Greatness isn’t reserved for the chosen few in one special city, it can also be found in London, Ohio, and London, Norway, and East London, South Africa, and Little London, Jamaica, and Small London, Nigeria and the London Hotel and London Road and anywhere else someone is trying to find it.

Thanks Diko for the tip.

Music
‘Red Rocks Fogg’ by Forest Swords
forestswords.co.uk

Frontman Diplo is bringing out a book with pictures of all places where he has been. I like what he said:
“Every city has his own cultural movement, history, fashion and art. It’s constantly developing into something different.”

Director: Lilinternet

Made by Checkmeprodukzies.

Director: Evan Dennis

evandennis.com

Producer: Evan Dennis
DOP: Zak Mulligan
Editor: Nathan Caswell
Narration: Lori Leven
Colorist: Tom Poole @ Company 3
Music: Grails “Canyon Hymn”
Audio Engineer: Jeremy Griffith @ Singing Serpent
Audio Mixing: John Black @ CypherAudio

M.I.A, Bad Girls from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Director : Romain Gavras
Director of Photography : André Chemetoff
Producer : Mourad Belkeddar
Production company : ICONOCLAST.TV

Wow. This is one the coolest documentaries I’ve ever seen. Directed by Ryan Hope, Skin is a dark, stylish examination of tattoo culture as high art, and a film that tests the boundaries of art and the human body. Featuring contributions from Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Raymond Pettibon, the film is a beautiful visual essay from the frontiers of contemporary British art.

Skin was made in association with Garage Magazine to mark the launch issue, and was made possible by the generosity of Christie’s, the world’s leading art business, and W Hotels.

stamplondon.com
garagemag.com

Skin from Stamp on Vimeo.

This follow-up isn’t that funny anymore cause you already know what he is doin’.

Great way to stage yourself!

Audi Magazine Slide Track (Eng) from AlmapBBDO Internet on Vimeo.

SCION SURFACE EXPERIENCE from trisha victorio on Vimeo.

Next month I will be back on the blog…

Dhani: In 2007 you made a documentary that got quite some media attention called ‘Beats van de Binnenweg’. What was it about?
Tenny: The documentary was part of my thesis during my journalism study. I wanted to combine my passion with my study: so a documentary about electronic music was born.
I wanted to make a documentary like Style Wars (the first hiphop documentary), Big fun in a big town (the first dutch documentary about American hiphopculture) and a episode of R.A.M. what had a item about Kraftwerk and how they (caucasions) influenced the first wave of techno-dj’s and producers (that were afro-american). For me those documentary’s represented a novelty and a visual documentation that would inspire and educate people who saw them.

So techno comes from Detroit, Chicago is the birthplace of house and closer to home Berlin is famous for its minimal. Does Rotterdam also has its own sound? This question was the foundation of the documentary and the Nieuwe Binnenweg was the pillar. I searched the Nieuwe Binnenweg for the answer and interviewed artists like: Paul Elstak, Michel de Hey, Ferry Corsten, Speedy J, Ronald Molendijk, Benny Rodrigues, Joris Voorn, Secret Cinema, Serge and Alden Tyrell.

Dhani: What’s goin’ on on the Binnenweg today?
Tenny: Nothing. More and more recordstores are closing, maybe it has to do with the downloadculture, I can’t put my finger on it. But the stores who do survive are those that provide niche markets and have a lage base.
I can remember a interviewer asking me if De Beats van de Binnenweg did’t came to late. My answer was: ‘no, I made the documentary just in time! Just in time before some of the stores closed, that is.

Dhani: On what other projects did you worked?
Tenny: During my internship @ MTV I really could express my love for electronic music. I worked my ass off in the summer what resulted in reports @ Free Your Mind, Awakenings Festival, Extrema Outdoor, 5 Days Off and of course Lowlands! More recent work of me is for production company CCCP where I among other projects contributed on Tussen Tuig & Talent: a youth tv-programme consisting of summer-reports and comedy sketches done by Venour. The same period I made a summer compilation of Dutch techno veteran Secret Cinema. I followed him the summer long from festival to festival what resulted in a 8 minute documentary. I also do the video-reports for Electric Deluxe: the technonight of Speedy J.

Secret Cinema Summer 2009 Compilation from Tenny Tenzer on Vimeo.

Dhani: Did you ever captured something on film that you actually shouldn’t?
Tenny: This is a good story: I once filmed a butt-naked Kelis during a photoshoot. She and her husband Nas (are they still together?) had their upcomming 5th anniversary together. So what do you do if you’re rich & famous and you want to get your partner a unique present? You let a photographer-friend (by the name of Rodrigo Otazu) take nude pictures of yourself and print them into a one-of-a-kind book! They asked me to film the photoshoot what took place in several locations like the red light district, a garage fulll of Italian sportscars and a litte park in Amsterdam. At first I thougt it was a normal photoshoot, but when Kelis stood in front of me and took of her bathrobe (which exposed her bald and pretty p*ssy), I asked her if she REALLY was ok with me filming this. ‘Yeah, go ahead. I’ve done this lots of times’, was her answer. I filmed the whole shoot. For professional reasons I never made copies of the footage or final edit, what I regret heavilly till this day.

Dhani: Describe your ultimate job to us?
Tenny: Just what I’m doing now: combining my passion for (electronic)music and music festivals with my work as a film-maker.

Dhani: Is that what you are doing in five years from now?
Tenny: My plan is in 5 years to have a consistent flow of projects for my company Tenny Tenzer Productions and to have a feature documentary playing on the International FilmFestival Rotterdam and/or International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.

www.tennytenzer.nl

When you try to come up with a new concept for what so ever, it’s normal that you get stuck sometimes. If you involve Martin in your brainstorm that can not happen. Instead your ideas start to multiply when he starts brainstorming along. Martin is probably one of the most creative Rotterdammer i know. Meet Martin.

Dhani: What is it that you do?
Martin: I create strategic imagination. What it comes down to, is that I use my creative imagination to develop concepts and positive experiences for brands, agencies, organizations and of course my own parties and festivals. Besides that I perform as a DJ in DJ collectives Brownies and Milkshakes (broken soul v.s. electro) and DAR  Dirty Audio Relations ( Jazz, Avant Garde and Groovy landscapes).

Dhani: What is the coolest project that you have realized?
Martin: I think that would be Wohnzimmer. This was a meetingplace in a squat in the heart of the city based on the creative scene of Berlin. I created huge cozy livingrooms where people can hang out.

No, I’m sorry instead of Wohnzimmer I choose my newest project, ‘De Intuïtie Industrie’ as my coolest project. This is a new spot where two other creatives and I face the challenges of this era with a balance between creativity, knowledge and intuïtion. This is goin’ to be very cool. At the moment we are transforming abandoned spaces and transform them into what we call “city farms”. Unfortunately I cannot tell you more about this at the moment. Just check out de Intuitie Industrie once in a while.

Dhani: Which little things in life give you joy?
Martin: I get joy from a lot of things, especially when I don’t try to plan ahead too much but really live in the moment (“leven in het nu” is how you call it in Dutch). On those moments I can get inspired by almost everything. Although I see the transience of those things, I see the creativity and the humour that comes along with it as well.

Dhani: Did you ever thought of leaving Rotterdam?
Martin: Not for the coming time, but eventually I would like to have a house surrounded by the nature. I want to write books for children and work on my filmscripts. I will always keep an appartment in Rotterdam where I can live and work cause I need to feel the energy of the city. Rotterdam has a permanent place in my heart. It would be stupid to leave Rotterdam for ever.

Dhani: What do you think is the most stupid project ever been done in Rotterdam
Martin: It would be easy to piss on projects that others did cause you never know what’s happening behind the scenes but I have to say that the projects of ‘Rotterdam Durft’ kind of sucks. The intentions are good but the projects are too slick and transparant. That’s not what Rotterdam is. Rotterdam is raw! Fuck with this city and this city will fuck you harder. Love this city and this city will love you more. ‘Geen woorden maar daden!’ (I don’t know how you translate that sentence well) Show what you got without bragging too much about it. If you act right you will get the credits in the end.

Dhani: What was the most useless concept that you ever worked on yourself?
Martin: I once came up with a concept that was about ‘energy spots’ in the city. City Chacra’s spread through the city were spots where people can charge themselves after a day shopping. I even made maps where you can find all the City Chacra’s! I spend a lot of time on this project but after a while I realized that it was all pointless. First of all I could not prove that the chacra’s where real and second the people didn’t understand the concept. I cost me a lot of time and money to realize this project. Sometimes I put much effort in ‘the search of inspiration of the pointless’. I realized that spontaneous actions can give a deep certainty too.

Dhani: Which dreamconcept are you hoping to realize one day?
Martin: I want to create a meeting place in Rotterdam where creativity and effectiveness come together. A place which will give Rotterdam a social boost! I know this cannot be created in a few days so I’m going to take my time on this one. Luckily there are more people working on such concepts but my project is going to be next level shit. I promise to Rotterdam that I will finish this project before I die. I am going to tell you more about it in the future, ok?

Dhani: Which song would be the soundtrack of your life?
Martin: Timeless (Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah) van Goldie. The story behind this fascinating! You can read about this in my book that I am going to publish in 2020!

www.martinroedolf.nl

I’ve known Taufiq since I was a little kid. In the Hague there are a few Indonesian ‘families’ who hang out together. He represented an other Indonesian family known as Musolah, a family bonded by the Indonesian Mosque. We used to have dancebattle’s between the families during birthday parties and sometimes get into some trouble. Like most Indonesian kids growing up, it was common that you always were with your family as a group. But i’ve seen him developing an own identity (which is normal of course) and becoming someone I got inspired by. A lot of pictures on my website (including the first picture you see when you enter my site and www.001party.nl) were taken by Taufiq. Nowadays we work together as much as we can. Meet Taufiq.

Dhani: When did you discovere that photography was something you could be good at?
Taufiq: That wasn’t hard. It was either economics or photography. I was studying economics but I missed the motivation and I liked photography since I was, i don’t know, 15 years old or something. And for me being me, I quited economics in my third year. That was like 5 years ago. A lot of people and more important, the right people supported and encouraged me to continue photography. So you’re only as good as they say you are. And over time you are becoming more serious and critical about your own work. I think the most important reason why I’m taking pictures is that it gives me control about what I have to say. I’m better with images than with words.

Dhani:A few years ago you did a 72 hours exposition at the blend 60days of space. Could you tell us what the expo was about.
Taufiq: At that time I was still breakdancing and I was taking pictures of people who inspired me at that time. Although I don’t like the pictures anymore, that project was actually my starting point into serious photography. My experience on breakdancing had a certain resemblence with my view on photography. You have to discover new ways to be original and taking yourself serious.

Dhani: Could you tell us about the projects you did that you are proud of?
Taufiq: It’s not the project that can make me proud but rather a single picture. A picture that reminds me of of a single moment and that I’m lucky that I was the one to have taken that picture. I took a lot of portraits. I’m proud that I have had the opportunity to take pictures of several famous artists. It’s strange to see someone on television and the next moment he or she’s in front of my camera. Lykke Li was one of them and the latest artist was Mette from The Asteroids Galaxy Tour.

Lykke Li

Mette from Asteroids Galaxy Tour

The Shout Out Louds

Dhani: Could you tell us something about the project Lily on sunday?
Taufiq: Lily on Sunday is a visual diary about being with someone special. Sunday stands for the moments that you don’t have to think of work, school, any kind of obligations or even photography. This has a kind of peace that is related to my relationship. In how many ways can I describe my relationship in images that tells me how I see her and how my relationship is. It’s hard to take sincere pictures of people who know me toroughly. This is still a work in progress…



Lily

Dhani: Although you did tons of great assignments you are actually still in school. When will you graduate?
Taufiq: Shieeetttttt….. Well I’m in my gradutation year at the Art Academy in the Hague. Let’s hope that I will graduate this year.

Dhani: What are your plans after finishing school?
Taufiq: I will focus more on autonomous projects and maybe doing it abroad. I just have to see. By all means I want to give my carreer a boost.

Dhani: Where can we see more of your work?
Taufiq: I have a website… but man I keep changing the layout all the time. Just take a peak at www.taufiqhosen.com once in a while and you’ll see my work.

Blu.

Rooms light up everytime Priscilla walks in. I’ll bet many people agree with me on this one. With her neverending smile this girl can get everything done. She was a good friend of me and even became an colleague at the time I was working at Contain.r. I have a lot respect for people who leave their residence, family and friends to start somewhere else. Priscilla is such a girl and is living in Bali for more than a year now. Innummerable Dutch people (friends) took this wonderful chance to visit her and discovered the beauty of the island. She put Bali back on the map again. Meet Priscilla

Dhani: In Holland you had a cool job and huge social life. What was the thing that made you decide to leave?
Priscilla: I really enjoyed my life in Holland. I loved my job, I loved my social life but there was something missing. I had the feeling that I was living the routine. Working during the week, clubbing in the weekend. Suddenly I was bored, fed up with it. I was looking for more..something different.. something that could open my mind… I’ve lived in Asia before and my mind was telling me that I had to do it again. I am half Indonesian and have always been curious about my roots. I had some amazing holidays in Bali and wanted to explore this island and it’s culture more. Together with my lovely friend Eve who was also working with us at contain.r I decided to move to Bali for a year. A year became more than a year though We saved some money and lived at my uncles place in Seminyak the first months . We didn’t want to go to this beautiful island without doing anything usefull so we started searching for something fresh and came up with the idea to set up our own website we-like.org. We wanted to share our great experience with the rest of the world. Bali life is too wonderful to keep to yourself. It’s a neverending story! We’re posting about cozy restaurants, idillic beaches, young Indonesian designers and so on. It’s is a digital visual collection of everything we like about Bali life.

Dhani: What do you do for a living at the moment?
Priscilla: Although Eve isn’t on Bali at the moment we are still running the website. Besides that I have a parttime job as a designer for a clothingbrand from London. This was such a gift. I studied at the fashion academy in Amsterdam, so working on we-like and designing for this brand is a perfect combination to express my creativity. The brand has it’s roots in the 60’s and 70’s, combined with a flow from the present. I am designing new collections for London, Bali and Australia. I do some freelance jobs as well. For instance, I organized together with Bali partners Kim and Eve a fashionshow for Religion, a British punk brand from the UK. The show was for KUDETA’s, Bali’s hottest beach club) 10 years anniversary with 2000 people.

Dhani: How does the rest of the days look like?
Priscilla: The rest of the days I spend in the ocean with my surfboard. I’m totally hooked since I got here. I’m trying to surf everyday and try to improve myself step by step. It was a scary thing for me to go in the sea, not knowing what’s moving beneath you. An unpredictable surrounding. But now I can’t live without it anymore. In the water I can let go of my thoughts, open my mind and concur my fears. Besides that I have beautiful friends around me. Here you don’t have to make plans when you want to meet or see eachother. We just knock on eachothers door to have a chill or a lazy afternoon in the pool. Easygoing and without high expectations.

Dhani: Did the island changed you, positive or negative?
Priscilla: Bali life is still changing me everyday. I guess it’s because of the new experiences, new vibes, new people around me. I am still exploring new parts of the island. Bali life is definitely changing me in a positive way. It’s changing my gaze of life. I am more relaxed but Im still learning how to get more patience. That the most important thing to you have to be here, hihi. I think Bali has created more peace in me. I don’t have that critical pressure anymore to achieve.

Dhani: Which things of the island inspire you?
Priscilla: I really have an affection to live a materialistic life. That’s not what makes me happy. Little things in life make me smile and inspire me. On the motorbike to work, watching the rice fields, people who are saying hi, a touch by the sun, the sound of the sea, the sand between my toes. I am blessed with living my life like this. Indonesian people inspire me with their culture. They are warm, careful, generous and so grateful. Bali life makes me cherish ‘simple’ happenings, ‘simple’ things. It makes me aware of how blessed we are with what we have. Carrying lovely experiences with me is much more worth for me than having an expensive and luxury life.
I do miss my family and friends a lot. I think about them every day and wish I could spend more time with them, but a life like this makes me love them more and I realize that they are the most special people in my life where I can rely on.

Dhani: In a few weeks i will stop by. Which spots will you take me to?
Priscilla: Yaaaa I am so looking forward to have you guys here. Of course we’re going to eat some nasi bunkus on Seminyak beach early in the morning. My favorite ‘before-i-go-surf’ breakfast. Than we’re gonna cruise a litte bit on our motorbike. I will show you Bali’s little alleys true the villages. It can be a labyrinth out here. We will stop by for a really good café latte at Tuckshop. We have to do some shopping at this off road shop Little Wing. Next thing we have to do is hitting the saaweeet spot Cafe Vienna for lunch. Than we will drive all the way to the whitesand beaches, especially Nikko beach to relax a bit. We’ll eat some pisang goreng (fried bananas) on the way back, but before I’ll drop u guys off we’ll enjoy a Jimbaran sunset with some tasty fish from the barbecue. Our latenight drinks we’ll have in Black Dog so you will sleep like a baby! Oh and if you want we can stop by at Shotonk Tattoos, to get a new one for you

Dhani: How do you see the future for you?
Priscilla: I would like to stay in Bali for a while but I don’t know what’s going to happen. To be honest I don’t think to much about the future. I live day by day. I don’t want to worry about tomorrow or the rest of my life. I want to enjoy every single day by itself. Every day is too beautiful to think about what can come in the future. Especially here at the other side of the world.
I know that this is a feeling what I can have till a certain point, but for now it makes me happy and it gives me the best feeling I could ever imagine. I really want to live my life to the fullest. Sunny side up. So i can keep walking on my dream.

Dhani: Who discovered that you were great with the pencil when you were young? Did he/she encouraged you to be an artist?
Darrin: As a kid I was always busy with pencils and pieces of paper (I think most kids are encouraged to draw by their parents as a means to keep them occupied and out of their way.) So did my parents and they always loved the stuff I did (as good parents should) but my talent really started showing once I entered the school system where I was always the no 1 guy when it came to drawing, which (next to my gorgeous face and the fact I could draw horses really well for my age) made me very popular. In high school drawing became more serious and all my art-teachers encouraged me to pursue a career in art and here we are!

Dhani: A few years ago there was a real sneakerhype. With your crew Leyp, you got well known with snearkercustomizing. Do you still do that often now that the hype is kind of over?
Darrin: sneakers and sneaker customizing has become more mainstream lately. The time where everyone wanted to rock the most colourful and loud sneakers is behind us. the trend right now, is more basic and toned down with subtle colour pallets.
Since we are known for our bold graphics and brightly coloured customs, things have slowed down a bit on the consumer end. Now our focus is more on the artistic approach to the whole customization of products, where we are commissioned by numerous companies in different fields to apply our “LEYP” touch to their products. We have worked with most of the big sneakerbrands where we (with lots of help from our creative friends) produced a whole line of customs to be showcased during specially organised events, exhibitions and product launches.

Dhani: Actually you (and your whole crew) aren’t from Rotterdam but from Groningen. What made you decide that you wanted to live in Rotterdam? Did you all moved at once?
Darrin: Groningen was a great city to be in while in art-school, (the Groningen student night-life is legendary.) but to make a name as an artist, the west is the place to be. Rotterdam or Amsterdam were my cities of choice and since my good friend Nick (my LEYP-colleague) had already moved to Rotterdam, where he joined fellow Groningen-artists Lennard Schuurmans, Niels Kalk and Piet Oosterbeek, the migration to rotterdam was a no-brainer for me. 

Dhani: You did some crazy work last few years. Could you mention a few were you are proud of?
Darrin: Last year I decorated an elevatorshaft for Antwerp-based ad-agency ‘DuboisMeetsFugger’ in my signature ‘colourful-character-style’ This was the most satisfying and biggest project (size-wise) I had done, until I recently designed a huge building-wrap (750sqm) for Adidas to promote their originals store in Rotterdam. I was also asked to ‘customize’ the building wrap, which had me live-painting in a service platform at a height of approx. 20 meters above street-level. To have your work printed out on a banner the size of a football-field, attached to a building in the center of your hometown is quite ‘kick’ as they say in Rotterdam. I also was commissioned by a large dutch beer brand to make a design for their upcoming world-cup special giveaway. If all goes as planned, South african footbal-stadiums will be filled with my work, I’m getting hard thinking about that one….

Dhani: What are you working on at this moment?
Darrin: Right now, we’re designing the website for McGee (of Fedde Le Grand’s ‘put your hands up for Detroit’ fame), I have a meeting next week to work on a viral for a BIG shoe-brand (still secret), I’m busy doing some paintwork for a solo-expo in Amsterdam the 28th of may, called *SBBBW (sinful big black beautiful women) and I’m working on some designs to decorate our mysteryland-area, which we’re hosting with Topnotch and Sffrmkrs. 

Dhani: What would be your ultimate assignment in the future?
Darrin: I would love to do a capsule collection for an established shoe/clothing brand. I was approached a while ago with the question if I would be interested to collaborate in creating a concept to be translated into an animated cartoon series. It’s still in a very, very, very early stage, but if that works out, we have our ultimate assignment right here.
A reverse gangbang movie, starring yours truly would be nice as well.

Dhani: You started a wallpainting in my house a while ago which I’m very honoured to have. When are going to finish it?
Darrin: never.
When we had diner at your house a while back, I decided I had to do it over. I can’t motivate myself to finish something I started almost 2 years (I’m so sorry!!!) ago. I’m not feeling that style anymore and my drawing skills and speed have improved by leaps since then…so I strongly suggest we paint the wall white again and I’ll make you the nicest mural you and your lovely wife more than deserve.

www.leyp.com

Rockid and I went to the same highschool together in Delft. Back then we use to share the same love for the U.S. westcoast lifestyle. Movies like Blood in blood out, Menace 2 Society and artists like MC Eiht and Easy E inspired us which got us into trouble from time to time. Pathetic? Well…I think that’s normal at that age, right? We grew older. Rockid started D.J.’ing and became legandary with his scratching skills and represented Holland at the DMC world championships in 1998. In the 12 years that followed he didn’t do nothing, I can tell you. Meet Rockid.

Photo by Taufiq Hosen

Dhani: I can imagin’ that being a finalist for the DMC championships at a young age must have been an important time in your life. Could you tell us about that period?
Rockid: Oi, yeah man… I still remember it was 1992 & 1993, Yo MTV raps… I always stayed home for that show when it was aired on television. Sometimes Fab Five Freddy invited some DJ’s that did some tricks, and there was always a DJ in the hiphop music video’s. The scratching movements looked so incredible…. So I started watching old DMC videotapes and began practicing myself.
One day I saw DJ Chainsaw in a live DJ Battle. He was scratchin’, backspinnin’ and flippin’ shit! Shit was real! During the whole summervacation I was practicing that shit. At the age of 16 I started to play at Hiphop party’s in Zoetermeer, The Hague & Rotterdam and I met DJ Kypski (from C-mon&Co). We where in a rap type of family called Mo Money Soldiers. Kypski thaught me more about the deeper types of scratch techniques. After that I started to do little scratchshows during Hiphop & RnB party’s to get more experience.
I supported DJ Kypski during the Dutch DMC finals in Utrecht and I told myself: “next year I wanna join this competition”! I kept my promise and I won! I developed my skills and became the Dutch DMC champion for some years in a row. That was a wonderfull time, DJ-ing, scratching and visiting Hiphop concerts. Yep, I had a really a fun time!

Dhani: Is Turntabilism still a big thing nowadays?
Rockid: Yeah and Noop. There still is the DMC World championships. Last year France won that shit. It changed in a good and in a bad way. They make their own scratch records with their own samples and beats. You get six minutes of beats & scratches from self-invented beats. It’s cool, but it became a skill of who can prepare the best battle breaks at home. When you close your eyes, you still hear unknown beats. No offence of course. Back in the day… hahaha sounds pretty old ha! Back in the day…there where no laptops, internet, nor Ableton or Youtube so you had to buy records. Get 2 copy’s and change the beat manually. Here is a good example of a beatjuggle.

I think today Turntablism is on a hold. Same happened in the 80’s, you had the transformer scratch, backspins and that was it. Then it went underground till DJ Qbert showed up and invented some new crazy techniques. The same thing is happening right now, Turntablism is underground again. I really hope some new kids will surprise us with new techniques and hopefully that will happen soon. One thing is for sure: Turntablism will never die completely.

Dhani: What’s the reason you’ve changed your path in the style of music that you play?
Rockid: It has the same reason as what happend with Turntablism. I wanted to do something new with new energy and create new things. Electronical music, especially House Music was strange fruit for me back in the day. Hiphop was raw and gave me that monster energy, but for the last 5 years there is so much going on in the music industry that can give me that same feeling.
House music flips Hiphop, which flips Disco, which flips Garage and Dubstep. Everything is possible now. In my point of view I still play Hiphop…it’s not DJ Premier nor Pete Rock type of Hip Hop anymore, but DJ Switch, BoyzNoyz or A-Trak type of Hip Hop. These guys invented the gap between hiphop and housemusic. Hip Hop is Hip Pop nowadays. Back when a Hip Hop DJ played RnB it was sort of a bad thing, ”fake” they called it. But honestly if you listen to the RnB tracks from that era (Mary J, Groove Theory etc etc.) it had a raw, soul, funky sound to it.
I Love Hip Hop but I sometime I feel like there’s nothing new going on over there. It’s like being married. Your lady has to change her lingerie every now and then, there’s nothing wrong with that. Much respect for the UK scene because they dare to change the old fashioned BBOY type of sampling beats. Even Kanye adds new flavor to it! I can say that I’m very happy with this new breed of underground freshness. I’m really down with Electro, Dubstep and all their sub genres. It gives me the same feeling, like when I was 7 years old and heard a Run DMC, NWA, or Public Enemy tape.

Dhani: Tell us about Foktop.
Rockid: Yeah, it’s the name of my new Label. I release anything on it as long as it’s dope, big, massive or funky. It’s going well and it needs time, but I am confident about it. At the moment artists like Quinten 909, Bobby Six Killers, Mike Mago are releasing tracks on the label and in the future Nom de Strip, Cablejuice, Oliver Twitz, Rotterdam Dubstep talents Suppatrigga & Debby Dubstep and Tom Piper from Autralia will do the same. At the end of 2010 it’s our 1 year anniversary. By that time I hope to have a platform for everybody who is doing something good.
Besides the label we got the Foktop! party’s. New talented DJ’s and producers can show their music/skills at these party’s, which of course is a great thing. At these party’s you can check out established DJ talents and special guests, often linked to the label (but it’s no obligation). Together with Venour (I never knew they could play records as well) and MC Dan Stezo from Oversized we join forces to make this party big. We have a fixed night in the Sugar Factory in Amsterdam and we did an edition in Rotterdam as well. You can call it the Foktop! label night. The next party is planned on June 18 in the Sugar Factory.


Photo by Centraal Oost.

Dhani: Do you visit Korea sometimes. What’s it like over there?
Rockid: I ate raw living octopus, it was awfull and I didn’t like it. Everytime I’m on vacation in Korea (to visit my family) I get drunk everyday. I’m telling you they LOVE alcohol over there. They love food and are used to eat hot breakfast. To be honest, it’s overwelming. I think it’s bigger than New York. They have their own popstars…rapstars…a lot of breakdance shows on national television, lots of sneakershops, their own Tommy Hilfiger Models, Their own type of Mercedes cars (EQUUS = a Korean brand). Here in Holland, Europe we think we are the best but….nah sorry it’s so small overhere! Haha

Dhani: Any big plans for the future?
Rockid: There is an Australian tour commin up! New tracks for Foktop! are waiting to get released, a lot of collabo tracks with other producers (internationally). I plan to rock with this new sound. It gives me the same feeling I experienced when I first started Scratching.

www.djrockid.com
www.facebook.com/djrockid
www.twitter.com/djrockid

Birth of a Spraycan from Montana Cans on Vimeo.

You may know him from a billboard or a television advertisement. He was the face of a huge youth marketingcampaign, YourWorld. This is probably the most hugable guy of Rotterdam. Meet Uriah.

Dhani: You are part of a creative collective, Venour. The three of you expressing creativity in many different ways. Which way suits you best?
Uriah: My part in Venour is that I manage stuff, so you can call me the “Managing Director”. You can manage in all sort of ways, being creative in managing is what suits me the best. Finding creative solutions and ideas to manage everyday business. Besides the Managing part I love to act, write and direct (comedy) films, making music and VJ’ and DJ’ing.

Dhani: Tell us about the sketches ‘Belony‘ and what does it mean?
Uriah: Belony is a kind of sausage similar to a hotdog, an Italian mortedella or our very own dutch Boterhamworst.Very nice taste! When something is nonsense Americans usually say: “Oh, thats Belony”! Our Belony clip’s are short comedy sketches about everyday people from all layers, living in our Dutch society, specially people from our hometown Rotterdam. The clips itself have different of layers as well. Sometimes it can be very shallow and somethimes they have a deeper message. But the core of all clips always contains humor, which make you laugh from the gut! Therefore our sketches always have some twist in it which make people say: “Oh, that’s belony”! But of course most of the people will say: “Thats super”! Haha..

Dhani: In 2009 Rotterdam was the Youth Capital of Europe and YourWorld was project that you were involved in. Did you felt that you helped or inspired other youngsters?
Uriah: Yes it did felt like I helped and inspired youngsters actually. It all began with the commercial where I wanted to let people see that it doesnt matter where you from, you can make your dreams come true and everything is possible. Thats why I said in the commercial: “I wanna play Othello”. The message was to show that even shakespeare back then already knew that people of different races can be mixed or in or can get in high places too. And the high places is where we al want to end up, right? Youngsters often say to me: “when I see you do things on TV/internet I get inspired and want do something myself as well, keep up the good work”. Some say that active people can activate others. I truly believe that.

Dhani: Venour just opened a new store. What can people find there?
Uriah: Its more a studio acctually but you can find the stuff that we make. Our shirts, our paintings, sculptures, graphics, web, film and most of all you can find us: Noel, Steven and me: Venour! And the feeling, the style, the mystique that goes along with it.

Dhani: Were do you get your inspiration from?
Uriah: I get my inspiration fom humor and other people. Our vision is to create things that are accesable for everybody. At the same time we get inspired by all people around us. Even by you, Dhani. Everybody got a little humor in them. Just take a look at all funny homevideo and candid camera clips on YouTube. Their have thousands of hits! People make me happy and thats why I always have a smile on my face.

Dhani: Is there something that you want to let the world know?
Uriah: World: Smile! Here I (we) come!!!
www.venour.com

Concept by Lg2.

Wiley – Numbers in Action from Us on Vimeo.

NY Adorned has a free Iphone app where you can find one beautiful tattoo every day.

Now they made an cool clip as well. Thanks to my causin Erlangga for the tip.

N.Y. Adorned “Tradition” from Evan Owen Dennis on Vimeo.

ANALOG from NaNo Media on Vimeo.

Dhani: What is your favourite cocktail?
Ruth: That’s definitely the Bacardi Daiquiri!! I love the simplicity of this cocktail, it’s a perfect balance between sweet and sour. Especially when it’s made by a bartender who has the care for the products and ingredients. This cocktail is also really easy to adapt in every bar who sells rum and has sugar and limes as well.
But…. My favourite drink is Jack Daniel’s… But I also enjoy other fine spirits as well, gin, tequila, rum, vodka. Preferably straight up, with one icecube… Sounds like a drankorgel, doesn’t it..? I could go on and on about the spirits and cocktails I’d like to drink, but basically I will love the cocktail if the bartender puts his or her passion in it.

Dhani: How does a workday of you looks like?
Ruth:Hahahaha, everyday is different!! It does starts with a nice cup of cappuccino (we have a great espresso machine in the office!)
My work is divided in two parts; indoor and outdoor. The indoor activities are the preperations for the coming events: communications with the clients, the internal coordination of the process for the event and making sure we have the best crew for the event. This all happens in the office where I have a big ass MAC-screen in front of me.
The outdoor activities are most of the time visiting locations, having production meetings with the client, supplier, organisor or coordination on location, and being a troubleshooter when needed. That’s the most exciting part. I always try to prepare a event best possible, but sometimes unexpected things can occure and then we have to make sure that we solve it. This needs flexibility, creativity and improvisation! One of our credos is “there are no problems, only challenges!” When we have a positive attitude, nothing is an actual problem.

Dhani: How many cocktails are you able to make on a gig in one day?
Ruth:That depends on how many cocktails the client wants us to serve. There’s always the human factor, which has its maximum capacity of making drinks, but everything also has to look great as well. By that I mean the whole package; bar, bartenders, drinks, backoffice organization. There’s a saying; “the bar is the engine which drives the business”, but I don’t think this is complete. The whole team which exist bartenders, runners, barbacks, waiters and the system in how we work, makes sure that we can serve unlimited cocktails at any time!!
For example: At the festival Lowlands 2009 we produced almost 40.000 Bacardi Mojitos in three days. This was the result of a great cooperation with the organizer who provided the space and equipment, the client who gave us this great challenge, the design company who created a great décor in which our bars looked fantastic. This all combined created the perfect circumstances to work in.

Dhani: What was the most important decision you’ve ever made?
Ruth: Eeh.. I don’t know.. The BEST decision I ever made was to work for Barsupport almost 6 years ago. They gave me the opportunity to work in environment where I can grow and learn and create my own chances. I don’t see that as the most important decision. I thing everybody has to make decisions which leads to a certain road in their life; business wise and private. From there you go on and take the responsibility of the decision you made and learn from it, so it becomes a valuable experience for yourself.

Dhani: Who can get the middlefinger?
Ruth: Narrow-minded people without any self reflection and who are really judgmental without trying to think otherwise. It’s really human to judge people on superficial factors; first impression on appearances, behavior, status of function. Sometimes it’s necessary to put them in categories. But there’s always more than meets the eye. I’ve experienced people who interfere with my work without the knowledge of the business, just because they THINK they know better and they see a little girl with red hair in front of them.. I know they must have good intentions, but I take the whole responsibility of a project, so it’s my decision to take. I will always try to make that clear without offend anybody (although that’s really hard sometimes!)

Dhani: Are there any bigs things comming up for you?
Ruth: The festival season is starting again in april, I’m really looking forward to that period again! Bacardi and Eristoff are having big booths at the big festivals and Barsupport provide the bars, crew and the drinks for the brands.
This is really exciting, because the festivals are mostly outdoor events where unexpected things occure regularly. It feels great to improvise on those challenges, especially when it works and the client is happy with the results.
We work with a great team of professionals and they all have one goal; great results with lots of fun!!

Dhani: How do you want to look back at your life when you are 80?
Ruth: That’s almost the same question as being run over by a bus or something, hehehehe!
Well, one thing for sure, I have enjoyed my life to the max. I don’t regret the things I have done in my life and I am doing other things to make sure I won’t have regrets that I didn’t do it! I hope I can say that when I’m 80 that I still alive. And I hope I still have most of my dearest friends and family close to me.
www.barsupport.nl

Mini – Rocketman Concept from PostPanic on Vimeo.

Precinct 5 Nike Destroyer from Masta Lee on Vimeo.

In the category People I am going to post stuff about subcultures from all across the world too starting with this one. Crazy mexicans takin’ their boots quite serious.

Thanks to Flapje for this video.

Dhani: When did you realized that you wanted to make video’s?
Nando: All my life. I used to make homemovies (like any other person in the world), but I think I realized that I wanted to do this professionally when I started the study Media & Entertainment Management. I choose this study for the mere reason it was specialized on the TV and Film industry. I did this with a good friend Noël Schoolderman. This guy has great eye for style and is a trendsetter. Therefore the choice to start something together was a perfect one. After working for a couple of production companies we decided to start one of our own. In 2009 we started NaNo Media.

Dhani: What is your weapon of choice?
Nando: I use the Canon DSLR 550D with 50mm f1,4 lens but it could be a combination of different lenses in the range of 35mm to 85mm. And to top it all off I use a camera shoulder support rig and a monopod.

Dhani:Which program do you use to edit your video’s?
Nando: Premiere and After Effects. I also know my way around with Final Cut Pro but Premiere is the program that I use since I started editing videos so that works best for me. It doesn’t matter which program you use, it’s what you do with it.

Dhani: Which clip took the most time to make?
Nando: That was the video we did for The Rotterdam Dance Parade back in 2009. This was one of the first big productions we did. It was shot with two cameras. We had to go along the whole route of the parade and climbed on most of the trucks. We had almost 8 hours of video footage afterwards. Getting the final 4 minute edit was a hell of a job. I don’t really have a clip which I’m especially proud off.

Dhani: Do you have the ambition to make a full length movie? What would that movie be about?
Nando: It would be a dream come true to make a full feature movie but a biography would be very nice to do as well. I hope to translate a story about a fellow human being to the silver screen, someone that might have altered the life of his fellow mankind.

Dhani: You often go to Colombia right? Can we expect to see some of your work that you made over there?
Nando: I try to go every year back to Colombia to recharge. My country is a huge part of my life. Not only does almost all my family live there, the culture and climate are so good for me I just have to go back as often as I can. Colombia is full of cultural riches from nobel price wining authors to grammy winning music artist. They always keep up with the newest trends and have a really good sense for style. The food is great with a great variety from meat to fruit and vegetables. If had to describe Colombia in one word it would be PASSION!
The last time I visited Colombia I made a video of a fashion show. I’m sure the next time I will do more work. I’d like to make a road movie and show the world the best spots and the beauties of this wonderful nation.

Check out Nano Media.

Amnesty International, film Projection by la chose from lachoseparis on Vimeo.

6 Foot 7 Foot from Hadaya Turner on Vimeo.

Since I was a kid Tokyo was number 1 on my list of ‘where do I want to go for the holidays’. This summer I finally managed to go to the city of my dreams. Before I left a friend of mine told me to hook up with Simon when I arrive in Tokyo, so I did. Simon showed me the best parts of town for a few days. I was impressed by the way this blonde Japanese talking kid managed to live his life in a city on the other side of the globe, at such young age. This interview took place’ in Yoyogi Park behind Harajuku station. Meet Simon.

Dhani: What is the real reason that you are here?
Simon: In the Netherlands I’m doing an education for Business Management in Asia. I had the chance to do a part of the education in Japan so I took it. I wanted to see Japan with my own eyes and see what other possibilities I could have here. Tokyo is a city with many people with many good ideas and this is where I see opportunities for myself. I have a thing for fashion. I’ve been here for four months now and did so many cool things in that scene already. For the upcoming time I will try to set foot in this scene.

Yoyogi park by Simon van Wijk.

Dhani: Sounds good. When did you became interested in Japan?
Simon: It started when I was 9. I did Kendo and Judo for many years and learned a lot about the Japanese culture. When I got older I got in touch with the fashion/street scene in Rotterdam. I thought it was great but wanted to explore bigger fashionscenes so Tokyo was the next step for me. My expectations were right. In my eyes Tokyo fashion is unique and a lot of the times better than in Europe. The way they work on ‘details’ is great. And I also think that in Japan you have one of the most originals brands.

X-Large by Simon van Wijk.

Dhani: What inspires you the most about Tokyo?
Simon: It’s not especially the place itself but more the diversity of people and the way they express themselves. They are so respectful and polite. They live with such a certain harmony, therefore they manage to express themselves in the way they dress quite well. I think that nowhere else in the world people can express themselves more than here. I think that’s because everybody respects each other and nothing is too weird.
Photo for Hypebeast by Simon van Wijk.

Dhani: You are a contributor for Hypebeast now…
Simon: Yes I’ve been shooting fashion pictures of people in the streets of Tokyo for Hypebeast for a few months now and since a short period of time I also do shop visits to spot interesting things for the site. and therefore I can meet the most influential people in the fashion/street scene. If everything goes well you guys will here much more from me.

Streetsnaps for Hypebeast by Simon van Wijk.

Dhani: Besides being a photographer/ contributor you started modeling as well. How did that happen?
Simon: I just rolled into it I guess. I was walking on the street were I was approached by GQ magazine Japan. After the photoshoot one of my favorite brands, Neighborhood wanted me to be a model for their winter catalogue, which made me happy of course. I got signed by a modeling agency and now I do a lot of modeling work because of this. I do like the job but It’s not my real ambition. Through modeling I get in touch with many interesting people and that was one of my goals. Besides that I need that job cause Japan is a very expensive country to live in, haha.

Dhani: Your plan was to stay here for one year. What are you going to do after that?
Simon: I hope to stay here a bit longer actually. A few weeks ago I met the founder and director of a Japanese fashion brand called Suspereal. I became model for this brand and now he asked me if I can help him with designing clothing for the next season. Although I don’t have experience with designing that much I do have some great ideas that he wants to work on. Also I do a little project like organizing a club event in Tokyo in October. Stay tuned…

Simon’s Flickr stream.

COKE SIEGE superbowl 2011 from fxandmat on Vimeo.

Here’s Eminem doin’ a commercial for the new Chrysler 200. Beautiful shots of Detroit.

Wikipedia’s 10th Anniversary from Dean McNamee on Vimeo.

RFID in shoes from Hampus Lemhag on Vimeo.

The making of adidas Originals x Chairman Ting Custom Fixed Gear from Chairman Ting on Vimeo.