My recent post for The Knicks Wall was inspired by my frequent reading of the J. Peterman catalog. I romanticized my Carmelo Anthony jersey, Knicks scarf by adidas and the custom Nike hoody previously owned by Spike Lee. Read the excerpt below:

“My boo and I made a weekend out of going to Atlantic City to see Diplo, then capped it off with Knicks playing their last game of the regular season against the Brooklyn Nets. It was my plan that afternoon to wear the Carmelo Anthony jersey I got for Christmas to the game, but I forgot it at home. Nor did I have the Spike hoody with me either. I felt naked without proper Knick regalia to cheer them on. During half-time I hit the gift shop for something I could use to show my team pride as I was flanked by Nets fans in my section. So I bought a scarf. Cold weather lasted long until at least early April, making it practical to wear during the feeling of a winter blast. It resembled those high quality scarves soccer fans wear or wave in allegiance like a flag. Adidas makes this one. It reminds me a lot of the David Beckham Real Madrid scarf that I bought hours before Real Madrid C.F. won La Liga against Barcelona in 2007. I did not get to bask in a Knick victory the way I did for Madrid. Witnessing a loss at The Garden has become a weird tradition for me. I don’t actually remember ever seeing the Knicks win when I was in attendance. I’ve been privileged to be able to afford a ticket or go with someone as their guest. Personally, I’d rather watch at home just to rule out my superstition.”

Click here to read the full article.

This Saturday I have an opportunity to spin alongside one of my DJ idols, Stretch Armstrong. It was around last summer when I had a chance to actually meet Stretch since I interviewed him for a column I edited for Complex. Now to share the billing with him is another surreal moment in my DJ career. Peep the flyer, RSVP then come celebrate your Memorial Day weekend with us.

Given the timing of this event with Stretch, I’m dusting off yet another throwback from the days of his radio show on Hot 97. This freestyle by Terror Squad makes sense to post because Dice the God is also from the Bronx, the birthplace of hip-hop.

TERROR SQUAD THROWBACK FREESTYLE

“Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission,” (Fitzgerald, Frances Scott. The Great Gatsby, First Collier Books Edition 1992).

It was with an open mind that I found my way to Klughaus Gallery last year for the 5th Annual New York City Type-Off. The rain had subsided for the duration of the night. It didn’t hinder over 50 people from fitting comfortably to part-take in the typing competition. Yet once we attempted to type a paragraph by Walt Whitman, the space became smaller—we hunched over typewriters to transcribe Whitman’s text, anxiously feeling the ticking of the stopwatch over our shoulders.

For this 6th edition of the New York City Type-Off, the challenge will be about the same. Founders Elizabeth Suman and Pierre Green return with their event billed as “equal parts ruthless competition and unabashed merriment.” Continuing the theme of paying tribute to scholarly authors, this year they draw inspiration from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. As if the American classic isn’t all the rage with the feature film in theaters, and the motion picture soundtrack raising a skeptical eyebrow for its deviation from the roaring 1920s, the Type-Off at least sticks to Fitzgerald’s script. Maybe people will dress up in the extravagant outfits of yore. Appearance has been known to stand out from the 2007 inaugural Type-Off where Carmen Sandiego influenced the attire. In 2012, the arresting look of founder Liz Suman‘s and the shaved logo in the back of my head, demanded a double-take. The devil is in the details some say. Expect similar craftsmanship to be reflected in Coppa Sandwiches, one of the event partners. Coppa is focused on the quality of a specially made Italian cold-cut sandwich. Refreshments will be served as well. Visit the NYC Type-Off’s event page on Facebook to see the formal invitation. A new champion needs to be crowned. Will it be you?

Any logo in the form of a red box logo with text printed in Futura Heavy Oblique has caught my eye over the past year. New York is full of them in the most obvious to the most obscure places. Yesterday I compiled 25 of these logos for a Complex list of brands inspired by Barbara Kruger. It was tough to narrow it down to just 25. For all I know, there’s still lots of others that haven’t been documented. When you have a typeface that is so easily accessible, there’s no doubt that more people will use it as a resource to be synonymous with Supreme, the most world famous brand to adopt Kruger’s style. Without further adieu, here’s a few more brands that were left on the cutting floor from the list.

Pif

Freedone

The Daily Street

Supleme

PUCK, Scavenger Brandon

Impulse

Bpreme (Buttless Supreme)

Stuck Up Piece of Crap

Bomit

Sexgoat

That’s What’s Up.

Fuck Bush (Supreme)

Yasupreme

This May, Source Life Radio will celebrate its one-year anniversary. Salute to the whole team from DJ Dreamer, Most Elite Lady to DJ Rugged D for putting together a great independent radio station that plays music, provides insight on music trends, news, and sports. I encourage you to listen daily through the Source Life Radio Tune In app. On May 5th, SLR will host a brunch at NYC’s Taj Lounge at 48 West 21st St. I’ll be deejaying along with Rugged D and DJ Boogii. Happy birthday Source Life Radio and feliz Cinco De Mayo.

The Bible Study party is riding a major wave this week and next week. Tomorrow, Thursday April 25th, I’ll be deejaying for the third fourth time at IMOK (247 Eldridge St., NYC) for the weekly event. Then next Friday, Bible Study heads uptown to the Bronx for a mansion party. Keep reading for all flyers from the previous Bible Study bangers I’ve helped out.

Read the recap here.

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I’ve been out here enjoying Coachella for the first time. Click here to see how my first day went down.

Happy Whacking Day… whenever that might be at this point. I’m on the West Coast as I write this, which means I have about less than two hours left to get in this nod to a retro episode of The Simpsons for a proper Throwback Thursday. Fans of Tapped Out—if you’ve updated in the past 24 hours—are able to play the mini game where you whack snakes and collect their eggs to win prizes.

It’s been almost a month since Tapped Out observed a true holiday like St. Patrick’s Day. So why not the fictional Whacking Day of Simpsons lore? Gameteep has a complete breakdown of the current list of new additions that come with Whacking Day, like the two new snake characters. For a quick crash course on the 1993 episode of Whacking Day, watch the fast motion clip below.

I have UPNORTHTRIPS.COM to thank for honoring March 31st as the day Gang Starr released their pivotal fifth album, Moment of Truth. 15 years strong, it still stands as one of my personal favorite albums of all time. When I wrote about Gang Starr on the day Keith “GURU” Elam died I was hurt. All the memories I had as a teenager listening to Moment of Truth during my ups and downs in high school opened up a floodgate of emotion. So whenever I see that album cover, it stirs up those tender times. Below is an excerpt from my piece for TheFader.com.

“I would go so far to say Gang Starr is the reason why I have a career as a DJ, and more importantly a full-time job in music journalism. GURU was undoubtedly the voice of the group, he rapped that wise-intelligent-ignorant-shit, good enough to play around my mom. I bragged about how his dad was a prominent judge. Minor details like that granted him permanent airplay in our ’90-something Pathfinder we drove around Brooklyn. She was as cool as me I thought, even when I dragged moms to Fat Beats, the place where I dwelled after school. As soon as 3:10pm hit (my school kept us longer than most) I headed for Fat Beats, to eventually leave with 60 bucks worth of vinyl, a shopping bag full of stickers, and a permanent memory of the Moment of Truth gold plaque behind the store counter. Fat Beats NYC was one of the biggest supporters of what Prem and GURU did in the ’90s. Next to Eminem’s in-store signing of The Slim Shady LP, Gang Starr greeting fans around the release of Moment of Truth was just as big. They made it! Months later when the album scanned over 500,000 copies, they closed in on true crossover success that once seemed so elusive.

My memories of Gang Starr are still very clear as I write this to come full circle with their legacy. I’m cherry picking here: spending hours scratching “You best to have a batch of scratch and treats to bring her” from “She Knows What She Wantz”; placing “You Know My Steez” at the front of my first crate of vinyl so that every time I went digging, I’d see GURU and Premier’s autographs. I read Chairman Mao’s editorial on the album sleeve to Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr. I didn’t mind the 40-something minute train ride from Manhattan to Canarsie reading a lengthy tribute written by the ego trip O.G. Or how about when I held an internship at K7!/Rapster records where I shipped DJs music like one of GURU’s Jazzmatazz mixtapes? It was the summer of 2005, the action seemed like it was outside, not inside prepping mailers to ?uestlove and DJ Rashida. Good days came when the label picked up dope projects: Virgin Ubiquity: Remixed or the Kings Of Hip-Hop compilation that DJ Premier had a hand in hosting. On my best day doing data entry for the office vinyl, a raspy GURU raved to an A&R about some Jazzmatazz record that was getting spins on BBC Radio. He chopped it up with me about the mixtape I was helping to service at the time, but the only vague compliments I could muster up were, “It’s aight” and “It’s a nice change of pace from Gang Starr,” no more no less.”

Click to read the full article.

DProsper’s vision for music is layered. The symbolism of his album’s cover art subliminally addresses the truth about America’s view of Muslims and violence. His new video for “Children of ATOM” pushes the envelope further. Seeing the young black kid with a gun in his waistband adds onto another reality of firearms in the hands of our babies, ironically conjuring up the memory of Kimani Gray (RIP).

I’ve known Prosper since we worked together doing a party downtown at NOVO circa ’07-’08. He’s a veteran of the music industry; respect is due to his résumé. He produced for Lauryn Hill, Mos Def, and G-Unit. As a matter of fact, the folks shouted out at the end of his new video “Children of ATOM” are a guest list of people who have benefited from his guidance and opinion. He’s been rapping long before he A&R’d and produced for your favorite rapper, and the contributions he’s made to many artist’s careers speaks to how influential he has been on their sound. For his own work, he brings knowledge and a message back to the music. Prosper spoke with VICE recently to talk about the vision behind his video.

“My family is Muslim and many people who I build with have come from that. Right now, terrorist must be the new word for nigga. In American, they want you to be scared of something. It’s always fear. It’s all about, like, buying things. Like, let me buy a gun because I’m scared. Or let me get ADT for my home because I’m scared. Fear is a way to market and manipulate minds.”

Read the full interview and watch the video here.

Click for a free download of DProsper’s album #ATOM 12.12.12.