the mixx magazine: juxtaposition issue
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F E AT U R E SDesus Black Twitter's Top Comedian
Kahill JosephIndie cinema's quiet savior
FA S H IO NsTYLe CYPHeRNailin' it for winters end & men's top fashion picks
MODeL OF THe MONTHSay hello to Jaycina Almond
L I F E ST Y L ELiL' GOveRNMeNT All meta everything
BuKKweaT BiLL:Soundtrack to life out of balance
M U S ICsL Jones Out of bounds
iaMsu Captivates our search for quality rap
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contentsTAbLE OF
j u x · ta · p o · s i · t io nˌjəkstəpəˈziSHən/ nounThe fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.
we're social . Be sure to fol low us. tfY
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When Kia asked me to head up this issue, I was honored. Anyone who knows Kia can attest to her great business acumen. She tasked me with leading the magazine she started six years ago toward the vein of lifestyle and past the limited market of music.
Considering the lane we wanted to move into, I thought an appropriate theme for this issue would be “juxtaposition,” or the instance of placing two or more things side-by-side to show how they are different. The MIXX magazine has always tried to cement a place in the in-between, producing content on the common and the alternative.
In this issue, you’ll find two features that couldn’t be more different: one college boy backpack rapper, one rebel skate rat who we’re not sure graduated from high school; hailing from opposite coasts and making completely different noise. Don’t miss our resident cinematographer’s column on an indie filmmaker everyone should be excited about, or our exclusive with masked social media comedian Desus. Perhaps my favorite feature this issue is a painter I came across located in Miami. Trinidadian immigrant Keel is an autodidactic painter whose art, thus far, is mostly pop culture images juxtaposed against a patterned background, created organically with random tools. I find the subject of his art intriguing when considering he calls himself a “pop culture fugitive”—a term he invented to describe his desire to stray from “the popular thing to do.”
I’ve learned so much putting together this issue. For instance: 80 percent of the content you’ve chosen might fall through, tragedy may strike putting things on hold right near the end, but you have to keep your content relevant. With that being said, we’re proud to announce that our brand new website will be launching with the release of this issue. Please visit us at www.themixxmagazine.com to see the exciting things we have coming up that, in the future, may involve some of you.
And now I present the Spring 2014 issue of The Mixx Magazine: Juxtaposition!
Joy Priest | @Dalai_Mama_
Managing Editor
Letter From the
editor
THE
STAffFounding editor & ceo
nakia [email protected]
@kiaMixx
Managing editorJoy priest
[email protected]@dalai_MaMa_
Fashion directordenia taylor
[email protected] @deniaalicia
special Features tony rawlings
[email protected] @t1cap1
nadia [email protected]
@ladyneuro
alexis [email protected]
@yunglittleFoot
deMar [email protected]
@rahtheprez
krista [email protected]
@thepinkdreaMer
deviancy/alt editorzephir griFFin
[email protected] @inzFlesh
guest writerslandon antonetti
photoJournaliststaci Marie
[email protected]@staciMariephoto
art director danielle Meadows
[email protected]@octanedesigns
director oF Marketing Fabian sobers
[email protected]@theFabe
Marketing internandre tunstill
[email protected]@dreregalt
We want to know what you think! Send reader responses to [email protected]
www. .com
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If there is one thing Steve Jobs did right, it was name his product Apple. His product has peaked consumers’ curiosity and interest since inception; it could be a symbol for The Forbidden Fruit.
The scene: It’s 2 a.m. on a Friday morning. Tents, coolers and lawn chairs are in full effect outside of AT&T retail stores. It could be like a tailgate party, or maybe Black Friday, but in this skewed, modern reality people are in line for the launch of the newest iPhones.
The 5c, contrary to popular belief is not cheaply made. Although, it is the simpler model of the two.
It has polycarbonate casing, which is sturdy and gives the iPhone a tremendous facelift, like it took a charge from the Fountain of Youth. It comes in several different colors: yellow, lime green, pink and white. LOUD color preferences, none of which seem to be marketed towards males or anyone over the age of 21. It is essentially the iPhone 5 gone Dubstep.
The 5s is more of a grown and sexy, James Bond, Condoleezza Rice-type accessory piece.
The security measures on this model are over-ambitious to say the least. It has an impressive fingerprint scanner to unlock your phone, in place of the old code input method. It’s wicked-fast. The 64-bit processor is the only one of its kind as of now. It also
comes in three colors: space gray, silver and gold.
On September 20, AT&T stores in Lexington, Ky. opened an hour early and required employees to work, even if it was their day off. Apple released the product at a snail’s pace to bolster demand. One store was supplied with only gray, and the gold iPhone is on back order, with a 4-6 month hold.
The 5c starts at $99 and the 5s, $199 (with a two-year agreement). Unless you have some classified B-613 files or a crazy significant other, the 5c will do you just fine, and Apple has tons of cases that can TURN DOWN the BPM on the 5c.
Andre Tunstill | @DreRegalT
iPhone Double-launch: James Bond meets molly
The latest line consists of two smartphones: the 5c and the 5s. They replace the earlier iPhone 5.
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If anything were possible, what would you most like to welcome into your life?
What fear do you wish you could get over?
What juxtaposition best describes you as a person?
Damar—Juxtaposition: Anti-Social Socialite. I dislike dealing with people, but when I go out I’m almost always recognized. It helps (discounts lol), but it also means I can’t just walk out the house lookin’ crazy. I am bound to see someone I know. Gotta be on point.
Vern—I would like to welcome a child into my life.
Littlefoot—I would like to welcome longevity into my life; a long, successful career. Fear: failing.
Nadia—A juxtaposition that best describes me as a person is a quote from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of time, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us . . .”
Denia—I would welcome unlimited traveling . . . to be able to travel the world and attend fashion shows and museums overseas . . . having unlimited access to everything and videotaping my entire experience.
Fabian—The fear of heights. I would go skydiving at least once in my lifetime.
Wesley—The fear of success. I don’t do things because I know I will do them well and then have to do more as a result.
Joy—I fear luxury. I want it, but when I get comfortable I don’t create the same poignant art that surfaces when I’m struggling.
Mixx | staff QuestIon
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Nail It before Winter Ends
Connect to mixx fashion online at www.themixxmagazine.com
OxblOOd
style cypheras we near the season's end spice up your look...
A very popular color this season along with black lace, it was seen on many runways this past fall. We saw oxblood tones for blazers, skirts, leather pieces, handbag and shoes, as well as in cosmetics. This gorgeous shade is also a perfectly chic touch for a bold, sexy
manicure.
Traditionally, the French manicure is a flesh-toned nail bed with traditional white tip; common for weddings, office settings and pretty much any outfit combination. In the past years we’ve seen an abundance of different shades used for the nail beds and the tip, and different types of shapes. Here are a few of my new favorite ways to switch up the typical French manicure.
There are a few new ways you can jazz up a traditional manicure: an accent nail or embellishment addition can bring your manicure to life, while showing off your unique style; try a different shade or accent on your ring finger, or bold nail art
and jewelry.
Ripped straight from the runway, designer-inspired nails are growing more and more popular! The gorgeous fabrics and textures designers use on the runway are now at your fingertips. Check out the easy-to-love looks below
le FrançaisnOuveau accents/
embellishments
designerinspired
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Connect to mixx fashion online at www.themixxmagazine.com
S T Y L E C Y P H E R | F O R M E N
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Style Director's Picks: Essentials
[Chic]
LoafErS
[Street] styles we're sure will put some extra spice in your winter wardrobe. whether chic or street the possibilities are endless!
MaD-about-PLaID CLaSSIC bLazEr
LEathEr jaCkEt oxforD
buttoN-DoWN
Graphic tee / Long sleeve tee
beanieDark wash
jean
bootsLetterman
jacket
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Decades past have birthed some memorable fashion trends: the 1970s gave us bellbottom jeans, floral print and Afros; the eighties left us with neon, big hair and acid-washed jeans; and the nineties made it okay for girls to wear baggy outfits and be all about sneakers.
These trends have cycled back with the current generation—retro Jordans, high waisted jeans, track jackets and sports team jerseys are some of the most common clothing items being posted to Instagram.
Thrifting, or buying used clothing from the thrift store, has become trendy in the past few years thanks to the vintage wave. This pastime is cheap, and thrifters are consistent in finding exclusive items they won’t see on anyone else, as opposed to what they purchase at more expensive chain stores, such as Urban Outfitters and Forever 21.
Some of the best rare finds can be discovered at your local Salvation Army or Goodwill, and some of us have even found it fruitful to go shopping in the ‘Rent’s closet. It’s a good chance you’ll find a vintage eighties blazer or nineties Bulls jersey in either of these places. Thrifting is a surefire way to develop your own unique style, and begin a collection of rare pieces from back in time that you won’t find at the mall or a retailer, or on your homegirl.
Runway and high-fashion designers are starting to pay homage to nostalgic trends in their work. In 2012, popular designer Jeremy Scott teamed with ADIDAS to launch the Flower Power teddy bears, released in 2012, which evoked the seventies hippie movement and allowed us to be flower children four decades later. The presence of seventies retro trends—headbands; oversized, rounded shades; bellbottom pants—has earned its own style category, Boho Chic.
Some of your favorite artists can even be observed re-popularizing some of the vintage hip hop trends most thought were deaded. Rapper A$AP Ferg of A$AP MOB is most known for rocking a pair of Nike AF1’s, jerseys, durags and gold grills.
Gold teeth are sparkling in the mouths of many once again, and this time they’re not just for OG’s, pimps, Paul Wall and Cash Money. Rihanna displays her gold grills on occasion, even rocking one shaped like an AK-47, and Queen Bey solidified the mainstream popularity of mouthpieces when she did a shoot donning her own glitzy grill.
Whether you’re a Boho Chic flower child, neon-wearing eighties baby, or doing it for the ‘99 and the 2000 with straight cash in your mouth, your favorite fashion trend was most likely introduced in a previous decade. Even hairstyles like bowl cuts, rattails, finger waves, box braids and high top fades are creeping back. The new generation is always inspired by vintage trends, and that is displayed in our music, culture and style. It’s a cypher. A lot of HYPEBEASTS might not like it, but the past has made it to the future.
Littlefoot | @YungLittlefoot
faShIoN rEWIND
style cypher///new generatiOn recycles
FrOm previOus eras
Rihanna
Model InfoHeight: 5'7"
Weight: 130lbs
Measurements: 32D-26-36
Eye/Hair Color: Dark brown/ Black
Booking Info: [email protected]
IG: _justjaycina
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Jaycina Almondfebruary / aPrIl 2014
Mixx ModelState your hometown, birthplace, and current cityI was born in Detroit, MI and I lived in the Pontiac/Grand Blanc area of Michigan prior to moving to Lexington.
“Almond” is a pretty, but unorthodox last name. Is that really your family name or is it your model alias? Believe it or not, Almond is my actual last name! It's always funny explaining how to spell it. I get laughs out of "Yep, just like the nut."
What are two extremes in your life that inform who you are? My mother is white from a predominately Caucasian, upper-class town in Michigan called Brighton, and my father is from an inner city known as Pontiac, Michigan. So I grew up with the two sides of my families on totally different spectrums and three different cultures, which make me who I am today.
How would you describe your look?I think I would describe my look as urban. A lot of biracial models will tell you that they get casted on the basis that they can achieve more than one look. I've been told I could be Middle Eastern or Latin several times.
What’s your favorite color and why?My favorite color is gold. Anyone who knows me will tell you I have a slight obsession.
Jaycina Almond is gorgeous. Duh! Most models are. But most models don’t own their own business by the time they are 18, or have such an exotic last name to accompany their look. Almond, who leans toward a more natural look, is self-described as African-American, Caucasian and a tineeee bit Puerto Rican. She is a student at the University of Kentucky majoring in Merchandising, Apparel & Textiles, and in the process of opening her own online retailer.
We thought Almond should be the MIXX Model this issue because she fits our theme perfectly: her life is one, big juxtaposition. One of the roughest cities in the country made her, but she already exudes the southern charm of her new home after living here for only 5 years. We think she’ll give the other Miss Kentucky 2015 contestants a run for their crown . . .
Gold is such a strong and fierce color, which isv why I love it so much.
What are your future goals?My future goals are to run a successful business, to graduate college, and I also hope to compete and win the Miss Kentucky 2015 Pageant.
Joy Priest | @Dalai_Mama_Photo Credit: Sally Sum
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IAMSU!:Got hIts?
The Internet is nearly indispensable in today’s world. It’s a tool that can be used to find anything from shopping and news to Googling information and ordering food. One key to getting the best hits on what you’re searching for is to make sure you enter the most accurate terms into your search engine. When he chose his rap name, Cali-based rapper IAmSu! certainly took into consideration the importance of being easy to locate online.
ContInue hIs story
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“Basically, my name comes from my birth name, Sudan. All my homies always call me Su,” he begins our introduction. “I went by the rap name ‘Su’ and tried to put out music under that name, and it just wasn’t cutting it. My Twitter name is ‘IAmSu!’ and I did some research on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and it just stuck so I made my name IAmSu! off of my Twitter.”
Internet savviness aside, IAmSu! stands out from many other up-and-coming rappers by finishing his education while pursuing a career in music.
In an age where many aspiring artists forgo college for a chance at artistic success, the 23-year-old maintains his enrollment in California State University, East Bay. He changed his major from Communications to Ethnic Studies to graduate faster.
“It’s been really hard, but I’ve always liked challenges,” he says about the balancing act. “I’ve always liked to see what I could do. It’s just been a lot of hard work.”
Juggling music and school is a difficult task in itself, but Su is focusing on his schedule of classes and exams, while rocking shows all over the country, including a date north of the border.
iamsu!
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“I view everybody as competition. I don’t feel any pressure to keep up with anybody, I’m just going to continue to work hard and do my thing.”
“Performing outside of the country for the first time was awesome. I went to Vancouver and performed and got received really well, that was exciting.”
Since releasing his debut mixtape Su the Right Thing in 2010, the Bay Area MC has worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop. He produced, wrote and featured on LoveRance’s “Up” which would spawn a remix featuring veteran rapper 50 Cent. Su also featured on E40’s single “Function,” alongside YG and Problem, and Wiz Khalifa’s “Bout Me.” The internet isn’t the only realm Su is making sure he stays relevant in.
“It’s an honor. It just shows me that I’m working really hard, and where I can take my music on my own.”
able to play my own music, it just allows me to take what’s in my head and put it directly down.”
IamSu!’s music has a distinct West Coast feel—airy, melodic, yet driving, synthesizers combined with complex, high-energy snares and hoppy basslines—a sound he embraces to the fullest.
“That sound is without a doubt ours, we created that. It’s definitely our style.”
Su! shares his creative space more than he lets on. His clique the Heart Break Kids Gang, a nine-deep collective he splits production credits with, recently finished the HBK Forever tour in support of their new mixtape entitled Gang Forever.
“As far as the HBK Gang is concerned, it’s a group of musical geniuses, creative geniuses, and I’m just really happy to be in the circle of such hard working dudes, and people.”
IAmSu! takes pride in following the long tradition of Cali hip-hop and is confident he will be the next prominent artist to leave his mark on the culture.
“I feel like I’m the one from out here. I refuse to let it be anybody else. I’m going to work as hard as I can to make that possible and represent the city the way it’s supposed to be.”
Su takes a similar stance on his place within hip-hop’s up and coming artists.
“I view everybody as competition. I don’t feel any pressure to keep up with anybody, I’m just going to continue to
Getting his own music out has never been much of a problem for Su. He’s released five tapes since his 2010 debut, most recently Million Dollar Afro—a collaborative effort with fellow bay area rapper Problem—and 2013’s Kilt II. IAmSu! also produces a lot of his own music, something he says makes the process more intuitive by cutting out the middleman.
“It definitely makes it easier, just because I’m the only person that can really convey my vision the way that I would like to. Having somebody else, as far as a producer, it kind of gets diluted in the conversation. With me being
work hard and do my thing.”
With a verse on 2 Chainz’ BOATS II: Me Time under his belt, wrapping up the HBK Forever tour with his crew, and locking down a guest spot on Wiz Kalifa’s upcoming album Blacc Hollywood, 2013 has been a pretty good year for the kid who started making music as a high school junior back in 2006. With a college degree nearly in hand, one can only imagine what’s next for IAmSu! and where we'll see his unique name next.
Tony Rawlings | @T1CAP1
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When you think of southern hip-hop, Little Rock, Arkansas. isn’t the first place that comes to mind. With no prominent acts from the city, or even the state, it’s hard to imagine that hip-hop is thriving in the home of the Razorbacks.
Enter SL Jones, a 26-year-old rapper poised to make the latest mark on southern rap. When talking to Jones, the first thing that stands out is his southern drawl, laid back demeanor and word choice—colloquialisms that people from other regions of the country may not understand. Riding around with friends is bending corners, and talking about new experiences becomes I ain’t never. It’s all a part of the southern culture and it shows prominently in his music.
Thanks to HBO’s 1994 documentary Gang War: Bangin In Little Rock, gang violence is one of the first things that comes to mind when one thinks of Little Rock.
“(Little Rock is) active, so depending on what neighborhood you was from it could get real, but for me it’s what I know.” Jones says there is much more to the city that raised him and that gangs are just another fact of life in his upbringing. “It was safe because it’s like, you know where to be and you know where not to be. I was raised in a Crip ‘hood but there’s Blood ‘hoods surrounding our whole neighborhood . . . so you just had to make sure you didn’t get caught out of bounds.”
He says growing up in a place where anything could happen at any time gave him a certain awareness about himself and his environment that is reflected in the music.
“It’s just my point of view, the perspective that I speak from,” he says, there’s certain stuff that you can’t get away from—certain lingo, certain gestures in the music, how I play on words, how I approach a topic. When I pick a topic, it may be something that’s broad (and people) may be like ‘what made him think of that?’ It’s because of the people that you grow up around, and those people influence your way of thinking . . . your way of life in general.”
Jones broke onto the scene back in 2006 as part of Killer Mike’s Grind Time Rap Gang (GTRG). He lent verses to Mike’s Pledge Allegiance To The Grind I in 2006, Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II in 2008 and 2009’s Underground Atlanta. He says it was great to have the cosign of producers like DJ Burn One.
“I’m still an understudy to a certain degree, but I’m on my way,” Jones says about learning under such prominent artists. “I’m doing the right things. For people to do records with you and create art with you, they’re giving you an opportunity to show (them) what you’re made of. I’m appreciative and that’s really what I took away from it.”
Jones says the experience gained from working with artists like Killer Mike, Chamillionaire, Trae Tha Truth and The Clipse taught him the importance of building his own brand.
“No matter what, you still have to be able to stand on your own two because when that record is done, no matter what reason people heard it, realistically they’re going to hear it because of
SL Jones: OUT OF bOUNDS
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the bigger name; because they love that artist, so they’re willing to press play. It’s your job to make them love you too and not just skip to the verses that they like.”
During his time with GTRG Jones also started working for himself. He released his first solo project in 2009—a mixtape, aptly titled C.O.L.O.R.S: Bangin on Wax, was a homage to his Arkansas upbringing and the realities of growing up around the gang culture there.
In 2011 Jones struck out on his own releasing four mixtapes, most notably #23, which was hosted by legendary DJ and producer Don Cannon. In 2012 he teamed up with DJ Burn One for the critically acclaimed Paraphernalia mixtape.
Jones says working with a variety of producers allows him to push the boundaries of his creativity.
“Music is so saturated. Once upon a time you could fit in but now you really gotta stand out. I know from a creative standpoint, I be all over the place. I know that one of my jobs in music is to push the line creatively and just challenge listeners. When I go in with a producer, I’m not trying to make a certain kind of song with them. I’m not like ‘yo, let’s make a trap song.’ We go in and we just start working and whatever comes out, comes out.”
Pushing the boundaries of his music has brought Jones some criticism from fans and media outlets alike. Many reviews bemoaned Jones’ new direction on his most recent mixtape Way of Life, No Hobby. Critics claim he’s changed since the gang influenced, hard-edged sound of #23, and the more laid back, southernplayalistic funk sound of Paraphernalia. Jones, however, insists exploring different sounds, themes and flows is all a part of his journey, both as a person and an artist.
“I was prepared for (the reviews), I didn’t even read any of the critiques because I knew they weren’t listening to the project for what it was, they were listening to the project for what it wasn’t,” he says of Way of Life. “You can’t judge this project based on how much you loved Paraphernalia. That’s not fair to this project because it’s not Paraphernalia. If you lookin’ for that artist that makes the same song over and over . . . they done gave you four tapes of the same song—I’m not gonna say their names but they’re out there. You can go to their tape and every tape you play, they just re-looping the same struggle raps. They don’t give you no update on where they are.”
Jones is determined to continually take risks in his music and take his fans with him as he evolves. “Me, I might be going through shit, I’m going through a lot,” he says. “I’ma tell you about it, and the beat may change, but the words are still going to be relevant to where I am.”
As an up and coming rapper in the classic Trap genre, he views the term Trap as an acronym that fits his musical style: “Taking Risks and Profiting.” He interprets this as doing music on his own terms and preparing for future success by working hard day in and day out.
“I just want to maximize my opportunity. I want to win, that’s my goal. To me winning is being in a better position every time, whatever step it is. People think getting a record deal is like the end game or something but for me that’s like the beginning. I need to max out everything I’m doing now before I just accept a deal. Let me make sure everything that I have is already in order.
Jones says for now his next move will be continuing to hone his craft and reaching out to work with different producers to broaden his sound even more.
“I’ve got my own relationships with producers, we get in, we workin. At this point I’m gettin’ my catalogue up. I’m back in the studio, I’m back workin, we still running around doing shows on the road. We’re out here getting’ it, but at the same time setting it up for what the next move is.”
In addition to reuniting with DJ Burn One, he also plans on working with Childish Major, an opportunity he is clearly excited about.
“His production is going to make for some interesting shit too. He’s got some crazy records with Jeezy and of course you know the shit he got with Future and all the other artists that he’s worked with. He’s got range. I like letting producers pick the direction because that helps me stay creative. If I pick the beats, it’s always basically gonna feel the same, to be honest, because there’s just certain kind of shit I like. When they pick it, it may be something I wouldn’t have picked, but it’s dope.”
Look for the Jones to continue to push the limits sonically with his next project, and whatever you do . . . don’t make the mistake of comparing the present SL Jones to the artist on his previous project. He’s probably already slipped past you.
Tony Rawlings | @T1CAP1
“I just want to maximize my opportunity. I want to win, that’s my goal. to me winning is being in a better position every time, whatever step it is. People think getting a record deal is like the end game or something but for me that’s like the beginning..."
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Bukkweat
billSoundtrack to a
Life Out of balance
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I HATE NATURE/WILDERNESS
RANDOM FAKT
. . . BUKK texts me one afternoon. I don’t believe him. Since talking to him for the first time around Halloween last year, I’ve learned to file things that come out of his mouth into two different categories: what he says without thinking, and what he says when he assumes people are paying attention. This text message is the latter; it fits into his persona. It’s the character he plays for us and he’s nearly always on set. In other words BUKK, whose name might be a mixed nod to Geto Boyz and the Little Rascals, is fucking with us constantly. Think Jason. Think Lil B. Think 666 all on his face like a mask.
IT’S DUMB, he replies when I ask him why he doesn’t enjoy the outdoors. It’s just this kind of simplicity his manager LIL GOVERNMENT is talking about when she says, “The best thing about BUKK is you get exactly what you expect. What’s understood doesn’t need to be explained.” KOOL. He doesn’t like trees and flowers and bees and most plants and shit. It’s dumb. Understood. Shouldn’t have asked him to explain. But, during our initial 30-minute phone conversation, I want to think I saw a little bit more than that from the kid known as BUKKWEAT BILL. Think Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, but less obvious—the duality that exists in all of us. Think vision vs. a need to survive. Think rebellious kid with a bukkake of dreams he’s just trying to get off.
If you invented a strand of weed, what would you kall it?
(I inquire early on during the preliminaries.)
KOYAANISQATSI.
BUKK THE ARTiST
Felton Joseph Jr.—the baby, the youngest one, in a family of all boys, save for his cool-ass mom—isn’t really Florida-born. He spent the first three years of his life in Galveston, Texas.
“They say I’m like the outcast,” BUKK offers. “In my family everyone mostly played sports, or went to the army. I’m the one who did music.” In fact, he’s been playing around with instruments since age five or six. “I played drums since I was a real little kid and that led to me making beats in high school, like around ’05.” His father, a musician, played a huge role. “He would force me to play the guitar. He made me like music, but he made me hate the guitar.”
Don’t get it confused. BUKK isn’t merely a purveyor of the mindless, based movement. He also enjoys a certain composer and film
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Bukkweat
billSoundtrack to a
Life Out of balance
score maestro, whom he expresses a healthy obsession for.
“I get more influence from like movies and other art forms and shit, not really people, but Phillip Glass is dope. I’ve watched Koyaanisqatsi like twice.”
* * * * *
It’s a hot as all fucks day in Florida. I can feel it through BUKK’s end of the phone. On my side it’s 40 degrees in Kentucky. He’s just told me he’s sitting on the porch with the rest of his crew, the Bukkake Boyz, and I’m about 100 percent sure he’s stoned (this is confirmed when BUKK texts me later to ask if he sounded stupid in our phone interview. He informs me he was way too high).
I, on the other hand, am sober as fuck. For future interviewers: a 4pm phone interview with this guy is impossible; he probably woke up 10 minutes ago, so you’ve dialed in mid-Wake & Bake. Getting in-depth responses is like pulling gold teeth.
Unless, you find a way in. Ask him about his mother or his daughter and he forgets about playing the horror flick role. You might even realize how much you have in common with a 23-year-old Hesh-as-fuck, self-described southern rapper who hangs out of old skools by his black Chucks for fun and rebelliously screams “666” enough to be #1 on any Republican senator’s hit list.
“I just called her and told her she could do something for me real quick, just kind of freestyle something. It was dope,” BUKK says in reference to the sample of his mother on “K-2,” a song off the self-produced 8886 EP (with the exception of one Softwehr track). At the end of the song, she speaks on her son as a child and his trajectory as an artist, Black Album-style from a mother’s perspective. When asked if his mom is scared by some of his images and music, he
says with a laugh, “she fucks with it. She’s more about the beats than anything.”
* * * * *
Initially, I'm intrigued by the promo video for the 8886 EP, which pays homage to the New Smyrna Beach area code “3-8-6.” This is when I see who BUKK really is.
In the visual, he is lip-syncing to “400 Degreez” by Juvenile and bouncing around on a mattress beneath neon-trap-yellow lighting. His freeform are dreads everywhere, he gulps lean, re-positions a fat joint from lip to fingers and through the air. The scene is weird and beautiful and Drake has nothing on his “rapper hands.” This is where I figure out BUKK loves music like me. I’m immediately transported back to the 10-year-old girl me, with a shoe box full of cash money CDs and I realize this is the sound trap music is reinventing now. I suddenly want to be dumb inebriated, turning up with BUKK for the ’99 and the 2000.
“There’s something you brought to my attention on that last question,” Bukk says from his Volusia County porch 800 miles away. It’s a moment in the otherwise dull conversation that makes me sit up abruptly at my kitchen table. “I’m super passionate about music, but at the same time, like you said, I don’t like labeling shit. I’m just making shit. Most people are organized and know what they want to do, and know what their sound is, but I don’t really think about all of that.” At first, I think to argue. His sound is highly original, especially his eerie production. Then I realize, this is what goes through the mind of most true artists, this is where I begin to think of him as one.
BUKK THE PROBLEM
Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word, which means “life out of balance”; a more direct breakdown translates to “chaotic life.” Fitting.
Think young black men in Florida, and then try not to think about the two who got shot in 2012, one for walking while black, and the other for playing his music loud — shit BUKK does daily.
“I grew up here so I’m used to it. I try not to dwell on it, but shit’s fucked up,” he says about his home state. He blatantly avoids the subject, but no worries because Sanford is a whole 39 minutes away, and Jacksonville, an hour and a half south.
No matter that BUKK is stopped frequently on the streets of New Smyrna, and arrested for nothing more than these seemingly normal activities. He even recently released a selfie exhibit of 10 of his own mug shots via RTs on Twitter, displaying an array of hair styles and facial expressions, from deep-in-thought to full-out grin. He was released from jail only a few weeks before we first spoke, after doing a bid that cost him his whole summer. The environment has to feel hopeless. It’s probably what inspires statements like the one he sends me via text:
I’M SAD RNI WANNA DO DRUGS TILL I FALL ASLEEP
Which drugs? I’m a baby I’ve only done alcohol, reefer,
coke, pain pills(responds the investigative journalist in me.)
I DID ALL THOSE SINCE 4 PM TODAY
JUST FOR THE RIDE DOWN HERE
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Perhaps one of the most evident signs of an authentic creative is our own response to what she makes, our inability to find a consistent way to anticipate it. She isn’t trying to art, her only desire is to be novel, imaginative, aesthetically interesting; to introduce her audience to that which they have not already discovered within themselves.
This is what LIL GOVERNMENT does. The fashion director. The artist manager. The ageless intellectual. With visuals. With words. With the internet. She demonstrates the precocious capacity to exert power and achieve ends with all the artist’s modern tools. With every middle space she occupies and all the vicissitudes of her favorite medium, the world wide web, this one-half of LIL AGENCY seems full of just that . . . agency. One can only be intrigued.
Through a slew of email correspondence, I had the pleasure of getting down on the ground with the Boston native/NYC implant/suspected extraterrestrial, and the rare, unexpected surprise of becoming a fan. If you have good discernment, you’ll follow suit.
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Your vocabulary is lush (I love the term Metacultural Polymath, wish I were a thief). You're obviously a thinker and very clever. What is your education level? What are your thoughts on the relationship between formal education, and intelligence or someone's level of intellect?I dropped out of engineering school after a year, and I really had to wipe my paradigm slate clean and re-lay the bricks by hand. It wasn't, and hasn't been easy; the only way to make anyone appreciate being told what to do is to leave them to their own devices.
Formal education is a business like anything else; it can be useful, but the consumer must make decisions tailored to him or herself. Think about what you want first, and then the tools you need to get it. If you really aren't sure, school isn't a bad way to try new things, as well as buy yourself another four years and debt you probz would've racked up by now in Foodler purchases anyway.
Other than life experience, other people are the best and most direct way to learn, and if you lack professors I certainly recommend an inspiring crew of friends and a mentor or several at the very least. Remember, the more independent you want to be, the lonelier you are when decision-making time comes around. This is simultaneously empowering and terrifying.
What & who & how would culture be affected if LIL GOVERNMENT shut down?
Lil government
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Trolls will keep trolling, haters will keep hating, and my tortured consciousness will finally get some long-deserved rest. Hopefully, I'd "shut down" in a glamorous and dramatic way, like a flaming car crash or drowning accident on the Riviera, so Bukkweat can exploit the sympathy for new fans. The living still need to get paid!
Your hats are like, stylist, fashion blogger, brand manager, etc. . . . but you're obviously an artist yourself, as much as the people you style & manage. Aesthetics or fashion is your art—art being “creativity that includes commentary on the culture.” In one article, you refer to yourself as an aesthetic anthropologist. Can you talk about what you mean by that phraseology? What would you say to someone who said, "Brigid, you're much too intellectual and smart to be concerned with something as silly and material as clothes?" I initially started spewing phrases like "metacultural polymath" and "aesthetic anthropologist" because people would ask me what I do, and I can't be bothered with the ever-shifting laundry list, but hate the word freelance and silence equals unemployment. I'm just going to start asking people "what do I do?" when I meet them and maybe someone will give me some guidance.
I wish there was a bevy of people around telling me I'm much too intellectual; I do struggle perpetually with the churning, icy objectification of the fashion industry and its numerous ethical vortexes. However, and ultimately, anyone telling me what should concern me, can eat one.
What's your favorite way to transcend reality?It's a toss-up between astral projection, and simply sticking my laptop between the couch cushions for a few days and forgetting the internet exists. Ideally, both.
What are your thoughts on Kanye's complaint of a glass ceiling for those without a ticket into the high-class world of fashion? Do you think it also exists for artists who aren't black or aren't rappers? Do you think an artist should be concerned about a glass ceiling?I believe that many facets of the glass ceiling have shifted from race to class-related; although, racism is certainly institutionalized in and outside the fashion industry and I'm not minimizing that. Are these ceilings worth being concerned about? In a greater context, yes, so we can change them; in an individual one, not particularly, because it's on you to hack your existence to minimize the suffering of the human condition. This requires deftly squirming in and out of the societal ties that bind you, sometimes even using them in a pinch to pull yourself out of a well—whether you're an artist or not.
The world is cold, and justice is what you make of it. Kanye's causes could be approached in a more meaningful way, but
they're his.
What's your favorite pop culture adjective? For example, mine is Trill.I'm feeling the turn-up right now; I am just so turnt I can't even breathe. Fuccboi is another favorite—it can be a barb or a term of endearment. When fuccbois turn up? I basically explode into a sparkling cloud of Kush dust and hunneds.
Why Bukkweat Bill as your first client? What's one thing you know about Bukk that most people wouldn't expect?Bukkweat actually found me (and LIL INTERNET, his co-manager and my fellow LIL AGENCY cofounder)—he said what up on Twitter, the type of interaction I frequently ignore from strangers, but it was love at first sight, straight from the avi. After I watched the 666Forever video, which was 1 of 2 songs he had on YouTube when we signed him, I was basically headdesking that he wasn't already headlining tours and signing autographs. That's the long answer; the short answer? DESTINY, BRUH.
The best thing about Bukk is that you get exactly what you expect. What’s understood doesn't have to be explained.
What's the significance of the LIL for the LILs? And why such BIG letters?There's something about The Twitter that begets the ALL CAPS (which Bukk, who also replaces every “C” with "K," shared from the get-go); it's my stream of consciousness; and, stylistically, I enjoy the jutting, angular visual prose of a capitalized sentence.
LIL INTERNET was an early LIL, when they were mostly rappers and not meta-ironic Tumblr users. I credit him for that. His chaotic, webbed INTERNET complements my meticulously architected and sometimes dysfunctional GOVERNMENT. If you meet us, you get it.
Name a juxtaposition in your life. How does it inform your work? Juxtaposition is survival for me. I have extreme highs and lows and dissociative tendencies, and the ability to keep both the sky and the ground in focus is an art I am still mastering. Also, because I do many different things, my work flow is determined by how moving parts are balanced, more than any one individual part.
What kind of art were you making as a youth or, how did your talent manifest? Who were you influenced by?I wanted to be a pop star when I was young! I have a crazy voice that you wouldn't expect from me, but I don't use it much these days. Honestly, singing is a purer art form than what I do now, and is legitimately therapeutic, but also somewhat non-intellectual and wholly narcissistic (neither of which is a bad thing). Thankfully, those qualities have carried over into my work today.
I'm often inspired by moments, more so than people; my own instincts are my overriding influence, for better or worse.
Joy Priest | @Dalai_Mama_
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Desus* we have discovered, is not simply a persona. The MF DOOM fan seems clouded in mystique, but maybe it’s just the trademark dog-in-ski mask avatar he’s sported as long as we’ve followed him. “Seuss,” as friends endearingly refer to him, is a real person living in the Bronx, where he was born and raised long enough ago “to remember when Ice Cube was scary.” With 12.5K followers on Twitter and exponentially more RTs of his genius commentary daily, we wonder if this social media comedian isn’t above a Shorty award. What we’re most interested in is the duality of the kid—how he deftly navigates appeal to both the masses and the enlightened, the basic and the cerebral. We gotta hear both sides . . . What offends Desus?Miley Cyrus’ booty meat and paying $13 a pack for Newports
What was Desus for Halloween?Avoiding kids looking for candy handouts in Obama's Socialist America. Also, drunk.
What does Desus do for fun?Check the balance on my bank account and laugh. Or kick freestyles to people calling from collection agencies about why I don't got it.
Does MF DOOM inspire Desus?Of course. I was a big KMD** fan, so it was a natural progression. “Mm.. Food” is my ish yo.
What is Desus’ philosophy on art produced in the last 5 years?If it’s not a black love painting on crushed velvet, I honestly don't mess with art. But I'm definitely feeling work by my homie Mreeuh Chan (@MREEUH).
What kind of person would Desus marry?Ewwww. Marriage. I'll pass. Only difference between marriage and prison is at prison you have a release date to look forward to.
How many “box offerings” does Desus get a day?Thousands . . . in my mind. In real life . . . probably half that, depending on if I got a fresh lineup.
Has Desus ever eaten chitterlings? Does he recommend them?Chitterlings are disgusting and I wouldn't recommend them. We're free now.
Does Desus eat mayonnaise on white bread?I'm post racial, but not that post racial.
How would Desus describe #DickTooBomb to those not a part of his Twitter family?DickTooBomb is the world’s first crowd sourced urban hood novel I'm writing with my partners in crime @stephbmore & @kokupuff. The novel is about Keisha, a woman who finds her life turned upside down when she meets earth-changing dick. The novel already has a big buzz in the streets, and we gave away the first pages for free to get people hooked. (Search under the hash tag #dicktoobomb).
BONUS: (For the comedic artist behind Desus) Is Desus your only character? What birthed Desus? OR What is the artist statement behind Desus?Desus isn’t a Twitter persona. I'm the same way in real life, and people are always surprised when they meet me and see I'm just like my Tweets, which is either amazing or scary.
Questions: Zephir Marie | @inZFleshWords: Joy Priest | @Dalai_Mama_
*Pronounced the English and the Spanish way, either is acceptable to the comedian who says: “It was originally pronounced like Jesus, but I know too many Spanish people to force that injustice on them.”
**Kausing Much Damage or A positive Kause in a Much Damaged Society was a hip hop trio in the early 90s of which MF DOOM was a member.
DESUS
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From his incredulous beginnings to “fugitive pop artist”
KeelWhile we wait for solar-powered hovercrafts, and our oil-based wars to cease, we can float down to reality and appreciate those who still ride bicycles to work or create hand-to-canvas. In this MIXX 10, we get to know Keel of the art collective No Art Major, a painter who isn’t discouraged by his endangered genre of choice. Here he explains his incredulous beginnings and anticipates his own future as a “fugitive pop artist.”
How did your artistic journey begin? "No Art Major," and yet you have great detail and elements of depth perception to your pieces. Where does it come from?
I was 21 when I got my first apartment. It was so empty; I was trying to fill it up with something and I was browsing the web for artwork. I came across a piece, but right before I purchased it I said to myself, I could do that.
I went to Michael's for the material. (I had) no experience with paint at all, just the ability to sketch. It came out exactly like the piece I almost bought. I started doing some more pieces, teaching myself about different mediums—that’s where the name came into place, No Art Major, having to learn on my own, with no schooling or degree.
Where do you feel your art is going? And where would you like to take it?
As a visual artist, I don't plan on becoming famous, but I at least desire to have some type of recognition in the society that is Miami . . . as a Miami-grown artist. There’s so much talent here; just to be acknowledged around my peers is good enough for me. My ultimate goal is to own a gallery and network with only residents of Dade/ Broward counties, artists of all kind, whether its clothing, music, photography, dance . . . opening the eyes of the millions of people that come to our city every year.
Where would you place your art in this
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technologically advanced world? Do you feel as though modern technology (Photoshop, creative design, etc.) has reduced hand-painting to an antiquated craft? Not at all. Personally, I value anything handmade, rather than something computerized, especially artwork. Just knowing every detail was done by hand, the textures, the different mediums involved . . . I’m still amazed by some Photoshop work, but it's not the same feeling to me. Anyone can use that.
How would you describe your technique/process whenever creating a new piece? Do you vary in approach according to the different mediums you like to use? I'm obsessed with photography; a dope image is really what gets me started. After I draw it up, I hang it for a couple of days until I decide what will fit the image, while also figuring out what I can do different from all my other pieces. This is normally how either a new medium or tool gets discovered.
Some artists feel as though there can always be a detail added here or there. How do you know when your work is finished?To me, you're never finished. “Currently satisfied” is the best I can say. There are pieces I've done in the past that I'd like to redo—due to the fact that I was limited in my skill set. Now, I'm more experienced with different mediums and tools. Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to actually finish a piece. But for now, I'm currently satisfied.
Which piece are you most proud of? How is that a reflection of your creative style?Recently I did a piece of the singer, Sade. It was a very simple piece, but complicated because of the perfection I needed in my lines (zigzag line style). The image of her stood out more than any piece I've done; it's an image of what I think of Sade: pure, soulful, beautiful.
What is your most important tool? Is there something that you can't live without in your studio?Hard to say, but I'd have to go with Sharpie oil paint pens, they’re the reason why my images are so detailed. If there’s one tool I can't live without, it's my sharpies. Most of my tools for my paintings are so random; every piece has a unique item I use to make the background. For instance, I visited Michael’s last week looking for any thing to make my James Dean piece stand out. I
stumbled over an old shelf outside the store, a shelf with holes. I took it home and it became a stencil for my latest series.
As you are becoming known for your work, are there certain requests for pieces that you just can't or won’t do?I'm still up-and-coming, so therefore any request I see as free promo, regardless of price. In this economy, art is a want, not a need, so if you’re reaching out to me, but you really can’t afford my prices, I’ll honestly work with you, I'm very reasonable. In life period, art is needed, regardless of the economy.
What do you feel is the role of the artist in society? What is your role? Your message? Does every piece you make even have to have a message The role of the artist in society is to open up minds, make our eyes smile, which is also my mission as a fugitive pop artist. My role, being a fugitive artist, is to capture the essence of those who once inspired us artists to continue with our craft. This is payback, this is me saying thank you.
My message to all the artists is pretty short: Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort box. It’s Art. There's no such thing as a mistake in art . . . so I’ve learned.
Every piece doesn’t have to have a message, to me. In my own way, being an immigrant, I came to America, strived to learn the culture, watched a lot of biographies. These were the people who influenced me to practice my craft and perfect it.
In an age where our young men and women are criminalized and discarded as unfocused, undisciplined, and flat out lazy, we have individuals like Keel who can demonstrate that with patience, strong auto didacticism and passion, great things can be cultivated. Moral of the story folks: THINK AND DO.
Nadia Myrthil | @LadyNeuro
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Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick found their audiences in film schools, cinemas and art houses across the country.
Kahlil Joseph found his audience on the Internet.
This is where most of his films live, but, in an age of DIY, the hum of the mediocre can often drown out the song of the exceptionally talented.
So, how did Kahlil Joseph, a director and writer that you know next to nothing about, win Sundance accolades last year?
If you are lucky enough to be familiar with Joseph’s work, you probably discovered him as many did through his work with Flying Lotus on the short, Until the Quiet Comes—a poetically-executed, silent short that follows youths in Los Angeles’ Nickerson Gardens for an undisclosed amount of time.
The film, at 3:55, is a music video boasting a score from Flying Lotus’ album of the same name.
Joseph throws the format of the traditional music video out the window and substitutes it for shots that are long, but not lingering, extending the experience for viewers and weighing on the significance of each shot.
Its commentary on the imagination of youth is eerily reminiscent of Benh Zeitlin’s 2012 Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Joseph’s film Wildcat is another incredible staple in his long list of accomplishments.
This one, which takes place in rural Grayson, Oklahoma, plays with the tradition of Black cowboys, and their families, who live in the area.
This film clicks on so many levels. Like Quiet, it is unhurried in its movement, even when the action is an adrenaline-sure rider trying to catch and rope a calf.
Flying Lotus provides the score, which again fits perfectly through the visual, and is reminiscent of a haunting Miles Davis melody. It beautifully contrasts with rustic portraits of cowboys at the rodeo, and angels’ white gowns blowing in the wind.
Joseph enlists the help of famed cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed—responsible for the look of Hype Williams’ most memorable videos—to frame each of these wonderful shots.
But looks aside, “Wildcat” is an incredibly emotional piece that captures the portrait of a dying tradition unique to rural Oklahoma.
If Kahlil Joseph’s work seems heady, that’s because it is.
In a time where music videos and short films are uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo, and shared through Facebook and Twitter daily, a brother of mine in this DIY era of art and film has taken all of the rules and tucked them reel bin.
He’s a cinematographer with an emotional eye and a knack for preserving beautiful narratives in so few words, in such a short time.
Like the great filmmakers that we’ve known from the past, Joseph has found his path and knows his audience, and he creates visionary work that breathes new life into filmmaking.
Landon Antonetti | @StevenMossberg
Landon Antonetti is a cinematographer and producer. He is currently in Boca Raton producing commercials and exploring the slimy underbelly of television, consumerism and whatnot.
WHAT MATTERS MOSTIndie cinema's quiet savior
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Further in the conversation, I learn BUKK is stuck somewhere in Broward County, trying to get to a studio in Miami. It’s rumored that he’s been working with fellow-Volusia County native DIPLO, who has expressed his fandom of BUKK in subtle ways. Too bad his ride this far seems to have suddenly stopped giving a fuck.
“Really, lately, because I just got out of jail, I haven’t fucked with a lot of people, honestly.” Feelings of disconnection: typical loner-artist shit, I sit listening and psychoanalyzing back at my kitchen table. I ask him if he’s mad because no one came to see him during his bid.
“Naw, that wasn’t it. It was me not really fuckin’ with them. I didn’t really talk to anyone but the mother of my child 80 percent of the time I was in there.”
BUKK THE DAD
I’m one of those people who usually think babies look like underdeveloped science experiments, but Olive von Joseph has to be thee most flawless baby, with thee best name, I have ever laid social media eyes on.
“I was in jail and them niggas was watching Easy A,” BUKK explains the origin of his daughter’s name, who is only a few months old. “The main character was Olive. I got on the phone with her mother.”
When I ask BUKK about his comments in a previous interview on wanting to join the 27 Club he seems uninterested. In fact, most of the phone interview, I find myself wondering if I’m talking to the person who has previously been accused of Satan worship and whose self-professed top-3 favorite movies are Devil’s Rejects, The Shining, and Natural Born Killers.
“I said that shit before I had my kid, you know? Now it’s like I don’t even want to deal with that anymore . . . Before I had her I was like fuck it. I kept everything to myself. But I need her. You know what I’m sayin’? That shit that I talked about, it wasn’t just an image thing. I really meant it . . . all triple-6 on my face and shit.”
Surprisingly, BUKK speaks about his latest time doing time in a positive light. He refers to it as a reminder. He’d been there before, too many times, he reasoned with himself while on the inside. This could be his last chance outside.
“It was like, nigga are you gonna go back one more time? You are really doing something right now, so if you come back, you might BE BACK. It was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to me, to be honest. I got rid of my probation and shit, so it’s all good.”
BUKK THE FUTURE
Time travel to the first quarter of 2014 and BUKK has already been picked up and has spent a weekend in jail at least once since we spoke (it’s hard to keep up with his ever-eventful TL). He’s also put out hella music: "Kawasaki Tires" and "Dope White" with Djemba Djemba; "Kake for Bread" and "Pipe Down" produced by DJ TWO STACKS, the latter of which featured the white girl rapper with that crap-ass eyeliner Kreayshawn; and most recently a bonafide hit, "Judge Judy."
I remember him last telling me about the EP he was working on right after he got released: Lockdown at 11—an ode to his curfew in jail, where he says he only filled up one notepad . . . not a lot by his standards. It seems he does organize his ideas into concepts, after all, which is evident in his newest releases: the Peter Piper remix, Judge Judy.
* * * * *
I haven’t heard from my charming friend in over a month when he texts me one night, randomly, with an exclusive preview:
WANNA HEAR THE FULLJUDGE JUDY?
USE HEADPHONESOR SPEAKERSAND THANKS
Word. I’ll hit you after I listen
I lie unintentionally.
I lie about hitting him back, not the listening part. I listen and I listen again. How hard is that beat? And he rides it worthy. There are some for-sure-pull out lines: I don’t wanna talk, you a blow pop, sucker . . . Every time an old head speak I listen/ I don’t wanna hear it but I always pay attention . . . and then this anaphora in the middle of verse 2:
I can sell a brick, I can sell a shirtI can sell a pig, I can sell herI can sell brain to a nerdI can sell a plane to a bird
Sure, like every BUKK track, it’s messy. His voice is annoying. There are flaws, but they’re the kind that make you feel relieved— Maybe, I should just tell you how you’re supposed to listen to this shit:
Take your dreads down, forget you’re in your body. Let your eyes disappear into your head, and mouth the words with a joint seesawing in the corner of your mouth. Pack into an old skool with four of your homeboys. Pull this track out like it’s a CD in an old shoebox with scratches all over it from playing it so much, then turn up. Turn this shit up and ride around your block over and over again until the song is over. Put it on repeat.
Ride past the jail you’ve sat in too many months, too many days of your daughter or son’s life. Make sure the subs are on because that’s where this sort of beat belongs. Dare a pig to follow you. Pull into a gas station hanging out of a window. Dare a muthafucka to tell you to turn your music down. Ride down a street in the suburbs, one hand on the wheel, with your hood up, popping Hot Cheetos and Skittles into your mouth. Wash that shit down with an Arizona Sweet Tea. Now, just bop, wish . . . just wish a muthafucka would even think . . .
Think Deep South. Think Florida. Think Chaotic Life. This time as BUKK is rapping “I’m a die screaming for the police,” ride off into a hot-ass sundown with the Jamaican woman at the end yelling in patios...
“WE NEED JUSTICE! JUSTICE, WE NEED, JUSTICE. WE NEED IT.”
Joy Priest | @Dalai_Mama_
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A little About GuyanaGuyana is an Amerindian word meaning “the land of many waters.” Formally known British Guiana was referred to as “the land of six peoples.” Attempts to forge a common identity have foundered, and it is more accurate to speak of African, Indian, and Amerindian Guyanese cultures. There were small European, Portuguese “colored,” and Chinese communities before large-scale migration to Canada and the United States in the late 1960s.
Guyana is on the northeastern shoulder of South America, bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by Suriname, on the northwest by Venezuela, and on the south and southwest by Brazil. Over 90 percent of the population lives on the coastal belt, which is below sea level. The Dutch, using African slaves in the eighteenth century, made this area habitable. Every square mile of cultivated land has forty-nine miles of drainage canals and ditches and sixteen miles of high-level waterways.
There are few national symbols or metaphors. The national hero, Cuffy, the leader of the Berbice Slave Rebellion in 1763, is primarily an African Guyanese hero whose statue in Georgetown evokes Indian antipathy. Indians tend to identify with an India of the imagination and the Hindu and Muslim religions. Africans often look to an imagined Africa. The utopian vision of Guyana—El Dorado—created by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1590s, claims the imagination of most Guyanese today.
After adopting British cultural idioms, the African and mixed middle class deprecated the “backward coolie” culture of Indians.
The Indians, steeped in ancient notions of caste, brought rigid ideals of color and physical features to their judgment of African people, although most Indian immigrants were themselves dark. Africans and Indians thus constructed distinct identities. A brief political compromise in the early 1950s could not moderate their mutual incomprehension.
In the early 1960s, both groups violently contested the space being vacated by the British; this has left a legacy of racial hatred. Ethnic relations since independence in 1966 have been undermined by the notion that politics consists of the allocation of the spoils of power to the ruling ethnic section. Alternating ruling African and Indian elites publicly criticize the role of culture and ethnicity in political mobilization while exploiting it. Major industries are still in its infancy in Guyana. The Fashion industry is at the top of the list. the Mixx Magazines Photographer Rando Lawrence alongside Shimronde Providence of GoodGoodGuyaneseGirl.com, explores the budding fashion industry with clothing designer Sonia Noel.
CREDiTS:Photographer: Rando LawrenceArt Direction & Write up: Shimronde Providence of GoodGoodGuyaneseGirl.comMake-up Artist: Mark AdamsDesigner: Sonia Noel
THE MIXX GOES INTERNATIONALFAshIoN FRoM GUYANA , soUth AMERICA
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Classic Black, strapless sheath with unconventional black and white lattice bodice and hem. Dynamic fascinator to top off this cool and proper sheath. Pushing the boundaries of modesty, this is a great choice with color formalities and whimsical sexy.Model/Recording Artist: Timeka Marshall
The classic linen sheath is the ultimate tropical staple. This Sonia Noel number is paired with an oversized, sun shielding topper. A great ensemble to brave the Guyanese sun rays. Model: Meleesa Payne
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This brown and cream cotton two piece creates a flattering silhouette. A-line skirt with thigh high slit, Yoke neckline both detailed with bamboo.Model: Yohlanda Kerr
This beautiful yellow and brown dream seems to beckon the sun to kiss your skin. Tie-dyed cotton, Generous flared skirt topped with a non-existent neckline. Model/Recording Artist: Timeka Marshall
Ground grazing, cotton two pieces is ideal for that sea wall stroll. With an intricate
bamboo lattice on the bodice and skirt; it is sure to let the sea breeze in.
Model: Yohlanda Kerr
The Georgetown night life beckons you in this black gossamer blouse embellished with satin ribbon, bell sleeves and ruffled collar. Paired with a hot red linen mini skirt.Model: Meleesa Payne
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