*MELO-X

*HEINY

*YOUNG SCOOZ

*ISIS & HYUN

NO PHOTOS OF MISS JASMINE SOLANO ON HER BORNDAY…

BEACAUSE…

…MY CAMERA DIED.

OY VEY.

The homie John Geiger was being interviewed by Wahid Sweat for Karmaloop on his collection of Jordans. Somehow, I was added to the equation to chat about the illustrious brand Jordan. We continued the interview at Geiger’s favorite spot – Beauty & Essex. It was monster food and drinks all night while the Karmaloop family filmed. Right as we were about to leave, in walks VICTOR CRUZ…GO GIANTS!!! We have a little collaboration in the works. You’ll have to stay tuned.

*JOHN GEIGER & JONNY SHIPES

*cheesing super hard for the cameras…

*I ran into the homie MEL D.COLE at the office. He gave me a FLUD x MEL D. COLE watch he made with Vanessa Veasely on the face. Thanks Bro!

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Later it was Beauty & Essex…

*I’m a pro at pretending to take a shot. I’d rather keep my memory of the evening no matter how good or bad, thank you.

*The couple next to us were in a SUPER MAKEOUT SESH that seemed to be happening in SUPER SLOW MOTION. We cheered them on and started flashing away pictures and they didn’t mind . Later, we offered them some of the excess shots that I had accumulated on our table – which was about 6 and they drank 4 of them.

*See, I told you so.

*GO GIANTS!!!

*WAHID, JOHN GIEGER, ME and VICTOR CRUZ

This was a cold and rather interesting night. We made our way back to the same venue that has issues (to say the least), in hopes that it would be different. Venues generally need to match the aesthetic of the party in which it houses and I’m not quite sure that synergy exists. Either way, Q-TIP brought the music and our crowd (that was mixed in with the clubs crowd) made it spectacular.

*DANCES WITH WHITE GIRLS & BILL SPECTOR

*AZEALIA BANKS & ME

I wanted to keep her song/video for “212″ a secret to myself because I’m obsessed with it despite knowing it wasn’t a secret and actually a massive hit worldwide. I didn’t blog it because thats what I do when I find things I super love – I wait. Anyways, I know it’s dumb so here is her video for “212″.

*HERMANOS!!! I haven’t seen you in so long!

*Q-TIP & BU THIAM

*CHRISSIE MILLER & ME

*We people watched the entire night while getting our grooves on. It was so fascinating to watch random hookups and girls wearing the same exact outfits.

*Q-TIP & AZEALIA BANKS

*Apparently LEBRON JAMES was at the party, but we didn’t see him until we were all leaving and he was walking out to his car. He gave us hugs and daps and bounced, but no photos…

Today is the day we honor MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Its super awesome that some of us have the day off from work or school, but it would be even more awesome if you took some time to honor Dr. King in a way you see fit.

LIFE recently released some images taken by their photographer Henry Groskinsky who was on on assignment in Alabama the day Martin Luther King was shot. The images were lost and never published, until now. Groskinsky re-visits that eerie night.

READ FULL STORY AT SLATE.COM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

While you’re spending quality time with the fam-a-lam, shooting guns and drinking moonshine…

Your uppity-yankee friends await your arrival so we may delve in some shenanigans and monkey business.

PS: Here is your favoritest photo in the whole wide world.

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN O’NEIL & JONNY SHIPES (I LOVE MY CAPRICORN PEOPLE)

Last we celebrated the birth of JEN O’NEIL & JONNY SHIPES over the ridiculously great food at BEAUTY & ESSEX. I came dressed especially unremarkable because the weather outside was 13 degrees – long underwear from Patagonia, an oversized Morrissey Shirt and black jeans. It was my usual “homeless man” steez, but it was topped off with bed hair and glasses since I was in stressful meetings all day. Sorry to go on a tangent, but this is all to reiterate how everyone looked amazing last night and how Christina Milian was there who is flawless and I looked like a creeper. What else is new! Ha…

*JONNY, ME and JOHN GEIGER

*ASHLEY, ALEX & SHIEST BUBZ

*BUN B & CREW

*SHIEST BUBZ & ASHLEY

*BUN B & ME. I met him for the first time earlier that day, as we had meetings at the same office. He was super nice and seriously just cool. Love that dude!

*I got Jonny a vintage Jets Felt Pennant and some Vintage Celtics Shorts – his favorite teams.

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Thanks to SHIEST for taking the flicks…

*CHRISTINA MILIAN & CREW

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READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

I’m so proud of my brother PUSHA-T. I’ve known him for just about 10 years now and I’m so excited to see all of his accomplishments. Last night I was honored to host the 3rd anniversary of his clothing line, PLAYCLOTHS. DJ WONDER and Q-TIP took to the decks as everyone partied under the roof of TRIBECA CINEMA. Other special appearances were made by ASAP ROCKY, ASAP FERG, CURT@!N$, FERRIS BUELLER, and MALICE. Of course my crew came through also…OSCAR, SABEL BOO, YOUNG SCOOZLE, HUGGY BEAR, AMARIS & ELLE CLAY. Afterparty was held at a Breakfast Club session. It was a lovely night…

*I ate dinner in the car on the way to the event…

*DJ WONDER the CONDUCTOR

*ELLE in her SPECIAL EDITION – VIOLETTE HOLIDAY CRAY SHIRT

*PHILLIP LEEDS & LOIC V. – my other brothers!

*ELLE CLAY

*ME wearing a vintage BETSEY JOHNSON frock. ELLE said I was giving MOESHA looks. It’s a #GOTHMOESHA steelo.

*OSCAR 1992

*YOUNG SCOOZ and DJ HUGGY BEAR

*HENNESSY BLACK was on deck…

*I brought PUSHA a special gift!

*MALICE, PUSHA, and VASHTIE

*JADE & VENUS
*ELLE groping Q-TIP

*ASAP ROCKY and ME.

*SABEL BOO, ELLE CLAY, AMARIS, OSCAR 1992

*JAY BURKE, ELLE CLAY, AMARIS, HUGGY BEAR and ME.

Elle said, “I like when you wear that jacket. You like the girlfriend of a skinhead”

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On to Breakfast Club…

*ELLE “thank” she cute with her new shoes.

*VIRGIL ABLOH, GUEST & HERON PRESTON

It was a chilly night as we all set out to wreck havoc on some unsuspecting TUNA TACOS, courtesy of BEAUTY & ESSEX located on ESSEX. Despite the crowd feeling like a SEX & THE CITY/ENTOURAGE episode where young rich (and mainly Upper East Side types) “own New York”, the food is phenomenal and the vibe is hip.

There was a lot of food and “drank” passed around, but I only ate a salad and oysters (East Coast, baby) because I was just coming off a cleanse. Anyways, here it is…

*SHOTS are not for me and they never were. Instead of arguing with someone who gives me shots, I try and say no and when they badger me I just say “OK” and then when everyone takes theirs I pretend to and then dump it on the floor. Not nice, but it will save you some morning misery. I once got caught doing it when Q-TIP gave me and my friends shots. He walked away from us and came back and sat right in front of my full shot glass and look directly at me like “SON?!”. Anyways, I gave the 3 shots that accumulated in front of me to some nice ladies standing near our table. They were from Boston and very sweet.

*SMOKE DZA on his telephone. I got one too that is blue for at home chit chat, but this gold one is off the hook – haha, pun intended!

*BIG K.R.I.T. and VASHTIE.

I’m super proud of this guy!

*I don’t know if they’re an “aphrodisiac”, but they are excellent for your skin. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, they’re pretty tasty.

*SHA MONEY provided endless laughs!

*ANG, SHIPES, JOHN & CASS

*CALLENDER, SMOKE DZA, DUTCH, BIG KRIT, and down low JONNY SHIPES

*The Driver was hilarious. He had a finger comb and liked to show off his combing steez.

We all knew better. In order to attend any DEE & RICKY event, you must arrive the minute it starts…otherwise doors get shut down like computers (hahaha, that line is so goofy). Anyways…Me, ELLE, DJ HUGGY BEAR & YOUNG SCOOZLE set out in the rain to support our brothers.

ELLE was the first one who decided to wear her Uncles Army Jacket. YOUNG SCOOZLE wore his Brothers Army Jacket

and then I was coaxed to add to the Camo Madness…

*HUGGY BEAR was playing “a good one” so we had to wait until he “busted that ass” on his online opponent before we set out.

*DEE

*JOHNNY KILLEFACE

*BABES

*TELLI of NINJASONIK

*THEOPHILUS LONDON was in the place to be…

Special thanks to LAURA for the hookup to a sold out show.

Sold out for good reason.

Last nights show was SWIMMINGLY GOOD, as I immersed myself in an OCEAN of FRANK.

There are some artists who put on grand visual shows and then there are the rare few who can just open their mouths without distractions and astound a crowd. My faith in music has been restored.

Indeed, watch what you feed your pets. I was at the laundromat and watched this disgusting woman feed her beautiful Siberian Husky pastries from Veneiro’s. Sure – she’s feeding him the best pastries in the East Village…but, that is no bueno for animals. It was really a gross sight to see. There were tons of crumbs all over the floor and she had no concern for the mess she made.

I got the invite from ?UESTLOVE that he was doing a food event on that rainy Wednesday afternoon. I mean, how could I say no? Who doesn’t love ?UESTLOVE and FOOD?!

The event took place at the Bon Appetit Office in the Conde Nast building (think Anna Wintour) – the thought alone makes me want to abstain from eating for life, but I ventured in. KARL JUSTIN was my date and we had some good giggles along the way. Previously, we went in search for oysters and found a restaurant called OSTERIA something and we assumed – they MUST have oysters. Turns out that “osteria” means nothing oysters, so we settled on some Mussels. Fine by us.

*SOLANGE and ME. She’s now a New York local and looking flawless as ever. Can’t wait to hear what she’s been cooking up for her next album.

*YO & MEL D. COLE

*?UESTLOVE throwing down.

I was also stoked to be DJ’ing alongside 10 other DJ’s (11 in total) who were all so different and fly in their own style. Even the staff at TOURNEAU were pleasant and fun. It was a perfect night! Not to mention, the crowd was just my type – a clash of opposites. It was OLD MONEY meets POOR KIDS and with that my friend, we created MAGIC!

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*JOSH MADDEN & HUGGY BEAR NYC

*FRANCO V & VIKAS

We found this and decided to turn it over. The metal sand-like beads hit the bottom and it look like it was frying in a pan, popping everywhere.

*DANIELLE, JERELLE and CEDRIC

*and RAUL LOPEZ of LUAR ZEPOL

*Just the girls!

*YOUNG SCOOZLE and his ODD FUTURE hat cat.

*ME, DANAI, GUEST and JASMINE SOLANO

*ME, JOSH MADDEN & VIKAS

*ANDREW & ANDREW – I love them so much!

*Me and JONNY SHIPES

*JANJAY and ME

*Real Bad Mon.

*cutie JASMINE SOLANO

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PAPER MAGAZINE + TOURNEAU RE-CAP

*DREW BARR & BRIAN

*RAUL LOPEZ

*SABEL BOO & TONY having a real “kee kee” moment

*JONATHAN MANNION & ME…pondering

*OSCAR SANCHEZ and SABEL BOO

Last Friday night can be summed up by the phrase popularized by Black Rob, “LIKE WHOA”. I was set to DJ from 10PM to 1130PM, but our second DJ was a bit late so I played until 1AM. It was nerve-racking but very fun!

By 1AM, DJ RUNNA came through to play a set of mega hits. At that point the crowd was super amped. Around 130AM, SWIZZ BEATZ got on the decks and brought along a VERY SPECIAL FRIEND…MISS ALICIA KEYS.

Referring to what SWIZZ did as “DJ’ING” would be an understatement. It was more like a concert, a live show. The energy in that room was magnetic. Everyone crowded the DJ booth and snapped away pictures while reciting every lyric from the hit songs that SWIZZ played. It was insane, actually. ELLE summed it up by saying “It was the kind of night that you know everyone told someone about..”

*SWIZZ’S jacket lit up and it was…”SHOWTIME”

*ALICIA KEYS & ME

NOTE: I asked ELLE to take this picture of me and ALICIA, thinking she would have done a lovely job. Instead, she played the kid. She apologized over and over and I forgave her, but damn…

*ALICIA, I mean DJ AK47 took to the decks…

*her jacket lit up and the crowd went cray…

*She did the damn thing!

*Here’s the rest of the gang…

*FERRIS BUELLER, TUPAC & BOY GEORGE

*ME and OSCAR

*RICKY and his HENNY…I taught him how to properly ”SNIFT” his cognac

*STEPHEN BARR aka HUGGY BEAR, ME and DREW BARR

Special thanks to Brandis and the JORDAN family!

“Lily is blind after needing to have her eyes removed because of an incurable disease. Since the surgery, her buddy Madison has been acting as Lily’s guide dog. With a leash, barks and nudges, Madison looks after her companion”

Ok, I just balled my eyes out.

*nice photo, if I do say so myself!

*ELLE CLAY & HASAN INSANE

*DJ HUGGY BEAR

*CHIKE & YOUNG SCOOZLE

*TEYANA TAYLOR & ME

I was on my sick deathbed, but knew I couldn’t miss my darling twins birthday soiree. ELLE and YOUNG SCOOZLE came with as we trekked to the Financial District for some fun…

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*CAYLA COUSINS & SWINTON

*MEL DEBARGE & SWINTON

*ELLE CLAY & YOUNG SCOOZLE

*RICKY

“From the mystical, unGoogleable beyond comes PYYRAMIDS, a new collaboration by OK Go’s Tim Nordwind and singer Drea Smith. Living in the dark, atmospheric grotto midway between the dance floor and the mopey teenage bedroom of the mind, PYYRAMIDS’ six-song debut will be available on October 31st from Paracadute, the full-service 21st century record label OK Go founded on their 2010 parting from Capitol. Befitting the band’s cross of banging beats with underground pop, PYYRAMIDS arrives on that most idiosyncratic of formats, 10-inch vinyl.” via PYYRAMIDS.COM

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I’ve been a HUGE fan of Drea’s for a minute. Back when her and MILLION DOLLAR MANO were making music, I laced her with some VIOLETTE and she wore it precisely!

Her sound is moody, raspy, dark, yet light and refreshing – if that makes any sense. I love her voice. Basically – if I could have a singing stand-in, it would be her. Now that she’s teamed up with Tim Nordwind of OK GO, they’ve been creating double trouble!  If you don’t believe me…LISTEN HERE:

That Ain’t Right by PYYRAMIDS

UPCOMING NYC SHOW:

OCTOBER 19TH @ 4:45

PIANO’S

Another great night with Q-TIP & ME at YOTEL NYC, If I do say so myself. The homie STEVE NASH came through and GZA kicked it for a bit while DJ D-NICE blessed the room with perfect sounds. JAY JACKSON celebrated a birthday and PHILLIP and LOIC came through to hang. Miss BEVY SMITH was also in attendance and made the entire night cozier. As if the night couldn’t get hotter, the fire alarms rang out a little after 3 AM and were all asked to leave. It was a great night!

*VASHTIE, OSCAR 1992 & YOUNG SCOOZLE lurking in the background…

*KARL JUSTIN, ROSIE and NATE aka 6000

*JACKY TANG, NAOMI and OSCAR 1992

*We’re starting a band…don’t hate.

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANDA!

*BEVY SMITH has a spirit that is hard to resist! I love her and aspire to have  1/8 of the spunk and pizazz that she exudes!

*KANAYO and KARL JUSTIN

*PHILLIP LEEDS, ROB WALKER and LOIC VILLEPONTOUX

*BRENDRA and the super talented TAVON SAMPSON – me and this dude go way back to our days of DEF JAM, so nice to see him.

*There was no booty popping, but there was bottle popping…

*KARL JUSTIN and BEVY SMITH

*D-NICE went in…

*ME and STEVE NASH

I’m saying, who doesn’t love Steve Nash?! Wait, don’t say the wrong thing because I may have to fight you. He’s the sweetest dude!

*JACKY had a lot of energy and SABEL was being supportive

*Then again, we all had a lot of energy – like STEVE NASH and YOUNG SCOOZLE

*VASHTIE and GZA

*OSCAR took time to ponder out the window. Which is when I realized that I was wearing BAPE camo boxers under my dress that matched his shirt…

*VOILA! OSCAR 1992 and VASHTIE 1992 in BAPE CAMO

*SABEL BOO & OSCAR 1992

*The fire alarm went off…

*We had to take the stairs as a precaution…

Special thanks to Miss Janjay for inviting me out to the flagship FRYE store in SOHO for a Paper Magazine event. As my timeline proves, I’ve been living in my Frye boots since 2006 and they hold me down in New York’s tough terrain…

I took my dear friend AUSSIE LUKE and we caught up on time passed and got a pair of complimentary boots. Not bad…

See below for my post and check here for PAPER MAGAZINE’S re-cap:

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The evening started out with dinner…DJ HUGGY BEAR was in attendance before he ran to spin at a new club…

*AUSSIE LUKE FLYNN

*this reminds of something out of a scary movie, like “SILENCE OF THE LAMBS” er something…

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*VASHTIE & LUKE FLYNN, looking very unprepared – photo by ZAC SEBASTIAN

Another Friday night at YOTEL and if you couldn’t make it – we definitely partied for you. Despite the horrible rain storm, we rocked it out to the sounds of ?UESTLOVE.

*If you come early enough you can get a VIP room and order some delicious food!!!

*PRINCE POETRY (ORGANIZED KONFUSION) & Q-TIP

*?UESTLOVE & Q-TIP

*CEDRIC HAUGHTON & TROY CARMICHAEL

*ROSIE & NATHAN

*DJ HUGGY BEAR & ROSIE

*OSCAR went to the DIPSET show earlier. Did anyone else go? How was it?

*DEEMEHLOW & OSCAR 1992

*6K and Me! One of my oldest friends since the 518 days.

*?UESTLOVE & ME

JOSH MADDEN, OSCAR and VASHTIE

For some of my “love me long time” blog readers, you may remember when I had a double nomination in 2008 alongside OSCAR (for 1992) and Q-TIP & RICH MEDINA (for OPEN). OPEN won, although I also think 1992 should have won!

THE OPEN PARTY (Q-TIP, VASHTIE & RICH MEDINA) WINNER OF BEST NEW PARTY AT THE 4TH ANNUAL PAPER NIGHLIFE AWARDS IN 2008

Our friends HUGGY BEAR and VENUS X were nominated for BEST NEW PARTY and I couldn’t have been more happy. Neither of them won, but that doesn’t change the fact that they have thee best new party’s happening! I didn’t get to take many pictures because it was so CRAY (hahaha) in there and most of us presenters were hidden away like the children in “FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC”.

*VASHTIE & SABEL BOO

*MAGGIE, KARL JUSTIN and GRACE

*PATRICIA FIELDS presented…

*Me in Vintage Balmain and Oscar in Vintage Versace.

After OSCAR, JOSH MADDEN and I presented for BEST NEW CLUB – we revealed that WESTWAY were the winners!

*YOUNG SCOOZLE & OSCAR 1992

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pictures via PAPER MAGAZINE

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Special thanks to JANJAY!

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Me, Theophilus, Knox and Huggy Bear set out for the park. It was a long drive from where we were, but it was nice for all of us to catch up. Coincidentally, our driver was named THEO and he was a nice quiet dude.

*STEPHEN BARR aka HUGGY BEAR (peep the ashy ankles. no shade, we was all ashy out there)

*”GEORGE”, our super awesome tour guide. George was his nickname. We were told that most African folks have African names and then American nicknames.

*I’ve seen other people’s “Safari” photos and I never really got a sense of what it would be like to be that close to a lion and it was AMAZING. This trip was the highlight of my stay in South Africa. I love animals, even the ones that can rip my face off.

*White Lions. Just like people they can mix with the Brown Lions and have mixed-ed babies (interracial jungle love).

*Lazy Cheetah.

*Don’t judge my hairy ashy legs, but I cut my knee in the Safari Truck. It was bloody hell.

*Next, we went to the LION CUB PARK. I could not wait!!!

*This little babe licked and bit me (pretty hard). It’s funny because although I had kitties when I was little – I wasn’t allergic. As an adult, I realized after I got Vladdy that I was allergic to him. If he licks me I break out into temporary hives at that spot. This Kitty licked me on this spot and see what happened a couple hours later…

*SUE

*JORDAN WATTS giving a cub some dap…

*LEVI MAESTRO

*The Lion Park was nice, but it was uncomfortable to see just outside the park was a Shanty Town. Here we were, Tourists checking out the cubs and meanwhile there were very poor people right next door. The strange part about South Africa for me, was the juxtaposition of rich and very poor.

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*Afterwards, we went to NANDO’S. Apparently it’s a chain restaurant that started in South Africa. This place was a gem. I had a Veggie Burger, but apparently the Chicken is delicious. I bought mad sauces to take home with me to share with friends.

*It’s weird when you travel some place far different than what you know and then you realize that so much of it feels familiar. Some parts of South Africa had variations…certain parts felt like Trinidad or Denver and even a couple areas felt like LA. Its actually quite nice to travel and see how different we are, yet the same…

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*On my way into the hotel me and Stephen checked out a group of hot girls dressed to kill having dinner. To our surprise, these lovely ladies came up and said “Vashtie?”. I was like…”you know who I am.” They replied “of course, we love your blog”. I was stoked. Later, as I took my old man nap, the fellas kicked it with the girls and when I met up with them later – we all went to CLUB HUSH.

*KNOX ROBINSON

*The Club was cool, although it felt like an American Club…bottle service, American music and VIP areas. Then suddenly, the DJ would play some local KWAITO music and you’d know – you were in South Africa!

*There are 11 languages in South Africa, which effects each person’s accent – making it hard for me to imitate. I’m sure class and education play a role in that also. Some people sounded Asutraliany or Brisitshy or African. It was pretty interesting and by the end of the trip, we all had our impersonations flowing.

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*ANDICCIO24 was another chain restaurant that was the BOMB! After the club, me and STEPHEN were starving and our driver THEO took us here. It was brick oven thin crust pizza that Stephen said rivaled the pizza he’s had in New York. I never usually eat pizza because I avoid dairy like the plague, but I had a non-cheese Veggie pizza. It was so good we had it two nights in a row!

For some of you who may not know, APARTHEID is defined in Wikipedia as: “…a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority ‘non-white’ inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed andminority rule by the whites was maintained. Apartheid was also practised in South West Africa, under South African administration under aLeague of Nations mandate, until Namibian independence in 1990.

Upon arrival, we were informed we would be heading to the APARTHEID MUSEUM and I pushed my jetlag aside to make it happen. We were given a tour by famed DANNY JORDAAN; anti-apartheid activist, sports administrator, and politician. He most recently led South Africa’s successful  FIFA 2010 World Cup Bid. Basically, he was the right man for a guided tour through the museum.

*THEOPHILUS LONDON & MIKAL JORDAAN

*Everyone’s ticket in the museum had either “WHITES” or “NON-WHITES” written on the back, which would determine your entrance into the museum. It was a simulation of an apartheid occurrence.

*DANNY JORDAAN

*Various immigrant stories were also apart of the exhibit. This was one Asian Man’s story of coming to South Africa during the Gold Rush and finding out it was “WHITES ONLY”.

*Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. You can imagine that could break a man and leave him bitter, but it only made Mandela stronger…

*Photos of Mandela and his family…

Hendrik Verwoerd, (8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), “commonly identified as H.F. Verwoerd, was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 until his assassination in 1966. He is remembered as the man behind the conception and implementation of apartheid, a system of racial segregation dividing ethnic groups in the country.” (via WIKI)

*A noose hangs to represent every anti-apartheid activist killed…this part gave us the chills.

*An armored vehicle used to shoot at people…

*The flaps come down so guns can be pointed out for shooting Black Africans.

*The famous photo of the shooting of 12 year old Hector Pieterson. “Hector Pieterson (1964 – 16 June 1976) became the subject of an iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising in South Africa when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of the dying Hector being carried by another student while his sister ran next to them, was published around the world. He was killed at the age of 12 when the police opened fire on protesting students.” (via WIKI)

“Afrikaners (including distinct Boer subgroup) are an Afrikaans-speaking ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives from 17th century Dutch and other languages.” (via WIKI)

*Apartheid Artwork…eerily similar to a Nazi Swastika.

*After Apartheid ended, other sub groups within the community also pushed for their equality.

*The South African flag – isn’t it beautiful!

*VASHTIE and DANNY JORDAAN.

*from top, left to right: JORDAN WATTS, KNOX ROBINSON, STEPHEN BARR (HUGGY BEAR), VASHTIE, DANNY JORDAAN & THEOPHILUS LONDON

*THEOPHILUS LONDON & VASHTIE

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After a deep and emotional day, we had dinner with the entire group. It was nice to meet the many different people that represent South Africa.

*Hats made by local designer Gareth Cowden. His collection is called BABA TUNDE (BABATUNDE.CO.ZA)

*JONO & TARRYN LAMB – from Port Elizabeth, South Africa with HUGGY BEAR

*MARK ONG (SBTG) & SUE from Singapore who were also featured on the bill…

*BOS ICE TEA, my new addiction.

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I had imagined that there was still turbulence post-Apartheid, but from the people I spoke to – it was quite the opposite. After speaking to many different South Africans with different heritages, I soon found out that the people are seemingly just happy to move on and work together as one…just one of the reasons that make the South African people quite remarkable!

I can’t wait to share more of my journey to South Africa!

A couple months ago HARDY MCQUEEN (from STR.CRD) asked me to be apart of his event and I was more than down. Featuring my friends THEOPHILUS LONDON, LEVI MAESTRO, PATTA and new friends SBTG, FRO LAB, MASTA LEE and more…we are all down here taking it in.

I brought my dear friend STEPHEN BARR aka DJ HUGGY BEAR out with me, making it very fun!

Here’s how the first day went…

*My kale chips vs. Stephens Pringles. We were prepared for the 15 hour flight.

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The flight was unexpectedly pleasant. The flight attendants were helpful and I slept for 12 hours of the 15 hour flight.

*red red wine…

*my my, what a difference a shower makes.

*South African money is called RAND

*an eatery in MELVILLE

*QUINOA SALAD

*JERK CHICKEN

*our old friend, THEOPHILUS LONDON!

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I can’t wait to show you more. We’ve already done so much in the 48 hours I’ve been here. South Africa is beautiful and the people are remarkable…

Special thanks to the folks at KID ROBOT for suggesting me as a selector! Despite mean spirits, the event was a blast!

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*FRANK KOZIK – I was SO stoked on meeting him. In my younger days, his style super influenced and inspired me. I used to do renditions of his work. I have to dig, but I know I have sketches of it from middle school.

*WENDY LAM from NITROLICIOUS came by…

CHECK THE KIDROBOT x SWATCH COLLECTION HERE

Wow. This project has been a whirlwind of super luck and perfect timing. Thanks to the lovely SARAH CEGLARSKI for suggesting that I participate in such a historical and magical event. I am honored to have been shown amongst some super famous names and fantastically talented artists!

(Yes, indeed I brought my vintage Polaroid)

After the show went up at MILK GALLERY, it was taken down for it’s evening of auction at PHILLIPS DE PURY. Some of the bigger named pieces were up for a live auction, which was interesting to see. I made sure not to move a muscle, you know – like in the movies when people accidentally sneeze and they end up accidentally bidding $20,000 or something like that…hahaha.

*The Family was there in support: GABRIEL REYES, ELLE CLAY, KARL JUSTIN, KITOYA KARDASHIAN, ERIK LOPEZ, OSCAR SANCHEZ, TAI LOTSON & SCOTT WILLIAMS (below)

STYLED BY: KARL JUSTIN (NEONMGMT)

(MARKUS LUPFER DRESS, PHILLIP LIM SHOES, GENEVIEVE JONES JEWELRY…and SPANX, my new bestie)

MAKEUP BY: TAI LOTSON (NEONMGMT)

HAIR BY: GABI CORNEY

*JEN PHAN assisted me on my piece and who took all these images.

*I love this KINSEY piece. Might be my favorite…

*I wonder why I was making this stupid face…

*I ran into my old friend JOHN from the art school days at SVA

*BOBBY SAGER of POLAROID & VASHTIE

SPECIAL THANKS TO…

MY FRIENDS FOR ALL THEIR SUPPORT & HELP

JEN PHAN & SCOTT WILLIAMS FOR ASSISTANCE IN MY ARTWORK

THE BEST GLAM TEAM: KARL JUSTIN, TAI LOTSON, GABI CORNEY

ANDY WARHOL & NEW YORK STATE

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VASHTIE|TV EPISODES COMING SOON!

*KARL JUSTIN and me.

*GABRIEL, YOUNG SCOOZLE and KARL JUSTIN.

*THE STANDARD HOTEL, NYC – MARCO BRAMBILLA

*BRIAN & VASHTIE (Okay, this might be the only photo where I can’t hide my C cups and believe me…I tried, as always)

*LV THE STYLIST and guest.

*KARL JUSTIN & ME.

*NATALIE LEVY & ME.

*NATALIE LEVY, KARL JUSTIN and ME.

*FASHION GIRLS.

*OSCAR 1992 and ME.

*JACKY TANG and ME.

*PEACHES, BRIAN LICHTENBERG, and ME (PEACHES rules!!!)

*OSCAR 1992, NATALIE LEVY, BRIAN LICHTENBERG, TY ANNE and ME.

*OSCAR said, “check out my new bag” and turned around to show me this. Ha…

*JORDANS vs. BURBERRY PRORSUM

Sunday night, I had dinner with friends KARL JUSTIN and NATALIE LEVY.

One of Natalie’s best friends was in town for Fashion Week, super designer and major sweetheart BRIAN LICHTENBERG.

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*Brian was having a party at Le Bain on September 12th and asked me to come and rock one of his designs. I was more than flattered, especially because most people in the industry are boring and egotistical and here was Brian – super kind and very sweet.

I was down. Then days later after signing on for it, I started getting DJ requests for Fashions Night Out. I was in a bind. I was hoping that the event would be super amazing and worth it. Regardless, I carried through with my plans and decided to leave the 8th since I had work to do on the 7th. I set out with no expectations, but hoping for the best. Here’s how it went…

*My shoes of choice, inspired by my dear friends SHAYNE and RAUL.

*While on the plane, I did some research and thanks to Twitter the entire surprise was ruined. I was anxious and mad about missing all the revelations…

*Walked past this after just hearing Miss Reese was hit by a car. Get better soon Tracy Flick!

*Photo taken by BOBBY HUNDREDS right after we met.

*BOBBY HUNDREDS & CARRI CASETTE PLAYA.

I got in at around 1pm. Apparently all the invitees had been on a tour of Universal Studios. I was bummed I missed it, but then really realized that I’m not too much of a social kind of gal. I think it worked out for the best…

*Dinner at The Bazaar By Jose Andres…super fancy.

*BOBBY HUNDREDS, VASHTIE and GEE of PATTA.

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After dinner, we head to the event…

*BOBBY HUNDREDS and THE DELOREAN

*Photo via THE HUNDREDS with a full recap of the event also, including better photos than mine.

*FA-BO-LO-US was in the building…

*ARAB MUSIC opening set…

*TRISTAN WILDS and BRENDA WALSH

*Super Sweet Blog Readers!

*KENNY MAC

*CARRI of CASSETTE PLAYA

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The Afterparty…

*VASHTIE, LANIE OF HELLZ BELLZ & MELODY EHSANI

*DIZZEE RASCAL & FRIEND

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I got no shoes. In fact, no one did. But, it’s a charity and worthwhile cause. All of 1500 shoes are being actioned at eBay.Com and for every winning bid, eBay will match that amount. 100% of the proceeds go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

There were so many ideas running through my brain…

I knew that my piece needed to be an homage to ANDY WARHOL. His life and work has inspired me in my own journey, but also he forged the way with Art and Polaroid. I also wanted my piece to preserve the fleeting New York City that I love so much. With every day that passes, another New York City establishment is replaced by an ATM Lobby or some horrible corporate chain store – I wanted to preserve the elements that make New York City so magical.

I settled quickly on a quote from Andy Warhol.

“THE IDEA OF WAITING FOR SOMETHING MAKES IT MORE EXCITING”.

It was perfect.

For one, it embodied my personal reluctance to the digital age and instant gratification. It also represented my life before New York. Waiting to move to the Rotten Apple was as unbearable as it was exciting. Thinking of all the galleries, musical performances, interesting characters and education I would gain from moving a couple hours south kept me up at night. The quote was also intertwined in the essence of the Polaroid invention. It was a camera that revolutionized photography. No longer would you have to wait to develop film. In a short amount of time, your image would be at your fingertips.

Even now, with the onset of instant gratification, the GL10 evokes the original energy of the Polaroid Film Camera. Although, it’s just a printer for existing digital images – you still have to wait for the image to print it’s way out and you also have the excitement of how the image will look when it’s in your hands.

Each letter is taken from a New York City brand, institution, signage, or artist. Deliberately chosen so that a New Yorker or lover of all things New York could identify each piece. You may notice an S from SUPREME, an E from a SACER/DASH SNOW tag, a K for KATZ, a D from RUSS & DAUGHTERS, etc…

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Each piece will be up for auction at PHILIPS DE PURY at a later date, but for now –

you can see the exhibit at starting 8/7/11 at

MILK GALLERY on 15th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue in Manhattan.

*YOUNG SCOOZLE – “a real piece of work”

“SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW YORK, SOMETHING WARHOL”

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Check out some of the other amazing pieces!

*KINSEY

*MATTHEW ROLSTON

*MARIPOL

*TYRA BANKS

*TORY BURCH

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VASHTIETV EPISODE featuring the MAKING OF my piece +

BLOG POSTS on the RED CARPET AUCTION at PHILIP DE PURY

COMING SOON!

I went to pick up some new VIOLETTE goodies from Brooklyn with YOUNG SCOOZLE and ELLE. I don’t have a license, so ELLE was the designated driver.

We went to BARK for some DELICIOUS hot dogs. Hot Dog, they were good!!! Then I walked a couple doors down to get some delicious raw desserts at SUN IN BLOOM. check it out!

*ELLE CLAY & YOUNG SCOOZLE.

*ELLE thought it would be funny if my photo was a high school portrait style by a big tree…

BARK DOGS was super cozy. It had nice picnic table styled dining and was very family friendly. We all got really siked when we got the fountain Ginger Ale soda and realized it was HOME MADE ginger ale!!! Sort of a mix of ginger beer and ginger ale. Delicious!!!

*I got the VEGGIE DOG, which was also VEGAN. Holler!

*VEGGIE DOG: WITH ROASTED MUSHROOM-CHICKPEA TOPPING (SANS PICKLED GARLIC MAYO & BUN, PLUS HOT SAUCE) – $7

SUN IN BLOOM

(718) 622-4303

*Raw Strawberry Cheese Cake from SUN IN BLOOM…

*Stray Catty…

*SAHADI’S HUMMUS from SAHADI’S. This is so damn good it makes no damn sense.

(718) 624-4550