Author: JD
Ohio Players Leader Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner Dead At 69
SO SORRY TO HEAR THIS Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, leader of the legendary Funk band The Ohio Players, passed away over the weekend. A posting on Bonner’s Facebook fan page brought forth the unfortunate news on Sunday. From Sugarfoot’s Facebook page: Yesterday, Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner passed away quietly in his hometown of Trotwood-Dayton, OH. While his family, friends, colleagues, and fans mourn his passing they celebrate fondly his memory, music, and legacy. Sugarfoot, or Foot, or Sugar, was the founding and cornerstone artistic talent of OHIO PLAYERS and the face and sound of the OHIO PLAYERS brand, which he knit together and launched in 1964 with former members of The Ohio Untouchables. With a career spanning 56 years, he passed barely short of his 70th birthday. Bonner, a native of Hamilton, would join The Ohio Players in the late 1960’s after working with another band in the town of Dayton, and the group made a splash on the music charts in the 70s with hits like “Love Rollercoaster,” “Skin Tight,” “Fire” and other tracks. Marshall “Rock” Jones, bass player and founding Ohio Players member, is reeling from the loss. “It’s kind of crazy. I’m still feeling fragile,” said Jones to theAssociated Press. “I sit back now, and it was all a brilliant blaze.” Keith Harrison of Ohio bands FAZE-O and The Dazz Band praised Bonner in an interview with the Dayton Daily News. “He was a great person with a lot of wisdom not just in music, but in life,” said Harrison. “He was an extraordinary person.” Hip-Hop groups owe a great debt to The Ohio Players, as their music helped form the instrumentals for a bevy of classics. A Tribe Called Quest used the Ohio Players track “Ecstasy” for the “Scenario (Remix)” and DJ Clark Kent used another portion when The Notorious B.I.G. joined Jay-Z for their back-and-forth duo “Brooklyn’s Finest” on Hov’s debut album Reasonable Doubt. Kendrick Lamar (“m.A.A.d City”), Outkast (“Crumblin’ Erb”) and De La Soul (“Me Myself and I”) are among many others who have used samples from the Ohio Players vaults.
A BATHING APE ‘Valentine’s Day’ Pack
A BATHING APE releases this special limited edition pack for the holiday. The t-shirt features a total black-and-white two-color selection, coupled with heart-shaped eyes and a red ape head bringing out the Valentine’s Day mood. The pack comes with a delicate red heart-shaped camouflage box. A BATHING APE Valentine’s Day will be held on February 2nd from the Causeway Bay BAPE store.
Géométrick Caps – Made with Vintage Hermès or Cèline Silk Scarves
HARD!!!! Géométrick, the Paris-based brand, has released these absolutely gorgeous 5-panel luxurious caps. Constructed of vintage Hermès orCèline Silk Scarves, each cap is unique; no two caps are alike. Check out the five available styles in the gallery above and head over toStorm Fashion to purchase one of the caps for a pricey $485 USD.
Kris Kross’ Mac Daddy Explains Why He Still Wears His Pants Backwards
Kris Kross members Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith Kris Kross members Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith will be reuniting on stage on February 23 in Atlanta for the 20th reunion of Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def. Their 1992 debut,Totally Krossed Out, was certified quadruple platinum and spawned the No. 1 hit “Jump.” Hip Hop Media Training recently spoke to Chris Kelly to find out what he’s been up to since the group released its last album, Young, Rich & Dangerous, in 1996; why he still wears his pants backwards, what prompted Kris Kross’ beef with Another Bad Creation, and how they discovered Da Brat. Kelly also offered commentary on some of the other most popular kid rappers of all time. See the Q&A below with Kelly. Hip Hop Media Training: What have you been up to over the years? I heard you went to school to be a music engineer? What made you do that? Chris Kelly: I just wanted to do something different. Get more on the technical side of things than just being an artist, and produce. I just wanted to be [the] all around best I could be as far as doing everything. (photo: FilmMagic) So is it true that the upcoming Kris Kross show is not the beginning of a Kris Kross comeback? We just doing this one show and gone see how it goes. Have you and Chris Smith been in communication the whole time? Me and him, we have our times when we don’t talk and our times that we do talk. But if it’s any time that I needed him or needed to reach him it was never a problem. Kris Kross was known for wearing their pants backwards. Where did that come from? It was kind of a collective idea. We was all just sitting around thinking of something to do different. It probably could have been Jermaine that said, “Hey let’s put our pants on backwards.” I was the first one to do it, and I’m still the last one to still be doing it. We went to the mall and got so much attention. We was like, “Ok, this is it.’” And it just went from there. How uncomfortable was it to wear your pants backwards? I don’t know. Everybody always ask me that. But you have to understand I’ve been wearing my pants backwards for 21 years. Really since ‘91 ‘cause we started a year before we even came out with a record. When I wake up that’s how my pants get put on. Are you saying that you’ve continued to wear you pants backwards all these years? Yeah. I’ve worn my pants backwards since 1991; never frontwards. If you go back to 1991, did people tell you you were crazy for wearing your pants backwards? Yeah. Yeah. And you know people today are like, “Well, I can’t believe you still wear your pants backwards.” Even if I put on a suit, I put my suit pants on backwards. It’s just a way of life for me. Was there real beef with Another Bad Creation? Definitely was. Really? What was the problem? Just the bases that we both was from Atlanta. We felt they just didn’t rap. We felt that they was more of a signing group. Then, the whole clothing thing. They said they started it first. We said we started it first. You know how little conflict start. Did you ever get to know those guys? Actually, I met them on a couple different occasions when I was doing some stuff with my former artist LiLi. I was doing some open mics with her and they were on the show. And we did a few parties together. It wasn’t no problem. We actually ended up being kinda cool. You’ve talked about having Alopecia. How did you find out that you had that issue and how did you deal with? I knew I had Alopecia way before Kris Kross started. I had that since I was a real little boy, around 4 or 5. The thing is with that when I was younger my hair would fall out and it would grow back. But with Alopecia, sometimes it gets to a point where it will never grow back. And that was one of the crazy things when we stopped making records and disappeared from the scene. People thought I had cancer. That was one of the biggest misconnections and biggest rumors that wasn’t true. A lot of people don’t know that Da Brat got her debut on a Kris Kross record. What was your impression of her back then, before she debuted? A lot of people don’t know that me and Chris we’re the ones that discovered her. She rapped when we were on tour back in the day. We used to have a talent show and she actually rapped on that talent show. We were doing Oprah Winfrey the next day and Chris actually brought her to the show and introduced her to Jermaine. What kind of props did you guys get for discovering her? It was never really mentioned like that. We knew Jermaine was starting his label and brought him a dope rapper. How many songs do you have recorded? Probably about 200. How would you describe what your music sounds like today? That’s a hard question. I just don’t want to label something cause I do a variety of stuff. Mind if I read a list of current and former kid rappers to you and get your response? Go ‘head. Another Bad Creation I think they had a great look. Good sound. All round good group. Bow Wow Same thing. Great image. Great personality. Very talented person. Lil Wayne He surprised me as far as he came. All-in-all just a great rapper. Foxy Brown No comment really. Lil Mama I can’t even comment because I never even listened to her records. Astro I actually thought he was real talented. I thought he was an amazing rapper. Soulja Boy Great businessman. Lil Romeo I never really listened to him like that. Diggy Simmons Great personality. Got a good future. LL Cool J That’s one of my favorite rappers of all time. That should explain it right there.
HIPKEY
I’VE NEEDED THIS A FEW TIMES $89.95 Hipkey is a little device that helps you keep track of your valuables. Simply attach the “Hipkey” to your bag, an electronic device, your keys, or any other valuable of your choice and you´re ready to go. You can even attach it to your child, the “Hipkey” will alert if your child wanders too far away from you. The device is easily setup via a free app for iPhone or iPad. via
OCEAN ATTIRE: LADIES
LADIES WHATS UP!!! CHLOÉ Suede, leather and canvas wedge sneakers $695 THE ROW Leather backpack $3,900 ALAÏA Leather and stretch sandals $1,490
Kate Moss by Tim Walker for Love No.9 – KATE
YOU GOTTA LOVE KATE For the new Spring/Summer 2013 issue of LOVE Magazine, photographer Tim Walker produced a beautiful spread starring top model Kate Moss. Styled by Katie Grand, Kate Moss wears very little in the shoot, actually for the most part only a few flowers. A bit of a hippie atmosphere, we could not imagine anybody fitting the environment and look better than the British model. It is without any doubt one of the best shoots with her that we have seen in a while.
Hermès x Comme des Carrés Scarf Collection
FRESH!!! The collection consists of six scarves, each limited to 200 pieces, featuring geometric elements like giant patchwork, Vichy checks and shirt stripes. The scarf collection will launch on February 6th exclusively at Dover Street Market London.