seen.´s non-hippie reggae and dancehall blog

Besides the right T and maybe the fitting cap, sneakers are without a doubt the most important part of fresh gear. Not only in HipHop- but in all kind of sub- and/or youth cultures. In Jamaica, too, there are some kicks that run the place. The Converse Chucks or the Nike Air Force 1 (just recently, Busy Signal mentioned them in his anthem “These Days”) just to name two.
If you want to learn about how all that hype on certain pairs of shoes evolved, follow this link which leads to a full-length version of “Just For Kicks“. A brilliant documentary on sneakers and sneaker freaks incl. great interview footage and stunning animated graphics.

We´re proud to announce that today seen. launched the very first cooperation T-Shirt that the living Jamaican photography-legend, Peter Dean Rickards (The Afflicted Yard is in your bookmarks anyway, right?), has ever released.
As in reggae- and dancehallmusic everything starts from “Scratch”, we chose P. D. R.´s portrait of groundbreaking genius producer Lee Perry to kick off the cooperation.
Get yours now, before them gone.

Producer: 77Klash
Label: Klash City Records
Featured Artists: Vybz Kartel, Aidonia, Lutan Fyah, Noble Society, Alyllson Faith , Natural Black, Jah Mason, Kid Kurrupt, Whiskey Baggio, Kim Kartina, Future Fambo, Father Bookie

When you read “Swarm” and “New York City”, you´re most likely to instantly think of a compilation featuring some b-side “Killa Bees” from the Wu-Tang camp released back in 1998.
Well, almost ten years have past since then and in 2007 “The Swarm” is the name of a brandnew bastard riddim straight out of Brooklyn ´s heart. It unifies an oldshool Jamaican dancehall rhythm with Euro-American electro-rock sounds.
Produced by 77Klash (anyone out there remembering Turbulence´s “Notorious”, ee?), the selection features some JA-allstars like Kartel and Aidonia as well as a bunch of artistes from the States that are new to me.
Surprisingly, i think it´s them who manage to catch the vibe of the Swarm even better than their colleagues from Kingston (even though Donia is killing it lyrically). Especially the tunes from a Flatbush-based crew called Noble Society and the female singer Alyllson Faith are murder.
“Ring di Alarm tell them we a come with the Swarm”.

Check the riddim-mix by Don Everest and head over to iTunes if you like what you hear.

[audio:http://blog.seen-site.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/swarm-riddim-mix.mp3]

Just a little add-on to the AK-47-paper-kit-post from some weeks ago: the porcelain AKs of Mr. Charles Krafft (who also builds Hitler-teapots and some other weird weird shit).

A post on Hypediss took me to the “LP Cover Lover” blog. Nice collection of LP album and 45 covers. Unfortunately, there´s no Reggae or Dancehall cover artwork to be found there yet. However, there´s a small but fine Ska category.

It´s a lazy Sunday morning, so I´m just gonna provide you with some interesting reading

- The Piracy Paradox (why knockoffs are good for fashion) (via Boing Boing)
- Wie Karmaloop seine Kunden zu (Mit-)Verkäufern macht (sorry to all the non German-speaking readers…)

and some wicked music recommended by our friend Dylan Powe (Prodigal Ent.):

- The Party Vol. 5: Hands Up (”good hipster crunk electro mix” incl. Jamaica´s new female sensation Natalie Storm)
- Santogold (”a punk reggae nuwave voice” produced by Switch - also check this feature and that FADER article)