Ambiguous Clothing

Ambiguous Clothing

Saber - Bloodlet

SABRE, are Sylvia Sadler and Denis Wischniewski aka Bloodlet they live in the Bavarian. The story started in the late eighties when they used to be on the roll all over Germany following Hardcore, Punk Rock and drugs. Everything had to suffer, their health, the parents, the bank account and their good name. They love(d) the music, the message from Circle Jerks, DI, Inside Out, Slayer, Spermbirds, Government Issue, Agnostic Front, Madball, H20, Youth of Today, 108, Warzone, Cro-Mags, Suicidal Tendencies, Underdog, Slapshot, Merauder…

Years down the road Sabre was born and Bloodlet made his first fanzines, record covers and tour posters and discovered the beauty and power of typography and graphic. They weren´t seen everywhere because Bloodlets ideas were too way-out, the dude to crazy, and the trap to big. But this also belongs to SABRE.

All this is SABRE now: Design, Punk, Typo, Hardcore and Streetart – always evil, always rough. SABRE 2006: A family with a kid and a dog, punk brought them together. The shirts are handprinted with love for the detail. The artists we love and that find us cool are in a design on our shirts. RICHT, DALEK, WAYNEHORSE, C100, PISA73, JINPOW, MR.JAGO, MECRO, OKTUS.

Please bear with this as the text was translated from German and in places it wasn't quite sure what was meant. Saber t-shirt designs will be available to buy on The Urban Shop in Nov 06

Sticker Guerilla

Mada sticker guerilla - get up a Mada sticker, photograph it and email to stickerguerilla@mada-uk.com. Mada are not telling you to break the law and do point out you could get arrested and charged but they are highly encourageing you to take part.

An Interview with King Apparel

When you speak to someone like Tim Hoad from KING, his hunger and optimism is infectious. He should be some sort of motivational speaker to kids wanting to learn how to build up a brand, an identity, a quality control, ethics and some sort of intuitive, forward-thinking vision (although I think the last quality I think you either have or you don’t). That is what KING represents and has done from day one, back in 2003, when the label launched in London as a premium streetwear brand, concentrating on (believe it or not) underwear and accessories. It was a brave move, combining snowboard aesthetics and undergarms, but an original one that got KING noticed. They’ve now expanded to a full collection of under and outerwear, have a skateboard, snowboard and urban music team and also hold claim to being the first worldwide brand to work with New Era on their now ubiquitous 5950 hats. A stroke of perfect timing sees the new Autumn/Winter collection drop this week, so read on to check out the full story, and the reason why artists like Sway and Plan B are fully representing the label.

Tim, what’s the background story, I remember seeing KING ads back in the day being a cross between snowboard stuff and underwear!?
Myself and Paul Linton started the brand together. My background comes from being a professional snowboarder and skateboarding whilst I was growing up. I still skate now. Paul’s background was in graphic design. I’d seen loads of cool brands come up in the snowboard scene. Really well marketed and really well designed. I really liked the idea that I could apply myself to that but in my own setting, which is London - where I grew up.

We wanted to start off as an underwear and accessories label because everyone starts with t-shirts and we just thought that was boring. We wanted to do something original but also had scope for expansion. So once the brand grows in confidence we can expand and make it more diverse. That was always the intention. So we have the KING brand, then under that KING UNDER APPAREL and KING APPAREL, the latter is the side which is going crazy at the moment.

The label hits on many aspects, there’s technical side in your garms, as well as street edge, how do you describe yourself?
We see ourselves as a crossover brand. We’ve got a really good appreciation of the skate scene, snowboard scene and UK urban music. We don’t want to be pigeon holed in any sort of way. So if there’s a kid who’s into punk music, but also skateboarding, we appeal to him. But there also might be a kid who’s into the grime scene but hates skateboarding and he can still get into KING. We don’t want to alienate anybody. It was always about making the brand as good as possible as it can be, in terms of quality.

There were some really good brands coming over from the States, more hip hop styled brands, but the attention to detail was incredible and put a lot of the skateboard brands to shame. We thought we’ve got to make our stuff as good or better, otherwise, there’s just no point in doing this. So we manufacture all our product in Europe, so the quality is top notch. We limit ourselves to 300 pieces of everything. No reruns and no repeats.

Kind of like a British L-R-G?
I really liked them in the early days. L-R-G is a really positive model to look at. They’ve got the crossover audience as well and just are a really interesting brand. We get comparisons a little bit. No so much in design terms, but how we approach the business.

We are inherently British. We want KING to be seen as being UK thing. There’s no reason why we can’t do it as well as the US brands, but do it with the talent that’s in this country.

You showcase that with the music team you’ve put together…
There’s some really good artists out there such as Sway and Plan B. I met Sway at a gig in Shoreditch about three years ago. This was before his mixtapes had come out and there were about 30 people there. But his set with DJ Wonder was wicked. So I approached him to get on the KING team and do some collaborations. It all started there. We have a real personal relationship with all these artists we’ve never gone through managers etc. We involve them with everything and let them have complete creative control with what we work on and generally grow together.

At the moment we’ve got Sway, Plan B, Pyrelli is coming through strong. On the grime tip there’s Wretch 32 who’s big. We’ve known him for years but said to him that once he gets his shit together we’ll really hit it proper. In the last year he’s really got his act together so it’s really good at the moment. We’re always looking for interesting stuff. We’ve got a session drummer called Breakbeat on the team who’s worked with John Legend and The Black Eyed Peas and whilst he’s not an “urban hip hop artist” he’s got an amazing talent acoustically, and that’s just as interesting as a kid on the mic.

With heavy associations within the UK hip hop scene, but essentially rooted in a different business, it’s interesting to hear what you have to say about what the UK scene needs in order to grow?
First and foremost, everybody has to be as professional as possible. If you take America for example, a lot of their independent artists will go that extra nine yards just to make sure they’ve got an interview, a review, they turn up to meetings… I think the grime scene in particular has exposed a good work ethic in young UK artists but there needs to be a touch more professionalism. It needs to be spot on and you’ve got to be better than the next man, otherwise no-one is gonna take any notice of you. Everyone also needs to work together, as opposed to clashing each other. It’s a small scene and everyone needs to work together in order for it to grow.

I also don’t think major record labels have a clue of how to market the music. So I think it’s so important to do it on your own. And when you do it on your own, you got to be top notch, professionally. I think everyone knows that, but it’s all about applying yourself.

How about British streetwear?
I think it’s in a stronger position now than it ever has been before. We did some tradeshows back in the day and you can see the brands that have actually developed and really put the hard work in, because these are the guys who are still about.

At the end of the day a lot of the good streetwear brands have a graphic design background. So there’s always going to be some similarities because a lot of graphic artists get their inspirations from similar places. It’s inevitable. But we’d rather design stuff for ourselves and take influences from the most obscure places to make sure we don’t look like anyone else. We don’t follow fashion trends, colours or any of that nonsense! If it looks good, we’re gonna do it. If our work starts leaning towards anything that we’ve seen before, we’ll just stop and start again.

It’s also a good time because there are a lot of good mediums to expose the scene. Good magazines, street press, Channel U etc. The general public are tired of the high street. People want to see something new and because of that I think it’s definitely a strong time for good British streetwear brands.

You just dropped the new Autumn/Winter collection, what have you got this season?
We’ve got a new Defy range which is a bit tongue in cheek regarding the hoodie ban in shopping malls. We’ve got the slogan “Stand Up For Your Hood” and did a bunch of garments where you could remove the hoods and have little prints that say “Shopping Mall Friendly” etc. We’ve also released denims for the first time this year. We’ve got as much detail on there as possible without going over the top, we use a nice 12oz raw denim. It’s such a tough market that you have to come with something different otherwise, you’ll just be eaten up.

Bringing it back round, I wanted to talk about New Era and the range of hats, you guys kind of spearheaded that move, right?
We were the first worldwide brand to ever work with New Era on the 5950 hats. Before DC, before anybody. Because of our backgrounds we knew the New Era thing was going to be massive. We approached them before they even came to Europe and they really liked the direction we were going with our brand and that was where we started the collaboration and it’s gone from strength to strength.

I remember when we first started with the New Era pieces, so many stores were just not interested. They would say things like “it’s rudeboy, we don’t want it in our stores.” And now the phones ringing off the hook to get one of our caps! We use the cap as the canvas to push some really original designs. In terms of colours, embroidery, position of designs, it’s unmistakably us. No reruns and no repeats.

King

Xzibit wears Mada

This past Friday(23 October) at the House of Blues in Anaheim, Multi platinum rapper Xzibit and DJ Invisible and on stage entourage rocked Mada on stage for a sold out crowd. They will be appearing on the Carson Daly show this week so I'll be sure to keep you all posted because someone will be sure to wearing MADA - Raul

MADA

Mada - Celeb Spottings

Check out The Roots drummer extraordinaire Questlove rockin the Centerline Hoody (above). You can also check out Micah from Hawthorne Heights rockin a Mada tee while performing at a recent show and more Tommy Lee. In other Supernova news, drummer Jason Newsted can be seen wearing the Mike jean on the cover of Supernova's new CD!

Obey- Spank the Monkey

Shepard Fairey (The originator of the Obey project) came over to the UK to exhibit at the first international exhibition for contemporary urban art to be held in the UK, an exhibition at the Baltic in Gateshead called Spank the Monkey. The exhibition opening was a huge success and thanks to everyone who came to the opening party to support the event. Shepard’s contribution included a 20m by 5m installation in the gallery, a 80m by 4m piece of work outside the gallery various paid billboards around Newcastle and various official spots on the metro underground system. These are some of the biggest pieces Shepard has done in his 17 years since 1989 and they are well worth making the trip to go and see them. Don’t worry it runs until 7th January 2007 so you still have time to see it!

Yu can see mare image here

UK Runnings 5

The Urban Shop became involved with Tricksta and UK Runnings at the time of vol four when Tricksta ask us about sponsorship. Since that time we have struck a solid friendship and we are pleased to say that The Urban Shop are happy to sponsor UK Runnings vol 5 dropping Nov 06 and now Tricksta is working on an exclusive UK Running/The Urban Shop mixtape that we will be giving away free to friends and customers very shortly. Listen to UK Runnings vol 4 and see what's in store for you.


Big thanks to Tricksta for all the help he's done for us these past months we're happy to have him as a close friend, associate and UK hip hop legend.

Chester P’s Five Word Final Freestyle Trial

Kung Fu Presents - "Chester P’s Five Word Final Freestyle Trial”

Thursday November 2nd @At Cargo Kingsland Viaduct, 83 Rivington Street, London, EC2A

After a successful launch, “Chester P’s Five Word Final Freestyle Trial” it has moved to Cargo! This event brings back the original freestyle concept, through three elimination rounds, culminating in the “Five Word Final”.

In each round a number of words will be called out by the crowd and written on the board, each contestant will have to use the words in their freestyle. There are only 8 places for contestants so get there early to sign up or email events@kungfu-london.com

ROUND ONE- 3 Words 1 Minute
ROUND TWO- 3 Words 1 Mintue
FIVE WORD FINAL- 5 Words 2 Minutes

1st PRIZE £1 FROM EVERY TICKET GOES IN THE POT!
RUNNER UP - CLOTHING / RECORD GOODIE BAG

Hosted by CHESTER P (Task Force) & INJA (Delegates of Culture)
Djs
HARRY LOVE (Extended Players / Kung Fu)
LOUIS SLIPPAZ (Raw Dog)
SARAH LOVE (Kung Fu)

ENTRY- £6 R.O.A.R advance tickets available only from: Cargo

Portugal

Well they say a picture is worth a 1000 words so nuff said. Only one holiday snap to show you waht you are missing, the rest are local graff.

Mr CRF

Where are you from and what's the scene like there?
I’m from Manchester, a couple of miles from Stockport. The scene's not bad at the moment. There’s allot of crews coming through and doing there thing. Putting out mix cds and trying to make a name for themselves, plus the hip-hop nights seem to be coming back. They seemed to fall off a couple of years back but now there’s quite a few nights happening which is good. I think more and more people will start to take note of Manchester hip-hop.

You've upped ya game considerably with ya new mixtape. Tell us a bit about it and who features.
Well the new Mix cds called "Funk Ya Head Up" Volume 2 and it features over 70 minutes of brand new and exclusive tracks and freestyles from a whole load of quality Hip-hop artists. I wanted to put together a mix cd featuring legendary artists from back in the day, Artists who’ve been making noise on the underground for the last few years and Up & Coming artists all together and with the Funk Ya Head Up mix cd I’ve definitely done that. Legends such as Wise Intelligent from PRT and X-Clan and Ced Gee from Ultramagnetic who are all coming back with new albums along side artists like Rack Lo, Thirstin Howl, Original One and The Blak Prophetz. All the artists sorted me out with exclusive tracks which is dope and which id like to thank them again for. If anyone’s interested in getting the cd, log onto www.cbmag.co.uk

So are you going to follow up the tape with a volume Three?
I hope so, yeah i'm sure they’ll be a volume 3.

Do you have an e-mail address that people can send MP3's too?
Yeah the email address is Mrcrf@Cbmag.co.uk

You've been backing the whole independent movement in the UK and USA with your on-line magazine. Tell us more about that.
Well basically I've grown up on Hip-hop music. Since the mid 1980s I've listened to it and I always wanted to be a part of the scene one way or another. I mean I love being an MC; I love DJ’ing and doing my Radio shows. At the same time I know how hard it is to get recognition for your work and how hard it is trying to promote yourself. So basically I set up the Critical Beatdown website and now I’m able to interview other artists, reviews Artists tracks, bring the latest Hip-hop news etc. At the same time it helps to promote myself aswell. Basically I feel I’m just doing my bit for Hip-hop. Another bonus about running the website is I’m always making new contacts through it. Since I started it I've made contact with so many people and hooked up with allot of dope artists from both the UK and The USA.

With the Critical Beatdown website I always make a point of supporting the Oldskool artist’s aswell. Don’t get me wrong, I support a whole lot of up and coming artists but I feel not enough people nowadays support the legends from back in the day. I grew up on Hip-hop in the Golden Era so I’ll always support them artists, big them up on the site and try to interview them. Respect the Legends...Running the website takes up a lot of my spare time which I don’t have allot of but I’ll keep it up. It’s something I love spending time on.

So apart from giving everyone else exposure lets talk about CRF as a rapper for a minute. What's next for you?
I’ve got a few things in the pipeline. I and Noz are working on the next Pedigree Chumps Release which is coming along nicely. I’m also doing a couple of tracks with a dope crew from Long Island, NYC called The Lenzmen which i’m really happy about. Heads need to check out The Lenzmen. I recently did a track with a dope Mc from Staten Island called Lyric Inforca. We got some good feedback from that. I'm also going to be recording some new tracks for Daddy Js Aerosolik Records Label. Also my man Grafiq Sebek from The Factshen has asked me to do a track with him and Ced Gee from Ultramagnetic. We were supposed to record something a few months back but it got put on hold. It’s coming though. Me & Noz are also going to feature on the new album from G67 aswell plus i’m thinking of doing a Critical Beatdown Posse compilation but that’s not yet definite.



You still doing the Pedigree Chumps project?
Yeah definitely. The Pedigree Chumps are still together. Me, Noz and DJ Pressure. We’re still working on tracks. Me and Noz have been busy recently working on allot of new tracks which I'm sure heads are going to like. We've got some crazy new tracks which we’re hoping to put out at the end of the year or early 2007.They`ll be a few promos doing the rounds soon though. I'm also putting together A Pedigree Chumps Mix cd which will feature some of the best tracks from our last 2 EP's plus a couple of Exclusives, Freestyle tracks, Joints over other peoples beats etc. All coming soon so keep your eyes peeled.

What's ya next release?
The Pedigree Chumps Mix Cd is next then its going to be either a 12" single or another EP then the Pedigree Album...

You have been active in the scene for some time now. What's the main difference in the industry/scene since ya started compared to now?
Basically the fact that Hip-hop is so popular nowadays, so much more mainstream than what is was back in the Day. Rap is everywhere now. Everybody wants to be an MC. I think nowadays allot of people seem to follow the latest trend. It seems that the major labels are only interested in putting out artists who sound like the current big name artists. Independent Labels is where the originality is. Outlets like the Internet have made a big difference especially when it comes to promoting your music. Back in the day it was all about word of mouth, waiting for the weekly Hip-hop radio show and posters to find out what was coming out etc. Now just switch on the Internet and its right there.

Do you have any advice for peeps getting in the game?
Basically just give it your 100 percent, whether your an mc, DJ whatever. Dont let setbacks and haters put you off. Everybody faces setbacks whatever you do. Use them to make you stronger, and don’t follow the latest trend. Try to do your own thing.

Is there anything ya need to plug or anyone ya wanna big up?

Keep supporting that Real Hip-hop. If you haven’t checked out any of my music or mix cds, I hope some of you will take the time to do so. Check out my crew The Pedigree Chumps. We currently have Two, 8 track EP's available on vinyl. Check out my radio show every Saturday afternoon 4pm --- 6pm UK Time on www.hhbradio.com (Hip-hop Basemen)t, Mr Crf Presents the Critical Beatdown Hip-hop Show...Check out the websites and a big shout to everyone who’s already shown there support over the years. Big up your good self Tricksta for doing the interview. Nuff Respect…Big up my Ped Chumps Fam and the Pedigree Chumps Extended Family. You all know who you are. The entire Aerosolik Records crew, Everyone reppin for Manchester, Grafiq Sebek, Ced Gee and Team Factshen, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Dynamics Plus and The Lenzmen, Lyric Inforca, Rack Lo, Thirstin & The SpitSquad, Wordsmith, Michelle and The Audible Treats crew, all the artists who featured on The Funk Ya Head Up Cd. Big up. I can go on but I won’t. Everyone down with CRF/Pedigree Chumps/Critical Beatdown website and Radio Shows.

Do you have a website or My Space page?
WWW.CBMAG.CO.UK
www.myspace.com/crf1
www.myspace.com/pedigreechumps
www.myspace.com/criticalbeatdownmagazine

Interview by Tricksta

Bigz Chats

What was the first video you ever featured in and in total how many videos have you done and appeared in?
The first video was with a group called ASA that I was with in 2002 and in
total I've done three videos and many more to come

How many CD's have you dropped now?
Two mixtapes, two free download only mixtapes and one double package of my
first two mixtapes.

When is your new CD out?
October the 23rd

Your definitely one of the better MC's coming from the UK new school. Apart from yourself who else do think has submerged that is killing it?
Sincere, S.A.S., Sway, Baby Blue, Ghetto, Scotcher, Wretch 32, Akala and a
few nore

Are you feeling any UK Hip-Hop from outside London?
yep. MD7(Malik's crazy) and C.O.V.

When is your next live gig?
I would have to check my diary or you can check
myspace

The album is planned for 2007. Have you started making it yet?
Yep just begun, it should be ready for summertime.

Any plans to do a DVD or get into acting or TV work eventually?
Yep. I've got a few things in the pipeline, dvd for “A New Beginning” coming
very shortly.

What are your man ambitions in life?
To be very successful and to take care of my family and friends

Any shout-outs?
To all my people they know who they are and to my beloved brother I’ll see
you soon.

L Dot Man FREE download

L.MANs third mixtape IMPATIENTLY WAITING is now available for free download click this link.

L.MAN will be announcing details of his next mixtape dropping last week November which has been signed up by one of the UK's hottest labels and his new sponsorship deal with one of the UK's leading clothing companies will be announced soon.

TRACK LISTING
1. STORYTIME INTRO PRODUCED BY BLACKJACK FROM N.A.S.T.Y CREW
2. LYRICAL EJACULATION PRODUCED BY SWIFTEE FROM N.A.S.T.Y CREW
3. L DOT MAN PRODUCED BY J SWEET
4. HOLD IT DOWN FEATURING J2K, SHYSTIE, DURRTY GOODZ, SYER BARZ, RONNIE REDZ, BIG NARSTIE, HYPER FEN AND MARCIE PHONIX PRODUCED BY FIREWORKZ
5. KICK YOU OUT featuring MS DYNAMITE, PURPLE, DOCTOR, BEARMAN PRODUCED BY LOW DEEP
6. LIVE ON TIM WESTWOOD RADIO 1 RAP SHOW
7. DJ SEMTEX CRUNK N GRIME DUB PART 2 (POWER SUMMIT EDITION)
8. REP THE BLOCK PRODUCED BY DJ RUN ONE
9. DISTURBED live on BBC 1XTRA UKG MIXSHOW WITH DJ Q (CLASSIC FREESTYLE)
10. L.MAN AND FAITH SFX LIVE AT DEAL REAL RECORD SHOP, LONDON
11. STRESS produced by STIMPY AND SCRUFACE
12. DRIVING IN MY MUMS CAR
13. SELF HARMER FREESTYLE live on BBC 1XTRA UKG MIXSHOW WITH DJ Q
14. DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER FEATURING NATALIE CRAWFORD
15. SOUTHSIDE
16. BIG LOVE featuring BASHY and Big Narstie produced by NAUGHTY BOY
17. THEY WANNA featuring STEELO produced by NAUGHTY BOY
18. CLOWNS IN THE CIRCUS PRODUCED BY BROWSER
19. TEARS FROM THE CLOUDS FEATURING TL produced by MERLIN
20. SPUN A WEB REMIX FEATURING NARSTIE, SHYSTIE, SOLO, DEMON PRODUCED BY P JAM
21. FLY WITH ME REMIX (WIFEY RIDDIM) FEATURING NATALIE CRAWFORD FROM THE FLOETRY FAMILY PRODUCED BY FLUKES

TheUrbanShop Mixtape

This is get so close now we can almost taste it, respects to Tricksta from UKRunnings for putting this together it's sounding BIG. Listen to this line up and weep all you wanna be websites. Hosted, mixed and Tricksta from UK Runnings. Featuring the cream of the UK including Klashnekoff, Jehst, Kyza, Villains, Dynamite Mc, Roots Manuva, 10Shott, Rodney P, Estelle, TB, Late, Seanie t, Super Novar, Skeme, Yogi, Baby J and more.

Listen to the trailer here click track 4

Scott Simpson

Scott Simpson and friends are back to destroy the taste and dignity of the internet once again, with their globally transmitted weekly Live show, this week we will be giving away some items from our good friends us and trying to break a couple of world records in the process plus some sick antics from a couple of ppl who will by dropping by and much more tune in and discover for yourself why it is the best show on the internet.

Their next show goes out live over the internet on Thursday at 6:30 GMT and can be viewed here classed a as Jackass meets Tom Green it's one not to be missed. You can check out older shows on the Tom Green site.

Siino Aut/Win range

Its rocked by the likes of L Dot Man (N Double A), Supar Novar and Riff Raff. There are not many brands out there that have turned so many urban heads without actually going out there as an 'urban' label. This independence has drawn a lot of respect to this label whose designers 'just create things from their influences'. Still just avoiding the mainstream radar you need to pick this brand up before it blows. Its mass appeal coupled with its non relenting commitment to quality and authenticity are only going to take it one place

The theme for the new Autumn & Winter collection is 'garments for people who want something low key that make you feel good and look good'. With a wide choice on offer you can feel good and look good whatever you are doing this season. They all bear the two lions and split shield crest embroidered onto the garment

With a release date of the 16th October they are going to be available first exclusively at The Urban Shop