FRANK NITT Album Release Party Photo Recap #1

FRANK NITT

"JEWELS IN MY BACKPACK" RELEASE PARTY

BLACKNBLING + DELICIOUS VINYL

at freak city. photos by Andre Power

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrepower/sets/72157624157542972/

BNB APPROVED : BATTLECAT

BATTLECAT

BATTLECAT has alllllllways been one of my musical favorites.  He is a hood hero; a god among men when it comes to the true West Coast sound.  The level of creativity that an artist like Battlecat has achieved is one that can't be touched.  He [re]defined LA hip-hop, taking the simple 2-4 drum beats that had already been heavily popularized out West and adding a ton of melody on top.  His use of complex harmonies within the beat and simple percussion layered over the drums creates such a unique sound, that it can only be defined as 'amazing'.  You always know when it's a Battlecat beat.  He takes the boogie of 70's roller skate music, combines it with stacked synthesized keys and true piano sounds, then adds his signature drums (often with claps) right under to seal the deal on every track.  

BATTLECAT gets a 10 out of 10 from BNB.

babyJames is HERE!! Congrats to Leo and House Shoes

Congratulations and tons of love to the proud parents of James Deshaun Buchanan, aka babyShoes. Leo is a trooper, yo. and Shoes, we love love love you. congrats on not passing out.

Here's the play-by-play from House Shoes himself, via Twitter:
(its all backwards time-wise, of course, but you get the point)

# 8 lbs 1oz. huge nuts about 11 hours ago from mobile web

# james deshaun is here. beautiful.about 11 hours ago from mobile web

# i aint lookin beyond this sheet.about 11 hours ago from mobile web

# im startin some new shit. twitterblunts. *fires it up and passes to the left*about 11 hours ago from mobile web

# oh yeah. i saw lil mans peter on the sonogram. its gargantuan.about 12 hours ago from mobile web

# i need blunts. asap.about 12 hours ago from mobile web

# i look so fresh in this hazmat suit. soopafly.about 12 hours ago from mobile web

# i need yall to tell all the homies... my phone aint workin... downey hospital. goin to OR nowabout 12 hours ago from mobile web

# at the hospital. the king arrives today. very soon. my phone has no signal.about 12 hours ago from mobile web

# water has broken. phone has no signal. downey hospital on brookshire... holla!about 13 hours ago from mobile web

Conscious Love.

As we settle into winter, love and relationships seem to become more enticing. The Do Over flings have concluded, the fickle flavors of summer are dwindling, and real life is taking affect once more. It feels like once the weather gets cold, so does the lonely heart. Those who are single feel the chill a bit more; those who are connected hibernate; and those who's status is "pending" spiral into an emotional whirlwind (self included).
Lately Ive found myself diving into movies and books and stories about love. I watch my parents (who partially inspired this entry), and I watch my friends who's relationships are really working...and I love it. My boss is getting married next month, and she is so in love. Its beautiful. And Leo...my God, Leo...she got House Shoes to be Michael Buchanan. Its amazing. Watching him love her (in his own Shoes kind of way) is so cute and so blessed. A few of my other friends have sewn it up and settled into love, and they wear it well.
Anyway, my parents went on an "ice cream sundae date" tonight and it got me thinking about our generation and its interpretation of love. I'm researching "The Conscious" and right now learning about Conscious Love, and I wanted to share an excerpt of what I have learned:


Love without divination is elementary. To be in love demands that
the lover shall divine the wishes of the beloved long before they have come
into the beloved's own consciousness. He knows her better than she
knows herself; and loves her more than she loves herself; so that she
becomes her perfect self without her own conscious effort. Her conscious
effort, when the love is mutual, is for him. Thus each delightfully works
perfection in the other.

Shook Magazine - Issue No. 3

Issue No. 3 of SHOOK Magazine is out now! It features an article on LA (and BNB)'s favorite Sunday spot, the Do Over, with pics by kyLA and writing from Andres aka Sweeney Kovar.


This issue of SHOOK contains tons of dope content and articles on some of the BNB homies. So check it out at WWW.SHOOK.FM or purchase your copy (with an exclusive mix CD) at myspace.com/sweeneykovar

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL - Photojournalism from kyLA.

i was walking down Melrose the other morning around 10am and passed by this building. i crossed the street and saw a Benz, a BMW and lots of other expensive cars parked in the Starbucks parking lot and wished that I was among the privileged who could afford fancy cars and $5 coffee every day. I kept on walking, caught up in thought, and passed a mother with 3 kids at her sides. The kids looked hungry and mama looked like she'd had enough. Some boys were on the corner huddled in a rap cipher under a billboard of Miles Davis playing his horn. Latin music, then gospel music poured from cars slowly passing by with their windows down and i saw the man in car #1 lean in and kiss the lady who was his passenger. Car #2 hosted an argument (the one with the gospel music). It involved the word b-i-t-c-h and the passenger got out in a flustered mess.
i looked at every one and studied each scenario. I saw the poor, the rich, the wannabe rich...the hungry mother, the stardom-hungry rap circle and a bunch of other passersby, and was suddenly overwhelmed. So much life was around me. So much circumstance. But I just kept walking. Until I saw Billie Holiday. And the words "LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL". It summed up the moment perfectly and stopped me in my tracks.

"life is beautiful", such truth to that. i learned a lesson that day, and appreciate my circumstances and my life even more. That morning on Melrose stuck with me, and I just want to share it with the BNB fam. So just...appreciate life yall.

Thanks for reading.
-kyLA.

Robshot is dope.

DSC_4029, originally uploaded by Robshot.

you betta know it.

Peanut Butter Wolf : 888 @ Rootdown

if you missed this, go ahead and dislike yourself for the rest of the day. It was AMAZERBLING.



photos can be found here:

www.flickr.com/photos/blacknbling/sets

I [finally] Imade House Shoes proud.

i want to let the record state that I love DJ House Shoes.

Shoes knows a lot about a lot, and he has a really big heart. Dude is consistent. You can guarantee that if he dj's he will play your favorite song, he will drink hennessey, he will hug you like a bear, and he will tell you to go home and have unprotected sex with yourself. Shoes will make you laugh, he will make you want to punch his lights out, and he will make you love him more and more every day. Shoes is one of the most genuine people I know. And when you get him off the scene, outside of the glitz and grime of the music world, you will see how truly amazing he is.
When Shoes tells me something, I listen. And thus far, hes always been right. He has supported my visions and supported blacknbling since its conception. And I love him for that.

I didnt set out to make this all mushy-gushy. But I do want to send some authentic, from the soul LOVE to House Shoes. Hes watched me grow as a photographer and as a person, and i FINALLY made him proud with my work. The picture up at the top means a lot to me. When I took this photo, something happened. Its perfect. I showed it to Shoes (who lost his mind) and he showed it to Rhett (who also lost his mind), and Shoes said "this is the picture Ive been waiting all this time for you to take". Of the thousands of snap-click-snaps I take at every event all over town, this photo is 'the one'. I am thankful.

-kyLA.

Detroit Takeover Photos

The Detroit Takeover was amazing yall. Much Love to all the performers. It was good to see yall, fam. And love love love to all the homies who came out to support.

This is what we do.

So guys,
As we all know blacknbling is seeded in photography. We capture the people, places and things that make the LA hip hop culture what it is in the world right now. So, I just wanted to bring everybody up to speed on some of the fun we've been having with the who's-who of hip hop. Check us out:

9th Wonder:



Cuzzin B (Violator DJ):



Bishop Lamont, Big Dho, Dae One, Big Pooh:

Hex Murda:


Buff1:



Co$$:



Dennis Da Menace (D-Roc in Notorious Movie):



photography is what we do.

-kyLA.

Big Pooh, Not Winnie the Pooh!

[Talking to the homegirl Debz]

her: so ur going [to the kev brown/LMNO instore @ Fat Beats]
me: prob
her: cuz
im going.
i think.
me: cuz i need to exchange my box set
and i didnt get to yesterday
cuz i had to shoot pooh
her: bear
me: not like winnie
like big
her: yes like winnie
me: not winnie, big
her: winnie damn it
me: lol
i cant go around saying i shot winnie the pooh
her: thats G


I can, however say I shot Rapper Big Pooh of Little Brother...cuz I did. Yesterday in Leimert Park, we hung out for a couple hours and took some photos. Check them out here:

Rapper Big Pooh - kyLA of blacknbling photos.

BNB // PPP

Last night the BNB girls partied up at Crash Mansion. We saw tons of old homies, made a few new ones, and had a blast. Blu // Tiombe Lockhart // Proh Mic // Black Spade // Invincible // Coultrain // and PPP!! OUT OF CONTROL. All the performers rocked the spot, everybody had a blast.



Much love to all the members of PPP, past and present. And love to T3's crazy ass too. We love you.

Overdoing It.

47, originally uploaded by black n bling.

Slum Village // Now On // U-N-I + Hennessey + Endo Smoke = a lot.

So anyway, Last night was Crash Mansion. We talked all about it so yall know the deal. It was dope. All the performers did their thing. BNB got to catch up with some old homies, and we took tons of dope pictures (cuz thats what we do), which can be seen here:

www.flickr.com/photos/blacknbling or click BNB Photos in the sidebar on the right.

We love you. Thank you.

crash mansion tonight. again. PPP // Blu + Exile. be there.

<3,
kyLA.

Soundlessons Wrap Up + Photos

So of course the queens of BLING had a little fun this weekend. Soundlessons celebrated the life of JDilla on Saturday night, and everyone had a great time.
Special guests included:
The Pharcyde
Frank of Frank N Dank
Illa J
a special DJ set from DJ Rhettmatic
H+R custom Dilla TShirts

and tons more...here are pictures:

blacknBLU.

The BNB girls caught up with LA's Rookie of the Year, Blu, the other day for some quality kick it time.  Magically, a photoshoot manifested as a result of some good ol' chillaxin.  Heres what we got:

Pretty fresh huh?  We shot blu at a secret location and had a blast doing it.  [pause]

As most of you know, blu is the next big thing in hip hop.  Hes got a show along with TaRaach of the Lovelution next week at tRIPBOOGIE.  They are a real deal holyfield hip hop crew called CRAC KNUCKLES

and have a new record coming soon n all that good stuff.  Their old record, called Piece Talks, is super hard to find but it does exist (CD only).  Ask the right person and youll come across some of their tracks, but it is pretty exclusive (-lusive, -usive...I do my own echos).  New stuff is on the way though, and the album is dope.  

And Blu of course has his solo album, which was everybodys favorite record of 07, "Below The Heavens" along with Exile.  If you dont have it, get it off iTunes or directly from Blu.  And be on the look out for all the new hot ish from LA's own B -L-U.

more pics here: http://flickr.com/photos/blacknbling

i got shot...

Kyla of Black N Bling, originally uploaded by rhettmatic.

...by DJ Rhettmatic of the World Famous Beat Junkies.

LA : Home Sweet Home.

i love you.
-kyLA.

BLACKNWHITENBLING

I know this blog is about blacknbling, but today I feel like talking about blacknwhite. Not like, racially, but just the opposite ends of the spectrum in life that a lot of us are torn between.
I used to be a poet, but now Im a picture taker, so Ill use photos to paint the images of my words.

BEAUTY:


In my world, the community that Im in, youre either "fly" or youre not. Theres not a lot of middle ground when it comes to self image or appearance, and frankly I think that sucks. Hollywood puts the pressure on for us all to fit into a mold, but in our world, none of us fit that typical Hollywood persona. BLACKNBLING is all about being who you are, not who they want you to be, and I feel like lately Ive been in turmoil with who I am versus who Im perceived to be. Have any of you ever experienced that?

MY HOOD VS. YOUR HOOD:


On the real, I grew up in OC. A lot of people think I am from Detroit, or New York or wherever...but not the OC. I rep LA hard cuz thats where Im originally from, but OC grew me into who I am today. Self image was only half the battle. Being black in orange county led to a verrry self-contained adolescence. Have you ever been different than everybody around you? I have. I was labeled "urban" by people afraid to say the word BLACK. I was a "minority" even though inside I always felt so "major". I guess thats why Im BLACKNBLING. Can you relate?

COMMUNITY:



Ive come to realize that I 'am' major. So are you. Cuz we are a part of each other. And this community we exist in, it is major. We aint jiggy, we arent fake, we know the real, and we stick together. This world, based in the commonalities of music, fashion, and personal awkwardness gone right, is our home. Its what we have come to be. We rule the world. Think about it...
our music moves. our art makes sense. our fashion is unique. our love is supreme. We hold the power. Thats so dope to me.


REFLECTION:



And with all that said, I feel like we are a reflection of past generations, but with a twist. Everything old is new again, even in the arts. I am tryina be the new millennium Gordon Parks and make an impact on the world through imagery. I want to chronicle our history, and capture the BEAUTY, the HOOD, the COMMUNITY
and show the people who just dont get it WHY our world is such an amazing place to be.
BLACKNBLING:



Like Ive always said, BLACK is the reason, BLING is the reward. I am, you are, this generation is BLACKNBLING.

signed,
kyLA.

The best of kyLA...

hey loves
check out Flickr for the "Best of kyLA", a compilation of some of BNB's favorite photos. You can catch all these images on digital display this Saturday, 12/15 at the Lioness party at Tantra. kyLA and the BLACKNBLING team will be at the spot with art on display as well as a digital showcase featuring the Best of my work. The photos include a lot of you, so come through and check it out. The BNB team will be party hopping that night, so holler at me so we can caravan around downtown.

click the image to check out the Best of kyLA Flickr set.


xoxo. Love yall.
-kyLA