WETHEURBAN ISSUE 5
$11.00US
DREAMS >> REALITY The Dreamy Allure of Allison Harvard... + Macy Gray / Kimbra / Taz Arnold / Steve Aoki / Sharon Needles / Yuna + more
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Eyewear/Editors Picks 6 Street Style 8 Hot House Editoral 12 Artist Spotlight: Beth Hoeckel 17 Yuna 18 Trend Alert: Cupcake 21 Taz Arnold 22 Kimbra 24 Too Hip To Quit 26 Lomography 28 Carlos Campos 30 Macy Gray 32 Mykki Blanco 34 Sharon Needles 36 Look Sick’ning & Make Them Eat It Editorial 38 Roberto Piqueras 42 Chelsea Leyland 44 Bro-Tel Editoral 46 Rain Man 50 Hollywood Boys 52 Artist Spotlight/Steven Taylor 57 Candor + Insolence Editorial 58 Comeforbreakfast 62 Dragonette 63 Allison Harvard 64 Trend Alert: Print Blocking 72 Steve Aoki 73 Nervo 74 In The Mood Editorial 76
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
I
can’t believe it’s finally here! I honestly feel like I’ve given birth to Jessica Simpson’s baby after all this (lol, no seriously). As many of you know, I started WeTheUrban as just a tiny little Tumblr blog when I was 15 years old never expecting it to be anything more. When I started the magazine online, it was fun and all, but I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. After millions of unexpected pageviews, I was so lucky to be noticed by Ladygunn Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Koko Ntuen, who saw something in me (strangely enough we’re both from small towns that aren’t too far from each other in North Carolina) and my brand and decided to extend the olive branch and publish my magazine. This was nearly nine months ago. When I got the news, I was obviously extremely excited, but a bit scared. I knew I couldn’t keep operating WeTheUrban the same exact way I had been running things. With a publishing deal comes a certain level of content quality that I knew I had to get to (for myself and for my lovely readers). There’s a certain point in a blogger who decides to make blogging their full time career’s life where you must go from cool blogger with cool posts to super business savvy person with an even cooler blog. Learning the business side of not only blogging, but making a magazine took a lot of time and frustration and focus. If I had a dollar for ever “no” I’ve encountered over the past few months, I’d probably have enough money to fund this magazine easily for a decade! Obvious exaggeration, but you get what I mean. The hustle is hard! I’ve learned through this process that no matter how big and surreal my dreams may seem, as long as I work as hard as I can and truly believe (keep the dream alive), I can achieve anything I want. That’s where the major theme for this issue “dreams > reality” came from. The questions to many of these interviews literally made themselves because with most of these creatives, whether they’re Sharon Needles, Allison Harvard, or a dreamy modern artist like Berndnaut Smilde, I think we all share that common quintessential quality of being able to live in a happy medium between our dreams and reality until the two mesh. There’s something very intriguing about people who balance this quality and says a lot about true originality mixing with mainstream success. Aside from needing to keep your dream alive, building an amazing support system will ground you and definitely help keep your eye on the prize when times get rough. I would like to thank my family, the wonderful staff at Tumblr, Valentine Uhovski, Gordon Holden, Tanesha Awasthi, Jordan Figueroa, and so many more for always being honest with me and truly being great and inspiring even when you didn’t know it. As the great Tupac once said “Dreams are for real. Reality is wrong”. Now without further ado, it is my very great pleasure to introduce WeTheUrban Magazine Issue 5: Dreams >> Reality.
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OUR CREW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Willie Greene PUBLISHER: Koko Ntuen ART DIRECTION/GRAPHIC DESIGN: Ben Slater CONTRIBUTORS: Eileen Doneigo de France John Johnston Jason O’Toole Keith Pence Dave DiAngelis Anthony Syros Ronald Hartleben COVER: Allison Harvard PHOTOGRAPHER: Zachary Chick
www.wetheurban.com www.facebook.com/wetheurban www.twitter.com/wetheurban
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Willie Greene 5
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Photographer: Aaron Feaver Hair/Mua: Yasuko Shapiro Model: Alysha Nett Stylist: Eileen Doniego de France 3
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Photographer: Aaron Feaver Hair/Mua: Yasuko Shapiro Model: Alysha Nett Stylist: Eileen Doniego de France 11
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Photographer: Aram Bedrossian, Stylist: Fanny Bourdette-Donon, Makeup: Kunio Kataoka, Assistant: Barbie C. Daniels
YUNA by YUNA Think of Yuna as the girl next door you wish is writing songs about you in her bedroom.
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er writing is gentle but real, coupled with a younghearted lyrical consciousness. The Malaysian born singer/songwriter pens like Taylor Swift, and is slightly reminiscent of a modern day, twenty-five year old Sade. Her voice is so believable, you feel you’re the one responsible for breaking her heart—or resurrecting it. Yunalis Zarai (aka Yuna) has been on a tear since signing with Fader Label in 2010. She released her first EP project Decorate in March of last year. After quickly gaining notoriety in Malaysia, her name began leaking into the States, climaxing into her well-known collaboration with Pharrell Williams. Her first full-length album, released in January, is self-titled and deeply autobiographical. YUNA begins with the hauntingly beautiful soundtrack entitled “Lullabies.” Using not much more than a distant piano and minimalistic beat, “Lullabies” takes us in to the heartbeat of unrequited love. No matter the casualty of what Yuna has written about, it certainly serves as an artistic appliqué for the rest of us. Yuna has already been everywhere, from appearing on Conan and National Geographic Music, to being featured on Diane von Furstenberg’s Proud To Be Woman (Vol. 3), a musical compilation to celebrate International Women’s Day. She is the rare breed of passion, talent, and likeability we all desire when scrolling through our Tumblr pages. She carries a sensibility of twenty-something wisdom and a lyrical honesty you can cuddle up to play after play. We had the opportunity to steal a few valuable minutes from the young star, and ask her questions about her life in America, working with Pharrell, and what her parents think about her new found fame.
How long have you been composing and writing music? I’ve been writing songs for like five years. When I first started playing music back where I’m from in Malaysia, it was just sort of a small town singer/songwriter type thing. I started out performing in small cafe’s and after a lot of that, my songs got picked up by the radio and a lot of people started to hear what I was doing. Then about two years ago, a couple of people from the States heard my music and brought me up here and I started working with a lot of different producers and now I’m here [laughs]! Congratulations on the release of your self titled album! Is it surreal having a true US full album out? Thank you! Yes, it’s crazy. I’ve been working on this like crazy for the past two years (when I first came up here) and I didn’t really know too much about the music industry. Of course I knew a little bit about it being a musician and all, but to actually be in it is crazy. I’m just so happy to be a part of it! The album is out now and I’m happy so many people can listen and hear what I’m all about. What’s different about your music and the process of making it now as opposed to when you were based in Malaysia? It’s crazy. Back in Malaysia, I used to do everything by myself. I would just write and compose all of my own music without the help of anyone else. That all changed when I first came out here to the States. I instantly started working with so many cool writers and producers. It’s so refreshing to work with someone other than yourself [laughs] and just somehow integrate two incredible ideas together to make beautiful songs. How has it been working with The FADER? The FADER has been really supportive! I couldn’t have thought of anyone more perfect to jump start my career. They were the first people to sign me and it’s such a blessing to work with them. They’re super supportive and really believed in me and my music and that I could really do something, you know? Coming out here and working with them and having them help me out with my music and being supported like that is just a true blessing. It was
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Photographer: Sarah Renard
TRENDSETTER
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TAZ ARNOLD
Culture + Style Musings from a Fashion Designer, Producer, and Creative Visionary Favorite fragrance (cologne): 1. TOM FORD CHAMPACA ABSOLUTE Top style icons: 2. SLICK RICK 3. ANDY WARHOL 4. SPIKE LEE 5. KARL LAGERFELD 6. GRACE JONES Top 3 Menswear Designers: 7. RALPH LAUREN 8. TAZ ARNOLD 9. PIERRE CARDIN
Favorite summer accessories: 10. PORSCHE SPEEDSTER 11. HOT CHICKS 12. GOLD ROLEX
Favorite piece(s) from TI$A: 18. TI$A MCM COLLECTION, (TISAVISION TV TI$A THE AMERICANS COLLECTION (ELAMERICANS.COM)
Favorite MC(s): 13. RAKIM ALLAH 14. JAMES BROWN
Favorite throwback + album out right now: 19. BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTION (BDP) - CRIMINAL MINDED 20. TAZ ARNOLD RAD AMERICA (TISA RECORDS)
Favorite city: 15. PARIS All time role models: 16. NIKOLA TESLA (CREATIVITY) AND 17. THOMAS EDISON (BUSINESS PROWESS)
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LOOK SICK’NING AND MAKE THEM EAT IT!
Photographer: Aram Bedrossian Styling: Sofia Karvela Hair: Laura Polko for Loreal Professional Makeup: Beau Nelson
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Sweater: Polo Ralph Lauren, Shorts: Oskar Franks WETHEURBAN
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B R O T E Underwear: Oskar Franks
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Photographer: Justin Violini www.justinviolini.com Models: Alexander Drake & Brent McCormack (Red) Location: The Bowery Hotel - New York
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“REALITY IS WRONG. DREAMS ARE FOR REAL.” - Tupac Shakur
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