This is Dante from Brooklyn. I'm sure you've already picked up on the fact that I'm a cheerleader for female MCs, but I'm feeling this for a couple reasons: she's from Brooklyn, her voice is amazing, and she actually wears a habit in the video (and then proceeds to roll up on a dude and take him home in said habit).
But seriously, her voice. I can't think of who to compare her to so just listen to it (and maybe you can think of a good "sounds like" and tell me in the comments?). If you're feeling it, pick up her mixtape, there are some solid tracks there too.
There's not much new music right now that I feel inclined to post about (mostly because I'm sure you're getting it already from better joints than this one), but I did make this playlist a while back that I thought I'd share as a palette cleanser of sorts. I don't really have much to add to the curent discussion/debate swirling around Kitty Pryde, Iggy, Azealia, Kreayshawn, etc, other than I think it's all a little "too too" at this point. I understand why everyone is so hungry for new music and especially new female rappers, but can we give them some space to actually make some music, please? Apparently one Youtube video is enough to merit 2000 words these days. Yeesh.
So let's return to the days of Missy, Remy Ma, Lil Kim, Eve, Shawnna, Da Brat, and yes a couple Pink Dollaz for good measure. Who can forget the days of choreographing dances to "Crush On You" in Amy Chamberlain's basement? (Maybe like one of you, right? No?)
Here's another fun one from our trip to Santa Fe (here's the first one). We spent a lot of that trip going to look at local art and crafts, like those giant bearded tree monks behind me. Doesn't it kind of look like the one on the right is trying to photobomb? No? Maybe it's just me. I have really strong memories of Santa Fe even though I was pretty young when we went – but it was my first time on a plane, and my mom let me walk back to the hotel by myself one day so I was feeling pretty A+. My grandma was there too, and she bought a lot of rad mudcloth that's still sitting in her insane sewing room (which I showed you once before here and here!).
I'm pretty sure I have said this before but I would wear that exact outfit today if I could. And I probably will buy those Tokis if I can ever get my hands on them (and the earrings and hat too, obvi).
When Sasha Gohard posted "Why They Madd" on Monday, some cohorts and I got to twitter-musing on why she hasn't gotten picked up for bigger projects or features yet. I figured I'd go straight to the source and sent her a message to see if she would be down to answer a few questions, to which she sweetly agreed.
Another important character in Sasha's story and in the Chicago scene at the moment is DGainz, who produces both beats and videos and is the man behind the visuals for Chief Keef's now-infamous anthem, "Don't Like." After reading Sasha's answers, I followed up with DGainz to hear how he does it. This kid's body of work is massive. He put out 10 videos in April alone, has 168 videos on his Youtube channel, and his complete discography is almost 50 tracks long and counting (see it on SoManyShrimp). He told me that while he prefers making beats, he has been focusing on making videos lately because he's been having hearing problems for the past year. I asked how many artists he's working with and he said he's lost count, but that it takes about 2-3 hours to shoot and many more to edit each video. These videos are no joke though – he doesn't just stick to one rote formula and apply it across the board, each song gets its own treatment. In a culture where music videos are tantamount to cred and currency, DGainz is one you want in your court.
The bottom line is that these kids are demanding attention, they're going to get it. Here's what Sasha had to say about her career, past present and future...
Emily:You just put out "Why They Madd" – is that part of a bigger mixtape coming out? What are you putting out next? Sasha Gohard: Yes that's part of my mixtape coming out, and next will be a soft love song!
There's a big group of girls in Chicago putting out music and videos right now (ChellaH, Shady, Katie Got Bandz to name a few). Are you all supportive of each other? Does it ever get competitive?
I mean, like me and Chella support each other, and me and Katie support each other. Everybody on their own on the come up but still support each other!
How did you get into rapping? When did you record your first song?
I been rapping for about 3 or 4 years but I first recorded and got serious early last year. I recorded my first song last year with DGainz.
What's your relationship with Chief Keef like?
Me and Chief Keef don't communicate like we used to! He doing his thing and I'm doing mine. I salute his success though!
Since Kanye co-signed Chief Keef a lot of bigger labels have been taking a closer look at the Chicago rap scene. Who are some other artists you think should get some credit? Have you been approached by any labels yet?
I truly believe I deserve some credit, Chris Mille, and SDot! A few labels approached me before but I wasn't feeling the movement and I'd rather wait for the best!
What's your day-to-day like? Are you in school? Working? Where do you go out, etc?
I work and rap and spend time with my main family. I don't too much go out unless I'm in the car. Too much fame (negative & positive).
What other artists or producers do you want to work with?
Producers I wanna work with is Young Chop, Absolut.P, and whoever cold. :)
Do you listen to Iggy Azalea or Azealia Banks? They have been getting a lot of buzz in the mainstream media lately, what do you think of their music?
Never heard of them.
How do you see your career going over the next 5 years?
I'll be worldwide with plenty of money making good music! :) :) :)
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If you want more on Chicago rap, read FakeShoreDrive and SoManyShrimp. Those kids know more about their shit than I could ever pretend to. They also have a podcast, Disrespectful Radio which is definitely worth your time.
Follow:
@Sasha_Darapper
@DGainzBeats
@FakeShoreDrive
@SoManyShrimp
& @TooManyRonis
For your Tuesday morning enjoyment, a smattering of what's in my headphones right now.
Kid Ink "Time Of Your Life"
This is one of those perfect-for-hot-weather summer jams that I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot more of in coming months. It's like easy listening lite rap, but I'm into it. And let me just say, Jennifer Martinez in this video... wowwww.
Darq E Freaker featuring Danny Brown "Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)"
The Fader has been calling Danny "America's best grime artist" which I'm not really sure I'm down with as a label (seems pretty arbitrary to me based on this little write up), but either way this beat is DUMB GOOD and I have been listening to this ish all day. Love you Danny.
Sasha Gohard "Why They Madd"
I first discovered Sasha Gohard after getting lost in a black hole of Chief Keef videos. She's part of this crew of budding high school rappers that includes Keef, Katy Got Bandz, Shady, and a handful of other Chicago kids that are probably going to blow up in about 5 minutes since Kanye co-signed Chief Keef a couple weeks ago. But I digress – Sasha has tuff bars and the beat is spooky sparse heat.
"This picture is of me being a general exhibitionist. I was most likely running around my big backyard topless while my Dad planted bamboo. (I grew up in an enchanted forest - I was so lucky to have a Dad who loved to garden and would plant trees specifically for fort building.) He would take off his gardening bandanas and tie them around my tiny chest. Bra tops as outerwear! I was so on trend!
That hat is also probably Dad's. When I was little, my parents would host croquet parties in the summer for their friends and this hat looks tailor made for one of those. The pants are something that my parents would call PARTY PANTS. Everyone in my family had a pair... (I think Dad had 3 at one point)... hammer style, elastic waist, really loud print. Truly, I would wear this exact outfit today." ~India Nicholas
Look at this tiny little human! India and I didn't know each other until high school, but we grew up just a few blocks apart. Now we both live in Brooklyn, and every time I see her it's like a big healthy shot of home. I had a lot of fun with this one (although I say that every time), especially because her "then" outfit was so on trend – she belongs at Coachella, right?
See the first installment of Your Style Then and Now here, and all of the My Style Then and Now posts here!
Do you want to see yourself featured in a Your Style Then and Now post?
Submit your best kid looks to emily.m.kropp@gmail.com!
"Here's a pic of me when I was 9. I decided to tie a dress around my waist and then tuck in a home made tie dye t-shirt. Note the bracelets and thick unruly bangs. I was going for the "campy country chic look" I think I'm pretty cool in this pic, especially in the way I'm patting Cam on the head." ~Ande Nicoletti
For the first installment of the newly minted series "Your Style Then and Now," we have a very sassy, confident young Ande Nicoletti. The outfit she is wearing is very Angela Chase, no? It was kind of tough to recreate in a way that I think Ande would actually wear now (tie dye and plaid together is tough for anyone), but I tried to pick some fun accessories and sandals that are kind of a grown up version of those jelly sandals that we all had back in the day. Ande is my bff Cara's older sister, and that cute little one on the left is their cousin Cam. I'm obsessed with everyone in their family, and I'm sure it's not hard to see why.
Do you want to see yourself featured in a Your Style Then and Now post?
Submit your best kid looks to emily.m.kropp@gmail.com!
Yesterday, SSENSE debuted the world's first shoppable music video for FKi's "I Think She Ready" featuring Iggy Azalea. If you've got stacks to spend on Margiela, Rick Owens, Preen, McQueen, etc, click on the floating S boxes to get these pieces – otherwise just enjoy the video! Oh also, FKi stands for Fuckin Kickin It, which makes me think of my brother because he says that all the time and does not read this blog.
You may have heard of Brianna Perry in the last few weeks thanks to none other than her highness Beyonce, who posted the video for "Marilyn Monroe" on her website – but Miss Perry has been around. She was on a Trina record when she was just 9 years old, and then was signed to Missy's Label for three years before signing to Atlantic Records' Poe Boy imprint.
"Marilyn Monroe" is super catchy, and Perry is super cute. It doesn't quite show off what she's capable of lyrically, but her other video releases, like her "Rack City" freestyle and "Slight Work" remix reveal that she does in fact have bars. She's sassy, sexy, and I for one am excited to see where she goes. I love her voice and her persona, and of course her style (though putting the Galaxies and the Concords in the same video for "Slight Work" is a little overkill).
Download Brianna Perry's Mixtape "Face Off" here, check out a few of her videos below and more on her YouTube Channel. She's currently back in the studio working with Missy, with another mixtape and an official release on the way.
What do you think of Brianna the Young Rich Bandit?
Here we have it. The outfit I wore to my 13th birthday party at Oaks Park Roller Rink. That was an important day for many reasons: Ryan gave me the Space Jam soundtrack, I had a couples skate with Max, and I wore some lipgloss which was a new and exciting thing.
I have really strong memories of this outfit and I was obsessed with that sweater. The beaded floral choker and yin yang necklace were obviously essential to the look. I've grown out of the hormone nose and the braces, and have learned the undeniable, incomparable power of mascara since this picture was taken, but I still know all the words to the Space Jam soundtrack and I still suck at smiling in pictures.
***DO YOU WANT TO SEE YOURSELF FEATURED IN MY STYLE THEN AND NOW? SUBMIT YOUR BEST KID LOOKS TO EMILY.M.KROPP@GMAIL.COM***
By now, you've no doubt heard of Azealia Banks and Iggy Azalea. You may have also heard that they are beefing. So let's break down this beef and work it out.
Who's Who:
Iggy Azalea is the tall white Australian one. She has an insane body and she is currently dating A$AP Rocky (and even has "Live Love A$AP" tattooed on her fingers). She dropped her first mixtape, "Ignorant Art" last year and was the first woman ever featured in XXL's sort-of-coveted, sort-of-prestigious "Freshman Class."* She's gotten co-signs from a handful of southern rappers including Pusha T, YG, and T.I.
Azealia Banks is a New Yorker who went to LaGuardia high school (which is the one from Fame), who burst onto the scene with her song "212" last fall. She has also gotten plenty of press (GQ, NYMag, etc), and became the fashion world's latest obsession when Karl Lagerfeld and Nicola Formichetti hired her to perform at Fashion Week in February. She's gotten love from Kanye and other people, but... Kanye.
The Beef, round one:
Azealia fired shots at Iggy on twitter saying that Iggy shouldn't have made the Freshman Class – specifically because Iggy refers to herself as a "slave master" in one of her songs, which I'm not even going to step to because honestly that's just a no brainer. You're a white. female. rapper. Iggy. It's not okay, and you had to know it was gonna be an issue. NOW that being said... Iggy was voted into the Freshman Class by the readers of XXL, so in theory, Azealia had the very same chance to get that last spot. AND it should be noted that Azealia got a profile piece in the front of that same issue of XXL with just about the same word count as Iggy's write up. Azealia went on to tweet that she is not "anti white girl," but she is "pro black girl." Iggy didn't really respond, just tweeted some generally happy things about being excited to be on the list and get her cover spot.
Round 2:
At the end of February, T.I. signed Iggy to his Grand Hustle Records label. The two were interviewed by DJ Drama who quickly brought up the beef with Azealia, and Iggy kept a cool head, saying that she worked hard for her own achievements, and that she wished Azealia would have been happy to see a woman on the list. T.I. defended Iggy, but then he got a little mean, saying that Azealia should hope she sucks enough to get shelved so that she can make the cover next year. Way harsh, Tai. Azealia hopped on the twitter bird once again and tweeted: "LMFAOO how u a grown man commenting on what's going on between two girls. Come on son. Stop it." ... which was a deeply terrible tweet on a lot of levels, primarily the "you're a big grown man and we're just two small girls with silly little girl problems that shouldn't matter to a big man like you" level.
Round 3: A$AP Rocky was interviewed by a UK blog called Punchbowl, and eventually got around to the Azealia vs. Iggy issue, stepping to Iggy's defense. First of all he says that Azealia in fact used to date one of the A$AP Mob, A$AP AV, which is sort of a weird element to this whole thing... but then he says that Azealia is being petty, and that Iggy is not racist ("TRUST ME"). Azealia doesn't appear to have responded to this interview as of yet.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:
This whole scenario is just kind of shitty, if you ask me. We should all be so hyped to have so many active, talented female rappers out right now, and the fact that these two are beefing and not supporting each other is not helping either of them. My opinion of Azealia is also tainted by the fact that she has fired shots at other lady artists too: Kreayshawn retweeted a link to one of Azealia's videos that had originally been tweeted by PornHub (which, considering the fact that for much of the song, Azealia is chanting "I guess that cunt gettin eatin" is not really so far fetched), and she WENT OFF, saying "You're a dumb bitch. And you can't rap. I'll sit on your face. ... Fall back slut." YIKES. Kreayshawn wrote back: "I've been listening to your music all month" and "Did I just get smashed on twitter because I was supporting a fellow female? I sure did... *confused*" Azealia ALSO said some not-so-nice things about Nicki Minaj! I don't even like Nicki Minaj but at this point I'm starting to think that Azealia is just a big bully.
The best thing any of these ladies can do now is put their money where their mouth is (ignore the grammar, you get the sentiment). Azealia needs to put out a really incredible record, or even just a decent mixtape if she wants to prove some kind of point. She just put out a song called "Fuck Up The Fun" over a Diplo beat (which sounds like something from the Major Lazer cutting room floor, I hate to say), but honestly it's pretty much just rapid fire curse and n words, and threats, and more subtle shots at Iggy at the end. She only has a few songs out, no mixtape, and only two proper Youtube videos. Iggy played her cards right in that respect – she put out the video for "Pu$$y," got some good buzz going, dropped the mixtape and followed up with a couple more videos. And whether or not you like her music, those videos are good.
All in all, I wish these two would just... get along. And I wish all female rappers would get along. Maybe it's a pipe dream, but either way, tweet beef is not a good look, so my advice to these ladies is to either drop it or take it offline, 'cause the internet never forgets. *Among the artists who have turned down a spot in the Freshman Class are Drake, Nicki Minaj, and A$AP Rocky, and they seem to be doing just fine. They also don't seem to have a consistent track record with their picks – some of the past Freshman Class artists would up being essentially one hit/mixtape wonders. this is for the ladies @toomanyronis
Hot off the presses – Nike has released a preview of their Spring 2012 Liberty Print collabo sneakers for the ladies, and these styles are FIRE. I showed you the hidden wedge dunks a few weeks back, which I have come to learn are actually called the Dunk Sky High, but I was not anticipating this much hotness – the Air Max Ones?!? The Free 5s?!
The first drop will be April 2nd, and will include the Free 5.0, the Cortez and the Air Max Ones. The other three hi-top styles will be out in May. WHICH ONES WILL YOU GET?
Check out Nike's Liberty Collections from 2009 and 2011, too. I hope they continue this collaboration – there are so few nice sneakers styles for women that aren't just pink pink pink, and these are really well done.
Hey! I was interviewed in PMC Magazine and you should check it out! You will learn about some things I hate, some things I like, and who my heroes are. Go read it!
I don't know what it is about these shapeless, frayed denim sack clothes that I love so much, but I do love them. I saw Elena Perminova in that awesome jacket and open-front jeans, and then learned through cool blog The Dreamy Little Picture Show that the designer is Marques'Almeida... and then about an hour after reading that post, found these pieces on Opening Ceremony! Go figure. Those jeans are kind of sexy, right? Oh and Cassie wore them on BET!
I'm definitely going to try a DIY of that jacket...
what's the deal with you and so-and-so @toomanyronis
When I started writing this post, I was thinking, "Yeah! Windbreakers are so in right now, I'm so into that. I want one too!" But after thinking about it a little more, I could be wrong – just because Alexander Wang showed a couple windbreaker-y jackets doesn't necessarily mean they are "in." Any fashion ladies care to weigh in?
Regardless, I'm really into windbreakers right now and I'm exciting to buy one. It's humid and nasty in NYC with a chance of rain today: aka great windbreaker weather. I also like the idea of wearing one over a girly dress to take it down a notch. The Nike Cyclone jacket comes in a lot of colors and has a cool transparent thing going on, and that Stella x Adidas studio jacket comes in a slate color that is really nice too.
In the "Under $100" category, these ones are really nice too:
Even though I am pretty sure I'm just playing dress up in this picture, I like to imagine that I put this outfit together for Easter. Because I always really loved Easter growing up.
My mom always gave us a special treat along with the candy we got in our baskets, and one year I got a bottle of Tommy Girl Perfume. It was my first bottle of perfume and I thought it was just about the best thing, ever. I also really loved picking out an Easter outfit – in my family we usually got more dressed up for Easter than Christmas – and the brunches we had were always insanely delicious.
We also had some incredible Easter traditions. As I mentioned in my MSTN post from last year (whoa, by the way), we used to head out to my aunt and uncle's giant property outside of Portland and go on a huge golfball hunt, and at the end of the hunt, we got to trade in the golfballs for candy. When they moved and we didn't have the sprawl for that kind of a hunt, we hid eggs with everyone's name on them around the house and in the backyard. The trick was to find the egg with your name on it without giving away anyone else's eggs.
I would definitely, 100% wear this outfit to Easter brunch this year, if I had one to go to. I'm thinking about pulling a Martha and hosting here in Williamsburg with my famous spinach and cheese strata – who's in?
Woop woop it's Friday! I've got big plans: going to see 21 Jumpstreet and my love Chan Tatum, meeting blog star Pizza Rulez for the first time, Flywheel Sunday, then to a barbeque at Steve's new spot and SO MUCH MORE!
Friday calls for some weekend pre-gam jamz, and I'm here to provide. I'm assuming you're all on the Spotify train, right? Good. Direct your browsers toPregameGrillz.com, which is not in fact a website but a playlist that I made for your weekend pregame. Here's what's on it:
Season affective disorder must be a real thing, because ever since the sun came out and the temperature went up about 10 degrees, I've been in a beyond great mood and feeling ultra motivated to pick up all those half-finished projects that have been on my to-do list since, oh, October. While I'm not quite ready to bring out the shorts and tanks or pastel sundresses, I'd love to be rocking this look this weekend. That biker jacket is enough Spring to last a life time. Purr.
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