I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m very awkward talking about style or any attire related subjects. I guess it’s my obsession with filling the substance void in our cyber village, that makes me not want to come across as another young man obsessed with fashion. Don’t get me wrong, I am obsessed with attire, and there are peers that perfectly execute timeless style with  a side of substance. I’m just a little too self conscious and I guess that has to end sometime; after all we do sell attire here, and we do love great style and should speak about it.

With that being said (apologies for the above rant, I needed to get it off my chest) the conns crew is composed with very dapper young men if we can say so ourselves. we love socks and even though the spring is here for a lot of us, we still wanted to highlight one of our favorite items ever. The socks are a necessary foot warmer in the winter months but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with them. I grew up striclty wearing black and white socks, but all of that changed when I saw an image of a older gentleman with a full khaki suit and purple socks.

Now my obsession runs deep and I refuse to dawn another pair of bland socks, I think this is one of the style aesthetics that is very personal to the wearer. Socks aren’t necessarily seen or noticed, so in a way they are kind of my unofficial badge of “I dress for myself”. Whenever I see a nice pair I smile to myself  for my love for socks and a respect for the individuals style. This post is a disaster since it didn’t go as planned at all, but then again I feel it was honest so I’ll stop typing and click Publish. Hope I made some sense in some way.

Until Next time.

Wale A.

It goes without saying that Fela Kuti is one of the most revolutionary musicians of all time. He was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, composer and vocalist that created his own style of music that merged funk, jazz, and psychedelic rock with traditional West African rhythms. Afrobeat, as he came to call it, wasn’t only used to unite people in groove but also in discontent with the corrupt Nigerian government.

Fela’s very public opposition of the government led to rampant raids of his commune, the Kalakuta Republic. In one of these raids, the Lagos police attempted to plant a joint on him and arrest him for the possession of marijuana. Fela quickly ate it, and was dragged into custody while the police waited for him to excrete feces abundant with THC. Apparently that fecal matter never came, and Fela was set free. That little tidbit of information sets the stage for his 1975 release, Expensive Shit. In recent years ES (as abbreviated) has been re-released with another 1975 album, He Miss Road.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I have no known family of direct African descent, much less do I even know anyone in my family who’s been to Africa. I got hip to Fela through Mos Def’s Fear Not of Man*, and that was back in the days of Limewire, the-breaks.com, DeMatha, etc. I still didn’t give Fela my good ear until my dissection of iNi’s Center Of Attention, which is by all means one of the best produced albums I’ve ever heard. Pete Rock sampled Fela’s Water No Get Enemy* for the song Grown Man Sport* and since then, I went diving head first for Fela’s music.

Mind you, his discography is extremely deep, but ES/He Miss Road is a great place to start. The 10+ minute songs are perfect for the sunny days when you have the house to yourself and you can just crank up the stereo and let the music play. So next time you find yourself looking for something new, check out something old. The new stuff probably came from it anyway.

- antoine

It was just the other day I found myself flipping through a few family albums; taking a trip down memory lane. The nostalgic, sometimes embarrasing photos of trips, birthday parties, graduations and random happenings in life were all in there.

These albums have become windows showing way to the good times. Just being able to look over these pictures with my sister made me realize the significance of sharing moments with one another. Personal moments and good times to reminisce over don’t always have to be over photo albums because they lie in the morning yawn when we wake up or as stumbling laughter in a good conversation. Anything that shows itself as memorable should be treated as important.

SAVOR life and all the moments in it.

-Light

Samuel

thrift stores are always funny. you never know what you’re going to find, and this has probably been my most interesting grab

i got into jordans after buying a pair of black and red AJ1s off of someone’s foot. i used to work at the local DTLR and i didn’t think the guy knew how much they were worth because i bought him some sale shoes in exchange. i intended on selling them, but finding out how much they were worth actually made me keep them.

since then, i’ve began a very modest collection of jordans. i value the shoes from a collector’s angle, but i also try to incorporate them into a natural rotation and wear them as much as possible. this pick up was for the collector in me.

the nike air jordans were one of the first performance shoes that found its way into street style. the price point was revolutionary for 1985 ($100), and nike had just risked its existence in order to sign michael jordan, which had ended up being well worth the risk.

although they are a little larger than the 9.5/10 that i usually wear, i feel like i stumbled on a piece of history. these are 25 years old and when taking that into consideration, they are in pretty good condition. some of you are well aware of how much money an original pair of air jordans fetch, and to have grabbed them by total chance at the good ole thrifting spot (shoutouts to Dunc for showing me) only escalates their personal value. they were well worth the five bucks, even if they don’t find their way into the weekly rotation.

what are some of your favorite thrift store pickups?

- antoine

So if you follow me on twitter you probably saw this one coming, as I previously noted, there comes a time in every man’s life where he wants to grow a beard, that time for me is now. There is just something about having fully packed hair follicles that speaks to me at the moment. Beards have several connotations in our global village, some associated them with religion and others go as far as making character judgements. A beard can be seen as a symbol of manhood and even considered a red flag or sign of rebellion. I’ve heard things like “don’t trust a bearded man” or ” a man with a beard has something to hide” whatever your views on the man mane I could care less, I’m growing one, or at least going to try.

Its going to be a fun couple of weeks enduring ridicule from friends and constant “EWWs” from female acquaintances. After getting past the expected skin irritation I’m sure I’ll easily withstand your verbal assaults.

Until next time

Wale A.

As I recently stated in the last post, I’m the motivational speaker half of the music collective: DTMD. We had our first show a week ago and a lot of beautiful people came out to support the local hip-hop scene.

There was a producer showcase that lead up to our performance that featured some of the dopest producers in the area: Surock, DJ Eurok & Maverick.

I say this to say, follow your dreams. I’ve met a lot of inspirational people who I never would’ve met if I wasn’t taking the music serious and they push me to keep going, while reminding me never to forget my purpose.

don’t be afraid to be yourself.

- antoine

Wale: You might have caught our valentines day post and were probably very confused about the name you saw at the end. who is antoine?  well he’s the newest member of the Roc-a-Fella team Connoisseurs team. Antoine will be in charge of a few blogging operations to keep this site running smooth and substance filled.  The duo is now a trio for two reasons, we want to make sure we execute our vision as efficiently as possible, and Antoine is the minicon that makes this Autobot’s powers triple (if you didn’t get that reference you need to watch more 80’s/early 90’s saturday morning cartoons).

Antoine embodies every characteristic we strive to promote and prioritizes the same ideals and aesthetics we do, from his own unique perspective. He is an Active member of the mighty DTMD and is going to elevate us to new heights. we are definitely excited about the possibilities.

here is Toine to say a few words on his Draft day.

–

waddup ya’ll.

i be antoine, the newest member of the CONNS team. i used to run a blog and i am an active member of the hip-hop duo: DTMD. i’m also a huge sports fan, competitive gamer (don’t bring up street fighter 4 around me…seriously), and serious hip-hop nerd.

i’m currently not in school but i still manage to learn everyday. funny how things work out…about 5 months ago, i found myself aimless, desperately seeking outside opinions to validate my vision and by a weird turn of events i meet two cats who’ve been embodying an attitude that i was keeping to myself for the longest time. seeing sam & wale believe in their movement made me believe in mine and at the same time made me want them to succeed.

i believe in Connoisseurs. i believe in knowledge being powerful, and we pride ourselves in making our knowledge transparent through action. the same way duncan and i try to show a knowledge and appreciation for music in our brand of hip-hop, we want to show you our appreciation for culture and style through our interpretation of streetwear. its all what you make it…but at the end of the day, its got ta be funky. i look forward to showing you another extension of the Connoisseur theory, and i hope you’re willing to listen.

peace & light
- antoine

We rarely ever document the projects of others for two reasons, we like to focus on what we are doing and we like to provide content unique to us at all times. We make exceptions when a project is in perfect correspondence with our views, and the individuals behind it exude layers of depth and intelligence that is as sincere and honest as our own.

I’m not going to speak much on this project by our brothers at Street Etiquette because I want you to experience it for yourselves, click the image below to be amazed, inspired and motivated.

Joshua of SE was not only kind enough to give us a mini tour of the big city when we were there, he also proved to be mirror of ourselves when we dove into conversation. Make no mistake about it people, SE is as genuine as they come with character, style and substance to match.

what is the look of?
it got something to do with um…ya’ll know the words.

today is the day that a lot of single people have come to loathe: valentine’s day. its very easy to feel left out of ‘love loop’ when you hold books more than you hold hands, and your public displays of affection include playing a song as loud as you possibly can and yelling along with it.

don’t feel bad.

love for someone else stems from love for self. understanding the true importance of someone else comes along after you’ve spent the lonely hours, days, months searching through your phonebook for someone to be true with, but never settled for anything less. it comes holding onto your weirdness without conforming to please people who only kinda understand where you come from. it comes from cultivating your individuality so you’ll be very ready for the other half to come in and be just that, on a 50/50 scale.

so do you.

in the meanwhile, allow these tunes to paint a few alternative perspectives to 2/14. you may find yourself relating to one.

peace & love.

- antoine
–

Slum Village – Tell Me (Instrumental)

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Bahamadia – I Confess (The Roots Remix)

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Little Dragon – Constant Surprises

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Sa-Ra – Sweet Sour You (Feat. Bilal)

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Daedelus – Muggle Born

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No advanced technology, no cool polymer fabric or titanium materials, just a nice little gold core and a faithful leather strap. This is my most prized non living possession, worth more to me than any article of clothing I own, or technology I wield.

My mother’s wind-up watch that she tossed my way doesn’t just show how stylish she is but might help explain where I get some of my aesthetic. The most interesting part of mother’s wind-up watch, is the wind up part. I have to remember to turn the little knob every few days which I think is awesome for reasons unknown to me.

This watch will stay with me till time and the times urge me to pass it on to my offspring; Hope you enjoyed the little piece of my world I just shared with you.

Until Next time.

Wale A.