Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Afro-Punk i$ coming to a ciTy near yoU.

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If
you googled the word afropunk in the google news tab last Sunday night, a couple of news links would come pop up, all linking the movement to the New York based summer Afropunk Festival. The stories would use terms as "new-age underground black punk kids" or "cutesy rocker black kids with skateboards gathering in New York's BAM parking lot."

Type afropunk in the news tab today.

Ohio's daily online paper, The Akron Journal, pops up with the word "Afro Punk."

Minneapolis's daily online paper, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, pops up with "Afro-punk."

Plug In Music lists :

Toronto
Chicago
Atlanta
San Francisco
Orlando
Los Angeles

along with 13 other U.S. cities that Afro-punk will tour kicking off October 21st at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza during the CMJ Festival. According to the Afro-punk website, their first U.S. tour will be headlined by top artist/song/poet/ and social activists Saul Williams's "The Niggy Tardust Experience" and a explosion of other artists (including The Activators) to 20 cities in the US and Canada October 21st-November 17th 2009.






A better detail what the tour promises will soon come to this blog. But for sure, according to AP spokespeople, the tour should be a night of surprises: shock and awe. The New York AP festival, but on the road.

Schedule:

October 21: New York City @ The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza (CMJ Festival)
October 22: Cleveland, OH @ Cambridge Room at The House of Blues
October 23: Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
October 25: Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
October 26: Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
October 27: Chicago, IL @ Double Door
October 30: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts
October 31: Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
November 1: Washington, DC @ Black Cat
November 4: Atlanta, GA @ The Loft
November 5: Orlando, FL @ The Social
November 6: New Orleans @ House of Blues
November 8: Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
November 10: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
November 12: San Diego, CA @ Delta Room/House of Blues
November 13: Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy
November 15: Portland, OR @ The Aladdin Theater
November 16: Seattle, WA @ Neumos
November 17: Vancouver, BC (details coming soon)





Dirty Water - k-os

Friday, September 18, 2009

New York Fashion Week- afro punk fashion hits the street$

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Punk rock and grudge hit the runway this week for 2009's New York Fashion Week. Feeling the financial falls in the fashion industry, designers, including Donna Karan and LAMB, have tailored their looks to present pieces that will stand the length of time and work for any season.























The Mercedez-Benz semi-annual fashion week, which kicked off last Wednesday and ended this Thursday, featured more than 60 designers and will be followed by fashion weeks in London, Milan and Paris. Although the afro punk scene did not have their own line of clothing strutting down the runway, the streets of Brooklyn serve as the perfect platform for creativity. And in ode to fashion week, Afrospunky has assembled some of the top looks for Spring 2010, afro punk edition, complements to the models walking around New York.


Afrospunky's list of favorite trends:

(click on the picture for a larger view)


1. Aviator clear frames and braces. There is something endearing about large 80s frames and the youthful look of braces. Similar frames can be found at American Apparel or random shops in Chinatown. Braces, ask your dentist. It's a pricey trend, but way cooler than the outdated grills.






















2. BMX skate t-shirts, even if you don't skate are cool. Black leather jackets will never go out of style. Jazz it with angry message buttons, and the jacket can stand the test of time-- depending on the war, president, or current genocide. Black skully hats are also grudge posh and are a staple to any afro punk closet.


3. Afro's will be stylish as long as people can grow them. Celebrities such as Solange are ditching their perms and weaves for a more natural look. Vintage scarves are the perfect accent for color and sophistication.





















4. If I could afford permanent groupies in my crew, I would do it in a heart beat. Groupies make you look wanted, cool, and mysterious. Works every time. Deep v's are very Euro, and look great on men and women.






















5. Grudge facial hair is free to grow and also gives character. The color cruiser is a perfect spring accessory, for the simple fact that you can use it instead of the train and it can match your outfits. Chucks, only dirty, should be worn as often and as much as possible. This is important so they can become more dirty and look even cooler.





















6. Mohawks are everywhere. The trick with keeping mohawks unique is not on the hair side. It's on the side that is missing hair. Cool designs with political statements are a must shave in this spring complemented with unnatural hair colors. Bob Marley anything. Enough said.























7. Better than any jacket, hat, or shoes you can find in a thrift store, having a crew of boarders, especially female, is heavy and a must have for the spring wardrobe. Skate shoes are smart and safe for quick breaks with the foot. Fancy necklaces with torn jeans and vintage t's are also a must have.





















8. Dressing in gothic chic is always appropriate for a night out on the town. Proving ultimate grundge, not wearing a shirt or pants is the best way to prove your thrifty nature.




















9. Yes, this is Monsta Black. A true model of afro punk culture. Dressing how you feel in the morning, no matter how crazy people in the streets may look at you. Putting on clothes should be fun and functional. In this economy, don't stress out on designer labels that will mean nothing to you 15 years from now. Mix it up with thrift and trade unwanted clothes with friends. It's all about loving yourself and letting your clothes represent the color inside your soul.



Convict Colony - Saul Williams

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

ditching the book$ for her board -- this chick is now in talk$ with MTV

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Right now, she says her life is pretty dope. At 23, Nathalie Herring (pronounced like the fish), is one the few professional female long boarders in New York and was recently signed with Bustin Boards custom longboards to promote their gear.

After graduating from high school, Herring left her home in Laurelton, Queens and moved to Miami, Florida to attend Barry University. But it only took a year away from the New York bustle before this eclectic rocker chick (she is currently jamming on her iPod to Silversun Pickups along with Santogold) felt bored and stifled from the slower Miami lifestyle.

"I was studying biology. Shit closed down around campus at ten at night. Every minute I was in class, I felt like I should be doing something else. Anything else. You can only go to the beach so many times before it gets old. I knew I had to come back to the city," she says.

But the campus life wasn't a complete waste. It was at Barry University where she saw her first longboard. Once she saw a guy glide pass her so groovy on his way to class, she says, she knew she was buying one as soon as she got home.

Wait, wait, wait....











According to the most trusted site on the web, wikipedia.... a longboard is a longer version of a skateboard commonly used for cruising, downhill racing, or skateboard tricks. Compared to a traditional skateboard, it's harder to do tricks on a longboard, like an ollie or kickflip, but because they are wider, heavier, and lower to the ground, longboards are easier to maneuver and provide more momentum.




thanks afrospunky for the info, now back to how Ms. Herring is rocking her board...

Herring bought her first board for $150 in 2005 while she was interning with The Source magazine. Her first board was a Sector 9, the most commonly bought longboards for first time longboarders because of their affordability.
Like many parents, Herring's mom and dad thought she was trying to kill herself by dashing away on the little piece of equipment strapped with wheels and no brakes, but she didn't care. Every single day Herring went out, often times taking the train to Central Park, to practice her moves.

Eventually, Herring says she started to get good. Really good. But after three years of training herself, she still didn't see any female longboarders around the city. Especially not black female long boarders.
"For a while, I thought I was the only one in New York," she says. "People used to just stare at me when I would skate by them."

















Herrings solitude skate days came to an end this past May, when she ran into a fellow city longboarder, Solomon, who happened to be team captain of Bustin Boards longboarding crew. Solomon introduced Herring to a crew of other longboarders in the city, including three other girls. Their skill level blew Herring away, and from then on, she knew that she could pursue longboarding as a sport.

"These guys were going 20 to 30 mph in the city streets as a mode of transportation," she says. "I had to practice for months to keep up with them."
The momentum to keep skating pushed forward, when Herring was asked by crew members of overboard.com to work on a potential MTV series about a group of longboarders going across country promoting the sport while doing community service. Traveling in a veggie-fueled school bus across the U.S., the show will follow several longboarders skating through different cities while teaching how energy efficient longboarding is compared to driving. The series is now in talks with Converse and Diesel to sponsor the project.


Herring will soon be featured in TRACE Magazine and Concrete Wave magazine for her envolvement in the longboarding NYC community and constantly encourages other females not to shy away from getting into longboarding. She is currently training for the Broadway Bomb, a 10 mile city wide longboarding race in October that runs from Broadway and ends at the Bowl on Wall Street.
Her favorite part of skating, aside from cruising down 42nd street at night as the bright lights zip past her, is talking to little black girls that stop her while she's skating and ask her questions.
"The people who stop me the most are 7-year-old black girls," Herring says. "I want to be the role model for them to say, you don't have to be that girl with the attitude. You don't have to live that structured life if it doesn't suit what you feel is natural to you."