Brought to you by Nick Sakai, Mattty Matt Moore, and America’s #1 nightclub DJ, DJ Vice. Crossover Sneaker Boutique features limited edition Nike sneakers, a huge selection of high quality tees, live music, and extra slices of Rusty’s Pizza.
Located at 632 State Street
nick@crsvr.com
Matt Alonzo is quickly becoming a “household” name in the media arts world. Up top is a nice collage of some clips from a few of his past pieces. The man behind Soulja Boi’s “Turn My Swag On”, Game & Travis Barker’s “Dope Boyz”, & New Boyz’ “You’re A Jerk” video’s, has delivered some stunning visuals reppin’ the Skee TV fam while solidifying himself in the visual lane of the music industry. Look out for the buzz to keep building and some heavy delivery from this heavyweight in 2010.
Join the following at http://twitter.com/mattalonzo.
Isiah Thomas is firing back over criticisms levied by longtime “friend” Magic Johnson in a new book chronicling the careers of Johnson and Larry Bird, and boy, are things getting ugly. It’s like an episode of “The Hills,” except, unfortunately, there’s a lot more leg showing. Shudder.
“I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” Thomas tells Ian Thomsen at SI.com today. “I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly with me.”
As you can see in the photo above, the two Hall of Famers were once portrayed as having one of the NBA’s tightest “bromances,” dating back to when they kissed each other before the start of a 1988 NBA Finals game and their crowdpleasing 1-on-1 battle in the final moments of the 1992 NBA All-Star Game.
But in Johnson’s new book, “When The Game Was Ours” — co-written with Bird and author Jackie MacMullan — Magic paints a not so flattering portrait of his once rival point guard.
From SI.com:
“Magic addresses years of rumors by finally accusing Thomas of questioning his sexuality after Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1991. Magic also admits that he joined with Michael Jordan and other players in blackballing Thomas from the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, saying, ‘Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him. … Michael didn’t want to play with him. Scottie [Pippen] wanted no part of him. Bird wasn’t pushing for him. Karl Malone didn’t want him. Who was saying, ‘We need this guy?’ Nobody.’”
Responded Thomas, first regarding the Olympic freeze out:
“I’m glad that he’s finally had the nerve and the courage to stand up and say it was him, as opposed to letting Michael Jordan take the blame for it all these years.”
What seems to have irked Magic, and was likely the reason he joined other Dream Team members in blackballing Isiah from playing in Barcelona, was his belief that the Pistons guard was spreading rumors about his sexuality.
“‘Isiah kept questioning people about it … I couldn’t believe that. The one guy I thought I could count on had all these doubts. It was like he kicked me in the stomach.’”
Thomas’ take:
“What most people don’t know is, before Magic had HIV, my brother had HIV [...] My brother died of HIV, AIDS, drug abuse. So I knew way more about the disease, because I was living with it in my house.”
Yikes.
I don’t know where to go from here other than to agree with Shoals’ that as much of a laughingstock as Thomas has become to everyone, especially in New York, you have to feel for him. He sounds terribly betrayed.
-via Ball Don’t Lie
Too dope.
This is hands down one of the hottest sneaker boutique/streetwear joints in Southern California. The shop is packed from wall to wall with exclusive gear from brands like Nike, The Hundreds, Supra, Mishka, Five Four Clothing, Stussy, and Orisue Clothing. Located on 632 State St. in the heart of beautiful Downtown Santa Barbara, CA. Check out their blog, store website, and twitter.
CRSVR caters to Santa Barbara’s sneaker and nightlife culture. Presently located between two of the hottest spots in Santa Barbara, Tonic Nightclub, and Blush Restaurant. They have a team of DJ’s (DJ Matty Matt, DJ Gusto, DJ Vice) who keep the store jumping, spinning all the bangers and produce CRSVR mixtapes that are distributed regularly.
Download: CRSVR Mixtape Vol. II – DJ Matty Matt x DJ Vice
Mayweather was too big/strong/quick for Manny Marquez. Needs to pick on someone his own size.
Jigga Man Sells 475,700 Discs in Debut Week.
Congrats Mr. Carter….
*Throws ROC sign in the air while in my cubical at work*
Now that Jay-Z has left Def Jam, Hov’s former label is looking to cash in on Jay one last time.
Def Jam will release The Blueprint Collector’s Edition consisting of Jigga’s first two classic albums, The Blueprint and The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
Jay-Z’s collector’s set will be packaged in a collectible slipcase with a poster. There will be space to insert a third CD.
The Blueprint Collector’s Edition releases September 8, three days before The Blueprint 3 arrives on September 11 through Atlantic Records.
The official CDQ version is sposed to drop manana but until then here’s the radio rip. Blue Print 3 should be a problem. Looks like this years gonna be a big one for hip-hop heads if Jay-Z AND Common drop albums produced by both Yeezy and No ID. If Kanye and Drake both get theirs out this year without any push-backs. Powerhouse end of ‘09 is on the horizon…keep it locked folks.
Download: D.O.A.
Spotted this on Yahoo’s website. I’m always a Kobe fan first but I do love watchin LeBron play and in no way am I a King James hater.
I’m a winner, King James proclaimed. So, there you go. That’s his reason for rushing out of the conference finals without so much as a nod to Dwight Howard(notes) and the Orlando Magic. That’s his reason for marching to the bus and letting the Cleveland Cavaliers’ spare parts take care of his responsibilities in the interview room.
Funny, but James stayed on the court to make sure the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks paid respect to him. As it turns out, there’s one thing allowed to happen at the end of a playoff series: Everyone bows down and kisses the King’s ring. Only, LeBron doesn’t have a ring. He’s never won a game in the NBA Finals.
So, yes, maybe they just have to kiss his feet.
“It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that,” James said.
No, nothing like that. Yes, James cares so much that it isn’t possible to be gracious and humbled.
You know me, he told the reporters in Cleveland on Sunday. I’m a competitor. “If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them,” James said. “It doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.”
Here’s the question: Who has the guts to tell him that he sounds like an immature, self-absorbed brat?
Here’s the problem for the Cavaliers and James: No one.
It won’t be Cleveland Cavaliers ownership, front office and coaches. It won’t be the NBA. It won’t be Nike. And it sure won’t be those childhood sycophants who surround James and tell everyone what a brilliant businessman LeBron is because they can answer the phone when corporations call for a famous pitchman.
LeBron doesn’t want to win more than Michael Jordan did, but Jordan could stop and shake a winner’s hand. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird could, too. Julius Erving did. Kobe Bryant(notes)
. Isiah Thomas led a walkout after losing to the Chicago Bulls after winning two NBA titles, but Joe Dumars never followed him. He stayed and shook Jordan’s hand, the way Jordan had always shook his when the Pistons had beaten him.
“M.J. had stopped, shook my hand and hugged me three straight years that we had beaten them in the playoffs,” Dumars once told me. “There was no way I was walking off the court without shaking the Bulls’ hands.”
Within the Cavs, someone needed to tell James that he embarrassed himself and the franchise, but that won’t happen. They’re too scared of him. Most league executives with knowledge of Cleveland’s operation believe it’s far more of an ownership issue, than basketball operations.
If general manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown privately disdain the ridiculous posing for pictures that James started with his teammates on a 13-game winning streak, the owner is believed to see the foolishness as a marketing dream.
Someone should’ve told James that the pregame Polaroid act was belittling and beneath a championship contender, but it never happened.
All season, the Cavaliers acted too entitled, too arrogant for a team that’s won nothing. They ran out demanding that Mo Williams(notes) be made an All-Star, when the truth bore itself out in the playoffs: Cleveland has one All-Star. Nevertheless, Williams still embarrassed the Cavs with foolish proclamations and guarantees his middling talent couldn’t deliver.
“If you believe in karma with that nonsense,” one Western Conference executive said, “then Cleveland got what was coming to them.”
The Cavaliers are terrified of James. When you’re around them, it’s sometimes embarrassing to watch the way they tip-toe and grovel with him. In their defense, that’s how James wants it. As a childhood prodigy, that’s all LeBron’s ever known. The Cavs are at his mercy until he becomes a free agent in July of 2010, and that isn’t going to change. There’s no chance that he signs an extension this summer, because that would be the end of the drama, the intrigue and LeBron James(notes) isn’t letting that go away.
Now, Ferry goes back to the phones and starts work on surrounding James with championship talent. Cleveland is sure to revisit the Shaquille O’Neal(notes) talks with the Phoenix Suns
, and James and his associates will send out word that, hey, we’ll go to New York unless the Cavs deliver him his title. Well, they’ve reached the NBA Finals and had the best record in the NBA within the past three seasons, so they must have surrounded James with something that works there.
Nevertheless, James distanced himself in losing again, after a season in which he sold himself as all for one, and one for all. James had been an MVP until the very final moments of the basketball season, and then, he embarrassed himself and acted like a petulant kid. In a world where everyone in his life is too fearful or too dependent, LeBron James goes into the summer believing his own nonsense that he walked out of this season a winner.
As usual, there’s no one to tell him.
Except maybe now, Kobe’s puppet.
Nice lil article I found on these 2. If only LBJ and the Cavs woulda made the Finals….Dah well, there’s always next year for the Perfect Season.
It’s a shame. It really is.
Unfortunately for NBA commish David Stern and his cronies, they aren’t getting Christmas morning for the second straight year in the Finals.
2008 rang bells of Pau Gasol donning La La Land gold and a Boston trio that resurrected Red Auerbach’s cigar ashes from oblivion.
2009 was supposed to be Kobe vs. LeBron. Black Mamba vs. The King.
That transparent hankering crashed and burned in Orlando. It’s a shame. The ratings would’ve gone through the roof, as Ray Liotta, Luke Wilson, Kate Hudson, and the rest of the Hollywood stars that find an excuse to join reality would’ve came out in waves.
We may have even seen an Adam Lambert sighting too.
Not anymore.
As Kobe and Co. closed out the cute-story Nuggets in six games, LeBron James, the reigning 2009 MVP and the owner of the best record in the league, saw a nightmare realized as his squad was bounced into afterthought thanks to the Herculean performances of Dwight Howard and a three-point shooting barrage.
This was supposed to be the matchup of the century, albeit it nine years young.
A Kobe-LeBron showdown would’ve been pure joy to watch. Kobe would’ve spun his seemingly impossible twirling fadeaway jumpers, while James would hit 0-to-60 on his archetypal fast breaks.
Bryant would’ve dazzled, James would’ve flown.
Key word: would’ve.
It’s now SoCal vs. the Sunshine State—and most noticeably, no King.
Which brings us to the matter of comparison. Kobe v. LeBron. This whole season has been a broken record of collation. Kobe can do this, LeBron can do that.
We get it, we do. It’s the two best players in the game right now. It’s why we watch SportsCenter Top 10 plays every night. We want to see what trick shot Kobe mustered out of left field or how high James soared for a dunk as he exceeded the speed limit.
There is one minor discrepancy: You can’t compare the two. It’s not feasible.
You can judge them solely upon their individual performances or their stat sheets, but while the term superstar is the budding word intertwined with these cosmic players, it’s not the matter at hand.
It’s the supporting cast.
Just take a look at a Laker game. You don’t see the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer; you don’t even know his name. No one knew who Jonah Hill was until he started spurting off crass lyrics in Judd Apatow films.
The point being, while Kobe’s “doin’ work”, so are his slew of stellar supporters. Gasol is the present-day prototype big man who works on the block better than anyone in the league at this present moment. Along with Gasol, there’s Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Derek Fisher, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, yadda yadda yadda. You catch the drift.
While Bryant and his team supposedly “underachieved” their way into this year’s Finals, James’ crew was on a different level.
The junior varsity one.
That’s where the disparity speaks volumes.
Kobe’s cast is vastly superior, talented, experienced, and versatile.
LeBron’s posse? It’s borderline C-.
Not even James, who showcased a ridiculous line of 38 points per game to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists throughout the Eastern Conference Finals, could carry a group of players that seemed to play as if they were chickens that had just received the ol’ chopping block.
It’s asking too much, plain and simple. The guy’s a King, yes, but he’s not superhuman. Dwight Howard pummeled Anderson Varejao and roamed past the oafishness of Big Z, and that was that.
The MVP simply ran out of gas. Seemed fitting, too. He led this pack of underachievers to the best record in the league without a legitimate wingman running alongside.
The tank hit empty. Unfortunately for James, he doesn’t have the luxury Kobe does to “get his teammates going” before he proceeds to rev up the engine.
As Cleveland tried that ploy, it found itself gasping for air.
The Lakers can win a Western Conference Final game with Kobe scoring 22 points.
If asked the same for the Cavs and James, one would rightly be delivered a backhand to the left cheek as a reminder of the obvious foolishness.
It would’ve been a showdown for this generation, but the Magic were able to exploit the impostors that were LeBron’s supporting cast. Even if Cleveland had somehow pulled off three consecutive wins against Orlando, it’s safe to assume it wouldn’t have been because of Delonte West or Wally Szczerbiak.
After the Cavs were run out of Amway Arena by Howard and the Magic in Game Six, James’ line read 25-7-7, 8-for-20 from the field, having played 45 of the possible 48 minutes.
You think after shouldering a franchise since his NBA inception and carrying the burden of the city of heartbreak that is Cleveland, Ohio, this King would’ve found a way to win, right?
The great ones do, but think about it. Jordan had Pippen. Magic had Showtime. Bird had McHale and Johnson. Hell, Kobe had Shaq.
LeBron’s second in command? Mo Williams? Cough, cough.
It would’ve been an ideal coup for the league—the 2008 MVP matched up against the 2009 newbie. The two best players in the world head-to-head on national television. It’s a shame, but there are some certainties that have been cemented.
One guy can’t do it on his own, no matter what his name is.
Kobe will be doin’ work in this, his sixth NBA Finals.
And The King, who has embraced the title of city savior, left Game Six so shaken and disconcerted that he, one of the most media-friendly voices in the professional sports, refused to talk to the press.
Sometimes, a guy needs a little help, even if he is royalty. Even if he is “The Chosen One.”
Spotted this on TheShoeGame.com…this would ether ANY other Yeezy colorway or any other sneaker Nike’s produced over the past 5 years…
McFly Nike Air Yeezy
Yo, chill out, its only a PS by the homie BP. However, there have been rumors floating around the web saying Nike “might” release two more colorways of the Air Yeezy later on this year. If they do decide to drop two more colorways, the question is what colors will they release? Could it be the Concert edition that everyone is beasting over?
Can you imagine the reaction from McFly and Yeezy fans if Nike released this colorway? If they did it would be McFly Hyperdunk hype times a hundred thousand, trillion! Nike hire this man already.
What if?
Lakers even the series at 1-1. Good physical series, mos def lookin’ 4ward to the rest of it.
Growing up in California with sports as his main focus, art came as a surprise passion. When taking Art to fill graduation requirements in High School, his teacher knew immediately that he had an eye for it. With a major interest in the street wear culture, he started off re-creating or remixing some pieces in his backyard with just a canvas and spray can. He has been recognized at local art shows and online and hopes to further his education in all kinds of Art beginning later this year. This is a humble artist who truly does it for the love of the game.
Check out a few peices of his stencil art below..
Like what you see or just want to give some props…?
Holler at ‘em at Joeyvalencia5@Gmail.com
Spotted this lil passage on Combat Jack With Today’s Mathematics Blog…pretty interesting…and I totally agree. I dont support glorify the lifestyle but today’s Rap game is filled with all talk, no backup. At least these dudes speak the truth. Can’t wait for their upcoming album, should be filled with heaters….HOLLA!
I’m not a fan of the whole drug rap genre thingie. Maybe it’s because I’m not too into the systemic destruction of a darker peoples. Or could be that 99.9% of these cats rapping it ain’t never did it like how they say they did. Clipse, I been effin with them since their debut album “Lord Willin’”. Not that I did or didn’t believe all their drug cartel talk, I just fux with them on account of how they always put out quality music, how they really really rap that good and how they keep that sense of urgency in their tone.
Did you hear that Clipse manager Anthony Gonzalez was just charged with leading a 10 million dollar drug ring? They even have an unnamed police officer listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the ring. 10 million dollars and cops? The indictment says “the operation has distributed more than a ton of marijuana and more than 100 pounds of cocaine since 2003″. How the hell does one move a TON of marijuana and 100 pounds of cocaine and still have time to manage one of the best rap duos out today? Good Lord and Sweet baby Jesus! Not admiring or giving dude props, but tell me that’s not gully.
The drug ring was allegedly run out of a Virginia club, Encore Lounge, the very same club that the Clipse are known to mention in some of their songs. It’s even stated that Gonzalez bought the Encore Lounge “in November 2007 from an unidentified co-conspirator for 40 pounds of marijuana and about $80,000 in drug proceeds. The club closed earlier this year after more than 100 incidents of violence, shootings, drug dealing and disorderly conduct.” According to AllHipHop.com, “to date, Anthony “Geezy” Gonzalez remains at large. At press time, the Clipse could not be reached for comment.” I bet.
I know this is morally wrong, but the Clipse stock just went way the eff up in my book. I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping the brothers Thornton don’t get entangled in all of this legal fuckery, only because now I’m really waiting for their third album “Till The Casket Drops” to drop later this year. In this rap game, street cred is worth way more than good credit
5/1/09- New Brunswick, NJ- Rutgers University
5/2/09- Cincinnati, OH- U of Cincinnati
5/15/09- San Diego, CA- U of California
5/16/09- Las Vegas, NV- Pure Nightclub
5/29/09- Chicago, IL- Depaul University
5/30/09- Evanston, IL- Northwestern U
6/25/09- Zagreb, Croatia- T-Mobile InMusic Festival
7/3/09- Rotterdam- Your World, Your Music Festival
7/4/09- Rotterdam- TMF Awards
7/10/09- Bath, UK- Nass Festival
7/11/09- Gwynedd, UK- Wakestock
7/12/09- Frauenfeld, Switzerland- Openair Frauenfeld
7/18/09- London, UK- Lovebox Weekender 2009
8/1/09- Hollywood, CA- Palladium
8/14/09- Copenhagen, Denmark- Fredags Rock
8/15/09- Kolding, Denmark- Godset
8/20/09- Trondheim, Norway- Storsalen
8/21/09- Bodo, Norway- Parken Festival
8/22/09- Hasselt, Belgium- Pukkelpop Festival
9/5/09- Warsaw, Poland- Orange Warsaw Festival
More dates will be added.
This is for anyone who doesn’t have it already..best mixtape in a long time BY FAR (better than most the albums I’ve heard in the past year). Work is so solid, dude coulda dropped this as an LP but instead, he gave it to y’all for free.
Link even includes the bonus cut “Congratulations”…Drizzy!
October’s Very Own Presents Drake-So Far Gone – http://www.zshare.net/download/5595238868f9292a/
Real nice interview from them boys at Eighty81 with Canadian, “Drizzy” Drake Rogers. Homey’s affiliated with Young Money and has jumped on a bunch of tracks with Weezy. Dude can spit and hang with R&Bs top crooners…Toronto stand up!
The homey Andrew over at FSD got a chance to check out The Cool Kids debut album When Fish Ride Bicycles. Gives a pretty extended play-by-play of the songs that’ll be on the LP. Ablums gonna be a BANGER. Props to Fake Shore Drive.com!
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