Cultivating a storefront boutique at 1617 West North Ave, in Milwaukee, a fresh face with a lot of potential has entered our fashion community, serving up glamour that is tailored to you.

“Making you look and feel better one stitch at a time.” Copywrite paid a visit to Basia at her boutique, to discuss business, from an unsuspecting eye of fashion, and found some lovely gems along the way. As a Milwaukee native, Basia has experienced life. Not everything has been glamorous but there are certain moments that make you stand out, if you are up for a challenge. Basia was always into fashion. So much so that she decided to get a degree in marketing with an emphasis on fashion. Not knowing exactly what she would do with it, it eventually became obvious as she took a leap of faith and opened up her own store, starting with Pop-Up MKE. #PopUpMKE is an accelerator pilot project building social entrepreneurs in commercial corridors in Milwaukee. (https://www.facebook.com/pg/PopUpMKE) CW: “How did you hear about the pop-up? Because that is a really cool way to start.” Basia: “WWBIC. Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation. So, WWBIC is a non-profit. I used it to network a lot, especially with small businesses or organizations that can benefit my business. But they help women or entrepreneurs with their business ideas or plan. They actually invited me to do the pop-up, so it’s just an opportunity that I took advantage of.” CW: “So, you’ve always been into fashion, how did you learn how to sew?” Basia: “I’ve always liked to dress-up things, but when I had my baby, my aunt taught me how to sew. She taught me how to make little things like bibs and blankets and I just went from there. I was just making them for gifts at the time,

then people started asking me for them. Then they started requesting different things for clothes, skirts, and stuff. And then that’s how I started branching off into clothes. That’s how I started the business. At first I was doing it for free, but now it’s taking up a lot of time soo . . .” CW: “So you needed to get paid for it!” Basia: “Exactly!” CW: “So you’re saying that you were just making designs for your baby and people started liking them. How did you gain that confidence to say BAM! I want my own shop.” Basia: “Believe it or not, sometimes I still feel nervous when I do things! I’ve never had a bad experience or anything, but it’s like I made the outfit so I always think I hope she likes it. But I’ve been doing really good though, I haven’t had any complaints.” Customer satisfaction is key. It’s Basia’s attention to detail, and always wanting to get the look right for everyone who shops with her, that makes her the best person for the job. She picked up a beautiful sparkling dress, and described how she would turn this simple gem into a Basia Rose diamond: “I’m going to add a mermaid skirt, or add something at the bottom for a prom dress [look], or even cut the sleeves. You know, making it have a little . . . more.” Giving it that something extra is how Basia has caught our eye. She uses her marketing techniques on social media to dazzle you. Showing what she is working on and what she has coming into the shop. She keeps you excited to see the final product every time. CW: “What inspirations help you design certain outfits.” Basia: “Sometimes it’s the mood. I focus on special occasions, so I pay attention to holidays, birthdays, upcoming trends or parties, things like that. Ideally I deal with a lot of professionals and such, people who are not afraid to wear sequins and more lavish things.”

Basia: “So, if you buy something from me, you could still wear it years down the line. I‘m hoping it just wouldn’t be a piece that would be in your closet after one use. I want my customers to get their money’s worth.”

@fuckyoursupreme

Basia also claims to spend a lot of time on Instagram to keep track of what looks people are rocking but she also makes sure she is in tune to those looks that are timeless.

But occasional wear is her bread and butter. As the seasons change so do fashion needs and she is always ready for those moments. Prom season, weddings, luncheons, banquets, etc. Any formal wear, she’s your girl. CW: “So how does it feel as an African American woman to have your own business in Milwaukee?” Basia: “I feel somewhat important! Not to say it like that, but I love the business because I meet other Black-owned business owners. I get to inspire and be inspired.” She claims that with her boutique being located in what is considered the “hood”, it draws a lot of attention. Basia: “They see these fancy dresses [in the window], and they wonder ‘Who’s that?’” Because of this, Basia gets to meet a lot of different people. A lot of people you wouldn’t even expect to be in that type of environment. To her it shows that where you are does not necessarily define you, there’s always more than what meets the eye. Besides the unconventional location for a formal wear shop, there is another aspect of Basia’s business that is quite unique for Milwaukee at large: Basia: “Everything in the store is Black-owned. I shop Black, I sell Black.” Besides Basia’s garments, she also works with local Black vendors who’s merchandise compliment her designs, or aura of her shop. CW: “Well, you’re definitely making it work! So what do you do with vendors?” Basia: “I’ve been trying something new recently, I want to see if I could redesign something instead of shopping for material, cutting and sewing the fabrics, and fitting the fabric. I want to work more with a completed project and alter it. For example, you come in and try on a dress and it’s too long. I can shorten the dress for you, or if it’s too big, I can size it so that it fits.” She is customizing, accessorizing and making clothes fit the person and not the other way around.

@93karlama

@emeraldmonet

Basia: “So even if shopping off my rack, I try to make my products more affordable even if you can’t afford the alterations. This is so you can still experience the look you want no matter the budget.” CW: “So what advice would you give someone starting their own business, specifically fashion?” Basia: “For one, listen to yourself and believe in yourself. You know when you’re ready or not. I say listen to yourself because people will tell you, ‘You shouldn’t do that’, ‘I wouldn’t do that’. You are you, you know yourself better than anybody. Do what you want to do . . . You only live once. Do what you can, but do what you want at the same time because it’s your life.” Basia admits that being an entrepreneur is a hard job. She says it is the self-discipline that sets you apart. Her reality has been characterized by being a mother, going through hardships, juggling it all and still taking a risk.

“Sometimes you just have to take those chances. It’s a risk. Business is a risk.” So far business is good. She stays busy and she is always looking for new ways to share her store. She is investing in the identity of the community by allowing others to host events in her space, and always helping her customers put their best foot forward, starting with a clean seam, maybe a little shimmer, and the confidence that comes with a little extra effort. Anijah for /CW

Learn more at https://www.basiarose.com Follow @basiarosedesigns

@cosmicqveen

DANCE

self taught:

I N S P I R AT I O N F R O M V E E A DA M S Some souls speak louder than others. They may captivate a room, make ripples in still waters, or even shine color in the dark of night. Vee Adams has one of those souls. Her personal style, creative spirit, and pure essence make her somebody worth knowing, with a story worth telling. CopyWrite sat down with the modern day “Renaissance Woman” for an afternoon chat, to catch all the vibes and spark some much-needed inspiration. Vee is a woman of many talents. Dance, poetry, painting, drawing, and even singing, have all been a part of her toolkit of creative expression. When it comes to art, anything she can get her hands on she truly enjoys. But out of them all, her favorite undoubtedly is dance. VA: “It’s something that I was just naturally attracted to as a kid. Before painting, poetry, and all of that, dance has always been number one.” Her parents have stories of her being as young as three years old, watching TV trying to learn the moves. VA: “It’s really the main thing that has helped me express myself without words.” Though she had always shown interest in dance, her parents never enrolled her in any classes. Instead, she would take up piano, but her dancing spirit would never truly go away. She would teach her self the techniques to move her body by watching BET videos, and 106 & Park. Yup, that’s right. Vee is self-taught! CW: “So when did they wind up accepting that it wasn’t something that was going to go away?” VA: “They accepted it when I was about twenty-two.” *Jaw drop* Twenty-two? TWENTY-TWO!!!???!!! That’s an entire lifetime from our perspective. Ohh but wait, there’s more. At the time of this interview, Vee had just turned Thirty . . . CW: “No way! You ain’t no damn thirty!”

(We said in amazement. Vee doesn’t look a day over twentyfive. Yeshhhhh!) VA: “I try to tell people”. She laughed bashfully. “I feel like I age backwards . . . Dance really keeps you in shape. A lot of the ones that I know look very young. It forces you to take care of yourself. People sleep on it but it’s great cardio.” She is also huge on skincare, which must be why that thirty glows! CW: “One thing that we have really noticed is that you have just been all over the place doing your thing. You’re on Instagram, teaching classes, on stages, just dancing your butt off. People are really starting to notice and are pulling at what you are putting down. We know one big moment as of recently was the Chaka Khan video submission. Can you tell us how you got into that whole thing and won?” Vee told us about how it’s normal for her to search for new music to make dances to or choreography for class. She had already planned on making a dance to a Chaka Khan song and admits that she loves old school music. But when she heard her new song “Sugar” come up in her new releases, she fell in love. Coincidentally a few weeks later Chaka Khan would announce that she was doing a challenge for the song and Vee would jump to the occasion. VA: “I was like ‘I have to get on this right away’. My boyfriend Sayvon and I, we create together all the time. We stay on each other and always have great collaborations. So I’m like ‘hey I need your help. I need you to record this’. And he said okay . . . I was trying to find a sunny day to do it. I couldn’t find a great location. So I started to get kind of frustrated. A lot of the visuals I put out are not what I want. I want locations. I want outfits. I want a production team. I want lighting. I want everything.” (Ohhh Vee, don’t we all). “But I set deadlines and that’s the only way I can get things done . . . that [video] was at the top of my list. I had to put together what I had. I didn’t have choreo ready. But I’m like this is the deadline. So I have to do it now. I have to freestyle.” In a crunch, at a not so ideal location, with a less than perfect plan, Vee and Von set up for the video. With only her iPhone available to play the music Vee’s frustration grew. VA: “I was trying to move to the beat but I couldn’t hear the music. He told me to put the phone in my back pocket. Which if you look at some of the scenes you can see it. He was also like ‘You really need to have fun and just enjoy yourself”. 20

shot by Voncanon_

With that advice, she ran through the song for about thirty minutes. Went back home, edit it, posted it, and that was it. It was well received by everyone but Vee really didn’t think much of it until Chaka responded to her post, and said she liked it. After the competition was over she was unsure what would happen, then she received a notification that her video had made it to the top five. VA: “I shared it with everybody on my facebook and stuff. The love I received from the city, that actually made me cry. There were so many people contacting me, trying to keep up with the results. It was so much love and support. People I didn’t even know were telling me that they were voting for me. Eventually, I found out I was top two, and then [the] number one winner”. PR would contact her later on and tell her not only did she win a check but she would get a chance to meet Chaka Khan and dance for her. So the advice, deadlines, and the local support all made things work out, but most importantly it was her natural talent and personality that shined, which is something that Vee is very grateful for.

VA: “Growing up I was manly tomboyish and somewhat still. I would kind of shy away from like feminine, sensuality, and things of that nature. So I’m like I’m turning thirty and I really want to embrace being a woman. I really want to embrace that sensual part of me, ya know? Being raised it was always like, ‘Don’t be too sensual. Don’t be too much. Don’t be too girly’. So I really shied away from it and didn’t want to embrace it as much . . . Where I thought it be looked at as bad.” Vee took control of her narrative, striving to feel empowered and gorgeous by way of a lingerie shoot. Even though her boyfriend was the photographer on the other end of the camera and Vee is no stranger to modeling, she admits to still being very nervous. Eventually, with that same advice from Sayvon, she would let go and have fun. VA: “I saw the pictures after and was like wow! It’s so funny to me though because with dance I have been that. I can go on stage and I don’t have any problems [performing], being feminine or sensual. But in a different setting, it was weird. Just on a personal level, on my day to day seeing myself in that light is different.”

Now back to this age thing LOL . . . CW: “We see you did a photoshoot for your birthday and you made a post about you doing things you normally don’t do. Tell us more about that.”

Stepping out of her comfort zone, was a true moment for Vee. She claims that this new found liberation is symbolic of shedding the need for validation from others and turning to a new page in life. It’s great to hear that someone who always publicly exudes so much confidence still has parts to her

that she is revamping to make a greater self. We can all learn from that. As cliche as it may sound, really nobody is perfect. VA: “ That’s another reason I share my art. If it was up to me a lot of stuff I would keep to myself. Even with poetry, I kept doing it for the time that I did because I knew there were some people who still needed to hear my truth . . .” You never know who you are going to inspire. Vee says that she often is inspired by other women. It is that reciprocation of inspiration that builds out confidence. She also believes that having people in your corner who inspire you and motivate you is vital. CW: “ Who are some of those people who inspire you?” VA: “My sister Virnette for sure. She is so adamant about staying on top of her work and her goals. Definitely my boyfriend [Sayvon] . . . with him being so creative. You will hear me talk about those two a lot because those are my two favorite people to collaborate with . . . . Chris Gilbert”—who was in Issue Six of CW“that’s a person I collaborate with, who pushes me even when I see his work. Cedric Gardner, an amazing dancer that I look up to . . . and even working at Danceworks”—Vee teaches an adult hip-hop class every Friday at the studio—“People coming up to me in class, telling me to keep going, inspires.” She acknowledges that as a creative you can get burned out and start questioning your abilities.

“Consistency is the biggest hurdle for me as a creative. Staying consistent and keeping that energy going is a discipline.” CW: “Is there a moment in your life that shifted you to the point where you knew that creativity had to be an important part of your life? A glimmer came over her eyes with a soft laugh, as she shook her head and said . . . VA: “I remember when I went to a So You Think You Can Dance audition. I was so passionate. I was like ‘God this is going to be a big chance for me. This could be my breakthrough’. Then I went in there and they told me that I couldn’t dance. They were like ‘You’re awful.’ and these were not even the [ judges] you see on the TV screen. They were like ‘You’re terrible. Stop dancing’. I cried. I cried my heart out. I told myself I would never dance again.” She took it as a reality check that she should probably just listen to her parents and go become a pharmacist. *Bloop! Buzzkill.* VA: “I’m so serious. That was a safe job I was going to look into. I’m like I’m getting older now. This is probably the best route”. CW: “We are looking at you right now like we don’t even know who you are!” 22

VA: “I literally morphed into a completely different person. I shut myself off. These are people in the big leagues and they’re telling me that this is not for me. So I got a regular job, started to fill out apps to go to school and I stopped dancing.”

really about me going on my path and encouraging people along the way.”

Vee said people would keep asking her to collaborate and dance but she would refuse. For two years she shut that part of herself off and went under the radar. She, of course, was never truly satisfied. How could she be? She had stripped something from her soul and had left it for dead. It was not until someone had pressed her so hard to do a dance gig, where she begrudgingly said yes, that she fell back in love with her gifts.

One thing that Vee wanted to remind us is that having a purpose can also become tainted. Where we started off this interview speaking so highly of Vee, it is not because she is without flaw, it is because her self reflection keeps her grounded and she was willing to share it with us.

VA: “It was getting back in the grove of rehearsals and things, where I had to ask myself, why did I stop doing this? I was so depressed. I was in a relationship [that didn’t work]. I was going to a nine to five. That was probably one of my darkest times. The lowest of my lows. So me going and giving it a shot changed my mind . . . I was like, I don’t care if I just do it as a hobby or professionally . . . this is something I love to do. This is it.” That’s rough. But it just goes to show that we all have moments of doubt. There will always be naysayers and those who don’t believe in you. But being realistic doesn’t have to compromise your happiness. Dancing is a part of Vee’s spirit and without it she is incomplete.

“I don’t want to spend my life wondering what could have been. I want to be happy!” Of course here at CopyWrite, we believe that a big part of being happy has a lot to do with how you fulfill your purpose in society and within your community. We asked Vee what that means to her, and here is what she had to say: VA: “I actually just had this conversation with myself a couple of weeks ago . . . I really feel like my purpose here is to send messages. Whether that’s being yourself, confidence, pushing others’ crafts, encouraging people to not give up . . . I really feel like my purpose is to encourage people to keep going. I feel like it is the reason why I was a late bloomer in the process. There is a reason why I have always felt like I was being delayed. It was not me really being delayed but it was

“Remain genuine through the process.”

VA: “Why am I doing this? I had to take a step back. When I started changing my craft to be big, to be famous . . . which is great for some people. But for me and my perspective, I found myself trying to do it thinking I needed validation from others. I thought I needed to be famous and make a lot of money from this. When I do that, I become miserable with my craft. I start not to enjoy it how I used to. At times I find myself being envious of others. The love that started from it becomes warped. I have to pull myself back and ask myself why I feel that way. Why do I feel some type of way about somebody else’s accomplishments? What is really going on with you internally that you are not coming from a genuine place? . . . Sometimes I have to stop creating until I know it’s coming from a genuine place. If it’s not coming from a sincere place I’m not going to put that out.” Being conscious of her purpose, her craft, her energy, meditating to find her balance, and applying it with healthy strategy, is Vee’s power. We think as creatives, it’s refreshing to have that humanism that sometimes we leave out the story because it doesn’t compliment our image. Not realizing that it’s exactly what makes us who we are and worth a second look. CW: “So what’s next for Vee?” VA: “You can definitely expect more collaborations. One thing I really want to do is collaborate with more women of color . . . I also have a lot more projects I have been working on. More modeling, shooting, and dance visuals I’m excited about . . . I’m just trying to create, get these visions out of my head and to the world.” & we know the world is ready. /CW 24

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Chillinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with interview w/ Rashad Nicks 26

the concept behind each one. For example, the “Friends” design released after he went through a big break up and he discovered who his true friends really are. The “Crenshaw” style is a homage to Nipsey Hussle (RIP), one of Rashad’s top ten favorite rappers of all time. The design was actually created right after the album dropped but now of course it means even more.

“We define comfort.” Chill Sweats is a brand that we have been peeping for a while. If you caught our hip-hop fashion show at 88nine circa 2017, you would have seen quite of few of their “new era” pieces hit the stage. With new styles of comfort on the way, Chill Sweats owner Rashad Nicks asked to hang with us and give us a closer look at what the brand is all about. RN: “Chill Sweats is a relax or loungewear . . . The concept came about from the idea of when you get off of work and come home the first thing you do, for guys you usually put on sweatpants or silkies. For ladies you’re usually grabbing your boyfriends sweatpants [guilty lol] or leggings. So that’s the idea, you throw those things on to chill.” So why not chill in style right? Though the first spark for an all “chill” brand came in 2009, the business has been in the works since 2013. Even though Rashad has been releasing his appeal in limited quantities (that’s that exclusivity, ooooh ahhhh, LOL) he has ten years worth of sketches and prototypes of designs. Annnnnnnnnnnnnd . . . unlike your average T-shirt brand, each design has a story. CW: “So you actually design this stuff out? You don’t just go on the websites and use the templates like everybody else? Tell us why you are not just a T-shirt brand?” (You know we had to ask). RN: “That’s exactly what I didn’t want to be. Here I brought a few things. Let me show y’all.” From out of nowhere, he pulled out a stack of merch. Hoodies, long sleeves, buttons, you name it. Some with lifted patches, others with custom markings. He picked up every piece nostalgically and told us

Rashad has always been into clothes. He remembers getting his first job and spending all his funds on looking fresh. Even though his parents would give him the push back for spending his money so frivolously, it was a part of his personal style to rock the brands that were comfortable but still gave that extra something, that spoke to him. Now he wants to provide that same type of aura, locally, and at a way more affordable cost. RN: “I have drawn a lot of inspiration from back when Akademiks was big, and people in the industry used to wear these big ol jogging suites. My older brother also used to always wear sweats so of course you know when you look up to somebody you kind of follow suit . . . It seems like as soon as I got old enough to make my own money and buy my own clothes, those brands like Akademiks and FUBU started to fade away . . . So instead of me going on eBay, paying two or three hundred for those looks, why not make my own?” More recently he has released some more (hmmm how should we put this?), more “elevated” concepts, like the “Earthworm” and “Greenhouse” hoodies he released on 4/20. RN: “It’s not just the different colors but it symbolizes just how my business has grown from the ground up . . . I actually hand treated these myself. Just like your favorite strain of cannabis, if you’re into certain things like that, you kind of have to do that same thing. You got to nurse it. You can’t just create it, put it out there and be like here you go. You actually have to grow it. These took probably about three days to do. And they’re all a little different.” Rashad also does all his printing and prep in-house right here in the 414 (#SupportTheLocal). He has a team that he bounces his ideas off of, but as a selftaught designer, he has learned to digitize, screen print, vinyl cut, and more to perfect the looks that have come to his head. This year Chill Sweats goal is to expand and grow. With that goal comes a lot of marketing and collaborations. One of those collabos will be a sneaker and hoodie design, partnering with kick customizer, Noel Alvarado (@noneabove_).

BRANDING

Sweats with the matching kicks? See now that’s what we like! RN: “We are trying to reach the same audience as some of these household names that everyone knows. We are trying to tap into what really works. It’s more about not just the product itself but the story behind it.” Another collaboration includes working with local artists to express graphic imagery with a twist on “Chill” sweaters & merch. But out of all the things what we are most excited about is the Chill Sweats Tour! This summer Rashad and his crew will be doing pop-ups around the city at a bunch of different parks where they will be hosting small basketball competitions to win free merch and bragging rights! What’s even cooler is the fact that they will be rolling in a Chill Sweats Ice Cream truck! YESSSSSSS, AN ICE CREAM TRUCK! So you can pull up, get your merch and a sweet treat to “chill” you out! (See that play on words? Are we corny? Nah, we’re “cool”! LOL . . . Okay, Okay! We’re done.) Of course, Rashad made sure we didn’t leave empty handed. CopyWrite was gifted with a “Rep Chill Still” button and sticker pack. Free merch is our favorite, but it’s the “Chillmatic” Collector Vinyl that really geeked us out. Like we said before, all of Chill Sweats merch has a story behind it and this rare additive is no different. Rashad is also a big fan of Nas, and he always thought that marketing behind the Illmatic album was genius. He claims that the baby picture method (also done by Biggie and Lil Wayne) is just a great way to tell the story. So to pay homage and add some creativity to the brand, he made his own. The “Chillmatic” hoodie and vinyl cover shows little Rashad with the high top, faded into a scene of Vincent, where he attended high school. On the back, is a picture of him and his high school friends in class, posted up chillin. (Ohhh how fitting). With the purchase of the vinyl or hoodie also comes access to a playlist that is inspired by those good old days. The playlist and project concept is dedicated to two of Rashad’s friends who passed away, Anthony and Morris. RN: “Music is forever as we all know. So I just kinda wanted to blend that all in. Music and fashion go hand in hand with one another.” CW: “So really for you it’s the concept. It’s beyond the clothes. But it’s the story and that’s really what you are selling. You want people to put on Chill Sweats and feel good about what it means.” RN: “Exactly! Even if you just own one Chill sweater it means something.” You can catch more Chill, new releases, and comfort with a story, at chillsweats.com and on Instagram @chillsweats. As always #Support The Local threads! /CW

For more chill follow @chillsweats

@chillsweats

www.chillsweats.com

SPAIDEZ -theENTERTAINER

Oscar Walton, aka Spaidez or King Spaidez, is picking up traction, quickly, in the Milwaukee music scene. You more than likely have seen him killing it at one of his shows at the Cactus Club, because they don’t call him the King of the Cactus Club for nothin’! His style is like no other and his confidence and personality speaks volumes, just like the effort he puts into his craft. We had the pleasure of interviewing him to find out what he’s all about…and why he has two stage names LOL OW: “The name Spaidez came from when I was in middle school, like 6th or 7th grade. I used to be battle rappin’ cats at school. I battle rapped this one dude and I was like, ‘I’ll take ya out the game like the Ace of Spades’ (or something like that). But I said if I win this battle, I’ll change my name to Spaidez. And I felt like I had to change my name to it because I won the battle.” That was in 2006. He added the ‘King’ in front of it around 2012. It’s the more aggressive side of rapping when he becomes King Spaidez. It’s when he’s talking his sh*t. The songwriting and melodic side is just Spaidez, where he is giving more of an extension of himself from the base.

respect. But having a daughter made me more aware of my role as a male and the power I hold as a male—how I can check my privilege and patriarchy. Having my daughter has helped me find that and develop that more to be more empathetic to women.” Women really made a positive impact on Spaidez’s life growing up. From his Mom to Aunties, cousins, and even teachers. He has had more positive interactions with female role models and women in general than with men. OW: “Of course I had my boys, you know, I got my guys I grew up with and I’ve done all that sh*t in the streets, but I’ve learned more negative things from men than women. That’s probably because growing up where I’m from, everybody that was influencing me that was a guy, was in the streets or otherwise. But all the women in my life were hard working, independent, took care of they sh*t, you know? And I observed all that.”

CW: “Which persona do you think you are more?” OW: “Well it’s always lit, I’m not gonna to lie hahaha. but I think I fit more into the Spaidez spectrum. I like the King Spaidez spectrum because, yeah, I like talking sh*t and I love boasting and bragging sometimes, but I like talking about stories. I have a lot of stories to talk about, with women I was raised by and different relationships. So, when I speak into those stories, I like that more because it’s giving more of myself.”

CW: “How did you allow the positive side you were exposed to overpower all the negative influences in your life, since you had both?” OW: “That’s something I ask myself all the time. I’m blessed to have that type of knowing. But I’ve always wondered how I’m able to have that understanding…I’ve gone out with my guys and seen them talk sh*t or treat women poorly and I’ll check them. I’ll be like, ‘bro don’t talk to her like that’. And they’ll be like ‘Man, you don’t even know her…’ and I’ll be like, ‘I know I don’t know her but she’s a person still’. Don’t treat her like she’s a piece of meat. Some of my friends tell me I’m soft but it ain’t that, you just gotta know how you’re affecting people.”

CW: “Okay okay, so Spaidez is for you to kinda reveal your life and express yourself?” OW: “Yeah, that’s when I get into my Drizzy Drake mode. My Take Care mode when he was in his feels LOL”

Y’all hear that? A young Black man teaching other Black men about boundaries and checking them when needed to be checked. That’s much needed today. #ProtectOurWomen

CW: “A lot of guys think it’s not cool to be vulnerable, but do you think it’s okay? Is Spaidez like your outlet for that?” OW: “Yeah I think it’s important. For one, I have a 3-yearold daughter and having her has made me more conscious of my feelings. Having a daughter will turn you into a little mushy person”. He laughed. “ But I’ve always thought being more open is key to relationships, whether that be friends or romantic relationships or coworkers and colleagues. Men suppress our feelings and we lock them in these boxes, and it makes it harder and harder for us to live a stress-free life without restrictions and restraints. And I think women appreciate it more too. Even being more open to hearing their feelings and being more of a listener than a talker.”

CW: “Right! You can’t have people like that around you. You have your own personal brand and your own personal image you have to stick to, and a lot of people don’t understand that.” OW: “Yeah and it’s like, with social media these days, your image is almost as strong as your word now. You can portray yourself as one way and then someone finds out you’re doing another.”

CW: “How were you before your daughter, since you said she changed you? Were you always more sensitive when it came to women?” OW: “In ways I was. Especially towards women, I’ve always appreciated and loved them wholeheartedly. I was raised by a single mom and a lot of aunties, so I saw the power of nurture and determination from women that I really

That’s one of the major reasons we picked him for this issue. His personal image speaks volumes on and off the digital screen. But that type of character always comes with a story... CW: “Where did you grow up?” OW: “4th and Keefe [in Milwaukee, WI]. All through 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Keefe, 5th and Ring, Palmer, a bit of Burleigh, just in that area. In the low-end numbers of the East Side, that’s where I’m from. I’m here to represent that because a lot of people don’t talk about this side of the city. The low numbers off MLK drive, it’s rough. It’s like Magnolia over there, but that’s where I grew up at.”

MUSICAL PERSONA

@ official_spaidez

CW: “How do you think that shaped you as a person growing up there in that area?” OW: “Damn near in every way. It’s a store called the Green Ring right there that’s like the center or the of the hood when you think about it. Like everybody goes there. I done seen everything from drug dealing to rap battles to people getting tattooed IN the liquor store.” (Well isn’t that quite the image?) CW: “Who were the male influences in your life growing up?” OW: “Outside of the streets and the people I looked up to on TV in music, I would say this dude named Joseph Stanley. He was one of my first bosses who hired me at Pathfinders when I was 15. But he was one of the first male role models in my life. He came to my parent teacher conferences. I remember he told me if I was messing up in school, my check would get deducted. And he gave me a lot of the professional skills that I needed to get to where I’m at today. He showed me different ways of eating…He’s a vegan. He showed me how to budget and how to save.” CW: “That was a good time he came into your life, at 15. It seems like it was a mix of his influence and your Mom that kept you on the straight and narrow.” OW: “Before I started there, the reason my mom had me going to these groups at Pathfinders was to get around more positive influences for youth. At the time I was getting into a lot of trouble in the streets doing gangbanging sh*t, thinking I’m tough. She said, ’Your ass gonna get locked up one day and I can’t have that.’ So she sent me there.”

Spaidez currently still works at Pathfinders as a case manager. Pathfinders is for homeless and runaway youth. Right now, he works with boys and girls ages 14-25 that have been in and out of the sex trafficking system. CW: “Wow, so you’ve seen a lot not just in the streets, but also at work. There’s a lot you’ll be able to teach your daughter about.” OW: “Oh yeah. In some ways I try to talk to my daughter as real as I can. I don’t try to sugar coat a lot of sh*t because the world ain’t sugar coated. You need to know these things, you know?” Now, let’s get to his music…Spaidez the Entertainer??? LOL CW: “In one of your songs you said you’re a more than average entertainer. What does that mean?” OW: “When I come to perform, I come to give a show. I think it’s important when people go to a show and they’re paying for a show, or if it’s free, either way, if they’re coming, they’re giving up their time to see you. They’re not just there to hear you rap. I like to talk in between my song and my sets. I like to go in the crowd and give a real performance. I’m expressive with it, I jump around. I get crowd control going because you have to have that connection. You gotta have eye contact with the crowd too. I hate when people be performing, and they be like” *does a bad mumbo jumbo performance impersonation—extremely unenthusiastic* “Why you looking down? I ain’t come here to see you being shy and all in your feelings, I want to see a show! When you go see a professional rapper or singer, you not gonna see them looking at the ground being shy. They not shy about y’all.” 32

CW: “I don’t know about that, the Migos always look a little low,” I quickly interjected and laughed. “I saw them at Summerfest and was dis-a-point-ted hahaha. But no, I see what you’re saying though.” But Spaidez even critiques some industry names for not being as live as they could be. He had the chance to open up for Playboi Carti at the Rave. When he watched Carti’s performance, he was like “Bruh, he barely rapping or anything. He just saying, WHAT, WHAT, YEAH!” CW: “On what, just trying to get everybody else to rap the song? All rappers be doing that now, just saying the last few words of each line.” OW: “Yeah and that’s cool that the people know your song but I ain’t pay to participate all the time. I paid to see you and for me to be wowed. That’s why everybody liked the Travis Scott show because its more than a show, you’re paying to see an experience. If I want to hear your songs and not get the experience, I can just go on my phone and listen to it.” CW: “Who are some artists you like because of their entertainment style?” OW: “Performance wise, um...Michael Jackson the GOAT, you know what I’m sayin’.” CW: “I see you did a little smirk before you said that, what’s up?! LOL” OW: “Yeah I had to say that because they out here tryna tear my boy Michael up in the goddamn news. But it’s cool though, it’s cool.” he continued to say with that same smirk. Also in Spaidez list are Sammy Davis Jr. (specifically performing Bojangles), Biggie (great crowd control), DMX, Prince, Chris Brown, the list goes on. He also watched a lot of rock bands, so he threw Ozzy Osbourne in there as well. Crazy variety! CW: “Other than MJ, these aren’t average artists other people pick all the time. Where do you think you picked them up from, like how did you know about them?” OW: “I’ve been a student of the game. I watched a lot of music performances and videos. Before the internet and YouTube, I would be on VH1 and they had documentaries and I would just watch, for hours. I was also a huge fan of wrestling growing up. Wrestling is very theatrical; the face tells everything. Their charisma too. My mind was always attracted to charismatic people.” (Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock are his favorite wrestlers. Funny story, one time Spaidez messed up his eyebrow as a kid trying to cut it like The Rock…SMH). CW: “When you were listening and watching those artists, how did your friends react? Did they think you were weird?” OW: “Oh yeah” CW: “But did you care?” OW: “No” CW: “Where did that confidence come from?” OW: “I had confidence instilled in me from a young age. Because a lot of people don’t know, I was born with a condition called

Eagle-Barrett (Prune-Belly) Syndrome.” Spaidez stomach is rounded, but that’s only because he was born without any abdominal muscles stretched. About one out of every 200,000 people are born with it. Without your stomach muscles, everything hangs to one side. Spaidez has had seven reconstruction surgeries, from the day he was born, up until around 7-years-old. OW: “My mom was like, ‘Just because you’ve got a couple scars on your stomach, don’t let nobody tell you this—they’re going to think you’re fat, but don’t let that discourage you. You’re still you. You’re still good’. So, when I went to school it was tough in the beginning, but I learned with personality, character, and if you take care of yourself, you’re good. And I was always a stylish and fashionable person, so that always helped me out. You only got one life to live so I don’t give a fuc* what people gonna say. Fuc* ‘em.” PERIODT. Okay?! *Z-snaps* CW: “So really, you owe your confidence to your Mom. Does she know how much she’s influenced you?” OW: “She does! She act like she don’t sometimes. But she knows how much I love her and I give her all the praise and glory on everything. My mom came to hella shows as I been coming up. Now she is a little sicker and she isn’t able to do it as much. I’ll tell you, she came to my birthday show in June, and I didn’t know she was coming. I’m midway through my set and my mom and her boyfriend and a couple of my cousins came in and it almost made me stop, but I had to keep going. But my Mom was so turnt up and she was so happy during my set that she ended up having a mild stroke at the show. We had to call the ambulance and everything. When they were getting her good and everything, she was talking sh*t and she was like, ‘I’m sorry y’all, but my boy just got me too turnt up and I was doing too much. I’m sorry y’all.’ She had to spend the night in the hospital.” CW: “Oh my gosh! That is a Rockstar story right there!” *Luckily she was okay* OW: “Yeah, so me and my mom, we go way back. She made me the Rockstar I am.” After a story like that…let’s get into these looks LOL because Spaidez definitely has a one of a kind style. CW: “You mentioned your fashion a little earlier, where does that come from?” OW: “I’ve always been into fashion and have always had my different looks. Right now my fashion sense is more Rockstar-Trap. I also like performing in stuff that can be seen. You know, in the summer I’ll have like a fur vest on, no shirt just fur vest, with some jeans, a nice cowboy belt going on, nah mean? I might have some snakeskins and some Chelsea’s just to be on some other sh*t. Or some days I might just be ripped up jeans, ripped up skinnies with some vans. Nice Levi jacket. Then I have my times where it’s all designer. I’ll have my MCM bag. Now I gotta get rid of my GUCCI sh*t. I’ve got some LV sh*t, some Versace sh*t. I’m starting to shop more with Black designers who’s bringing back that old 2000’s fashion. There were a lot of Black designers back then, right? You 34

had FUBU, Phat Farm, Baby Phat, etc. But I think what happened was, these white designers saw the Black communities was wearing our own sh*t, so mid 2000’s they start giving rappers free sh*t like LV and GUCCI. The rappers start buying it more and they revolutionized to more high-end fashion. That’s why Rocawear and stuff started to die out. So, I’m getting back to that more too but finding my own way to do it.” CW: “With your own personal style, how would you describe it?” OW: “Punk-rock splash (since everyone says drip nowadays). I like black but also in the summer I like to wear really colorful clothing. I have days where I’ll dress with a theme like 80’s, or 90’s. Get fun with it, I mix and match it up. One day I might look like the plug and another day I’ll look like some grungy bum, but it’s all gon’ look fly at the same time. Junky fresh haha.” Being in the game for some years now, CopyWrite have interviewed a great number of artists and we ask them what they love about Milwaukee and Milwaukee music. It’s always interesting to see each person’s different reasoning behind their answer… CW: “Why do you love Milwaukee music so much?” OW: “There’s so much talent here man. Milwaukee is like the gold mine of music right now. We have enough talent here to make our own music industry, if we got together and stuck together. You can get every slice of music here, from Americana to Rock/Punk bands, all kind of rappers like backpack rappers, battle rappers, emo rappers, dumper rappers, trap rappers. Then you have R&B singers and musicians. It’s something special about Milwaukee. I feel like we’re the underdogs in the industry. We’re not a big enough market city so we get counted out. We’re fighting for our respect.” CW: “What’s your favorite part about making music?” OW: “Seeing the people. How they enjoy it. Seeing them bob their heads and actually listen to the music is what I most enjoy about creating music. My least favorite part, to be honest, is the recording process. I’m not a bad recorder, I just don’t like the process. I want to hear my music now, how it is in my head. So my favorite part is getting my music out to the people and actually seeing what they think of it. And performing. I love performing. I told you, I love to put on a show. It’s a rush. Unless you’re a performer, it’s a feeling you can never really explain, like an adrenaline rush you can’t get from anywhere else other than doing what you love in front of people.” CW: “Do you like performing music more than making music?” OW: “Yes!” CW: “Why? Do you feel like it’s a deeper connection you can make with people?” OW: “Yes! It’s a powerful thing to be able to connect with multiple people off your own idea with your own mind’s creation. What made me think of that too, is going back to wrestling. When you think of pro wrestling, it’ll be 30,000 people in the crowd screaming their heads off, rocking the house, because of two dudes who are seemingly killing each other in the ring, right? And these fans know it’s not a real fight anymore, but it’s the effort and

the showmanship that’s going on in front of them. I heard, I think, Ric Flair say, ‘I just made 60,000 people believe I was just going to get killed’. Its power in that. The connection to get somebody invested into your work is a beautiful thing. That’s what I love about performing, to have people sing my songs or even scream a phrase back or scream my name...IDK narcissistically, it’s a powerful thing and feels good. I think all of us would love to be idolized. Even if they aren’t going for that. I’ve had people tell me before they were having suicidal ideations and they listened to my music and it stopped them from it. When I hear stuff like that, it makes me the happiest person in the world. It makes me want to create more and perform more.” (Y’all know I had to ask Spaidez how he felt once he found out wrestling was fake. He said he was in fact, a little disappointed LOL) CW: “What are some of your goals?” OW: “Short term, I want to crack a video to like 50-100,000 views, maybe 1 million views. I want to perform at a big stage at Summerfest. I want to perform at the Fiserv Forum. Spaidez wants to touch it all here in Milwaukee. I also want to go on tour. Next year I’m going to be at SXSW and do A3C, I’m going to do all that and go crazy.” Long term, Spaidez doesn’t care if he never gets mainstream big or rich, he just wants to be able to have a loyal fanbase and live comfortably off his craft. CW: “What’s your message?” OW: “My message is do you for you and no one else. In the long run I think everybody should be good people to each other. You should strive to be looked at in good light. But at the end of the day, the only person you really have, if you don’t have kids, is yourself. When you leave this Earth, it’s only gon’ be you and that casket. So you want to be able to say that you did everything in your power to be as happy as you possibly can. And not even looking at it with a monetary gain. Don’t worry about how much money you got in your pocket or your bank account at the time. Just worry about, Can I feed myself? Do I have shelter? Am I happy?” CW: “So…What’s next for Spaidez?” OW: “I’m currently just creating. I’m going to have a project ready in the summer. But right now, just spreading my brand, collaborating with different artists in the city. Shooting more videos off the #Juice album that I dropped in October. So be on the lookout for that. And of course, more shows, more shows, more shows. Always stay working.” With that, make sure you check out his music, check out his fresh fits, but more importantly, do yourself a favor and check out his shows! If you haven’t been to a Spaidez show, wus wrong witchuuuu?! LOL /Carrie for CW

von alexander:

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT Y’all, we did the impossible...We finally got Von Alexander to sit down with CopyWrite Magazine! Haha. I heard through the grapevine that this man has been ducking and dodging us for years, but it’s all love though (We guess LOL). So this is a special interview, not only because we thought it wouldn’t happen, but because he gave us some EXCLUSIVES. Check out the inside scoop on how he started rapping, his fashion inspirations, and why everyone thinks he’s so damn mysterious…*cues Sci-Fi music*

CW: “Alrightttt, Vonny…” VA: “Heyyy.” CW: “Who are you Vonny? Hahaha. And when I say that, I mean you’re always saying how people be like ‘aw, you’re so secretive’ and ‘don’t nobody know what you be on’, etc., etc. So who are you, Vonny?” VA: (He started with a laugh) “I ain’t nobody special. I be chilling. I be relaxing and enjoying time by myself, that’s what I do. I don’t go out the house unless it’s an event I’m interested in going to. Like even for the beat battle I went to yesterday, people were surprised like, “I don’t ever see you.” CW: “Why do you like to be alone so much?” VA: “I like spending time with myself because it gives me time to clear my head and get my thoughts together. Figure out things and plan, strategize on what I want to do next and where I’m headed. Sometimes you just need peace and I like that aspect of it.” CW: “You know, It’s funny that you say all this about yourself about liking to be alone, but you’re always on social media. How do you use social media to your advantage as far as your music?” VA: “I try to make all my posts somewhat engaging. Sometimes people don’t wanna see you just as an artist, they wanna see you as ‘you’ and doing ‘you’ things. Sometimes you gotta let people in to vibe with you as a person so they can really see what’s going on behind the scenes. Lately I’ve been recording videos of studio sessions, song snippets and trying to get more engagement going. And with social media, it’s easier to just leave your art to the world.” CW: “But it’s crazy at the same time because like you said, it’s cool to show people you but they still don’t know who you are. They still think you’re very secretive, so why do you think that is?

What are the ways you attempt to letting people in to know who you are?” VA: “I don’t wanna give everybody everything and that’s why most of it goes into the music. Maybe I’m going through something and if I’m not expressing it out loud for the public, it’s going to be in the music.” CW: “It seems like you do the music more so just for you as your own outlet of expression. Is that true?” VA: “Yeah, because I want my music to be my own and for it to be my own it has to come from me. If art is supposed to be of expression, then why not express yourself? That’s how I look at it. And all my music for the last few years has just been whatever I think about, whatever I feel, if somebody relate to it, that’s dope. But I also try to put things in there like, advice almost. Some songs I’m saying things where at the end of the day, I’m giving myself advice. But, due to the fact that I know this is going to be public, and out there for others to hear, here’s a little motivation for you too, you know?” CW: “Right. It seems like you have to live more to go through experiences to talk about” VA: “That’s a big aspect of it too—having experiences. If you don’t have experiences what are you going to talk about? Yeah there’s imagination, but everybody wants an experience when it comes to music. Music is a feeling, it’s an emotion, it’s an experience within itself. There are some artists who do just say the same things in all their music and yeah they have a fan base, but they’re not the artists that’s going to be known to be great or have the longevity that I’m looking for myself. I’m somebody that wants to be known at a certain level with my art. Like J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar, these are guys who live their lives and experience things and have stories to tell and make sure their stories aren’t just their stories but connect with other people.”

“You gotta take the life that you experience, put it into a sound and then let other people experience that.” CW: “Is that how you feel you set yourself apart from other Milwaukee artists? Or would you even consider yourself a Milwaukee artist?” VA: “I mean, I’m a Milwaukee artist just from the simple fact that I’m here and I live here but in my opinion, I’m just an artist. I feel like people try to use Milwaukee as a term to box in artists and that’s not good.” CW: “Box them in how?” VA: “I feel like when you say Milwaukee rapper or Milwaukee artist to certain people, or when certain people say those terms, it’s like they’re boxing them in as to where this is all they got and this is all they’re gonna be here and they’re gonna always be here. Sometimes somebody will ask me have I heard of so-and-so and I’ll be like, ‘who is that?’, ‘oh just some lil’ Milwaukee rapper’, and that’s kinda demeaning to that person. But when you’re local, I guess that’s how the locals look at it.” CW: “How do you make sure that you’re not boxed in to that?” VA: “By making music that’s not boxed in itself. Being as creative as I can and as influential as myself as I can. I try to think outside the box. As long as my music isn’t like anybody else’s and it’s coming from me, sounds like me, people can hear my voice and know that it’s me, it’s original, authentic, I think that’ll set any artist apart. Because it’s like who are you compared to?” CW: “When did you realize you wanted to do music?” VA: “I’ve always been practicing raps since middle school, but I started recording in my cousins closet my sophomore year of high school. My cousin had an in-home studio, it wasn’t the best but I worked with it. That’s when I started tapping into the music we

had here. I started following them on FB, then I started recording lil’ demos/one verse songs and sending them, inboxing people my music on a download link. When people started gravitating to it, I was like ‘Oh, so I can actually do this?’ Yeah the quality was terrible, but people were still like yeah, you’re actually pretty good bro all you need to do is get in the studio. Once I saw that people actually enjoyed it, people who soon would become my peers, guys who didn’t know me at all, I’m sending them my music because they’re more known than I am and they’re artists here. Once I got the notoriety from them, I just built the confidence to just do it. I did my first feature when I was just 16 and they came and got me from my cousin house where I was recording and we went to an actual studio and in the middle of my verse, the engineer who was recording me was Sharrod Sloans, also known as Pizzle, he stopped me and asked, “how old are you? And I said 16 and he was like, ‘Alright. Yeah man, you should keep going with this. You’re pretty good at your age’”. So Von didn’t stop. CW: “What made you start rapping in middle school?” VA: “I had been doing poetry for a long time. I started writing poetry in third grade. Then that came from me playing around in class with friends, rapping at the table, making beats and rapping stuff that I wrote in my notebook as poems and it transcended to a point where I was like alright let’s not write poetry no more, let’s just turn everything we write into raps.” CW: “What do you think drew you to want to do poetry? Because something could’ve drew you to do basketball or something, you know?” VA: “Someone telling me I was good at it. Literally all it took. We were learning poetry in third grade and the teacher was teaching us how to rhyme words and stuff like that. The assignment was, we had to create a poetry presentation. She gave me a poem to 40

write about signs like stop signs, arrows, stuff like that. When I did my presentation, I turned it in and apparently it was one of the best things in the grade. They ended up asking me to perform my poem in front of both of our classrooms. After that the teacher said I should really stick to writing poetry” I started making jokes about him feeling like tough sh*t after that presentation haha. Everyone at school geeked his head up. He probably got two fruit cups from the lunch lady that day and said “Bet! I’m gonna keep doing this!” VA: “Hahaha naw forreal though, as a kid you don’t know what you gon’ do in life so when someone tells you you’re good at something, you gon’ see what it is.” CW: “How would you describe your music? I know you probably get asked that a lot.” VA: “And I’ve never been able to answer that question. I could say I feel like I’m an experimental Hip-Hop artist. I just experiment with sounds, especially when it comes to instrumentals and beats. If you listen to all my beats, they’re all different in their own way. One beat might be weird and start off funny and you might not know where it’s going but once the song gets a groove, it makes sense. I don’t stick to one sound or style. I try to create a different way of doing it every time I do it.” CW: “How does your music reflect your own personal style?” VA: “Because I’m weird hahaha, I’m just weird.” CW: “LOL how are you weird, Vonny?” VA: “IDK, I just got my own personality…” CW: “But having your own personality means you’re weird?!” VA: “To some people it may be weird...the things you do, you know what I’m sayin? Aight, I’m about to tell you weird stories about myself. When I was little I used to eat hot dogs, right, I’d take the hot dog off the bun and have the bun full of ketchup eat the bread and ketchup, then eat the hot dog by itself. That’s weird. That’s not a normal way of eating a hot dog.” CW: “You’re just different, not weird LOL” VA: “Yeah, I guess I just dare to be different. There it go! That’s what you’re looking for. I dare to be different. When it comes to my music, I dare to try new things that I feel like aren’t being tried but still staying true to what I like.” CW: “How would you say your fashion sense is different from everyone else?” VA: “I try to incorporate things that I like into it just specific little details. I still like the styles that were going on in high school. Like in 2012 wearing Retro Jordan 1’s and I still like the first Virgil Abloh shirts. I like mixing a bunch of things up. I have a thing where if it looks right, it looks right. I like highend fashion too. I like wearing Yohji Yamamoto Y-3 shoes. I like Raf Simons. Colors interest me the most when I buy shoes.” At this point, I knew Vonny was about to give us a deeeep insight on his fashion inspirations. VA: “So when it comes to my fashion sense, as me being a rapper I like to look at other artists and how they dress. Big inspirations started off from watching Kanye early on when I was in middle school and seeing how he dressed. He was always a person who dared to be different with his style. When everyone was wearing jerseys and big shirts, my mans came in with a pink polo and a LV backpack. A lot of people criticized him for how he dressed. I looked at him like he was fly, and in 6th grade I bought my first pink polo and was wearing Ralph Lauren and Levis. When everyone was wearing baggy jeans in school, I was wearing bootcut jeans with polos hahaha, from 6th to 8th grade. Me wanting the bootcut jeans came from that era when Lil’ Wayne linked up with the Diplomats and that’s what they were wearing, bootcut jeans with wallet chains. So I mixed both of those looks together and made it my own. In highschool I was into skateboarding at the time and was incorporating Nike SB Dunks and I was literally just falling into different cultures of fashion.” CW: “That pulls back to your music too though because earlier you said you were inspired by Lupe Fiasco.” VA: “Yeah, and if you go back to listen to all his old music, a lot of the brands that people rap about now, he was rapping about 10 years ago. People walking around with Goyard bags and Yohji Yamamoto...those were things I first heard on his song ‘Gold Watch’ or his album The Cool. He just 42

would talk about what he liked to wear. That’s when I first started looking at blogs because around 2008 Kanye had his own website called Kanye University and he was always posting his favorite fashion things and artists he thought was fly for people to look at. That built up my sense for it more. I was on Hypebeast everyday. When I would do my music blog checks, I was doing fashion blog checks at the exact same time. Being on Hypebeast showed me different brands and that’s when I tapped in to more so the underground, what people consider streetwear, I like to call it high-end streetwear. I was inspired by Pharrell and he’s wearing Bape, BBC, Ice Cream but he’s matching it up in his own way.” Vonny is looking to step into that world at some point and do things for himself. He couldn’t give me too many details on it, but just know, merch is a definite possibility. CW: “Why do you want to do merch?” VA: “I want to have clothes that represents my music well” CW: “What is your main goal?” VA: “To be able to live comfortably off of doing what I love to do. I ain’t gotta be some overly rich millionaire, I don’t gotta be the #1 artist, I ain’t gotta be known as the greatest of all time. I just wanna be able to do my music, know that people love my music and be able to feed my family and friends off that music.” CW: “But WHY do you love to do music though?” VA: “Because of the opportunity it gives to young Black men.” CW: “You can have any job in the world that will give you the money to support your family and give you opportunities, so why rapping? Why did you choose music?” VA: “Because that’s what I’m most passionate about” CW: “But WHY is it your passion? What do you love about music?” (at this point I questioned myself, like am I not asking the question right? LOLl). VA: “Oh! The reason why I’m passionate about music is because I’m not someone that’s openly expressive about everything I do and feel, so I take the time to put that in my music. Hitting back to what we were talking about earlier, yeah I may be on social media and post here and there but at the end of the day, the things people don’t know about me, they get to learn through my music. I write when I’m alone at times or sometimes I get vibes where I feel like writing or I have things to get off my chest. It’s a release for me. That’s where the passion comes from. Because I can’t do that in no other way. That’s why if I can live my life comfortably and be able to support people and become successful at it, that’s a big bonus for me.” In closing, you know how we do. Always trying to make sure the messages of the #local are being spread! CW: “What’s your message, Vonny?” VA: “Ball on these Niggas…” He laughed sarcastically. “Naw but the message I want people to get from me is to not let life get in control of what you desire to do with yourself. Always keep that drive and focus going no matter what’s going on around you because at the end of the day, if you’re willing to let something stop you, you’re not really meant to do what you’re supposed to be doing or what you thought you were supposed to be doing. And you’re taking yourself away from what you could be doing...your purpose in this world. There you go.” Shoutout to Von Alexander for finally chatting with us. Now, I challenge you all to dare to be different! /Carrie for CW

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modern mystic SHOT BY SEAN CHRIS

For our Fashion & Style issue, we are serving up Spring with slight glam, mixed personality, pops of color, drama and prints. These local looks from Basia Rose Designs, Moda Muñeca, and BluEclipse Fashion are meant to give a whole new interpretation to what “our” Urban allure means. Collaboration with Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum for our fashion playground. 46

paul milner

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photos by Muthahen

CATCHING UP WITH

Ms.

LotusFahnk Check out the interview at http://copywritemag.com/in-the-local https://youtu.be/lYJElkMHUng Blog: http://www.lotusfankh.com/blog

“

I really started to go through a process. That’s with all creation. It’s a process of digging deeper . . . it’s me re-living these thoughts & past experience that brought me to where I am today.”

Ms. Lotus Fankh sat down with our Editor-in-Chief Lexi for an exclusive video interview about all of her new projects, including a blog about her weight loss journey LOST, her debut play Lost in Home, and her next musical project “Alignment(s)”. Her journey is insightful, with splashes of humility, that take the sting out of the harsh reality we call life. With layered interpretations of self and an ever-growing catalogue of ways to express herself, Ms. Lotus Fankh has something for all of us. 64

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