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July 27th, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
Directed by Aristotle of By Any Means. Shout out to @Nisarglives and thanks to him for getting us on the set of this video back in the Spring.
Fab’s EP “There Is No Competition” will be in stores soon.
June 21st, 2010 by Phella
Hopefully the clock never strikes midnight on this young lady. She’s worked very hard to get where she is and I’m proud to say I was around at the beginning before she became a household name. The power moves she’s made in the past two and a half years is something to applauded.
May 23rd, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
Jay-Z makes ice cold moves on a weekly basis it seems. So much that I think we take it for granted just how far he’s come as a person, business man and artist. To think that 10 years ago the big picture was him in jeans shorts, white tee and bucket hat being stuffed in an NYPD wagon. Now here is with “the billionaire boys and some dudes you never heard of”. Applaud that man.
April 28th, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
Our old friends over at Illusive Media have been on a tear lately. Aside from their work with the Clipse, they now have Lupe Fiasco’s latest visual to add to the resume. Certainly no losers with this one.
April 28th, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
Last night myself (Phella) and DJ Laser attended the 2 Year Anniversary for Stuff Fly People Like in Brooklyn, NY. It was at the Mocada Museum where currently an exhibition about gentrification in Brooklyn is currently being held. So it was basically a two for one. Had a chance to mingle with some old and new industry faces, and was able to view some GREAT ART in the process. I mean great. The exhibit is running till May 16th and I suggest you check it out whether you’re from Brooklyn or not. It sheds light on the dark side of gentrification from the perspective of several talented artists.
My Blackberry can’t really do the artwork justice but here’s a few.
As for the party….courtesy of Stuff Fly People Like.
April 21st, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
It’s talented women night over here at Da Fam Ink I guess. This is crazy. Spotted over at my homegirl Pristina’s blog. She’s sick with it.
March 29th, 2010 by Phella
Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to get live play-by-play of this video as it was being shot. Nisarg, good friend of Da Fam, was on set with ByAnyMeans and sent over a exclusive few flicks. Here’s the final product.
March 29th, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
Ok, here we go. Initially after watching Erykah Badu’s new video on Saturday morning, I thought like most men did “wow, what a nice ass!”. Then eventually I settled down and replayed it to appreciate the true message and there was a lot of it to appreciate. The song is great and the concept of the video is even greater. Basically, from what I gather, Ms. Badu’s goal is to make people aware of the concept of ‘GROUPTHINK’. Simply defined, GROUPTHINK is going along with the masses without thinking as an individual.
Here are some more definitions of GROUPTHINK, as well as commentary on the video from E. Badu and her followers on Twitter. For those not on Twitter, Fatbellybella is Erykah Badu’s screen name.
@moneyfollowsme @fatbellybella groupthink defends current myths, because they know that a challenge 2 their beliefs means danger 4 the group & their safety
@PoeticBluKitti @fatbellybella #GROUPTHINK People who follow whatever story or policy is handed to them without question.
@amanidakar Honestly I do not understand the concept of the video in relation to the lyrics (groupthink vs. escapism) @fatbellybella
@fatbellybella so it is true.being honest CAN get u assassinated.your character,spirt,& sometimes physically.interesting. what drives this? keep dialoging.
@fatbellybella funny , i thought i was outta shape thus encouraging others toward self love .. but they think im showin off . lol . the irony . sheeeezus!
@fatbellybella funny thing is , the physical nudity is nothing lol . i been naked all along in my words actions and deeds . thats the real vulnerable place
@fatbellybella i remember tweeting that day.”okay here goes nothing” i felt like i was going2 do something life threatening.1nce hoody unzip-no tur’n back
@fatbellybella heard people yelling diff things @ me but i held my head up and kept moving.there were children there.i prayed they wouldnt b traumatized…
@fatbellybella GROUPTHINK is walking up and yelling “crucify him” without knowing anything about him or IT
Fair:
Fair #1
In the video, Ms. Badu returns to the scene of JFK’s assassination in Dallas, Texas and walks from her car to a local park. During her 2 to 3 minute walk she removes all of her clothing. Right down to the end when she’s completely naked in front of everyone who was out that day, including several young children. I say fair because she wanted to do it and she did it. Anytime someone is expressing themselves how they want to and not thinking with the group, I’m all for it.
Fair #2
At the end of the video she is figuratively assassinated by those who don’t understand her and her blood spells out GROUPTHINK. Genius; however you want to slice it.
Fair #3
The video has opened up much needed dialogue such as this one on a variety of topics. It’s rare these days that anything captures our attention long enough that we discuss it for more than an hour. It seems Ms. Badu, her critics, and her supporters, are all learning through out this process and that’s always a good thing. If that was her goal then mission accomplished.
Foul:
Foul #1
I believe stripping in front of little kids is out of bounds regardless of how creative or soulful you think you are. I can only wonder how those in support of it would feel if they were at a park on a Sunday with their kids or siblings and a grown man began taking his clothes off in the name of art. You would probably kill him or at least want to. But somehow because it’s Erykah Badu, creator of all things deep, she gets a pass?
It’s no fault of Erykah’s but I believe she is the beneficiary of the same kind of thinking she wants to eliminate; GROUPTHINK. Here group thinks that all things “soulful” and “creative” should be honored. It can’t be wrong. If it’s popular, like a Beyonce, Jay-Z or Lady Gaga, then we can crucify it. Then it’s hedonistic, then it’s demonic, then it’s too vulgar for our children to see. But for as long as you have dreadlocks or a good message then strip away.
Foul #2
The video had absolutely positively nothing to do with the song. It was a genius song about love and she made a genius video for it about GROUPTHINK. It’s her song, her video, and her budget so she has every right to do as she pleases. However, I can’t help but suggest a publicity stunt was involved here. I had no clue Ms. Badu’s latest album was to be released tomorrow until I watched the video which I probably wouldn’t have watched if I never saw a screen shot of her half naked body.
Closing statement:
I’m for the video. I love it and I’ll definitely be buying Erykah Badu’s new album tomorrow. However, I feel the same pass she is being given should be awarded to anyone in the future who decides to take it where she took it. To constantly criticize the Britney Spears’ of the world for artistic expression and then praise the Erykah Badu’s is not only GROUPTHINK but it’s hypocritical.
Furthermore, an adult being naked in front of kids is something I’m not sure I agree with. As a mother, a role model and a responsible member of society I think rather than actually going through with process, she could have utilized modern technology to make it look like she was naked in the park. To really do it and then hope the kids aren’t traumatized, I believe is a bit ignorant.
Lastly, there was some random guy in red following her and picking up all the clothes as she took them. I wonder if he also “got the drawls”.
March 27th, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
In this day and age of next to nothing video budgets it’s cool to observe which artists and their teams are able to stretch creativity and make good visuals for cheap. Ms. Badu sets the standard with this one. Besides her body, the way the video is shot and the message at the end make this a Five-Star video.
March 15th, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
Ms. Trina is back with a new album slated for this May. She hooks up with Diddy and Ms. Keri Baby on this “Million Dollar Girl” track. Looks like she’s having fun again after a few dark periods in her life.
This just might be comeback season. The Boy Wonder aka Lloyd Banks is back with a hit single and a video to match. No 50? No problem. Just Banks over production that sounds current and a Juelz Santana feature.
If you want something epic then we got that too. Ms. Erykah Badu is also on the comeback trail, not to say she ever went anywhere. Her hit song “Window Seat” will have a visual soon but in the meantime there’s the trailer above.
Bobby Ray aka B.O.B. called on some beautiful girls for his video for the song “Beautiful Girls” featuring Bruno Mars. The Adventures Of Bobby Ray coming in May and you can also catch Bob on tour with Lupe Fiasco right now.
And one last trailer for you courtesy of Mr. Loso in Case You Ain’t Know So. “R.I.P” from his latest mixtape There Is No Competition 2 with DJ Drama.
March 4th, 2010 by Da Fam Ink
Okay here we go. The album is called Winter Wonderland: Enjoying Living In A Cold World. Hopefully you’ve watched my videos or you’re at least thinking on a deep enough level to know that it has nothing to do with the actual weather. It’s about life itself and how cold and harsh it can be. How the only way to enjoy it is to sustain through those cold periods and even find ways to enjoy them.
This first picture is probably my favorite. There’s only two times in life where we can experience true Winter Wonderland; as a child, when you’re oblivious to just how cold it is, or as a grown up, when you accept that the world is cold but you embrace it and find ways to make it work for you.
The second and third photos show that it takes a good amount of creativity to enjoy living in a cold world. It reminds me of when kids in third world countries play soccer barefoot or swim like Michael Phelps in the dirtiest of water. The harshness of their surrounding doesn’t bother them. Instead they make the best of it and turn it into wonderland. That’s what we did by turning snow into a baseball and a football.
The final picture simply shows the endurance and patience. It’s naïve to say the coldness of the world doesn’t get to us. Even the strongest of us can crack under the world’s pressures. However, if you endure and stay true to who you are, warmth is usually just around the corner. This is depicted in this photo by the snow melting away and the sun on the horizon.
Fresco, Matt, and Chris did a great job helping me illustrate this concept and I truly believe that I did my best job as an artist of getting this concept across on the 8 or 9 tracks you will hear. I did it in such a way that if you’re the type who skimmed through this entry, you’ll enjoy it, and if you’re the type who read and understood every word of this entry, then YOU’LL LOVE IT.
Whether you enjoy it, love it, or even hate it, which I doubt anyone will, it’s my life and it’s our life on audio so I hope that at the very least you appreciate it.
I appreciate it.
-Phella
