Gray: SΔBRE VISION

I dont know about any of you, but I am notorious for losing, breaking, or just straight fucking up my sunglasses. I have gone through three or four pair this year, but lately all I wanna buy are SΔBRE shades. I  came across these for the first time at Reserve down on Fairfax Ave. in LA. My first pair were the Heartbreakers, which were a really solid pair of glasses. They kinda reminded me of my 54mm Rayban Wayfarers, but with more squared out frames. I lost these up in Mammoth one weekend, and went sunglassless for a few weeks, which doesn't last very long. I picked up the No Controls in black down at Reserve, and are probably my favorite pair of sunglasses I have owned. They are a little smaller than what I usually veer towards but seriously look good on anyone. All my homies try them on and just want to keep them, and they aren't too expensive either! The thing about SΔBRE that I like is that their frames are all over the place, if you want some shades that are out there, you can find them. Not only are their frames real unique, but they have all these dope color-ways in a lot of different styles *check out the black and white tortoise.  If you are in the LA area, go check out Reserve for all the dope SΔBREs, and every time I have been in there I've been hooked with a fat deal, so you can't go wrong there. Who buys sunglasses online anyway? 

KOZOI
THE HOMIE SEANY HAS THESE

NO CONTROL
I PICKED THESE UP IN ALL BLACK

MΔDNESS

Read more...

David: The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University!

Last Friday on my way down to NYC I heard back from my dream school and top choice, NYU! I was accepted into the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music with 30 or so other students. In the fall I will be going in as a freshmen in the Producer Entrepreneur program. This really is everything that I've hoped for over the past few months and I'm extremely excited to be in. For those that don't know much about the program it is a professional business and artistic training toward a BFA degree for aspiring creative entrepreneurs in the music industry. People like Lady Gaga have been in this program and producers like Swizz Beatz come to teach and mentor students at the school. So glad this is all becoming true. I've already been talking to my future classmates and the range of musical influences, favorite artists, and personal musical talent is across the board. Being able to create with talented people who make and perform music in a different genre than my own is going to be amazing. I definitely can't wait for this year to start... So if there are any high school teachers of mine reading this post... I'm sorry in advance if I drift off a little bit. My mind is elsewhere at the moment.

Below are some pictures of the studios at Clive:

I'M IN COLLEGE!!!

Read more...

David: The Snowball Music Festival Recap (Video)

Recently our good friends in Lazerdisk Party Sex traveled to Colorado for the Snowball Music Festival. Below is a short video recap clip of the festival featuring some artists that performed in the festival (Lazerdisk is wearing the storm trooper masks). The video is shot and edited by Revive Media (William DeSena) Watch is all below!



Bonus:

The song playing is Less Go! (Porter Robinson Remix) by Spencer & Hill. You can get it below:

Download here - Mediafire

Read more...

David: Vader The Villin x Hating Hard

Here's a new video from the homie, Vader the Villin. Right now he's posted in LA and decided to make a quick video and song for everyone called, "Hating Hard." Check it out below:


Read more...

David: Gerald Walker x Nothing Is Ever What It Seems (Download)

In lieu of the homie, Gerald Walker's first performance at SXSW this week he released a promotional song titled, "Nothing Is Ever What It Seems." Be on the look out for Walker's Taylor Gang & Heavy Hustle presented EP with Cardo on The Beat and his full length project slated for this fall. In the meantime though check out his new song below:

Download here - Hulkshare
Read more...

David: Two New Songs From Dave Raps

Dave Raps

Here are two new tracks from the homie Dave Raps. The first track he goes over Frank Ocean's track "Swim Good," which is also one of my favorite songs from Frank's nostalgia/ultra album. The second track he is featured on Mick Stillz, "Kick It," which will be featured on part 2 of Mick's Neighborhood Nerd mixtape series alongside DJ Ill Will. Out of both of these, "Swim Good," is my favorite, but regardless both these songs are dope. Check them out below:

Swim Good by Frank Ocean featuring Dave Raps


Download here - Hulkshare

Kick It by Mick Stillz featuring Dave Raps


Download here - Hulkshare

http://www.daveraps.com
Read more...

David: Los Angeles, Ditto, OFWGKTA, & The Grammys

Los Angeles

Yes, I know it's been weeks and I've been promising this post, but things have been so hectic lately that I haven't been able to get to it until now. This is Ditto's trip to Los Angeles featuring our homies in OFWGKTA and the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Friday

To start, Alan South and I got into Los Angeles on Friday, February 11th and of course had to make the first stop at the famous In & Out right by the airport.  For those of you who don't know In & Out... I'm really really sorry, but it is the best thing to hit the United States. This trip was Alan's first time out west so it was also his first time to an In & Out. The reaction was priceless. Check it out below:

After In & Out we retreated to our hotel where we hung out for awhile before figuring out our plans. Within an hour or so we went to Taco from OFWGKTA's house, which is also the location where all the OF rap albums and mixtapes have been recorded. When we got there I was introduced to Syd (also Taco's sister), Mike G, and the homie Toony TuneS, which was funny because neither of us realized who each other were until afterwards haha. Alan South, Taco, and myself had a long conversation about what seemed like everything from us, to OF, to girls, to music, and life in general. That whole conversation and atmosphere to begin with at the studio made me realize how smart and put together OF is about everything they do. Below is a little video of the recording booth where all the OF albums were made. It's a little hard to understand what's going on in the video, but Taco is explaining all the graffiti on the wall from meanings, to when they were drawn, etc. Check it out below:

After Taco's Alan and I went to meet up with our homie Anwar, who is also the manager of Casey Veggies. Some of you may recognize the name Anwar from Tyler's recent song Yonker's where he says,

"Rappin' as I'm mockin' deaf rock stars

Wearin' synthetic wigs made of Anwar's dreadlocks"

He was also in our Two Kids From Vermont vs Los Angeles video last year.

He invited us to a Stone Throws event on Hollywood Boulevard at this store called Freak City, but by the time we got there it was already pretty late so we didn't stay for too long. The scene was pretty cool though and there was a good amount of people even at the time we arrived.

From there we went back to the hotel to start over.

Saturday


On Saturday, Taco invited us to hang out at their normal spot where Gray and I met them last year. Pretty much all of the artists from OFWGKTA were there except for Hodgy Beats (who I met quickly last year at the Diddy Riese event with Johnny Cupcakes), Syd, Mike G, and Frank Ocean. I did get to see Tyler, The Creator again though and shot a quick video of him, which you can check out below:

Unlike what many people might think about OFWGKTA and their personalities, these kids are some of the funniest people I have ever hung out with in my life. I don't think I went a moment without laughing the whole time I was there because something funny was always being said or happening. 

As the day went on though, Alan and I met up with my good friend Aaron Rovner who is a student at USC. We spent the rest of the night with him going to some USC parties and just catching up. Rovner was the lead trumpet player in my Jazz Band two years ago when he was a senior and I was a sophomore. I saw him last year in February as well during Gray and I's trip to LA. This time around though there was definitely a lot more going on and Alan and I returned back to our hotel tired and ready to start the next day... Grammy day.

Sunday

53rd Annual Grammy Awards Ticket

On Sunday, Alan and I spent the beginning of the day getting ready for the Grammy Awards, which my very good friend Mei Mei Zeprun invited us out to. We arrived at the Staples Center and the day really began. 

Staples Center

Our first stop was the red carpet, which unfortunately I did not snap any pictures while I was on it, but Alan, Mei Mei, and I were able to walk with some of the worlds biggest stars. After the carpet we went inside, where the show began.

Inside the Staples Center

There's not much there is to say about the Grammys because I'm guessing many of you watched them on TV at home. The show is pretty much the same, of course, besides the awkward commercial breaks in the middle where they countdown warning everyone that the show is about to go live and everyone needs to get back to their seats. Also if you're sitting close enough that you're on TV they send in extras to fill your seats so that the crowd doesn't look empty when you get up to go somewhere. Below are some videos shot by Mei Mei Zeprun on her iPhone below though. Check them all out:

This was the opening

Rihanna & Eminem performing "Love the Way You Lie"

Katy Perry performing "Teenage Dream"

Dr. Dre & Eminem performing "I Need A Doctor"

Drake & Rihanna performing "What's My Name"

Me, Mei Mei Zeprun, & Alan South

Ditto

And that's pretty much Ditto's trip to Los Angeles back in February. Yes, once again I know a long time ago, but I finally put the post up for everyone to read here at TKFV.

Huge thanks to Mei Mei Zeprun for making this trip possible in the first place and also a shout out to the homies in OFWGKTA for letting us kick it with them again. 

http://dittodd.tumblr.com/

Read more...

David: Ditto on Unbiased Writer

Big shout out to Unbiased Writer for the post on Ditto! Check out the full article of Alan South and I (Hugh Cosby) over on their site here!

http://www.twitter.com/dittolistening
Read more...

David: Yung Lotta x Lark On My Go Kart (FreeStyle) [Music Video]

Yung Lotta

I was first introduced to Yung Lotta from my good friend, Frendy Lemorin, after he sent me his video for "Thrilla N Manila." Now, Lotta is back with a new video for his freestyle over Asher Roth's song, Lark On My Go Kart. I'm digging this song and video a lot more than Asher's version. Check it out below!


Read more...

David: Criss Lyric's New Mixtape, Sumnar: The THC Project (Download)

The homie Criss Lyric sent his new mixtape, Sumnar: The THC Project, over to us a few days ago. After being very impressed with his single, "Happy" featuring Nickelus F and Chuuwee, I'm glad to say that I'm digging this whole project after a few listens through. Some of the stand out tracks in my book are, "Thank You," "Happy," "High Hopes," "Cate Harrington," "Serve This Royalty," "Focus," "Jack Frass." Check out the tracklist, listen, and download everything below:

Tracklist:

http://www.crisslyric.com
http://www.beallmighty.com
http://www.twitter.com/HeSoCriss
Read more...

David: Lazerdisk Party Sex's New Song Tigerblood

Lazerdisk Party Sex

Earlier today, Lazerdisk Party Sex, released their new song called, "Tigerblood." I remember when Pres was showing me this track a few weeks before they released it when him and I were working together in his studio. This song has a little bit of everything. iPhone ringtones, dancing, head nodding, swag, and a little sex party in between. Big ups to my older brothers in Lazerdisk. They officially played this song for the first time out at Snowball in Colorado, which they rocked. Right now their on root for Miami. Be on the look out for these guys in a city near you in the future! But for now check out the song below and download:

Download here - Mediafire

For more info on Lazerdisk Party Sex check out their Fan Page on Facebook for tour details and more.
http://lazerdiskpartysex.tumblr.com/

Read more...

David: Casey Veggies x Make It Happen (Music Download)

It's definitely been quite a year for Casey Veggies after releasing, Sleeping in Class, and joining Mac Miller on his Most Dope tour. Yesterday he released his song, "Make It Happen," featuring Juicy J and Billy Wes with production by Lex Luger. Listen and download the song below:

Download here - Mediafire | Hulkshare

Read more...

David: Serge Didenko x Bagoflaundry To Ditch (Music Video)

Above is Serge Didenko's music video for his song, "BagofLaundry To Ditch," which was a single off his previous mixtape, BagofLaundry To Ditch, which was hosted by Clinton Sparks. Serge is a well respected hip hop artist, singer, and producer from Boston, Massachusetts (originally from Russia), who is a full-time college student. Be on the lookout for his 2nd self produced mixtape hosted by Clinton Sparks titled, Serge, coming late April 2011.

Enjoy the music video above and get his debut mixtape on datpiff

http://www.sergedidenko.com
http://www.twitter.com/sergedidenko
http://www.newenglandhiphop.com/serge_didenko
Read more...

David: Criss Lyric Releases His First Official Leak Off of Sumnar titled, Happy (Music Download)

Criss Lyric dropped his new track, "Happy," off to us earlier. This is his first official leak off his upcoming project, Sumnar. The song features rappers, Chuuwee and Nickelus F, and is produced by Zulu. I've played this about ten times today and I haven't stopped yet. It's just one of those snowy days here in Vermont where I want to just kick back and relax to some chill music like this. Listen and download the track below!



http://www.crisslyric.com
http://www.beallmighty.com
Read more...

David: John Lass x Hotbox (Music Download)

The homie John Lass just shot his new track, "Hotbox" featuring Wister Dice, over to us earlier today in celebration of his birthday. This is a nice mellow track to end the day with. Take a listen and download the track below! Happy Birthday John!

Download here - LimeLinx

Read more...

David: Justin Timberlake Expected To Start Recording A New Album This Summer

It's crazy to think that the last Justin Timberlake album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, was released 5 years ago. I'm excited to see what's to come from Justin Timberlake for his next album after his recent absence from the music scene to pursue his acting career. Hopefully he'll bring out that creativity from Timbaland much like he did on his last album. And hopefully everything will come out perfect unlike the 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction with Janet Jackson haha.

We'll be waiting for what's to come JT!

Read more...

David: Back in the U.S.A.

Now that I'm back in the U.S.A. expect to see a post about my Los Angeles trip including pictures, videos, and a little summary. I had no time to work on it while I was out in Spain because of everything that I was doing, but I promise I'll put something up soon enough! Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

To hold everyone over though here's a little list of things I've been listening to lately. Click the captions to download:

Nostalgia by Frank Ocean (Album)

Causers of This by Toro Y Moi (Album)

Donald Trump by Mac Miller (Single)

French (Toro Y Moi Remix) by Tyler, The Creator (Single)

Read more...

David: Road to Redemption by ChristianFGY (Trailer #2)

Previously this was called "Road to Revenge," which I posted in ChristianFGY's TKFV Introduction post back in December. Recently the path for the Canyon Springs High School boy's basketball team has been going extremely well, which lead to this name change. Check out the second teaser below to see a little bit of what's to come:



Read more...

Gray: Spring Break (so far)

So it's Friday, and I am wondering where the hell my week went!? This has been my first spring break in college, and damn has it been fun. Instead of heading back to cold VT for the week, I was offered to stay at my homie R Star's house in Malibu for the week. (This kid just got a Twitter... follow him @R___Star) I hit up Mammoth for the weekend, then got back to LA and chilled hard for the remaining days. Mammoth got pounded with 32+ inches on the Friday we drove up, so the rest of the weekend was full of pow runs and sun- some of the most fun I have had all year! Once I got back to LA, we have just been raging and kickin back... I have been filming pretty much everything we have been doing (watch out for a spring break edit coming soon). Here are some snap shots from the videos I have been taking, I hope you enjoy!

Probably the coolest smoke spot ever. Chillin' over the Pacific Ocean.

Spent a lot of time in Jani's hot tub and pool. Such a dope spot.

Shoes and cigarette butts.

About to play some intense games of Skadoosh at Jani's crib.

Playin' some soccer on the basketball court.

No words can describe this moment.

Read more...

David: Spain Trip - Day 14

Sofia & Manu talking at the TIE Spain exchange farewell banquet

The Spain TIE exchange is coming closer and closer to till end. And on top of things my converter blew out this morning so I can't charge my laptop or anything else I own besides my iPhone since Manu has what I need to charge it. I'm without a razor though, so I might be a little grizzly when I come back. 

Today we went to the school for the whole school day and went to classes and played with the younger kids in the school. Connor and I were assigned to a classroom of four year olds and for about 30 minutes we played blocks and attempted to start a domino line, but it kept getting knocked down by the kids after we put up more than four. After the class Connor, James, Matt, and myself played basketball outside for a few hours to kill time before we went downtown. I slowly was getting my shot back and for those that don't know, yes, I used to be an athlete, but these days I'm 100% for TKFV, music, fashion, and I guess school can be cool too... sometimes.

Connor

Pooja, Becca, & the little kids at the school

When school was finished, Manu and I went downtown to meet up with Connor. Manu and Sofia had to work on their presentation for the farewell banquet tonight, so Connor and I had a little time to ourselves to just hangout and relax. The weather wasn't that nice out later today so we went to a bar to just sit, talk, and watch the soccer games that were on... and for the parents reading here on TKFV, going to bars is just a part of what kids do here in Spain. People simply go to just hangout with friends or watch a big sporting event. Seems like everyday we've been going to bars, but parents we are the most amazing kids in the world and you have nothing to worry about :). Anyway after Manu and Sofia were done we met up with Lucia, Amanda, and our friend Maria. We were with each other for a few minutes and then we went to the farewell banquet.

At the farewell banquet, Manu and Sofia began their speech talking about memories and things we experienced in both Vermont and Salamanca. At the end every Spanish student talked about their American students and gave us a gift. Manu gave me churros (a Spanish food that's really good) and a University of Salamanca hoodie, which I've wanted this whole trip. So Manu if you're reading this, thank you for everything you have been the best host anyone could ask for!

After the banquet we had our dinner. I was munching on the churros for a bit earlier so I was a little full, but I was still able to eat when I was there. The whole time we just socialized with each other as a big group and had a good time. 

Me & Sofia

Gonzalo & I

After dinner Gonzalo, Sofia, Manu, Santi, Alyssa, James, Jose Juan, Matt, Cristina, Sarah, and our friend Kata went downtown to the same bar we were at last night with the pool table. I sat and watched Real Madrid win seven nothing and then I completely destroyed in fusbol and got destroyed in pool. One more full day to go and I hope it ends up being a good one. I really am going to miss everyone here. It's going to be hard finally leaving. But for now I'm signing off. I can't charge my computer and now I'm down to 60% battery life. Just enough to hopefully do another one tomorrow.

The end of the game

Santi

Adios!

Read more...

David: Spain Trip - Day 13

Downtown Salamanca (Plaza Mayor)

Today was the day we had to present our presentations to people in the school. Pooja, my partner, and myself presented about skiing and snowboarding in Vermont and a little bit about Burton. Our presentation went really well all four times we did it and our video got a really nice response. Below is the video we used for our presentations. We started it around 1:20 each time. Check it out:



After our presentations, Manu and myself went to his grandparents house and ate lunch with them and his uncle. It was my first time meeting all of them and they were all really nice people. I really enjoyed my time with all of them and all the food that they had prepared. Even though it was so short, it was definitely a highlight to this trip so far.

After lunch Manu and myself met up with Connor to head back to his house for a little bit. We hung out and I beat Manu at a soccer video game again (I'm just too good). Connor finally had the chance to get onto a computer too since Luis, his host, doesn't have a computer. The good news of the day came after he checked his email. Congrats to Connor for getting accepted into UVM!

About an hour later Manu, Connor, and myself went downtown to meet up with another big group of people. Matt, Jose Juan, Santi, James, Amanda, Luis, Rachel, Luna, Kata and more were all in our group today and we went to two bars in the area. One of them had a pool table and Kata and myself played against Santi and Manu. We both got down to the 8 ball and unfortunately Manu hit the luckiest shot of his life and made it... after cheating for the whole game haha.

Pool

Matt & Connor

After playing pool it was down to just Manu, Kata, Santi, James, and myself. We all walked out of the bar and called it a night. Manu has me rushing all over the place these days. I don't think there hasn't been a day he's had me running for a car or bus haha. Manu, Manu, Manu.

Adios TKFV!
Read more...

David: Spain Trip - Day 12

A part of the cheese factory/farm

Today we had a tour around a cheese factory. We started off walking to check out some of the animals on the property and saw a few sheep to start. Next we saw some tamed bulls that weren't harmless and kept their distance and never charged. So we were actually able to walk into their area and try to interact with them. The whole time I found myself dodging poop piles and hoping my nice dress shoes that I wore on this field trip stayed in tact. But don't worry TKFV I was successful and kept my distance and kept my shoes clean!

Sheep

Tamed bull (at least I think that's what they said it was)

After our outdoors visit we went over to the factory where they make the cheese. They had a nice little lunch ready for us too with fresh cheese, meat, water, and bread. I swear I haven't eaten much cheese as good as what I had today. I couldn't stop hogging the plate just to myself I loved it that much. I'll even be carrying a small package of cheese back to the US with me because it was so good.

Food they prepared for us

After the cheese factory we stopped in a small town to walk around for a few moments. I snapped one picture of the view of the town when I was there.

Once we returned back to the school, James and Matt came with Manu and myself to my house. Manu had to study so I worked on my Spanish presentation on snowboarding and skiing for tomorrow morning and then played a soccer game with them (of course I won I'm too good). Afterwards we went downtown where we met up with Luis, Connor, Amanda, and my new American friend, Kata, who I mentioned yesterday. We all went to the same bar we've been going to almost the whole time this trip and just talked. Jose Juan, Matt's host, our friend James (pronounced Hi-me), and Luis' cousin all came later to sit and enjoy the rest of the evening. Everyone then left except for Manu, myself, and Kata and then our friends Sarah and Cristina joined us for awhile and we watched the first half of the Manchester United versus Chelsea game. Once the first half ended we said goodbye to everyone and went home.

Right now I need my sleep for this presentation tomorrow though. I'll be letting everyone know how it goes! Adios!

Read more...