I came across a pretty cool gadget today during a random web surf. If your an old school head like me you probably made your share of mix tapes in your day. Collecting my favorite jams from random places and assorting them on a series of single cassette tapes to play in the car on my way to high school was pretty much the norm. Giving them really lame names and drawing random art on the labels (okay, maybe I’m alone on that one but oh well Haha!).

So anyway, I came across this cool actual working tape dispenser masked as an old school cassette tape and I said to myself “I gotta get me one of these!”. Go ahead and laugh all you want. You know your gonna get one too. You can pick one up here for about $19.99 + shipping.

–Shaun

Our all new first ever Limited Edition hoodie is coming. At 12:01 AM (EST) 11-23-07 “Black Friday” our new LIMITED addition will be available at our online store. This special hoodie features an original silver foil printed Lion head illustration down the right upper chest of a full zip premium hoodie. On the lower left back you’ll find a matching silver foil print graffiti tag. Both pieces on the garment make this a must have for your Winter 2007 collection!

This 10oz (330 gm) 80% ring-spun cotton 20% polyester blend is a perfect match of comfortable and super soft material. It feels nice, as well as warm on cold nights. A streetwear classic style. The slightly generous fit works for all body types. Expect a version for the fella’s (of course)… but for the Ladies we have a matching version contoured to fit your body type too! Nobody gets left out this season. These make a great gift item or splurge on it for yourself.

The new addition ship’s with our free signature mix cd “reinVINTAGE” and also a special mystery gift. Don’t sleep on this one! They are VERY limited… and once their gone, their gone!

Available 11-23-07 “Black Friday” @ 12:01 AM (EST)

Stay up late. Log on. Buy one!

-Shaun

Its been a minute since we started the photo section of our site. Originally we wanted to manage our libraries of photo’s internally and give people the ability to download photos and print them out for personal use. You know, you see a cool shot of an artist wearing our gear and you want to print it out for your wall or scrapbook or whatever. Well, after much debate we decided to use a community based, photo sharing site instead. Now thru the community of sites and links and tags associated with the photo’s we can attempt to pull in some additional traffic and potential customers. Smart huh? We thought so. That’s why we opened up an account on the popular site Flickr and found a way to embed photo’s natively on our site.

The coolest part is if you click the “view full screen slideshow” link it takes over your browser with a larger than life slideshow and crisp photo’s streaming right across the web.

When you get a chance check out our new “photo” section of the site.

-Shaun

Our homie Braille has a new album coming out in ‘08. His fourth, entitled “The IV” which is subsequently the name of his lead single produced by none other than Marco Polo (of Rawkus Records) along with cuts by Rob Swift. The single was leaked this week and featured on Okayplayer along with the site www.rappersiknow.com where the track can be downloaded in mp3 format and rocked continuously without stopping. Some pure heat from Braille on this one! If your not familiar with Braille’s brand of hip-hop you need to be.

I understand the new album also features production by The ARE (who is recording with Lil’ Kim, Ludacris & more right now), DJ Spinna, OH NO, Symbolyc One, and a bunch of other top notch producers! This album is gearing up to be quite a project and I know I can’t wait for it to drop in Spring 2008. Hip Hop Is Music doing big things. Keep your ears posted for new stuff coming from their camp all year long including a new album by Othello which is out October 30th and a must have for jazzy-tip smooth hip-hop lovers the world over.

-Shaun

In a follow-up to the story that recently broke on hip-hop sites all around the web regarding Nas’s track “Surviving the Times” off his upcoming greatest hits album being a direct rip-off of Wordsmith’s “As the Art Fades Away”… HipHopDX.com listened in on a conference call between Nas’s A&R Mike Brinkley and Wordsmith who attempted to work out the rapidly spreading discussion among the industry and fans. The gist of the call basically was that former NBA star Chris Webber produced the track at Nas’s request because the two where discussing movies and the sample came up as an idea that was pursued. The shady thing here is… Webber has a mutual contact and has heard Wordsmith track as far back as May, and likely Webber knew about it long before making the Nas track. Was he forgetful or just decided to rip it off? If you’ve heard the two songs its undeniable that they bare a striking resemblance. The same intro, the same hooking samples, used veritably the same way. I would have serious doubts that this was a coincidence!

Having said that, in a turn of events Wordsmith’s song, although cataloged with ASCAP a year ago, was not cleared in samples. Nas’s camp did however clear them and is still planning to put the song on the greatest hits album. Wordsmith decided to retract his statement about the lifted track and after being accused of using the story as a publicity stunt he basically replied that he would rather back off than be seen trying to catch shine off a controversy. Instead Smith stated that the fans will ultimately make the final decision.

A unified remix with Nas and Wordsmith was mentioned as an idea to help clear the air but was quickly denied by Brinkley.

Transcripts of the conference call along with the full story where it broke can be found HERE.

-Shaun

If you came to the Vintage launch concert back in May you probably seen the Baltimore native and underground hip-hop artist Wordmsith rock his set live on stage. Among his set list is a track called “As the Art Fades Away”. The concept of the track is nostalgic calling for hip-hop fans today to remember the pioneers that helped pave the way. Word had approached us to perform at the show and not knowing him personally I was hesitant. Then I heard the song “As the Art Fades Away” and I knew Wordsmith is representing the same stance on the art form and elements of our culture as we do! So it was a no brainer to give him the green light.

Fast forward to this month where it has come to Word’s attention that Nas’s soon to be released greatest hits album contained a song called “Surviving the Times” hauntingly similar to Word’s track produced a year prior. Not only was the Nas song utilizing the same samples (The Wiz - “What would I do”)… but the two tracks started off the same way, used the same hook + similar concept. Suspect? Yea, I’d definitely say so.

As Word stated in an interview with HipHopDx.com

“No producer is going to start a track the exact same way and no producer is going use the same sounds, loops, rhythms, etc. to create a track. My version starts off with a sample of my own voice saying “The pop rap charts make the art fade away” followed by “That’s the whole tragic point my friend.” Now, whoever produced Nas’s version, and I heard its Chris Webber, which sounds rather odd to me, would not start their track off with the same sample unless they heard it somewhere else first.”

I’d have to agree with that! Sampling is sampling… allot of producers could have used the same one. However, the same hook, the same intro, similar concept? Nah.

On a side note, the original rough cut version of “As the Art Fades Away” is available on our Reinvintage Mix CD that comes FREE with every purchase of Vintage Clothing Limited at our online store! As far as I know this is the only place this version can be found on CD! Wordsmith re-recorded the track on October 6th and that revamped version will be released on December 1st on Wordsmith’s “The Next Level Experience” album. At least that was until this issue came up. The verdict is still out if the track will make the album now? Although Word had planned to follow-up the album release with a video on MTV and BET. Hopefully rockin a Vintage shirt!

Emerging from being a local artist out of Baltimore, Wordsmith recently penned a deal with a pretty big Indie label in the UK and is planning to move there in February as well as touring the UK with G-Unit. He recently opened up for Fabolous and B2K, working on an album with the legendary Chubb Rock, and yea he’s pretty much doin it big these days! He is one of the first artists we sponsored and has always been a huge supporter of our vision and our apparel. Going as far as to wear our stuff on stage at any appearances and including a link to our site in every email he sends out.

Nas, we love ya man… but remix that joint for your album and tell your producers to stop biting. People might not know who Wordsmith is now.. but they soon will. That’s whats up!

Both songs can be heard HERE. So go ahead and judge for yourself.

–Shaun

According to Billboard Magazine, Kanye West outsold 50 Cent by a whopping 266,000 copies in the controversial first week of sales. That’s wild, but like I sort of expected. Ironically both camps admitted a face-off was not a smart move as both albums undersold their previous debuts in the hundred’s of thousands. Ultimately both artists made out less than they had in their previous debuts. Never-the-less where part of a media fiasco that lended to the strong sales. Despite the lower than previous units sold those #’s where far surpassed by the albums attention and promotion given to the face-off which was worth its countless weight in gold. I wonder how they both would have done had this not gotten the level of attention it did?

Yes, I bought Kanye’s album. Not suprisingly it was very creative and I’ve been rocking it in my car on the way into work. Although Kanye still is a featherweight in the lyrics department he makes up for the fault in clever, layer heavy, weighty beats that keep your attention on the overall flow of his songs. Kanye has an international appeal about his stuff. I’ve been saying this for years now, but people out of the States seam to have a better appreciation for the hip-hop culture than most of the people here in the U.S. do. Less gun talk, street cred, and more musically inclined genius coming from the underground are the champions of the airwaves and clubs oversees. Why is that? I guess another story for another time. But anyway… back to my point.

Sadly, 50 Cent seams to have revoked his challenge according to the LA Times story that says 50 recorded 12 tracks for a 4th album before ever making the Kanye album sales statement. That album is due out in 2008 ironically titled “Before I Self Destruct” which is also the last under contract with Interscope. I have been looking online for some rebuttal by Kanye but so far haven’t found anything. My suspicions are 50’s retirement will be a page out of Jay-Z’s book making a comeback a year or two afterwards and reluctantly the world has yet to hear the last of Curtis. Oh well. There’s more drama left in the world to contend with…

-Shaun

I sat down with Shine Your Light Radio (a popular Christian music station) this past Saturday as a guest DJ. I was interviewed about Vintage Clothing Limited, my music production company Pinnacle Rhythms, the state of hip-hop, life, and some other things worth listening to. It was a really good interview! We got in-depth on some stuff that I have been wanting to get off my chest for some time now. Plus we got into some great stuff about what it takes to do what we do. How we do it, and what it means for us to be part of it! Definitely check it out!

Download the 26 minute interview as an mp3 file HERE. (12mb)

-Shaun

We had some problems with our shopping cart only allowing UPS shipping rates which resulted in some downtime from our loyal International customers. One of our customers was kind enough to point this out to us and emailed us prompting me to look into the problem. I spent a good part of the week fixing the issue… but now I am happy to say IT’S FIXED!!! And we NOW offer LOWER International Shipping Rates from our online store!

If you visited the store and abandoned your cart because of the “shock” from the shipping… LOL… please go back and login again. Your cart will be in-tact and your items will still be there. Give it another shot and I bet you’ll be happy to find our new lower rates are much more reasonable.

We truly appreciate our International customers. Unlike allot of other companies that don’t offer International shipping… we’re very happy to take the extra time and make sure you don’t get left out. Thanks again for your support!

-Shaun

50’s hot! (for about 3 weeks). I think 50 n Kanye r both going to have great albums, but 50 cent’s will be hot as long as he’s dropping n pushing his singles. Kanye’s joint will be timeless… ( i hope ).

Anyway check out this article I read earlier…

In survey, Puerto Ricans say they’re happiest
By Matthew Hay Brown

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — This U.S. territory of sandy beaches and lush rain forest, close-knit families and endless celebrations is home to the happiest people in the world, according to a new study.
Never mind the low income or the high murder rate, the double-digit unemployment or the troubled public schools. Puerto Ricans say the emphasis on extended family, an easy warmth even among strangers and a readiness to celebrate anything, anywhere, at any time all contribute to a high quality of life here.
“There are over 500 festivals in Puerto Rico, and there are only 365 days in a year,” said Francisco Cavo, a U.S. Army medic at Fort Buchanan, near San Juan. “That’s a lot of fun on the schedule.”
The United States ranked 15th among the 82 societies in the study by the Stockholm-based World Values Survey, which was based on interviews with 120,000 people representing 85 percent of the global population. That put the United States ahead of Britain, Germany, France, Japan, China and Russia, but behind Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada.
The subjective well-being rankings are one part of an ongoing study of social, cultural and political change by a global network of social scientists.
The rankings are based on responses to questions about happiness and life satisfaction. Generally, the wealthiest nations tend to be the happiest. But Latin American societies, particularly those around the Caribbean — Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic — prove an exception.

Happiness rankings 


Happiest
1. Puerto Rico
2. Mexico
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Iceland
Least happy
78. Russia
79. Armenia
80. Ukraine
81. Zimbabwe
82. Indonesia
The Orlando Sentinel

University of Michigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart, chairman of the survey, calls it “the Latino bonus.”

“They’re not the richest people in the world,” he said. “You seem to get a plus for being Latino.”
Inglehart says determining the reasons requires more study. But in Puerto Rico, at least, Enrique Rodriguez said he already knows.
“We are a small island, and people are nice to each other,” said Rodriguez, a retired government worker who lives in Old San Juan. “Everybody gets along. When we pass in the street, we say hello to each other.
“We have our problems like everyone, but they’re nothing like in Cuba or the Middle East. Even those without jobs have something to eat.”
Cavo, 22, a married father of two, stresses the importance of family.
“We value friends and family a lot,” he said. “I don’t know other countries. But the meaning of what a family is seems to be a little bit different here. It’s not just your wife and kids. It’s your mom and dad, uncles, aunts, all the cousins, everybody who’s got your last name.”
At the other end of the rankings, the former Soviet republics — Ukraine, Russia and Georgia among them — and the formerly communist nations of Eastern Europe, such as Romania, Bulgaria and Albania, are disproportionately unhappy.
“That is not surprising,” Inglehart said. “It’s not that they’re the poorest in the world, but they are societies that have gone from being fairly well-off and fairly secure to being very disoriented — poor, and life expectancy has fallen, and their standard of living has fallen, and their position in the world has fallen.”
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

-Eric Nine