When I first laid eyes on them last night the spring release party last night, I instantly fell short of breath.
So, I'll just let the good folks over at Suite Sole give you the lowdown on the freshest kicks for the spring season:
"Let's get straight to the point. We start you off with one of the sickest Dunk Highs we've carried since the store's opening. It's consists of a bright orange Kevlar material, with 3M reflective mesh woven in. The lighter orange swoosh has a subdued look, but works really well with these Dunks. The gum outsole/insole are the finishing touches on this must-have heater..."
For the first time a while, I've come across a song that had to grow on me before I decided to accept it.
Kid Cudi seemed like he came out of nowhere, right? A combination of Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and...Dead Prez.
Is There Any Love? is a hauntingly beautiful song that gets to the grittiness of the Ohio-born rapper as he contests whether the hip-hop nation is ever going to give Cudi the recognition and respect that he and his comrades deserve.
Kid Cudi feat. Wale - "Is There Any Love?"/G.O.O.D Music
Now that he has signed with Kanye-owned labe, GOOD Music, it's now left up to time to tell whether he's going to shoot for the stars or crash and burn.
First, to all of my loyal readers/followers, I want to apologize for not keeping this little blog of mine in better condition than I have in the past.
It would be much more convenient for me to make a million and one excuses as to why I have failed to bring you the best of my sartorial musings, but that would be doing you a grave disservice, and I want nothing more than to see you happy.
With that said, be on the look out (i.e - the next few hours), for a whole new slew of all things Dubious, because for all those who know me, I aim to please.
To the untrained individual, these words may seem like nothing short of gibberish, but to anyone who had the pleasure of attending Suite Sole’s February Sneaker Preview party this past weekend, these words are about as sacred as anything found in the Bible.
The newest lines of funky fresh sneakers made their debut during the event covering everything from the at-one-time-underground-but-now-a-mainstream-hit, aLife, to the industry staple, Nike. People from all over came out to the small but cozy boutique on the corner of Spring and St. Phillip Streets to show their love to Andrea and Gustavo Serrano, the husband and wife team responsible for the successful establishment of both B’zar and Suite Sole.
“We have been here for about four years or so and we make sure that we cater to the people before we do anything for ourselves. That’s how you keep people coming back,” Gustavo (or "Gus" as most of his friends endearingly refer to him) said in response to the recent closing of many Upper and Lower King Street establishments.
Even though B’zar, their flagship venture, has experienced the onslaught of the local small business shutdown, it did not extinguish their spirits (and hospitality) when it came time to showcase their newest shipment of limited-edition kicks.
“You see these right here!? They’re called the ‘Scandal’ because they are scandalous! You know? Wooo!” Gus exclaimed while he described a new women’s high top that was resting on the top shelf.
Throughout the night, everyone from Gus and Andrea, to store manager Walter Pinckney and the hordes of sneaker heads that poured into the place seemed to almost bask in the glow of every shoe and accessory perched somewhere either high or low on the walls of Suite Sole.
Some looked at them with sheer accomplishment while others looked with pure jealousy. But there was something different when it came to the way that the Serranos, practically the Bonnie and Clyde of the local shoe game, looked at things that night.
There was a certain excitement that would periodically streak across their faces, almost synchronously, when they would realize that this is what it was really all about. Screw the closings, the nation’s economic crisis, or even the guy in the corner who has tried on every shoe in the building with no intention of buying a thing.
It was about the people. The people who have made it their business to keep the Serranos’ alive for as long as they have.
The hipsters and the skaters, the mothers, brothers, uncles and aunts; the friends and enemies, near and far. And, yes, perhaps even that guy trying on all those shoes…
Well, kids, it is that magical time yet again. A time where elementary school teachers assign that ubiquitous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech project, McDonalds airs it slew of ‘365Black’ campaign commercials and white people everywhere are left constantly on edge, making damn sure not to disturb the cosmos with the slightest mention of anything remotely offensive.
Yep, you guessed it! It’s finally Black History Month.
But there is something different about this one, my brothers and sisters. I don’t see any Kwanzaa-inspired streamers hanging from the rafters of various campus buildings. No commemorative drum circle chats at Marion Square held by the same five, grungy, dreadlocked white kids that seem to know more about Bob Marley’s smoking habits than the Rastafarian culture that molded him.
Instead, there is a silence. A dead, eerily calm silence. This same silence, oddly enough, speaks volumes and volumes to those who take the time to listen enough: Black History Month has become a relic. An ancient, often times, mythic occurrence.
This spells both good and/or bad news depending on which side of the fence you sit.
For blacks, this can be seen as a chance to breathe a heavy sigh of relief, because you will not longer have to sit idly by and watch the same three documentaries centered around those timeless ‘turning points’ in your history: the American Slave Trade, Fredrick Douglass and anybody that had something to do with the Civil Rights Movement.
Adversely, being on the cusp of electing the first biracial president into the White House, blacks will also have the daunting task of trying to blaze a new trail, so to speak. A new generation has been given new responsibilities, so now there has to be a new set of breakthroughs, pioneers and heroes that were going to have to foster as a people.
Otherwise, there won’t be much material for the good folks over at Mickey D’s to work with now will there?
I haven’t forgotten about you, my beautiful, white brothers and sisters. You guys have a great deal of work ahead of you as well.
First and foremost, you are going to have to get rid of every pre-packaged, spoon-fed and user-friendly version of our history that you may (or may not) have stored in the nether regions of your mind. And as much as you would like to contest with us, Vanilla Ice is not, nor will he ever be, one of the top 5 rappers of our time.
Instead, take a minute or two out of your day and talk to us. Who? Us. Not the ones that you see on BET and MTV, shaking their posteriors and yelling about how their jewelry costs enough to purchase a small country, (Albeit, this is a part of our overall history, but like the drunk uncle that constantly comes to the family dinners, we choose not to talk about this part much), but the ones who you see almost everyday on your way to class: your classmates!
We are your best resource for the most up-to-date news, events and history when it comes to forming the ‘new school’ edition of our black history. We are ultimately the ones who will be left in charge when our superiors become our ancestors. So why wouldn’t you want to jump at the chance to get a first-edition copy of the ‘new, black history’?
Look, the point I’m trying to get across here is that if we as a nation are going to come to the sound agreement to set aside 29 whole days to focus on the cultural obstacles and achievements of a entire race, we might as well work together to make it, well, good!
But in order for that to happen, we must first set aside the time to sit down and actually open up a line of communication between each other because, believe it or not, there are some things about black people that listening to the entire Tupac discography or watching the movie, ‘Separate, But Not Equal’, will not teach you about us.
As much I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, there is a certain hysteria that came along with the inauguration of the newest (and probably blackest) president in our nation’s history, there’s no doubt about that.
Here is the moment of truth, though. The moment where the streamers stop flying, the confetti is swept up and Sheppard Fairey sulks his way back into the depths of covert, political propaganda. The moment where every man, woman and child will now have to step back and watch with rampant anticipation whether the ‘Last Scion’, er, ‘Great Hope’ (or whatever other nicknames we have adopted for him), can actually pull off one of the greatest comebacks in history since ’86 Mets in the World Series.
Of course, saying that President Obama is going to have his hands full is a gross understatement and should be taken for more than just a grain of salt. Between the perpetual ‘war zone’ that is the Gaza Strip and a crumbling world economy, the new president is going to have to do a little more than shake a few hands and make music videos with Will.i.am to take us off of this seemingly one-way ticket to oblivion.
It is a tough thing to ask of one person, but I feel that Obama was well aware of his job description before he filled out the application. That is not to say this feat has never been accomplished in our ‘eventful’ past as a free nation.
Enter: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or FDR, for those partial to brevity.
Delano, somewhat of a miser in his earlier days, was instrumental in pulling this country up by its bootstraps out of the economical muck that was the ‘Great Depression’. With the First and Second New Deals, Roosevelt was able to nearly quadruple the gross national product and all but dissolve the national unemployment rate before his death in office.
In regards to his foreign policy, there is no question that he made strides to form alliances with some of the most influential countries in the world; that, coupled with his military tact during World War II, caused Roosevelt to become one of the world’s most renowned political leaders.
Now, with such an impressive resume, Roosevelt would seem to be a tough act to follow.
Quite the contrary, though.
America is now going to have the difficult task of coming to grips with the fact that no matter how many collectors’ cups, personalized t-shirts and commemorative coins we sell in effigy to the new president, there is going to be a time where the president’s meddle is going to be tested sooner than later, and I hope that Obama has everything that it takes to turn this country around. Our reputation as a country is counting on it…
