Viewing Posts Tagged ‘Sunglasses Is A Must’
My Zoo York board will never come out, peep it though!
Picture taken July 2008
Some of you know that I have a (sort of) brand called Sunglasses Is A Must. It’s just the name I use when I collaborate with other brands to make clothes, accessories and whatnot. I’ve had a couple of tees with Sixpack, my first ever tour tee with Kiser, my Capture The Flag cap with New Era x Skoold In Korectnuss, and even Kidrobot’s Grateful Bear bore the SIAM logo.
In 2007 I started a project with Zoo York and enlisted the help of my 2 most trusted designers, the closest I have to partners in SIAM: Dust La Rock and Cody Hudson. We started working on a pack that would include a varsity jacket, a skateboard shaped like sunglasses (which can really be skated on) and a tee.
Working with big brands can be tricky though because there’s marketing budgets and cycles and all sorts of red tape. But Zoo were always supportive, in large part thanks to our homie Kimou (Grotesk)’s involvement. Last year I got a sample of the deck, pictured above. I wanted to blog it so bad, but I couldn’t… Well, unfortunately the project is dead so here it is folks, my skateboard… my skateboard that you’ll never have! Haha. Don’t worry though, we’ve always got more goodies in the oven.
Disque Primeur restocks A-Trak goodies
Back in 2006 I released 2 mix CDs with the French label Disque Primeur. They also distributed my DVD Sunglasses Is A Must in France. Time for some restocking? Yes. I am happy to announce that all 3 releases are available again on their online store. (They can say “boutique” without sounding pretentious because it’s a French word and they’re French.)
Sunglasses Is A Must DVD available here.
A-Trak & The Rub Sunglasses Is A Must LIVE 2xCD available here.
Oh No You Didn’t (Live in Vancouver) CD available here.
They also restocked my buddy DJ Craze’s Bass Sessions CD, make sure you check for that too.
Even YSL is making ‘em
I’m about to do a “Forgot About Dre” song about all these (sun)glasses t-shirts. Well, no I’m not but the point is, I could if I wanted. YSL’s got this baby coming out… Sure this one is cheeky because it refers to the classic frames that Mr. Yves used to rock.
And I’m definitely not on some bitter “yall are biting me” steez… but do you remember the tee I did with Cody Hudson in 2006/2007?
Yeah that was cool. The only sunglasses t-shirt I remember seeing before that was the one I made with Kiser earlier in ’06, the one that Kanye wore on TRL when he met Tom Cruise! Hahaaa…
Just felt like pointing that out. I REST MY CASE YOUR HONOR.
Via Selectism
Extra goodies!
I have two announcements to make.
First, I did a mixtape called “Kanye’s Soul Mixshow” (I didn’t pick the title) for this Japanese label and it just came out. I think it’s a Japan-only situation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some CDs eventually showed up on our shores. The concept is pretty simple: it’s all soul records that Kanye has sampled. So the challenge was to take all these records that happen to be linked to Kanye’s catalogue and make a good, coherent mix out of it. I’m pretty happy with how it came out. Kanye hosted the whole thing. And it’s not some generic drops; he actually tells funny stories while the samples are playing. My favorite is during the Cam’Ron “Down & Out” sample, he goes into this whole thing about “this is my favorite beat that I didn’t really do”… You gotta track down the CD to get the scoop!
Chi-Town escapades
Last time I wrote I was close to finishing up the Kanye tour overseas, where we hit festivals in no particular order and slept half-hour nights like it was going out of style. Yes, it was a hard one. We did manage to end it off on a grandiose high note. Our last show was in Nice, France (in a surreal field full of olive trees that obstructed the view of the stage). Kanye had decided to splurge and stay at a different hotel in Monte Carlo, and late that night we all went to meet up there, had a bacchanalian good time and drove back to catch our early-morning flights home.
Sunglasses tour wrap-up
The Sunglasses Is A Must tour is a serious contender for the most blogged tour in the history of this information superhighway we call the internet. I kept a twice-a-week diary on Dose’s website (they were our Canadian magazine sponsor), but then they folded halfway into the tour. Excellent. And we all (The Rub and me) kept weekly diaries on the Fader blog.
So now, for your reading convenience, here are all the links:
Fader blog: Dudes Gone Wild (announcing the tour)
Fader blog: Rubbing the Road (Ayres)
Fader blog: Midwest Swang (Cosmo)
Fader blog: Canadian States of Canada (A-Trak)
Fader blog: Westside Connection (Ayres)
Fader blog: We Love LA (Cosmo)
Fader blog: Southern Comforts (A-Trak)
Fader blog: Our Neighbors to the North (A-Trak & crew)
Dose diary archive (A-Trak)
On top of the people I thanked in the last Fader blog, I want to add a special thank-you to everyone involved with the Montreal show, because that one was extra special for me. The Kops guys made this the ultimate jump-off, as usual. And 33mag.com also helped out a lot. The Mirror put me on the cover, I appreciate that… I couldn’t even name everyone that came out but a lot of them are in the photo album.
So go check that out, read up on the diaries, fix me a sandwich… wait, I’m sorry. And um, get ready for the big announcement.
Wrapping up Kanye international tour
And now back to our reporter on the field. Get this: in Australia you can get whiskey and coke in a can. Mixed. I tried explaining to some locals why that’s “ha ha” funny to me but didn’t have too much success.
DVD update; Euro mash continues
Alright so I’d like to clear up a few things about the release of my DVD. First things first: despite what the trailer and the main page of this very site says, the DVD doesn’t come with a soundtrack. Basically I made the trailer before even starting the DVD. Then I launched this website as a splash page to show the trailer. That was almost 2 years ago. When I started working on the CD portion, it gradually turned into an album, which grew its own legs and strolled away into its own bubble. Now that should come out around the end of this year or early ’07. The album, not the bubble. Instead, to go with the DVD, I’m putting out a 45 of the theme song that you hear during the trailer, which is called “Knucklehead”. That’ll be released before the end of the month.
U2, Trinidad, NY holidays
I guess I could announce the release date at this point!
USA: Feb 21st
Canada: Feb 28th
Europe: Feb 20st
Japan: Feb 22nd
Yes, the DVD will be in stores in a month. Get your shades ready.
Now in case you’re wondering what’s been going on in Trizzyland since the last update, basically we finished the U2 shows with Kanye, then we did a gig in Trinidad. Ya mon.
Announcing the album…
So I’m working on an album. My first solo album, that is. Originally this was going to be the soundtrack to “Sunglasses Is A Must”. But then I decided I wanted to put it out separately. It was like a bird leaving its nest; a phoenix rising from the flames; a prisoner breaking its chains. Or maybe not. The important thing is, I’ve got a bunch of songs in the works. Some joints have MCs on them, and some are instrumental. And in the Audio Research tradition I’ve got my brother Dave working with me on this stuff. The other day I went to New York and did a joint with the Dip Set! (You already know.) Here’s a couple of pictures from those sessions.
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- RT @KINGS0L0M0N: Newest work @atrak + @DILLONFRANCIS "Money Makin" official video http://t.co/ulvkSoyw
- #throwbackthursdays : also known as Rashid http://t.co/ZXeqFjYH
- RT @ComplexMusic: This new @ONRABEATS song "L.O.V.E." is the perfect soundtrack for a hot summer evening in the city http://t.co/BBXZXdqn
