[SERIES]
[NEW & NOW]
Four Years Later, the Significance of Smino’s ‘blkswn’ is Still Coming into Focus
Smino released blkswn on March 14, 2017. His sophomore collection behind 2016’s blkjuptr, and his debut album, the St. Louis rapper and vocalist had been carving out his unendingly individualistic sound for years. We all know it now – or at least we should – but the wavy wordplay, rap-sung transcendentalism, raw vocals, and rawer subject matter (even if it takes a few listens to really know what Smino is saying above and below the surface of the his ocean-sized, largely self-invented vocabulary) was on its way to being something truly special and game-changing. When blkswn rolled around, Smino had refined his sound, and in the process, redefined what hip-hop could be. It blew everyone’s mind...
[MUSIC SPOTLIGHT]
An Interview with 20-Year-Old Philanthropic Stylist, Chi Ilochi
Age is only a number, and for 20-year-old Nigerian-American fashion stylist, Chi Ilochi, other number mean much more. The number of opportunities she makes for herself to teach people self-expression through fashion; the number of individuals with disabilities that she has styled; the number of underrepresented communities that she aims to lift up through fashion. Chi truly is the fusion of fashion and philanthropy.
'I like for my work to be timeless, and also cater to my client’s personal interests and personality.'
The Street Art of Vancouver | Walking from one place to another yields a remarkable amount of storytelling.
It feels as though Vancouver is home to its own color palette. Born of its natural surroundings and reaffirmed in its environmentally centric design, the city and its art breathe of pale blues, deep greens, and flashes of vibrant yellows, reds, blacks, and whites. In any other surroundings, its general feeling would exude a dream-state, evoke sleepiness. But in a city as perfectly designed; in a natural setting as awe-inspiring and inspirational as they come, the melancholy of Vancouver and British Columbia at large is a happy sort of glum one didn’t know was possible.
A Thousand Words | Mathieu Ajan
So often, the people doing the most for the world of art and culture – for photography and cinematography – are those who have the courage to capture the exceptionalism of the everyday. Don’t get it twisted, the high-fidelity and extravagant serve their purpose, too. But more often than not, the most brash, brave statements come at the hands of the most honest art. For a while now, that search for truth has led a lot of modern photographers and videographers to the timelessness of film methodology. Like the return to vinyl, its texture and innate imperfection grant it a strange, deeper connection to the tethers of reality as we know them – or at least as we knew them through the innocent omnipotence of childhood.
