The Sony PlayStation game’s Modnation Racers: Ravers vs. Designer competition and microsite:

Sony PlayStation in conjunction with the Hype Circle Media Network have launched the Modnation Racers: Racers vs. Designers competition and microsite for users to check out exclusive videos of Drift Racers Tanner Foust and Tyler McQuarrie, and Vinyl Designers Huck Gee and Jesse Hernandez highlighting their “modding” of the newly launched Modnation Racers game’s tracks and characters.  As racers, Tanner Foust and Tyler McQuarrie use their driving experience to build their own tracks for maximum competition excitement. While the designers, Huck Gee and Jesse Hernandez dive deep into Modnation Racers’ design tools to create unique game characters influenced by their own vinyl creations.

The microsite also includes a competition that allows users to enter a chance to win a prizes from Sony PlayStation. of $2500 cash, a PlayStation PS3 console, extra controller, Modnation Racers game and PlayStation Bluetooth headset along with many more prizes.

View these videos and enter the competition at the microsite here: http://modnation.overamerica.com

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The New Balance x Undefeated Desert Storm 1500 is a collaborative project that brings historical context to footwear and design.  Undefeated has always been a military and sport inspired brand with efforts to not only provide authenticity to projects, but to also inform the public of the often overlooked and understated aspects of design. The inspiration behind the New Balance Desert Storm 1500 is based upon military designs from the Gulf War.  Each pair of New Balance Desert Storm 1500s will be sold with a canvas shoe bag featuring utility camo print and is available exclusively at Undefeated stores in the US and Japan.

Undefeated’s main objective is to have authenticity direct the project, while instilling history into the design. There is much excitement with the New Balance Desert Storm 1500’s as it will be Undefeated’s first collaboration with New Balance US.

Each pair of New Balance Desert Storm 1500s will be sold with a canvas shoe bag featuring utility camo print. The New Balance Desert Storm 1500 will be available beginning on May 15 for $120.00.

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When I was growing up, R&B songs were just that—songs. They were beautifully crafted pieces of musical bliss with thoughtful and moving lyrics supported with inspiring instrumentals. R&B—or as I like to call it, “Redundant Bullshit”—is now so oversexed that I’m sure it contains at least three STDs and a cold sore. The other day my girl and I were in the car and my radio ADD kicked in, so I’m flippin’ through the channels and I stop on KDAY—the pusherman of bad R&B in LA—when I hear Usher’s song “Make Love In This Club.” At first, I couldn’t believe he would use such a dumb-ass title for a song. Then I couldn’t believe it was Usher. I know he’s corny, but I always felt Usher got his star shitted on by Justin Timberlake. (Honestly? Justin makes better music. Sorry, my brothers. But I digress.)

Ever since R&B figured out that it could sell more records by jumping on the hip-hop train and hip-hop realized that it needed R&B to reach the female demographic, it’s been a hot mess of really bad music. Worst of all is the song titles. My God, where is the creativity? What about leaving something to the imagination?

This led me to create a list—a partial list at that. I would need a team of 10 scandalous females working full-time, diligently scanning the internet for past and present titles to make a proper list, and frankly I don’t have that. Plus the editor has been on my ass for my new column.

I know I missed a lot of really good bad titles, but the following are just some of my favorites that I’ve been lucky enough to hear firsthand.

“Bump N’ Grind”
R. Kelly
This song came out when some girls were still wearing those thong bodysuits. When you could walk up to a girl in the club and ask her to knock boots and she knew exactly what was about to go down…and I don’t see nothin’ wrong with that.

“I Like The Crotch On You”
R. Kelly
This song could totally suck but the title saves it. It’s like Kobe in game one of the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs. The Lakers were playing like shit but then here comes number 24 to the rescue. A title like “I Like The Crotch On You” will save any half-assed Kelly melody.

“Feelin’ On Your Booty”
R. Kelly
During the ’90s R&B got lazy and stopped beating around the bush, so to speak. Again we find our friend Kells doing what he does best, creating song titles that let you exactly know what is goin’ down.

“Sex In The Kitchen”
R. Kelly
At this point, why the hell not? People think sex in the kitchen is hot and erotic? Well, I don’t want no ass on the kitchen counter—that’s where my girl puts my breakfast burritos.

“Sex Weed”
R. Kelly
Serious?! Really? Haha!

“I’m In Love With A Stripper”
T-Pain
This guy took the baton from R. Kelly and made like Jesse Owens. Every guy knows that you don’t fall in love with a stripper.

“Bartender”
T-Pain
The remix of “I’m In Love With A Stripper.” I love the fact that he rolls up to the club in a Mini on 20-inch rims. Besides that, this guy falls for all the wrong girls. Money, they’re supposed to be nice to you, damn. Honestly, you can’t deny the pure genius of “She made us drinks to drink, / We drunk ’em, got drunk”; that’s on some Rain Man shit.

“Buy You A Drank”
T-Pain
It’s come to my attention that Mr. Pain likes strippers and dranks. It seems like he sits at a bar, listens to conversations and just uses sound bites as song titles. He should make a song titled, “I don’t really sound like this, it’s all done in studio.”

“Love In This Club”
Usher
I actually never had anything against Usher…up until now. This title is retarded. I mean really, c’mon dude, I figured you would be smarter than this. This sounds like something you hear at some Tijuana club. Wait, oh my God, it is one of those songs. I can’t wait to hear the TJ techno mix and the dancehall version. Fiya! Fiya!

“Smell Your Dick”
Riskay
This is the song that Destiny’s Child wished they could’ve made but B’s dad would have had no part of that. I wonder how many girls after hearing this song ask their boyfriends or husbands to actually let them smell their dicks? Fellas: keep some Axe body spray in the glove compartment.

“Smack That”
Akon
This fan-throwing, grinding-underage-girls, making-up-a-criminal-past douchebag is part of the axis of evil that dominates the airwaves. I don’t know what kind of girls he likes but if I smacked my girl’s ass until it gets sore, I’m not getting my grilled cheese for a week and I’ll be forced to watch the Tyra Banks show on TiVo.

“Shawty is a Ten”
The Dream ft. Fabulous
First of all, have you seen this dude called the Dream? I don’t know who Dream he thinks he is, but homie is one Ding Dong away from the Sears Husky collection. No wait, that’s not fair. He’s actually one twang away from sounding like T-Pain and Akon’s love child. Dude, it’s spelled Shorty—S-H-O-R-T-Y. Tomorrow we’ll work on our shapes and numbers.

“I’m Toe Up”
Problem
The problem is you can’t spell either and use the wrong word to sound hood. I know this song isn’t R&B but I couldn’t resist.

Primitive’s partners—Paul Rodriguez, Andy Netkin and Jubal Jones—stopped by the Vapors office in late July, and in between bouts of skate-talk (the $100,000-for-first Maloof Money Cup, which P-Rod took the next weekend, and Cameron from Hot Rod’s switch back tails), we talked about their newest hustle. From the get-go, Primitive is a store that looks primed to join the skate-influencers of the wider world—the Supremes, Undefeateds, and Hufs. And mark my words, you’ll soon be diggin’ for those exclusive Primitive collabs. Shit, the way things are going, the San Fernando Valley may finally become respectable.

Check out the whole story in the new Vapors. You can read that whole thang online by clicking somewhere on this very page.

Paul also teamed up with one of my other favorite skaters, Clark Hassler, for a cool little feature on the Nike Skateboarding site. Check out that Mexi ‘stache on P-Rod, that thing’s fresh. Too bad he didn’t keep it. I like that walk they’re on, though, right to Williamsburg.

When Burn Rubber owners Rick and Ro took over this sneaker boutique in Detroit’s suburbs, the place was composed primarily of Nike merch and running enthusiast gear. But over the past year and a half the store has evolved to embody the personalities of its new owners. Rick is a former Finishline manager with jokes for days, and Ro is a fierce emcee, equally well known for his Crayola-spectrum kicks. Now Burn Rubber is at the forefront of Detroit’s lace-you-with-fly-shit, sneaker-and street-culture outfitters. Carrying 10.Deep, Crooks & Castles, Leroy Jenkins, Kid Robot and all the goods, Rick and Ro also sell their own designs and have begun a complete line expected to be out this fall. Fitteds and tees sporting the Burn Rubber Chef logo move quickly and have proven to be bestsellers. Local legends such as Slum Village and Black Milk can be found perusing the product regularly, and guests can wind up at in-store album listening parties or embroiled in impromptu debates about hipster-hop or how to rock a 59fifty. Go to Burn Rubber for the nasty spread of limited-edition swagger; stay for the familial atmosphere Rick and Ro have created.

www.burnrubberdetroit.com

202 West 4th St.

Royal Oak, MI  48067

248.543.3000    

L.C. Weber 

Hall Of Fame is the brainchild of three well-respected LA heads. Arsen and Vlad were already known around town for their first store, Kendo, a women’s-only sneaker shop; they teamed up with Greg Johnsen, another heavyweight who’s also partnered with Gourmet and owns Situation Normal. Feeling that the hat game was still fairly untouched, the trio joined forces and opened LA’s first hat boutique in May 2007. In their clean, futuristic storefront they carry nothing but the illest lids. Their main focus, though, is on establishing the Hall Of Fame brand by developing product in-house—you already know they have plenty of exclusives in the pipes. In addition to their own growing line, HOF also carries most-wanteds from Huf, Crooks & Castles, 10 Deep, King Stampede, Mighty Healthy, Mishka, Reason, Frank’s Chop Shop…the list goes on. If they got it, it’s hot—and vice versa.

Though the Fairfax District (aka the Rodeo Drive of streetwear) has been booming, Arsen doesn’t consider its popularity such a bad thing. “The culture here in LA has always revolved around the car and the city has always been spread out. Now at least a group of like-minded people and brands have set up shop close together. You can argue that there’s too much of a good thing here on Fairfax, but as time goes on and restaurants and stores that don’t specifically cater to streetwear open here, it’ll round out the block and bring it all together.” Hear, hear.

www.halloffameltd.com

HALL OF FAME LTD.
449 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.655.6002

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In Las Vegas, spending your hard-earned cash at the Spearmint Rhino never gets old. That is, unless you’re DJ Crooked, who partnered up with fellow New Yorker, DJ Neva, and kimchi shoe guru Kenn Davenport to open the Knyew (pronounced “new”) earlier this year. “People were telling me to invest in a house,” says Crooked, “But I’m from New York. Who needs a house?”

Crooked pitched the boutique idea to Neva while they were both resident DJs at Sin City’s famed Jet Nightclub, and it struck a chord. “There was nowhere to go out here. It was a void. I would have to fly home to the East Coast for gear,” says Neva. Wasting no time, they set after the guy who could bring the project together.

“I knew them from the sneaker spot I was working at,” says Kenn Davenport of the DJs. “But one day they come in and they’re asking about the light fixtures instead of the new arrivals; that gave it away. I thought they wanted me to consult or get some contacts but really they were recruiting me.” Raised in Seoul, Korea, Kenn was exposed to the burgeoning footwear industry early on, and his impressive collection and knowledge have made him the go-to guy in Nevada’s small streetwear community.

With the people in place, Crooked and Neva parlayed their top-tier position in Lost Wages’ over-saturated nightlife industry. Considered marquee DJs around town and beyond, they are in a unique position, being both highly visible to the constant onslaught of visitors and friendly with the other DJs, whether resident or featured. “We do well because our clientele run in those circles,” Crooked points out. “So we have a network and resources where marketing is concerned. It opens doors to select the brands we want to work with.”

But the Knyew Boutique is not alone is widening the choices in Las Vegas. Stores like Undefeated have recently rolled into town, hoping to plant a little culture in the desert. Though it’s not a contest, Neva is quick to express: “Any boutique you walk into out here, if they are doing it right, you will get a sense of their culture. It’s all about looking fresh, always about style, having swagger. It benefits Vegas overall. We wanted to bring a piece of us to it, bring that New York culture. I mean, Knyew stands for Keeping New York Every Where.”

Located in Chinatown, the shop is just a jump from the Strip, making easy access for anybody patient enough to weather a casino cab line. But that’s a small price to pay to experience something as unique to Las Vegas as the trapeze act at Circus Circus. Filling the niche that it does, Knyew is bound to become LV’s destination for those who don’t rock button downs and hair gel to clubs, or drink “yards” of margarita from long plastic tubes.  

3735 Spring Mountain Rd., Suite 206

Las Vegas, NV  89102

702.252.5212

www.knyew.com

Graham Funke

Brad Baker and Patty Bowman opened Trackstar back in June, 2004, planting their flag in Manhattan’s Lower East Side for, as Brad puts it, “the short ride across the bridge, plus the LES is where we all drink before going home to Brooklyn.” Since it opened, Trackstar has become heavily involved in every aspect of the New York and East Coast cycling scene, from velodrome races to bicycle polo tournaments, with their biggest event to date, the New York City Courier Classic, coming in July. The store carries too many top brands to name, with Cinelli, IRO and anything from Japan going out the door as quickly as the UPS man brings it in. On top of sporting a full-service shop with two full-time mechanics, Trackstar is also a pro wheel building shop, lacing spokes into over 3,000 wheels a year. The people at Trackstar know their shit, but there’re no big egos here. “We’re kinda like Cheers, but with bikes,” says Patty. “Although there is still beer and tomfoolery involved.” So for bike service with a smirk, you know where to go.

www.TrackstarNYC.com

231 Eldridge St.
New York, NY 10002
212.982.2553

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