When hip-hop gets brought up, it's rare to hear Boston thrown into the mix of cities that churn out hit makers. Places like New York, Atlanta, New Orleans and Compton tend to produce the majority of talent we see in the game today. A kid like Sam Adams comes along and sets the city back even further.
O.G. wants to recognize Philly G, an unsigned rapper making his way up the ladder in Boston's rap scene. Working a smooth flow, Philly weaves rhymes slicker than silk that you can nod your head to. Every Friday, he releases a new freestyle on his YouTube channel and Facebook page. Check those out because every single on is hot. Recently featured in articles by College of Music and GreatMusicAllNight, Philly also has a mixtape out on Datpiff that you should definitely download. Be sure to stay with us; the more he releases, the more we're going to feature him. Keep it up Philly, you certified O.G.
I wasn't watching the game last night. But when this play happened both my Facebook Homepage and Twitter Timeline filled up with posts about this catch. I gotta be honest. I expected it to be better. The best part of the catch wasn't even the catch, it was taking it from the defender. After that it was just a bobbling catch that we've all made 100s of times in our back yard. Sure, when we do it we don't have a 250 pound free safety running full speed at us trying to take our head off. But that could have been avoided if he caught it after the first, second, or third bobble.
The Vans brand have been a front runner in street wear and skateboarding cultures for years on end now and still haven't stopped putting their heart and soles, I mean souls, into their projects. This iPhone 4 case, as you can see, is inspired by the famous Vans waffle soles that is the backside of the case. The case also isn't without the famous red heel tab sporting the brands logo. Good luck finding one of these when they hit the stores. Maybe on Ebay? But it will most definitely cost you a pretty penny.
Well known skateboarding mag, Thrasher has been in the game for 30 years now and has captured roughly 10,000 photos each year, you do the math. To bring in the new year right, the guys over there decided to list the top 10 most shocking photos they have seen this year. They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, well some of these might up the ante. Not to mention the skill and cojones it takes to pull off some these tricks. In my opinion, skaters along with the sport of skateboarding deserve more credit than it's given. So be sure to check out all 10 of the photos over at the Thrasher site.
The mastermind behind the Wu-Tang Clan, Rza, recently had a sit down interview where he answered questions about a follow up album to their most recent collaboration 8 Diagrams. He said that him and fellow member Ghostface, have discussed a possible new album in the works for 2012, but trying to find time with all their schedules is easier said then done. He did sound completely confident that he is up for the challenge and there will be a new album, someday. But keep a wary eye out for the Wu members to continue branching out into different mediums.
Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III, finished up his season and more likely than not his NCAA career last night with a 67-56 win over Washington in the Alamo Bowl. As you can tell by the score it was an exciting game with little resistance shown by either defense. Griffin showed why he won the Heisman and why he'll likely be a top 5 pick in the NFL Draft. Doing it with both his arm and his legs, passing and rushing for a TD. He'll be remembered for a lot of things. The best football player Baylor has ever seen. Becoming Baylor's first Heisman winner. Setting the team record for wins in a season, with 10. He's a great all around athlete, breaking several Track and Field Texas State records while in High School. But the thing I'll remember him for the most, which may be weird, are the socks he wore to the Heisman Ceremony. They were without a doubt the coolest pair of socks I've ever seen. I'm a big Superman fan, so when he rolled up his pant leg to show these Superman socks, complete with cape, they instantly went to the top of my Christmas list. Unfortunately word didn't get to Santa in time and I'm still Superman Sock-less. Regardless of what color socks he'll be wearing next year, a lot of people think they'll be orange (for either the Browns or Dolphins), he's going to be a problem for the rest of the NFL.
The Swiss photographer Andres Herren, who started when he was 14 decided to venture to LA and document the Chicano culture. With a little help and tutelage from fellow photographer Estevan Oriol, he was welcomed at family reunions and social gatherings that allowed him to capture an insider's perspective of the LA Chicano culture. Unfortunately I can't find the video on youtube, but here is a link to the video on Vimeo.
Kevin Durant is hands down my favorite player in the NBA and OKC is on a roll right now. With the Celtics struggling at 0-3, and OKC riding high at 4-0, I might have found my back-up team to root for. The duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook is hard to beat. Especially when they both are amped up feeling the heat after some tension the previous night. Kevin Durant in response to hitting the 3 point game- winning, buzzer beater said, "As a kid, of course you dream about hitting a game-winning shot in the NBA." Keep yah game tight.
One of my favorite lifestyle brands is The Hundreds. There have been a couple blog posts about the creators, Ben and Bobby, and their brand. The two just released the lookbook for this season's pieces, and after flipping through the pictures I'm pretty pumped for the arrival. Set to drop in 2012, the new line is highly anticipated and certifiably O.G.
Jocelyn Bain Hogg spent several years documenting and photographing organized crime life of British gangsters. The photos take you through the life of gangsters that not many people are allowed to witness, from nights painting the town and unlicensed boxing matches, to personal business meetings. Finished in 2001, and revisited in 2008, these black and white images are amazing and single handedly take you into the gritty and sometimes lavish, underworld of crime. Check out his portfolio for this project, The Firm.
Being a sneaker head, I have been constantly judged for coveting sneakers for the past few years and have had to defend myself and habit in the heat of the moment. Well here is solid proof that sneakers and the sneaker obsession is now becoming more respectable, and ultimately has become art.
Recently Lebron teamed up Gabriel Urist to design an accompanying bling for his remake of the Nike Lebron 9 "Watch The Throne" editions, of course inspired by the album. Six pieces were made for the six pairs that will unfortunately never hit shelves.
Once in a while, someone comes along and creates something shocking; something awe inspiring. Osamu Koyama has come to the forefront and designed an absolutely wild snowboarding accessory.
Koyama is the creative director for Complete Technique, a company that designs unique jewelry; chains, bracelets, rings. They specialize in nifty pendants and charms, such as speakers, skateboards, skulls, instruments; pretty much anything you can think of. Check out some of the pieces below.
But the real masterpiece was just previewed today: the "American Eagle" boot cover, designed to fit Nike's Zoom Force 1s. These things are effing gorgeous; can you even imagine shredding down the mountain in these babies? Made of gold, the Eagle cover positively gleams in the light and is sure to blow everyone's minds when it's released next year. I would toss these on and pretend I was touring the Light Temple, fighting to save Hyrule from Ganondorf. Definitely the most O.G. thing I've ever written about.
As usual, we at O.G. appreciate great photography when we see it. All too often, this art falls behind due to other growing mediums and is forgotten by the public. However, sometimes a person comes along who can reignite the power and emotion of photography with just one shot; today, that person is Liz Mollica.
A photography major studying at Mass Art, Liz can really capture entire scenes with a single photo and it really shines through her work. She's been around the world (Rome, specifically) and loves to share her work on both her Tumblr and Facebook page. Do yourself a favor and check her blog out, then when you're done, shoot her a message on the book to get exclusive access to her page there.
Has there ever been a video that so perfectly puts together everything we represent here? Hip hop, check. Fashion, check. Sports, check. I'm not the biggest Heat fan in the world but this video is pretty cool. Dwyane Wade is easily the best dressed in the video, but what's up with LeBron? I'm sure that's a really expensive sweater, but you can't have Wade killing it like that and you show up in a sweater. At least Bosh put a button down under his. Speaking of Chris Bosh. I don't know what that move he did about midway through the video was, but I liked it. It was kind of a dance move, but at first glance I thought he was just rolling down his sleeve. Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers both had good looks too. Eddy Curry on the other hand looked like he wanted nothing to do with this. Just standing there the whole time not doing anything, with his double collars, but at least they weren't popped like Shane Battier's. From a sports fan, and Celtic fan in particular. I'm glad to see Norris Cole get half a second of camera time in this video after the way he destroyed the C's in the 4th quarter last night. But this video was obviously made before the season and I'm sure they didn't expect him to contribute much.
Not enough people check out the Museum of Fine Arts these days, myself included. Membership is pretty cheap; they start at $75 and give you awesome benefits: free admission to special exhibits, previews to upcoming shows, discounted tickets to lectures and films, 10% discount off the shop, etc. For daily access to an outstanding museum, that's a pretty sweet deal. If you're only looking to check out the main show for one day, GA tickets are available for around $25. But this only gives you access to the one main show, and not all the awesome displays spread around the building.
They have an amazing exhibit going on right now (and lasting until January 16, 2012) called Violet Isle. The spread is all about photographers Alex and Rebecca Webb's numerous trips to Cuba. Between 1993 and 2008, the two traveled to the island constantly to document the lives of not just its people (Alex), but also its animals (Rebecca). Head on over to the MFA site and read their quick essay on the show. It's very in-depth as to what these pictures mean to not only the audience, but to the artists themselves. Also be sure to check their personal site to see more of their work.
Following up the surprising riots and reactions to the XI release, Jordan designer Tinker Hatfield has decided to give shoeaholics a treat before the New Year. Only four days after their triumphant release, Hatfield himself graced followers with design sketches from the popular kicks. Check them out below.
It's incredibly cool to see what kind of work goes in to designing and developing a new sneaker. It's comparable to watching the behind the scenes features of your favorite movie or checking out 24/7 on HBO. All anyone sees is the finished product, so we find it refreshing to have Hatfield unravel some original artwork to appease the masses.
Long known for it's sleek athletic gear and clothing, PUMA has branched out into the world of ping pong. They recently teamed up with Aruliden and released the oh-so-sexy Blackout table. Costing you a pretty $1900, you can get this specially designed table with black ash wood legs and steel mesh net delivered to your home. Sometimes, you have to pay a hefty price for beauty and the Blackout does not fall short of that.
With the modern look and PUMA design, this table kind of makes me drool. There's nothing better than an intense match of ping pong, but a sick table like this is icing on the cake. I want one, and I needed it yesterday.
Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a single season last night, in a controversial fashion. To do so he needed 30 yards with the game already in hand with the Saints being up 38-16 with 5 minutes left. Brees went for it anyway, capping it off with a 9 yard pass to Darren Sproles to bring his passing yardage to 5,087 passing Marino's 5,084. When it happened a few things ran through my mind. The first was cursing him for throwing the Marques Colston so many times last night and losing me my Fantasy championship. The second was to think how much I would hate to be a Charger fan and see Brees to Sproles for a TD and record for the next 6 months over and over again. Then finally I thought, wow that's impressive. Marino's record stood for 27 years, and after this season he won't even have the 2nd most with Tom Brady a little over 100 yards away from passing him too. Poor guy.
On New Year's Day, Raekwon will be dropping a new mixtape, titled Unexpected Victory. To coincide with the release, Mighty Healthy is churning out 100 exclusive shirts to commemorate the effort. Included with the shirt will be a hard copy of the Chef's tape, so order them while they're still in stock!
Stay tuned to Datpiff.com for the release of the tape on January 1st.
Behold, the shoe that causes nationwide riots. Releasing just in time for the holidays, the Concord dropped on Christmas Eve amidst tons of hype and fanfare. There were riots; in Seattle, folks were trampled; Indiana mobs tore down mall doors to be first in line.
Granted, only 200 pairs were made so some shoe fever was to be expected, but no way could anyone have anticipated mass riots over sneakers. The Concords hold some glory in the sports world, and are arguably one of the most recognizable and iconic pairs of Jordans to ever be released.
What do you think though; worth going nuts for? Or just another case of the world goind mad? Sound off.
"Regardless of your opinion for Mr. Brainwash, it is clear he is determined to wow s with his tiring efforts and larger than life exhibits." - Robert Marshall (Hypebeast)
Honestly couldn't have summed it up any better, so why not copy and paste? But be sure to check out the rest of the photos of MBW's exhibit over at Hypebeast. He does have some magnificent pieces, granted he is practically Banksy's understudy.
Russel Westbrook takes a lot of heat for some of his game time decisions and his occasional ball hogging habit, but it is still holds true that he is one of the better point guards in the NBA. But check out the video from OKC vs. the Timberwolves and just admire his crossover. As well as the fact you aren't Luke Ridnour and didn't find yourself shook on live TV. "WHOA!"
Well folks, hope everyone had a nice holiday and is gearing up for round two this weekend. New Years is about to pop off and we couldn't be more excited.
As we're poised to usher in another 365 days, O.G. is on the brink of some big monuments. Ergo, consider this a haphazard year-end round up, as well as some announcements for the upcoming year.
Firstly, in January our debut line of shirts will be in. Right now, we have the Black & Yellow tee ready to be printed and shipped; we will have a pre-order system set up next month. We're also developing a script "Stay Original" tee, so be on the lookout for that line's release as well. Secondly, the site is approaching 1,000 views which is huge for us. As such, once we hit the milestone, the first FIVE people to email myself (feldo24@gmail.com) or Jesse (jessepriorhull@gmail.com) will receive an exclusive, one-of-a-kind shirt. Shoot us a message, but make sure to include "1,000 VIEW DEAL" in the subject line.
We have experienced some pretty tremendous growth this past month: new interns, new site, new designs. It's been awesome to watch the company expand little by little, and that's all because of you, our audience, our supporters, our O.G.s I salute you all for coming back to check our site and keep up with our posts; we owe our growth all to you.
Keep coming back, throw down some comments, shoot us an email and tell us what you think. Above all, stay true, stay original, keep it O.G.
If you were ever to embark on a spirit quest by taking mescaline in a California desert among an electronic music-spewing young artists' colony who described themselves as proponents of the "American Spirit Eclectic," I imagine that your totem animal might appear to you as something quite like one of AJ Fosik's 3D scultpures. But that's just me. What can only be described as tribal, psychedelic nightmares of folklore characters from another dimension, Fosik assembles out of delightfully painted and patterned bits of wood. Check out more of his work on Fosik's Flickr photostream
No matter your religion or background, here at O.G. want to wish you a very happy holiday! It's the long weekend so everybody enjoy your time off from work (and that paid holiday check). Everyone here is with family and friends, enjoying the little things that bring us together. Stuff your face, bask in your presents, and we'll see you Tuesday!
I'm glad that lockout ended when it did, because The NBA regular season kicks off on December 25, Christmas day! I'm rooting for my boys in green! Whether or not you watch basketball or if you will be too busy spending time with the family, Happy Holidays everyone!
We're calling it now: 2012 is going to go HAM on the movie industry next year. This week we were treated to not one, but three amazing trailers for highly anticipated movies due to release in 2012; The Hobbit, The Dark Knight Rises and yesterday's much abuzz Prometheus. The last movie is Ridley Scott's prequel to his notorious Alien series, which started back in 1979 with Sigourney Weaver.
With so many movies on the way, we here at O.G. want to make a list of our top 3 most anticipated movies of 2012. It goes a little something like this:
1. Coriolanus, starring Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler. Think Romeo & Juliet (with Leo) meets The Hurt Locker. It's Fiennes directorial debut about a disgraced and outcast General (Fiennes) who finds acceptance in the arms of his greatest enemy (Butler). Modern adaptations of Shakespeare are always interesting, and this doesn't look like it will disappoint. Watch for it on January 20, 2012.
2. The Avengers, starring RDJ, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and more. This movie needs little introduction: the greatest crew of superheroes (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, et al) must come together and stop a massive force of evil, Loki (from Thor lore). This one's not just for nerds and fanboys, as it looks incredible. Band together and check it out on May 4, 2012.
3. Prometheus, starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron. WOW is all we can say after watching that trailer. It looks like Ridley Scott is going to freak us out in his Alien prequel. The music and cuts bring about feelings of paranoia, isolation and claustrophobia. I love anything Fassbender does, guy's nothing short of an amazing actor. And always good to see Stringer Bell. See where it all started on June 8, 2012.
There you have it, just a small chunk of the movies we cannot wait to see next year. If the world indeed ends, this is not a bad way to go out.
Check out this awesome collection of carved book landscapes, courtesy of artist Guy Laramee. Citing culture erosion - the development, rise and fall of different cultures - as his inspiration, Laramee diligently creates landscape designs from paper books. This stuff is seriously trippy to look at, check some of these out then head on over to Guy's site for more.
I realize I am behind on this post and it is probably old news by now. But today in Las Vegas court, "Money" Mayweather Jr. pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge filed by his girlfriend. In exchange for his plea he was granted a reduced sentence and will only serve 90 days in jail. Additionally, Floyd must pay a $2,500 fine (pocket change) and complete 100 hours of community service. The incident accordingly played out like so......when Floyd's girl went to give him a hug, he heard the door bell ring and immediately reacted by laying her out while she wasn't looking. I guess you can take him out of the ring, but you can't take the ring out of him. Careful Floyd don't drop the soap, and why you crying?
The Young Money front runners Drake, Weezy and Tyga go in for Drake's featured single "The Motto" off of his platinum album Take Care. Apparently, the song and visuals were a tribute to Northern California and acting accordingly the video was shot in the gorgeous Bay Area. For all the fashion minded folks watching I assume you noticed the Supreme x Northface collab jacket that Drizzy was sporting, along with his two watches. In addition, my boy Lil Tunechi was sporting a The Hundreds fitted. Still waiting to hear if Drake will ever drop tracks taking shots at either Common or Pusha T, both of which have made it apparent they think he soft.
Slaughterhouse recently stopped by Funkmaster Flex's radio show and dropped an absolutely crazy freestyle, totaling a jaw-dropping twenty minutes. I don't think there's anyone else in the game who can rap that efficiently off the top for even a quarter of that time. I think a Slaughterhouse tee design is long overdue.
Sometimes, you just need to let it all out. Homeboy here was riding on the subway and was overcome with the desire to belt out WTT's "Niggas in Paris." I can't be sure how well it hangs with Ye & Jay's world record eight consecutive rotations during their Chicago show, but give the guy credit: he seriously went cray.
T.I. has had a rough time post-prison life. He was granted early release, then "violated" his probation by meeting with execs on his tour bus. Finally released, T.I. is back on his grind and poised to release an LP sometime in the near future. Apparently, he has over 50 songs recorded since becoming a free man, and is going to release a mixtape on January 1st titled Fuck Da City Up. Tip released this trailer for the tape, highlighting him meeting with fans and dropping some rhymes for the crowd. Check it out above.
Our doors are open and waiting for you! O.G. is looking to bring on a marketing intern (or two) and we want to see your resumes.
We need an outgoing, driven, sales minded individual to join our team and promote the company. Your job would be to generate traffic to our site, in order to get potential customers interested in our brand and what we have to offer.
As the ideal candidate you should be very experienced with various forms of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and working knowledge of marketing. You don't need to be a genius or whiz, just dedicated and motivated enough to get the wheels turning and people thinking.
The position would be an unpaid internship, but you can work remotely from the comfort of your home/dorm/apartment. Regular contact with us is a must, so telecommuting is very important. We know the idea of not getting paid kind of sucks, but the company's potential for growth is massive. If you stay with us through the start and show you're committed to O.G., there will definitely be a permanent, paid spot for you here.
If you're interested or know someone that fits the description, shoot us an email with a resume and cover letter. Let us know why you're the right choice for O.G.
Allow me to formally introduce my friend and budding photographer, Alyssa Stone. She is studying photography at Syracuse University right now, as well as some English studies. Her shots are thought provoking and unique, highlighting the simple yet enjoyable aspects of our lives. In this fast-moving world, it's hard to stop and examine the world around us; it's easy to forget the small things. Alyssa does an incredible job capturing and conveying emotions we often miss in a busy day. Take the time to scan these cool photos from her collection. When you're done and looking for more, click here to head on over to her blog and check out the rest of her work.
Here it is, in glorious HD courtesy of YouTube, the full length The Dark Knight Rises trailer. This movie has been hyped up pretty much since the release of its predecessor, The Dark Knight. Although July 2012 is quite far away, we're still incredibly stoked to get our first real look at the flick from Christopher Nolan. Back for his final turn as Batman is Christian Bale, as well as Gary Oldman playing Commission James Gordon. Newcomer Anne Hathaway (Catwoman) joins a large chunk of the Inception cast (Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for the action-packed finale of the Batman trilogy. Check out the video below.
This trailer has it all: Bane stalking, imploding football fields, camo tumblers, utter mayhem, creepy little boy singing. And is that a Robin-esque "R" seen in the crowd at the beginning? Nolan has given us just a small taste of what to expect from this thrilling conclusion to the Batman legacy. Hopefully as time goes on, more info will be released. No doubt we'll be right on top of it.
Hello everyone! The new guy making his first post!
If you haven't heard of him, then you should probably start listening. Childish Gambino delivers powerful lyrics from his own life, peppered with pop culture references. He just released his first commercial album "Camp" on Nov. 15, and here's one of those songs:
His other albums...they are free! Childish Gambino's real name is Donald Glover, and he also stars in the comedy TV show "Community". Another song I particularly enjoy is "Freaks and Geeks". Enjoy!
Peter Jackson is at it again, adapting another popular J.R.R. Tolkien book, this time it is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Judging from the trailer it should match the hype.
Game released the official video for Martians vs. Goblins off of The R.E.D. Album. Fans of Lil' Wayne will be disappointed with no cameo from the YM leader. Can honestly say one of the best music videos I have seen in awhile. Great use of special effects, they didn't go overboard but used them to their advantage. Only two disappointments were the lack of attention to the "intestine shoelaces" on Game's "Wolf Grey" Jordan's. Secondly, I expected a little more unusualness from Tyler's verse. Some people might say he wasn't donning his usual Supreme hat, think again he was wearing the new "CNN" snapback from the brand. Enjoy the show.
If you have ever seen Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy's documentary film, then you will remember the interesting and sometimes annoying personality of MBW, or Mr. Brainwash. Keeping with the same theme of his art show in the film, he plans to go big, judging from photos of his "Art Show 2011". The show is in LA, one disadvantage of calling the east coast home. But certainly check out the pictures provided by Hypebeast.
Transworld Skateboarding is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week and in honor of the monumental milestone, they released their list of the 30 most influential skaters of all time. I can't lie, I was already a little skeptical of the list just cause they said "personal", which basically means "biased". But upon clicking the link I saw my personal favorite skater and fellow street wear clothing designer (Primitive), P-Rod. It was definitely hard to swallow. Although I will cut them a little slack cause ranking guys like Danny Way, Koston, Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen etc. is certainly very hard.
By now, you have undoubtedly heard about the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA for short. If not, allow me to summarize: it is complete hogwash. The House of Representatives have the bill proposed to them, which would effectively destroy the internet as we know it. Any site with copyrighted material, as well as sites that even provide links to said material, face the imminent possibility of being disbanded for their "infractions." The likes of YouTube, Google, Reddit, 4Chan, Digg (the list goes on) would have their IPs banned and their companies dismantled. Even Blogger, the very site we operate our company from faces the chance of censorship due to the greed of men and women who are already worth millions of dollars.
However, there is some temporary good news: as of today, voting on the bill has been postponed until 2012 due to "House scheduling." They do not reference the more than 25,000 signatures received in two days from an online petition, staged on Whitehouse.gov. I myself am proud to say I was the 31,780th person to sign the petition. Folks, this is a serious issue with some possibly serious consequences, and should not be taken lightly. The very freedoms our countrymen have fought and died for over the years are being tarnished and tainted with little regard for care and worry.
Please, take the time to read and sign the petition. It literally takes five minutes of your time. Help out yourself and your people by taking a stand against SOPA. Thank you.
