UR: What do you do and how do you do it? AU: I make music that transcends the norm. I give you bits & pieces of experiences that collectively aim for the brain. How do I do it? I’m selftaught with over seven different instruments and I produce. I combine those abilities and create a sound that I consider to be from a different family tree or lineage—if that makes sense... UR: Care to elaborate a little bit? AU: Ok, when I hear rock and hip-hop together, there’s normality to the way that you predict it to sound. When most people think of a combination between rock and hip-hop, they think of Linkin Park, but I think of Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine. As far as my presentation goes, I’m giving the listener a different element of hip-hop and a different element of rock combined with electro sounds. I’m taking different aspects from each genre that people usually don’t, or in my opinion, are afraid
to mess with because it’s not normal, or they’re not familiar with... It’s like a different route to get from point A to point B— some are afraid of getting lost down the road, whereas I’m a risk taker. UR: Who and what are your influences? AU: Everything that I make musically, whether it’s the tracks or the lyrics, is a reflection of real life situations written for real people (girls, parties, death, violence, love, respect). Musically, I’m inspired by a lot of older R&B artists like Sam Cooke, The Four Tops and The Jackson Five. UR: I heard that your name is an Acronym can explain that? AU: AUDIO means: Always Under Dire Intellectual Observation. I chose this as my stage name because I personally believe that at any moment, there’ll always be someone who’s more than willing to challenge your intelligence as a human being. I’m not saying I’m like Einstein—it’s just good to be conscious of things that surround your daily life. UR: Obviously, through the media, people have
an idea of what the lifestyle’s like for a performing artist, but behind the scenes there’s a whole lot more that goes on. Could you give us a few examples of the work you do as a performing artist... AU: Being a performing artist is like selling yourself. Getting press, selling tickets, performing live and writing records all revolve around being in the public eye. So never half-ass anything—put in work and you will receive positive results. UR: For artists who’re trying to learn about the industry, what’s your label situation like and how’re your relationships with other people in the industry? AU: I’m currently signed with an independent label based out of San Francisco called Reapandsow Music, through Sony Distribution. Before signing the contract, I developed relationships with people at my label—so as a unit, we’re definitely on good terms. In my personal opinion, it’s always a good idea to build long-lasting relationships with people because sometimes it’s about who you know, rather than
what you know. Overall, you can’t go through life burning people because sooner or later there won’t be anyone left to burn. UR: What type of impact are you trying to make with your music? AU: I hope to inspire people to realize that the their future’s in the palm of their hands. I don’t preach to my fans because I’m not a perfect person, but I’d like to show people the reality in front of them from a different perspective. As far as music goes, I want to inspire more creative writing, poetic albums and real instrumentation—the whole nine! UR: Outside of music and performing, what else are you involved in that helps show the public that you’re more diverse than the typical artist? AU: I’m actively involved in supporting Wyclef’s yele.org, which helps provide relief towards the disasters in Haiti. All of my past and present proceeds through iTunes from my Throwback EP are going directly to yele.org. UR: What do you feel’s cheating the hip-hop game?
AU: I personally think that it’s lacking in a lot of areas. First of all, I grew up on hip-hop like NWA, Run DMC, Tupac and 213. Growing up on hip-hop like that has allowed me see the culture develop and change over the years. In my opinion, there’s far more room to grow. Rather than hip-hop being limited to ideas like you have to freestyle, have to bang or have to have tracks that sound like this or that—we should be focusing on developing a new culture like we did with jazz, blues and rock & roll. Why can’t we create something for this generation? I see a lot of people now trying to revert back to golden age hip-hop. That’s dope, but I’m not on it because I’m on my George Washington Carver—I’m here to invent something. UR: What do you feel is cheating rock music? AU: I see the same situation. People are trying to fit this standard and, excuse my French, fuck a standard. None of the greatest musicians would’ve been who they’re today if they would have stuck to some
whack-ass format. They were innovative—period. UR: You just released You Don’t Know Me on February 14th, how was this album conceived? AU: Through a lot of arguments, break-ups, get-togethers, parties, different jobs, collaborations, an assassination attempt and hours upon hours of Pro Tools sessions in the studio. The main track “You Don’t Know Me” was conceived while I was working at a sandwich company. A girl I know—I can’t name any names—decided to go off on a tangent about how she believed that all Mexican people cut grass. I was fed-up with hearing ignorant remarks from ignorant people. So I wrote a song about how I felt based upon the things that I know about people. After finishing the song and the music video for it, I released it as the first single off that record. All said and done, I conceptualized the album around the idea that you’ll never know anyone until you sit down and have a conversation with them. Which is common sense— and if that is common sense, then how much of
AU Ba : It’s UR nd cam been : How it d o g i p. AU UR: I’m reat s the we a I : get —I r res s pe tim Prob f you o p tin ele et ab cou ase onse ple r g l o f n y ea ro ld d u f r ini tia eleas the a cha m th mer it as rom lly h o th lly n m a e a e ha the oun ge on blog us do free e pu ve? do r t w ver ecor of tr ce th s acr nlo dow blic t AU n ad ack ing oss thi d, I Kn : It s a load hus f t p a w r s o h r b n ty a cou w M as tra obab that out e Int d I’m via M r? ple e”, abo UR t e I l c h y r y in ks u if I g : I ma wou clud e reco net. ettin Spac wa of gu was t a m Give ld to d g a e an y e m o r s o lot d no buy Aud s tha n a d nth a e a s four e for hav d on d wh e thi i t t t t t lov ng a rec o. I s I did ate w fter a ory a een. he a put he al at wo e lbu ou a o to t twbum. uld i sel rd, I id ye n’t k alkin relea bout m , bu t n l. B a I g h y s AU t st o dis f I ha be? ut adn’ h and ow a thro ed th ou a : A UR: n n on t d uc cs, u e seq new Wh k w be mor the relea they d ha gh t sing d a fa ith caus e bri sed said d ne he m le & n... ne uenc EP— at pr v w g on e I e t o a tha er ht be he ll w vide EP . Sh Slee ject ly s s e T t e i x o o en hro th de, he ecu tha ut- p To s an Yo f o e n in uc t r I y w o d an tive p ’s com ut to This eve wor was bac wer my I wa “You nt ki fi gla k E e fa life s st 1 r D i op Don Po dt .T ns the nd an oduc ng o re A , whi s can ng. ’ p h o u n a i ch li rea y o n p t see iTu nd ey a ed b t lau the g my this (don is a eopl t y s tha ne h k e s r dio r in ne ’ t m s ye ey w ed m I xt umm t slee ecor expe , or fo y m t—s ant e htt on m albu er. S p on d wi ct fr e o a d r th m o ke I ha p:/ h t tin d /w y wh . Th out- his d a co m yo gw ou u ww ere e R n u c d i n‘ ep e) as .tw abo ock t to itt uts in’ R vxv —I’m t aro 10? er. u D com via h oots EDv prod nd d /th ttp: fest xv, ucin ream ere //w iva he’ g ala ww l on s go his ud n io. .mys June na p Th an ace.c 5th. ks om . /
How To Make An Etch Bath Mop This one’s a pretty simple DIY, but the overall effect can be pretty fuckin’ profound if placed in the right hands. First get your hands on a couple o’ shoe polishes—I prefer the Kiwi Sport Whitener for its 4oz size instead of the usual 2.5oz’ers. These can be found at pretty much any neighborhood pharmacy.
Next comes the challenging part, or at least here in Ca. Etch Bath, for the most part, has pulled off the shelves and locked away. So getting some can prove to be a pain in the ass. You might want to try your local Michael’s Arts & Crafts, but good luck. Maybe you could luck out at a hardware store... I dunno. Anyhow, you can easily purchase some online by Googling that shit—just be prepared to spend a quick dub. Now that you’ve gathered the needed materials, start by thoroughly cleaning out your shoe polish container. I’ve found it pretty easy to pour out whatever polishes into another container for later use, or simply into the toilet. Make sure you rinse out the polish container a few more times. Next, shake the shit out of the Etch Bath. This is important, that shit needs to be mixed well for the maximum effect. Then, carefully pour the Etch Bath into the mop and fuck yeah! BTW, make sure you go through that mop quick—the Etch Bath will start to separate quickly and this can affect the flow of your mop. Now that you know, go cause some John-Claude Van Damage!!!
How To Fuck With Someone’s Computer This is a good quick prank to get someone with if they’ve got a lil’ payback coming their way for their recent behavior or something like that. Or maybe you just want to be a dick and start some problems—that’s cool. If executed correctly this lil’ guy could have ‘em clicking for hours with no real actual damage done to their computer whatsoever. Sound cool? I thought so... First, get to your victims computer when they’re not around and shut all open windows and applications. Then, move the cursor off of the screen and press the print screen button (it should just above the backspace button) or shift+command+3 for Mac. Now, open up Photoshop, Paint or something along those lines and create a new file and paste your recently copied print screen therein. Go ahead and save that new fake background as a jpeg on the desktop for later use. You with me? I hope so. Now here comes the fun part, head on over to that fake background jpeg we just made and set it up as a desktop background by right clicking on it and choosing just that option. Next, right click anywhere on the desktop and uncheck the show desktop icons option under the view options—yeah buddy! If you really want to fuck with ‘em go ahead and hide the toolbar too. Now, they’ll have what appears to be their regular desktop but with no basic functionality—frustrating as all hell with no real damage done. Great for parents!
When husband and wife design team, Paul and Esther, saw that the market was wide open for club attire, they put their heads and decided to take initiative. That’s how in ‘05— fresh outta LA—Paulyesther was born. This alluring line’s focused around offering women high quality creative apparel, while maintaining affordability. With sexy edgy and classic silhouettes in an array of bold colors, Paulyesther promises to have something special for every woman who’s looking to stand out and feel terrific.
what I’m saying!? UR: How’ve your shows been going? UR: How’re you Flu-vi? FD: I’m not where I want FD: Pretty good—I’m just to be, but I’m building my maxing and relaxing. I’ve momentum. been working on clearing UR: When can we expect my thoughts and getting your new project GAS ready for the new cycle Vapors to drop? of life that’s in front of FD: Summer ‘10. us all. I’m trying to come UR: What’s cracking with meditative, yet still hype GAS Crew? with my songs that I’m FD: Underground grafcurrently working on. fiti at its finest. We’re UR: How long have you all universal multimedia been rapping? artists. We represent FD: Damn. I remember graffiti, rapping, and beat writing verses when I making. Yeah, you know was in the third grade— those cats be out there just messing around. That doing their thing. You led to a lot of freestyling can expect a GAS Crew with my brother. Yep, project coming in late ‘10. I’d have to say about fitUR: How did you come up tleeny years now. with your name Flued? UR: What is hip-hop to FD: When I was just a you? young cat I’d always seen FD: Hip-hop to me is my style as being liquidy, life—a culture and spirifluidy and drippy. I also tual type of thinking—an liked to spit a lot—I think electric force that comes I might have some sort from the body and manof salivation problem. So ifests itself through an I stated writing Flued. I artistic display. Whether like it with an “e”. Flued. it’s breakdancing, visions UR: Have you been from the mind projected painting? onto a wall with paint, FD: Not as much as I the lyrical verbal display, would like, but you can poetry, experimentation expect some new work with music or skatesoon. boarding—it’s all hip-hop. UR: Are you planning any Hip-hop is an evolutionupcoming art shows? ary type of style, know FD: Yeah, I’m trying to
get something together for December to coincide with the upcoming GAS Crew project. UR: Are you feeling current hip-hop? FD: I can say that hip-hop is my life—I live it the way that I do. I try not to get caught up in the politics, or who’s doing this and that. I just try to flow in my own realm and do my own thing, regardless. I also try to be an example for those who’re up and coming. UR: What kind of impact would you hope to cause with listeners through your music? FD: An all around electric hype type feeling through my meditative lyrical display. You know, hiphop represents the struggle and I’m just trying to help people understand my point of view. I want you to just have a good hype feeling and gig with your old lady—freak her from the back, nod your head and have fun. UR: What feeling do you get while performing? FD: A natural state of relaxation combined with bursts of energy from the music—it’s a great feeling! UR: What motivates you to create?
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UR: Player! What the fuck is happening? RA: A whole lot. I’m so scatterbrained that having like two or three things on my to-do list seems like a lot—so a whole lot is happening. I’m thinking about washing some clothes at my mom’s house, gettin’ ready for a couple o’ shows and my dog diarrhea’d all over the carpet this morning. UR: What do you do? RA: I think my job title should be “boredom fighter”, because that’s what I feel I do all day, fight boredom. I’ve been drawing my whole life and as I got older and out of school, I figured this is the only thing I know how to do. So now I draw, illustrate, paint murals, design shit, screen-print, put together art shows and make stuff. That should be my second job title, “stuff maker”. Art is all I’ve got— so either it’s make art, or hold a sign, dance around and dress like the Statue of Liberty on Blackstone Avenue. UR: How often are you painting? RA: Shit, I haven’t been
painting any personal stuff at all lately. I didn’t really have a place to live for about half a year, making it really difficult to set up a painting area. So I’ve been strictly a drawer for that entire time. I live my life like Bon Jovi says, “Where I rest my head, is my home for the night.” I was living in and out of sketchbooks, plus paper is much easier to transfer and carry. Other than that, I paint whenever a mural comes up—so I guess I paint whenever I’m doing a mural. UR: You had a street named after you, how did that come about? RA: It was actually named after my great-grandfather, who was gunned down in a famous duel with the local sheriff at the time, somewhere between Amador and Broadway. He was a bank robber who swore they wouldn’t take him in alive—and they didn’t. UR: What shows do you have coming up? RA: I just got back from a show in LA that Timber curated/put together. It was a graf show where I hung my artwork and I got more dirty looks than compliments. It was a good time though, and Timber’s
a childhood friend, which was pretty funny, we thought, anyway—about how things turned out. We drew Ninja Turtles together as kids and years later we’re throwing art shows and inviting each other to be a part of ‘em. Other than that, I’m currently getting ready for a show in Venice at CAVE Gallery with ex-Fresnans Jason Graham, Josh Wigger and Eatcho. It’s up through April. Also, in May I’m doing a show at Pancho Villa in the Mission in San Fran that I’m really pumped about—their tofu ranchero burritos are the bee’s knees. I also have some drawings currently up at Iron Bird Cafe. UR: You’ve got it cracking over at Iron Bird Cafe, what’s coming up? RA: I’m getting ready to paint all the hallways in that asylum-looking place. I work closely with Reza Assemi and that’s his new project. He asked me to do whatever I want to get the hallways lookin’ fresh. Should be a fun time. I have no idea what I’m gonna do—I’m just gonna show up with a buncha paint and energy drinks and go to town. UR: Tell us about your mural painting process...
RA: I wish I had a real process. My murals usually end up going like this: someone asks me to paint a mural, I say okay and ask for a bunch of money. I blow the money on new clothes, fresh Nikes, drugs, booze and taking my girl out to dinner. Then, after the money’s all gone and the party’s over, I decide the time is right and I start painting. UR: How do you go about painting a hundred and fifty foot mural? RA: You’re talking about the mural on Broadway and Calaveras. I went into that mural super-cocky, thinking it’d be no big thing—I’d paint it at lightning speed and then kick back and live off the money for a bit. It didn’t go like that at all. Nothing went as planned and I didn’t realize I needed at least twice as much as I had originally gotten for the budget in order to paint the wall properly. My back gave out, my hands were engulfed in calluses and I did the mural in the middle of the summer. So I was painting only at night. I saw so much weird shit go down in the middle of the night in downtown Fresno—I swear that place is haunted. I was only eat-
ing Taco Bell and drinking energy drinks at the time, my eyeballs sunk even deeper into my head and I never slept right. The money ran out a little before the mural was finished—so I started digging into my own pockets for funds. All in all, the mural was done in two and a half weeks, from start to finish. Plus, I blame that mural for the deterioration of my relationship with my girlfriend at the time. UR: How did you get involved over at Nihon Gallery? RA: Death threats... Just kidding. I’ve known Andrew Lee for a while, and he, along with Chris Portugal, opened up the gallery in September of ’09. He asked for my input on a few shows and any advice I had on how to throw successful art shows. I was asked to curate a few shows after that. The first show I put together was with Jason Graham and myself, it was a ridiculous success and it’s been snowballing ever since. UR: When’s your next zine going to drop? RA: I’ve been making zines since I was a wee lad of fitteleeny. I’d show up at Kinko’s with porno collages and stupid drawings
and put together these dumb little books where the edges all bled off and they were stapled all crooked and what not. But I was really into it and I kept at it and almost eleven years later, I’m still at it. I put out a zine, which is pretty much a self-published mini-magazine (hence the word zine), just about every quarter of the year. I was recently part of a zine show in Germany and had some of my own creations featured in it. UR: What’s it like doing the Broadway Studios thing? RA: [sighs] I’ve been an OG Broadway member from the get-go. I left for a while because I had a studio at the house I shared with my girlfriend. Then, I broke up with my girlfriend and didn’t have a place to live. So I moved back into Broadway and slept under a table, showered in a sink and ate lunch wherever I could. That was three years ago. Now, I live in a garage and I sleep on a mattress my parents gave me when they got a new bed. I went from ashy to classy player! UR: Have you ever lost any friendships over social networking websites? RA: Social networking
sites are a gigantic inside joke to me—I just can’t help writing people dumb shit and bothering folks. It makes things too easy for assholes and creeps, both of which I minor in. I’ve lost digital-friendships with people because of the dumb things that I think are funny. I don’t want to name any names or put anyone on blast, they might read this interview and I’m really a nice guy in real life. UR: How much time do you spend lurking on the Internet a day? RA: I’m a notorious Facebook stalker. I’ll look at every photo, read every comment and be an allaround-creep—a “digital-peeping-tom”, if you will. I used to stalk my ex, but she got wise and put her shit on private. I’m spending way too much time answering your questions... UR: Care to address any drunken Facebooking sessions? RA: Oooohh, damn. I’ll just leave that at I think that computers should come with a Breathalyzer attached—so that you can’t log in to certain sites if you’re too drunk. UR: How do you honestly feel about Fresno? RA: Honestly? I like Fresno, I really do. It’s odd because the people that live here are what make this place so great. But at
the same time, it’s the people that make this place so lame. There isn’t a lot going on here and it’s up to people like you and me to go out there and make shit happen. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long to outgrow this town and just like all the movers and shakers before me did, I’ll eventually have to leave. UR: Its art scene? RA: I’ve been a little more disappointed as the years pass with the art that’s being produced here. It’s like the bar is set too low and people don’t try hard enough. That, and we’ve got way too many cliché groups: the burn out painters, the hobbyists, the old lady’s that do their Georgia O’Keefe rip-off paintings, the kids ripping-off folk artists—it’s all a little much. UR: How are you dealing with our loss of Corey Haim? RA: Dang. The tough questions… I was honestly really bummed out about it. I like Haim—I like the Coreys. But really, I think he went out a little old. I think he shoulda went out young & beautiful—River Phoenix had it right. Plus, I watched The Lost Boys a week before that happened and it really freaked me out ‘cuz I had watched Point Break a week before Pat Swayze croaked. Now, I’m terrified of watching any of my favorite late
80s/early 90s DVDs. UR: So now, realizing that you do in fact have allergies, what’s your action-plan? RA: I’m getting a bubble built to live inside of. UR: You’ve been kicking it with Jason Graham, is that cool or not? RA: Jason’s my homie, confidant, fellow drawler and life partner. It’s always cool to be around him ‘cuz he’s a fucking workhorse— no one works harder than that dude. I used to sleep on his futon and share a studio with him back in da day. UR: Have you been riding your bike? RA: Fuck no—I’ve been lazy-ing it up and driving. I used to get some wild urges in the middle of the night and I would just take off on my bike. Now I’m such a fat-ass, I sit around and wait for rides, or I just say fuck it and stay home. UR: What’s your favorite thing to draw? RA: T&A. UR: Explain to us a day in the life of Robert Amador... RA: Well, depending on what I did the night before—I wake up anywhere from 10am to one in the afternoon. If there’s soymilk, I’ll make some coffee—I’m Mexican and I like my coffee with a shitload of milk and sugar. Then, I check email and send out
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UR: What’s going down Troy? TH: Not much—catching up on emails and listening to the rain and relaxing with my wife. UR: How long have you been shooting pictures? TH: I bought a point and click in ‘04 and carried it with me everywhere I went until ‘08 when I started getting frustrated by its technical limitations. So I bought a DSLR. Once I figured out how it worked, a whole new world opened up. UR: What cameras do you use? TH: I currently shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II and sometimes my iPhone (camera bag and hipstamatic). On the DSLR I have a 17-35mm f/2.8, 28-135mm f/3.5, 35mm f/2.0, 50mm f/1.4L, 85mm f/1.8 and a 135 f/2 in my arsenal of lenses. I’d say I use the 35mm and 85mm lenses most often. UR: How often do you shoot? TH: I try to shoot everyday, but during the winter months it’s more difficult because it gets dark so quickly. I hate carrying around a tripod and don’t use a flash—so I’m limited to available light. I like
getting up around 7am on the weekends and hitting a different neighborhood for a few hours before the sun gets too high in the sky. UR: What do you get out of taking pictures? TH: I like making representations of what I see when I’m walking around. I like learning more about light and post-processing. UR: What’s up with CaliberSF? TH: We’re looking for private funding. So we can quit our day jobs and shoot more often. UR: Who all is involved with that? TH: CaliberSF is Julie Michelle, Stuart Dixon, Travis Jensen and myself. UR: When did CaliberSF get its start? TH: October 15th, ‘09. UR: I’ve noticed you have two Flickr accounts, what inspired you to start up your newer personal account? TH: Last summer I was getting burnt out on my old photoblog, http://www. whatimseeing.com (RIP). I had capped out traffic-wise and really wanted to overhaul the template to display much larger images. I was also posting under the Flickr name “Plug1”. I had a couple of images printed in 7x7 and the name “Plug1” just looked silly— so I decided to post under
my real name. The problem with this was moving the ten thousand images I had posted to the old account to the new account. I had to start somewhere. So I’ve been posting twenty-three images a day ever since. I hope to be caught up by the end of ‘10. UR: Do you have any other pursuits outside of photography? TH: I like walking and history. UR: Let’s do some favorites if that’s alright with you... Color? TH: Gray. UR: Movie? TH: Do The Right Thing<. UR: Food? TH: Thai or Vietnamese. UR: Camera? TH: The one I have with me, which is sometimes just my iPhone. UR: Band? TH: Led Zeppelin. UR: Song? TH: “Hunger Strike” by Temple of The Dog. UR: Saying? TH: Say hey. UR: Brand? TH: That’s rather ambiguous... Canon? Levi’s? Adidas? New Era? UR: Season? TH: Spring or fall. UR: Celebrity? TH: Frank Chu. UR: Artist? TH: Girafa. UR: City?
TH: The City— San Francisco. UR: Place to eat in SF? TH: Tu Lan. UR: And last but not least— person? TH: My wife. UR: Do you have any photo projects in the works? TH: Currently, I’m collecting images for a larger library—I’d like to show how the neighborhoods and people who live in them change over twenty or thirty years. UR: How about upcoming exhibitions? TH: The last two shows I have participated in were poorly organized. I’m a little hesitant about any future shows unless the lighting is good and the curator knows how to show and sell prints. UR: I was reading a bit of something you had written... Tell us about your experience of moving to San Francisco. TH: On August 4th, ‘96 I bought a one-way Greyhound ticket and took a three-day bus ride from Ann Arbor, Mi. I lived at 6th and Market for a while and eventually moved/lived all over the City. UR: How has the City treated you? TH: I get out of it what I put into it. I feel lucky and grateful that so many opportunities have presented
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UR: What’s your name? SG: Street Grapes, which stands for street art. UR: What do you do? SG: Make art—paint this and that—currently I’m focused on sticker art, but it goes way beyond that. UR: How often do you paint? SG: I try to paint as much as I can—whenever I’ve got spare time on my hands really... Sometimes I’m more inspired to do something than at other times. But, for the most part, I’m doodling away. In my eyes it’s not just a hobby. UR: Where do you see it going? SG: Wherever my ideas take me. I can’t see myself quitting art and settling for something else—so only forward. I see myself developing new techniques, improving my overall attitude and myself. I really want my work to grow on a global scale. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I hate to see myself centered in one place. Like many other rising artists, I wish to get better, go big and never stop. UR: What’s up with Fifteen Thousand And Up? SG: I was born in Russia, in a Siberian city named Barnaul, though I’m living in the States now. I spent a lot
of my childhood there and cherish that place. Recently, I decided to go there for a visit this summer, but it had to be more than just a visit. So, as many artists like having their work seen in different places, I thought that I’d try to get as many people together as I can and rep them in my hometown. My goal’s to collect fifteen thousand (or more) stickers from artists all over the world—and not just to make the world’s biggest sticker collage, but also to really represent today’s artists in Barnaul. The street sticker fanatics, street artists and graffiti artists—you get the gist. UR: What inspires you? SG: Other artists, seeing new work and different styles from all over the world. I can find inspiration in my own mind or by looking at what other artists have done. Sometimes I find myself looking through art flicks for hours. UR: What’s next? SG: Implementing new ideas and taking it to the next level in the art game. I want to get serious about my art and what I do. I’d also really like to meet new artists and take part in more things. For me, the only way is uphill. UR: Any shout-outs? SG: A shout-out to all those who support me in so many
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E-40
Michael Jai White
The Kidz In The Hall
The Kids In The Hall
Revenue Retrievin’ Day Shift
Black Dynamite
Land Of Make Believe
Death Comes To Town
“We’re back in business boys!” Twenty-two years strong and E-40 is back one mo’ gain. This time dropping two albums the same day. Shit, I was listening to “Wolf Tickets” just a minute ago and it’s still just as dope and relevant today as it was in ‘95. For starters, the single “Bitch” featuring Too Short goes hard! This song focuses on how some folks out there, mind you, they’re not naming any names, are bitches. Peep the video on this one—good shit. These albums also boast features from everyone from the recently released Husalah, to E-40s own son Droop-E. “Bumping my favorite rapper, go by the name of E-4-Oh. He was saying shit twenty years ago y’all niggas just now though.” Pretty much. I can tell you one thing about these albums, I know what I’m going to be slumpin’ this summer. Continued --->
The Man killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite was the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.” I mean fuck, how much more do you need to know in order to watch this movie? Black Dynamite is certified-grade-A-officialbad-ass!!! The action sequences are frequent and ridiculous, the ladies are scantily clad and voluptuous and the soundtrack is right on time—ya jive-ass turkey. I’m saying though, they shot this whole motherfucker with Super 16 Film just to give it that real blaxploitation feel. Malt liquor that makes your dick shrink!? Just go rent this movie—it’s seriously one of the best flicks I’ve seen in a while!!!
Slap a “Z” at the end of kids and we got ourselves a group huh? Well, okay... These “Kidz” do keep it funky though. Remember Mc Lyte? Yeah... Well, they’ve got her on track and that’s pretty cool. Frankly, the best part about this group is their name. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t of had the conversation with my sister that led to me finding out that the real “Kids In The Hall” have a new show out. Anyhow back to these kidz. The album is pretty good. They rap about Polo, girls and cars. I think I like their production more than anything else on the album. Now if I may please direct your attention over to the next column over where I have reviewed The Kids In The Hall’s new mini-series Death Comes To Town. Thaaaanks…
That’s right The Kids In The Hall are back and acting a motherfuckin’ fool! Death Comes To Town is their new eight episode mini-series from Canada eh. Set in the fictional town of Shuckton, Ontario—the show gets off to a great start with town’s Mayor getting murdered in the very first episode. And the cool part is you can watch all eight episodes for free online by clicking here (I hope this link lasts...). As for the show, you can expect all the usual crazy-character-shenanigans, as well as some keenly added cheesy special effects. I don’t know if this show will ever make it to the states but I hope it does. I’m saying though, why the hell hasn’t the Aero Bar blown up in the states yet!? Those dooders are tasty!!!
Jenji Kohan
Goldfrapp
Mom’s
E-40
Weeds
Head First
Hamburger Pie
Revenue Retrievin’ Night Shift
I’ve been hooked on this show for the last few days. The premise is pretty simple, you’ve got a widowed house wife who takes up slanging weed to make ends meet. But the show makes a joke out of fucking everything and is pretty fucking entertaining. The cast is dope (no pun intended) with guest spots from everyone to Mary Kate Olson. You know I don’t even feel like fucking writing the reviews for this issue. And frankly I don’t think that I’m going to for the upcoming 5th issue. So if any of you reading this would like to get involved and write some sweet-ass motherfucking reviews holler at a playa. I think this would have to be my most-procrastinated part of putting together this magazine. But yeah, watch Weeds, the show is pretty fuckin’ funny.
Alright… For starters, I’m pretty much reviewing this one because a lady-friend told me to... As far as I’m concerned she should be doing the review on this one. But she’s at work and I’m here at the crib working on my third cup of coffee, fucking around—so fair’s fair I suppose. This album is a throwback to that super synthed out 80s sound that some folks like to bounce around to. You know the type. Like some guy on the Internet said it is interesting to see a group who finds their present rooted so deeply in the past. All said and done the album is pretty cooool, it’s just not my cup of tea. Now the question I have here is will my lady-friend see this, and if so, will I get ass for writing it? Only time will tell…
My Mom has been hooking up the Hamburger Pie ever since I was a kid, and lemme tell ya, the stuff is like crack—it’s so cot-damn good. Boom, you start off with a layer of hamburger, then a layer of green beans, then a layer of potatoes all topped off with a layer of good ol’ sharp cheddar cheese. Fuxx yeah! I’ve recently become the proud recipient of this recipe, but there’s no fucking way I’m giving that knowledge away (even though i sorta just did). So don’t even think about aksing me about that shit when you see me out on the street. You could go ahead and try and aks my Mom, but we all know she’s just going to clown on your dumb-ass like she always does. Face it, you just don’t have the clearance to fuck with a recipe of this caliber.
---> And here you are... With a combined total of thirty-eight tracks how the fuck can you go wrong!?! Scoop these up!!! Right off the bat this album comes in slumping. Over The Stove, the very first track is one of those guaranteed hustler anthems. Next I would have to recommend giving the track “Knock Em Down Music” a good listening. “But little do they know, that square looking dude done smiled instead of frowned, he’ll knock your ass down.” Then you know 40 covers all his bases with tracks like “Let Go and Let God” helping to keep himself humble. <--- WTF did I just write? Just go get these two CDs—40’s got his shit locked yesterday, today and tomorrow.