01.28.11

Yellow Gold.

Here it is, Nickelus F's latest tape Yellow Gold. Minus one track, the record is produced solely by 0hbliv. Check out the tracklist and download after the jump.

01.24.11

01.22.11

Nick & Lee.

So what happens when you put a dope emcee from Richmond in the same room as a soon to be legend producer from Petersburg? The same thing you get when you put a dope emcee, future legend, and an incredibly good looking, talented cameraman in the same room. Greatness... Too subtle?

01.20.11

Got my roll back. More pictures eventually.

Nick and Lee.

Don't mind the SHHO watermark. The other day we were in the studio with Nickelus F and Lee Major aka The Inkredibles to see what the two could do in the same room. The track should be in Nick's upcoming mixtape/album Faces.

Check out more photos at SHHO & PROVE.

The Model.

Now you all probably know Seu Jorge from the Life Aquatic, but what you might not know is that he is also in this awesome short. Check it out.

Yellow Gold.

Richmond’s own bring you Yellow Gold. Nickelus F delves into his upcoming mixtape, produced entirely by 0hbliv, and brought to you by the Student Hip-Hop Organization. The mixtape is a culmination of homegrown hip-hop with a soulful sound. In the video, 0hbliv drops a beat and Nickelus F provides a sneak preview of what’s to come. Yellow Gold releases 1/24/11.

01.09.10.

Where Are They Now: Bob Seger.

What happens when a generation forgets their voice? The myth of Bob Seger wandering Virginia's capital has been dismissed many times before, but with the turn of the new year, it seems as though Richmond may have a new tourist attraction.

More pictures after the jump.

The Sartorialist.

Here's a little cool little documentary on Scott Schuman, also known as The Sartorialist. It was shot on a Canon 1D mark IV in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Check out a cool interview with the DP Joe Aguirre here.

Film Resolution.

So I've made it my New Year's resolution to shoot more in film. When I was younger, I only shot in black and white film and developed them at the school darkrooms. Recently I've been so caught up with video that I've put film on the back burner. Well now they're burnt and I want some more.

Someone I've recently caught on to is Tim Barber, founder of Tiny Vices. Here are some photos from a campaign he did with Nike.

A Conversation with Jeff Staple.

In Part 1, Jeff discusses the origins of Staple Design and it’s name. He talks about growing up in a rural town of New Jersey, the neighboring behemoth that was New York City, and how he wants to be remembered when it’s all said and done. Finally, he speaks on just what happened with Darren Hudson, the childhood namesake of his first blog.

TWK 2010 Recap: Part II

June 07. The first day of my intense summer called Summer Intensive led me pulling focus on a short called Small Steps for Mankind about a pothead astronaut with a homicidal, drug dealing son. I spent hours inside a cardboard space shuttle watching old men drop acid. I should stop here before someone sees this.

June 23. Next up was But Daddy Loves Mama.... It was about a guy who likes women and has a few kids or something. No one really knows but it was shot in 35mm so that was fun. I took the role of craft services on this shoot and avoided all the stress that came with it. The most memorable moment from the production? Fried Rice! Just kidding, there were some beautiful shots all over Richmond including the Byrd Theatre. Where else would we find a Wurlitzer?

June 29. If Altman's Nashville was shot by college kids in Richmond you'd get Xanadu Undone. I manned the camera on this one and it felt pretty comfortable being shot at the Canal Club downtown. Did I mention we filmed a sex scene in the basement of the VCU Cabell Library? And yeah, that's Stephen from Black Girls earlier.

July 09. The last film for me that summer was a little one called Wives. I think it was the best and so did the audience that voted it so. Being camera operator, I got to witness a man in his 50s kick it with several twenty-somethings. Jeff Wincott's a super nice dude and has been in The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, 24 and has had a ton of other little parts in big movies. He's left us now for LA however so best of luck to him.

September 11. One of the mixtapes I listened to most last year didn't just have to do with Pilots, Orange Juice or Friday Nights, it had to do with Chasing Forever. Those fortunate enough to be invited to the listening party for Millz finished mixtape left with, even though maybe just temporarily, a new outlook in life. All different types of people showed love as we all watched the videos and performances off the mixtape. All that was missing was lasers and a fog machine.

September 12. It's been a long time coming but something about Jeff Staple's love of teaching along with Arnold bugging him enough brought him down to Richmond for a little lecture. There's not much to say about this since it's probably, and will definitely soon, be milked for all its worth. Bottom line, Jeff's cool. Tell everybody I said so.

September 17. Creative Nation brought down the Taylor Gang, Big K.R.I.T. and some others to Richmond for a hell of a time. Though I thought the ballet venue wasn't the best place for a hip hop show, Wiz and the Gang delivered a pretty good performance. Yes, he is tall and yes, he does smoke every minute of the day.

September 24. Now we all need days off. Whether it be off from speaking at lectures or off from photoshoots, we need time to relax. In my case however a photoshoot with the best girl is just as good. Now let's all take a moment to relax... Finished yet?

October 02. Now back on the goal, a few of us went down to the RP55 Group in Virginia Beach and met with Ralph Reynolds. He showed us around the warehouse and design studio of Play Cloths and AKOO. Some big scale stuff in there. Did I tell you about Sick Society? Well it's a clothing company a few of us are trying to get on its feet.

October 15. Arnold, Neil and I started driving around all different parts of Richmond to talk to different individuals in the Hip-Hop community here. We started with our old friend Brad O better known as 0hbliv, at his new pad. We stumbled past records and toys for his son. Big things coming with him and SHHO. Have you heard Nick's new track yet? Google it. Nickelus F - What To Believe prod. 0hbliv

October 20. Next on the list was Heavyhitter Lonnie B. He welcomed us into his pad and it was definitely a different look from 0hbliv's. We talked about the past, present, future of Hip-Hop and then he showed us his bat. It's cool though because his last name is Battle. Get it?

October 21. Lee Major is the dude behind some of the best tracks in Hip-Hop. This guy might have a Grammy sitting above his fireplace and he's just a twentysomething from across the street. We met with him and I made him pose in uncomfortable positions around a church just so I could say it.

October 24. It's been a while but I finally got a hair cut. It's been long for some time now but it had to be done. But that aside, I shot a second video for my friend/Sick Society owner/personal bodyguard Jayo P at the Pizza Shop in Petersburg. Not to be confused with a Pizza Shop, the Pizza Shop is actually a skate shop that has some shirts from Sick Society in it. So we automatically like them. Here's a video that you can actually watch. Check out his mixtape here. 

October 29. DJ A-Plus of iPower 92.1 was another dude in the list of Richmond's Hip Hop influencers that we had in mind. We met with him earlier at the station but this night he was last to be photographed on that long day. Stopping at Piccola's for a bite to eat, I did what I always do. Lurk around and take pictures.

November 10. Friend's at Need Supply moved down the block in Carytown to a bigger and better location. I came in to take some footage of the new store for the site along with getting caught trying to steal ten pairs of jeans and a chambray tie. They also renovated their site a little awhile back, the blog always has some neat stuff.

December 04. The family at UVA SHHO brought down Mac Miller and Big Sean for their first official event and it was successful to say the least. It was great to see a young version of all the original founders doing their thing. Their thing as in being super stressed out and running around answering phones.

December 12. This is the second time I've worked with SK and this time one of the dancers he brought down just happened to be the VP of ODU SHHO. Small world. Anyways, I had a fun time watching him lip sync in the pouring rain. And by fun I mean it was miserable.

December 15. I apologize for not having a more interesting picture for enders. Unless you want to see photos of all my dope Christmas presents and the insane New Years Eve photos that don't really exist, you're out of luck. Here we are talking about designs for the first official drop of the Sick Society. And yes, that shirt has a bunch of nines and sixes on it!

A Prophet.

I saw this movie last night from my couch and I must say it was pretty damn good. They say if you like the Godfather you should see this but I wouldn't know. Despite the first few minutes of the movie being extremely uncomfortable to watch with my parents, once it's over the film will refill you with dudes killing other dudes. The trailer above was the only one I could find in HD so don't mind the Spanish. If you're really interested just watch the movie, it's only about two and a half hours good. Now on Netflix Streaming. Viva la France.

TWK 2010 Recap: Part I

2010 has come to an end and the new year has finally arrived just in time. Looking back people always say that the year has moved so quickly, but for me when I look back at old photos all I see is steady progress. Did I just really meet some good friends only this year? Did I really only take that photo in Februrary. It seems so long ago. So here's the annual recap of my year.

JANUARY 13. I had met Millz just the night before as we discussed for hours about what we wanted in life. Like many of you guys, I had no idea who he was. "A rapper." I've heard that before but he had the cosign from SHHO so I gave him a listen. The next morning I get a phone call from Arnold telling me to come over and witness how Millz writes. I came in the room with my camera and spy him just sitting there with a beat on loop. A few hours later we hit the studio and he records the track. No pen, no paper. This day was significant not only because we shot a part of his promo video, but I got to figure out who Millz was. A dude who is really hungry for the dream, respect and music. Chasing Forever... Oh yeah and exotic girls.

JANUARY 14. There's a time where you'll work for free, especially for your friends. But then eventually, you're going to have to start charging. However the goal is that one day you can go back to doing favors. The only difference from working pro bono this time is that money just doesn't matter. Why? Because it's coming out of your butthole. (You're rich.) I visited my friends, Black Girls, for a video shoot as impromptu as a late night phone call can be. They're a band from Richmond who has recently switched up the members around. I worked with the drummer Stephen Farris for a bit whoring our talents to corporate businesses for some fast dough. Pretty sure he still owes me 500 bucks but whatevz right? Anyways I shot a little video for them way back when. You can check them out here.

JANUARY 17. Back with Millz again. This was the first music video I had ever done. It's a track called Letter to Self and has still yet to be released. My buddy Danny Caporaletti helped me out with this one in downtown Richmond and together we got some pretty cool shots for a simple, rainy video. It was so fun that well, I want to do it professionally!

FEBRUARY 03. This was the second time I had met Nickelus F and the first time I met Drake. Knowing the history between them I thought I was in for a treat. Let's just say it lasted about ten seconds. But who I am to say anything, I got some dope photos and made a little video of the night.

FEBRUARY 14. On Valentines Day, the little lady and I went to see Saves the Day and New Found Glory at the National in Richmond. It was fun among some other things and I always enjoy concert photography especially that of a challenging rock band.

FEBRUARY 17. I had started working with Jack at the end of 2009 and we were finishing up the second of four videos of the series. I told him we needed a rooftop and we finally got one. When I took this photo, I knew it'd basically be his headshot, and I think if you ask him, it is. The video we did this morning was that of his Drake painting which he got signed on the day of the show. Check out more from Jack on his website. My New Year's resolution for him is to update it more.

FEBRUARY 20. Met back up with Nick this night to shoot the trailer for Season Premiere. I think it'd be safe to say that the first half of the year was about school and Nickelus F. We shot the trailer in Carytown and then moved to downtown Richmond to get some more footage which would end up in his EPK as well as the long lost video for Stand Tall. I'll get to it sometime, my bad!

FEBRUARY 25. For whatever reason, I ended helping out shooting one of those shows you would watch on TV about fancy cars at an autoshow. This however was a fustercluck, no offense Marty, of a production held at 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. I did get something out of it though. Worked with a 5D for the first time and also took some snazzy photos. Above is a picture of a bike. It's probably expensive.

FEBRUARY 27. Fast forward a few days to a show at William & Mary. I met the good people of SHHO W&M and got some footage of Nick and Millz for their respective EPKs. We printed the Stay Gold SHHO Tee's and we were all sporting the navy SHHO hoodies you've probably seen around. Fun times with the SHHO family.

APRIL 13. This might be my favorite video that I've done. Given all my videos are pretty simple and involve a lot of walking on the artist's part, What Am I Supposed To Do has a certain mood and feeling that I really like. I also had a great time working with Nick and one of his producer's Stefan Skeeter the whole day. Who would have guessed the Shamrock Festival would show up and give everyone beer the day of shooting? How's that for craft?

APRIL 26. It seems like I've always worked with Corey Smith, but this day was I guess the first official time it was just him as a solo artist. We went over to Minimum Wage Recording over in Oregon Hill to shoot a part of the trailer for his mixtape, The Definition. Jack also accompanied us to this dope studio and later on we picked up Millz for a little musical collaboration. A good start for the busy next few days.

APRIL 27. I started working with Need Supply in Richmond sometime last year. We shot the Fall promo video behind their old office in Manchester and made the best from a bitter, cold day. It was fun and different to say the least and I look forward to what we can do in the future post-college.

APRIL 28. Bringing D Caps back out, we shot the second video, Understand Me, for Millz this day along with celebrating SHHO co-founder Deji's birthday. Yeah, the day Arnold sprained his hand giving birthday punches. The picture above was also for a little photoshoot of 2AM Recordings which Millz is apart of. 

APRIL 29. I don't remember why I didn't make this show in time but I didn't. Coming back on Wilco's fourth song of the set, I wasn't allowed to snap any photos in the pit. So I took out my longest lens I had on me and started wandering the sold out crowd for a decent shot. It was a shame because the lighting was too dope.

MARCH 02. This was the Four Year Birthday of The SHHO and we celebrated by working our asses off and bringing J. Cole for all you motherfuckers. Of course back then, no one in town knew who he was and now everyone wants a piece of him. Even VCU with their homecoming. Oh well, I guess that's the price you pay for being super duper cool.

MARCH 11. This was the last day of shooting for me and Nick in a while. We got some more footage for his EPK and some performances for the Stand Tall music video. Speaking of Nick, let me take time out to tell you all that his latest mixtape will be coming out on the eleventh of this month so be on the look out for Yellow Gold. Anyways, it's always interesting to see how many rappers there are out there. On more than one account, someone has stopped us in Richmond and asked what we were doing. Nick then proceeds to give them a little sample. Then they proceed to give us a sample. Everyone has bars. Everyone has beats. But it's easy hanging out with Nick to compare and contrast.

MAY 17. The book. Maybe you've heard of it and maybe you've read it. But we took out a big part of our lives and put our blood, sweat, tears, money, cash, and dough into this SHHO Brand Book. Everything was coming to an end but we just needed to figure out the last part of it. The cast. Here's Neil interviewing Elijah for that very segment. We were so young.

MAY 28. I ended my school year by attending a graduation at the Naval Academy in Maryland. I always tell myself if I didn't have a passion for whatever it is that I do. I'd go to the Naval Academy. College here actually means something as opposed to memorizing facts and going to parties. Anyways, I had such a good time I pissed my pants. I'll tell you about that some other day.

Be on the lookout for Part II coming soon.