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| Dope, Can't Wait ! -Is[Smile]- |
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
Ismail "Calligrafist" Sayeed's 27th Birthday Celebration !
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| Ismail "Calligrafist" Sayeed Will be Celebrating His Birthday at Katra Lounge [217 Bowery Street, Ny, Ny] This Year... Hosted by: Shani Kulture of Hot97 Entry is FREE, Event is From 5pm-12am Thursday May 16th. Come Out Watch The Game, Grab a Bite to Eat, Smoke Hookah, Dance and Enjoy YourSelf ! For Any Further info Or Bottle Service Email: Calligrafist@gmail.com PS: His Actual Birthday is Tuesday May 14th, Don't Forget to With Him a Happy Birthday ! Facebook Invite: Ismail "Calligrafist" Sayeed's 27th Birthday Celebration ! -Is[Smile]- |
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Stalley-"White Minks & Gator Sleeves" [Prod. Cardo]
The Big Homie Stalley is Back With Another Smooth Track... Produced By Cardo !
-Is[Smile]-
Friday, April 26, 2013
"An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty" To Premiere This Week
Backed by executive producers Jay-Z, journalist dream hampton, comedian Wyatt Cenac, and actress Joy Bryant, the film An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty will finally premiere in New York City this weekend.
The Terence Nance-directed film, which has already received praise from The New Yorker and the New York Daily News, centers on a man who’s forced to deal with a variety of emotions after being stood up.
An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty also boasts original music from Los Angeles-based beatsmith Flying Lotus whose most recent studio album came with the release of last year’s Until The Quiet Comes.
Below is The Trailer
The New York City premiere of the film will take place this weekend and for those hoping to catch a screening, the film will also be shown at Manhattan’s Cinema Village and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center from April 26 to May 2. The New York City premiere of An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty will be followed by premieres in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and close to 10 other cities.
The Terence Nance-directed film, which has already received praise from The New Yorker and the New York Daily News, centers on a man who’s forced to deal with a variety of emotions after being stood up.
An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty also boasts original music from Los Angeles-based beatsmith Flying Lotus whose most recent studio album came with the release of last year’s Until The Quiet Comes.
Below is The Trailer
The New York City premiere of the film will take place this weekend and for those hoping to catch a screening, the film will also be shown at Manhattan’s Cinema Village and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center from April 26 to May 2. The New York City premiere of An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty will be followed by premieres in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and close to 10 other cities.
-Is[Smile]-
Saturday, April 20, 2013
I Am FlyKickz PT1 [Video]
Old Video, But Dope NoneTheLess... CheckOut The Homie Dez as She Explains Her Craft and Gives You an Inside Look at How She Does it...
Pt.1 of a Mini-Documentary on the stylish and fresh sneaker customizing company FlyKickz... Gives a brief background on Dez the Owner, Designer and Model of the company. Specializing in custom hand painted wearable sneaker art, FlyKickz Sneaker art canvases & More!
Directed & edited by Fresh P. of Touchskies Films & Photo
For more info on FlyKickz check out:
http://www.IamFlyKickz.com
@FlyKickz on Twitter
For more info & videos from Fresh P. check out
http://www.youtube.com/user/freshpbeats
http://touchskies221.com/
@FreshPBeats on Twitter
-Is[Smile]-
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The Come Up: Director Mazi O [Via: The Source Magazine]
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| Written By: Highlighting Key People in Hip-Hop As video equipment becomes more and more accessible, the job of the video director may seem easy through the eyes of the viewers. Self-taught, Mazi Oyo learned the importance of hard work, studying and relationships early on in his career. After being given an editing program by his brother, this Brooklyn, New Yorker began his quest for knowledge. At the beginning, he used Youtube to research all things related to his craft. After interviewing Dylan Dilinjah from MTV’s Making Da Band for a radio station he worked at, he decided to put his camera skills to use. He asked to shoot a video for the recording artist, which ended up receiving position feedback. Since that first video in 2010, Mazi has gone on to work with French Montana, Raekwon, Chinx Drugs, Lil Kim, Maino, Max B and more. He operates under his parent company, Mazi International, which encompasses several ventures including his video production company, the clothing company Brooklyn FRESH, HardBody Music, a health and fitness life style brand co-owned with rapper Lil Cease and more. Continue reading to find out the keys to Mazi’s success. Take notes. You’ve come a long way. How do you connect with these artists? I’ve been in the industry for 10 years. Before picking up a camera, I was working in other areas. I was at 99.5 FM WBAI for a while and then went into music production and mixtapes. I have love for both of those fields but they didn’t exactly get me to where I wanted to go. But while doing those other things, I met a lot of these artists. Sometimes I’ll meet one artist through another artist. And other times, people just seek me out. In this industry, everybody knows everybody. Very true, so what role does networking play? Networking is important. The way the industry is now, relationships are very, very important. So solidifying and holding on to those relationships are a must. With networking, I strongly believe that if you work hard enough, somebody will see your work. If you grind, eventually the right person will see it. A lot of people are going into videography. A lot of times, I’ll get directors that contact me, and though I’m pretty new myself, I notice that their motivation isn’t really for the art. They don’t really care about the craft. They do it to pay their car note, to pay their rent and I often tell them, if you’re doing it for that, you’re not going to get very far. I would tell anyone that’s coming into this field that they should focus on the craft and study it more than anything. Being that you’re pretty fresh when it comes to being behind the camera, what was your strategy? I have a friend of mine who’s a director, Todd Angkasuwan, and he taught me that in this business, it’s just about shooting. Shoot everything and everyone. Shoot the artists who have no fan base all the way to artists with millions of followers. Shoot a commercial for a corner store. That way, you’ll get your name out. When people look you up, you’ll have some work out there.  That’s great advice. A lot of the time the people with no fanbase get overlooked because they don’t really see how they can benefit. Exactly. When I started working with Max B, we didn’t get to shoot music videos but we shot a lot of behind the scenes and interview footage. When I started working with him, I was familiar with him but I never listened to his music. It was after I started working with him that I would hear his music in cars passing in the hood and hear people talking about him. At the time, he was basically an indie artist. His music still lives on while he’s in prison right now. Sometimes those are the ones that’s the most creative or who are going to let you be creative. How important is investing? I have a friend in California that used to shoot music videos. We were working on a video for Tila Tequila. He had me working on the set. I was surprised when I got there because his set was like a movie set. There were lights everywhere. The crew was humongous. The video turned out well. When I got back to New York, my focused went towards me putting money back into my dream and business. If it’s $100 for a tripod, new lens, or lights, it’s worth it. It’s always good to spend your money on something that’ll make you money. Great advice. What can we look forward to? Besides more videos, I’m currently working on a reality show. It involves several rappers, some of which I’ve worked with. I got myself an agent that pitched the show. There is a network that likes the idea and wants me to shoot the pilot. I’m going out of town to shoot two artists and I’ll be back in New York to shoot three artists. I think this is natural progress. Directors, we start off shooting small videos, then the larger videos, then we want to hit the major websites and blogs, then maybe MTV and then after that, maybe it’s time to shoot a movie. Right now, I’m working on an independent urban horror that’ll go straight to DVD. I look forward to venturing into new territory. -Follow: Mazi O on Twiter: @DirectedByMaziO -Danitha Jones @LifeLikeJones Via: The Source Mag -Is{Smile]- |
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Review of Boulevard Bistro... [New Restaurant in Harlem]
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Thursday, April 11, 2013
Maino & The Mafia Ft. Uncle Murda "Real Recognize Real" [Directed by Mazi O]
Here's The Video For Maino and The Mafia Ft. Uncle Murda "Real Recognize Real"... Directed by Mazi O.
One of The "Funnest" Sets I've Been On, A Lot of Energy and Characters Behind The Scenes !
| Uncle Murda and I Behind The Scenes of "Real Recognize Real" Video Shoot |
-Is[Smile]-
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Life Lesson[s] and Dreams !
I've Always Wanted to Win
at Everything, Every Day, Since I Was a Kid... And Time Doesn't Change an Individual, it Just Helps You Get a Handle on Who You Are... Even Now,
I Still Hate "Losing" -- I'm Just More Gracious About it.
I'm Also Aware That SetBacks Have an UpSide; They Fuel New and Fresh Dreams !
I'm Also Aware That SetBacks Have an UpSide; They Fuel New and Fresh Dreams !
-Is[Smile]-
Thursday, March 28, 2013
To The Top - Raekwon ft Maino [Directed By Mazi O]
Check This Video By The Chef "Raekwon" ft Maino for Their Single 'To The Top"... Directed By My Brother Mazi O.
Dope Story Line, Sit Back and Enjoy The Direction it Goes in...
I Was There for The Behind The Scenes and Below are Some of The Images and Links to The Makin of This Video.
Check This Behind The Scenes by Pete Lott !
-Is[Smile-
Thursday, March 21, 2013
MMA Pro Debut for Muhammad "Hurricane" Abdullah !
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| Support My Brother and MMA Fighter Muhammad "Hurricane" Abdullah" on His Pro Debut on April 6th in INDY !!! We Will Be in Indiana Backing One of The Hardest Working Young Men I Know. Get Your Tickets and Hotel Rooms NOW !!! Rocktagonmma.com - Promo Code: Abdullah Calligrafy Will Be One of The Sponsors -Is[Smile]- |
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Video: Shay Star Invades NY Fashion Week 2013
Many Probably are Aware That I Haven't Shared My Pictures From NYFW 2013 Yet... Just Been Busy and Tired. They Will Come Soon as a Throwback Edition, Most Likely in April, Latest in May [Stevie Boi Show, FrontRow Show, Trinidad James Performance at SOBs... etc].
In The Mean Time, Check out My Feature on ShayStar.com at 2:45 Mark in The Video... I Appreciate The Love !!!
LookOut For My OFFICIAL Feature Soon... Inshallah !
In The Mean Time, Check out My Feature on ShayStar.com at 2:45 Mark in The Video... I Appreciate The Love !!!
LookOut For My OFFICIAL Feature Soon... Inshallah !
-Is[Smile]-
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Lupe Fiasco - Light Blue [prod by DJ SimonSayz]
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| Here's a Freebie From My Favorite Artist PERIOD... My Mans Lu !!! Here's What He Said When He Liberated The Snippet Earlier "DONT MIND ME....JUST STAYING IN SHAPE...JUST PRACTICE...LIKE A PIANO PLAYER OR A GYMNAST. Not on T&Y...So pls dont Say It Is on your blog. Thanx."Lu We Miss You ! Here's The DOPE Track... Via - Lupend and RhymeStyle -Is[Smile]- |
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Jason Markk Premium Sneaker Cleaning Kit-3
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Our kicks have become a major investment
these days and many shoe cleansers leave your soles and leather looking
yellow… Definitely NOT a good look. This is not so with the Jason Markk Premium Sneaker Cleaning Kit. The line of products include natural formulas to keep your Kicks looking fresh and brand new.
Kits feature microfiber towels, a
versatile synthetic sneaker cleaning brush, a premium sneaker brush for
delicate surfaces, and biodegradable formulas for gentle, effective shoe
cleaning. The kit comes in a resealable pouch that is easy to carry
anywhere you may want to keep your kicks looking fresh.
 You Already Know I'm On it ! Gotta Keep My Kicks CRISPY !!! Ju Heard. Go See My Kicks on My IG @Calligrafist -Is[Smile]- |
Saturday, March 02, 2013
Sussman Brothers: Cooking for Real Life
Been Hanging Around Chefs A LOT Lately...
So This Posts Seems to Make Nothing But Sense... Enjoy.
I Love Food... Halal Of Course !
Via - LifeandTimes.com
So This Posts Seems to Make Nothing But Sense... Enjoy.
I Love Food... Halal Of Course !
Via - LifeandTimes.com
 |
| Max and Eli Sussman
are brothers who aren’t afraid about “fucking up in the kitchen.” Born
and raised in Michigan, they’ve gone on to open two culinary empires in
Manhattan, Roberta’s and Mile End, respectively. Here, the two shed some
light on their views on Brooklyn cuisine and the motive behind their
recent cookbook This is a Cookbook. Life+Times: Your motto is “Get into the kitchen. Use what’s in there. And don’t be worried about f’ing it up.” Do you have any kitchen horror stories? Max: Everyone who has cooked for a long time has definitely made a ton of mistakes, there’s just no way around it. The things you expect of others as a chef, you need to be able to relate not only how to do it right but also how to not do it wrong, and it definitely helps if you’ve done it wrong before so that you know how to really explain it to someone. If only there was a dramatic horror story moment that you can look back on and say “that was the last big mistake I ever made.” But really it’s just a long process of making smaller and smaller mistakes as you go on, getting better and refining technique and getting better at tasting food. Eli: There are plenty of days when things are going really wrong and one mistake can lead to more and those days are awful and you hope they never happen again. I’ve messed up sauces before service and burned myself badly during service. But it’s real life and everyone has bad days where shit falls apart. The best thing to do is to remember those bad days and keep them in the back of your mind at all times. Once you make a mistake once, don’t make that mistake again. That’s learning and cooking is all about learning because you can never know everything about cooking. It’s an unmasterable subject which is why cooking is so amazing. We’re trying to convey that you will make mistakes and that’s ok because we’ve made all those mistakes and more ourselves.  L+T: You’re brothers and cooking partners in crime. Have the two of you always been interested in cooking and becoming chefs? Max: I’ve always been interested in cooking food but it wasn’t until I started working at eve in Michigan that I wanted to become a chef. I still remember the feeling of tasting the food and looking at the menu and deciding that how to cook good and interesting food was a mystery that I really wanted to dedicate myself to solve. Eli: I’ve always been interested in food and we wrote our first cookbook while we were still in college. I held cooking jobs off and on but I didn’t start cooking full time professionally until I was 26 so I am pretty late to the game. I lived an entire life in LA with a totally different career in advertising before making the jump to NYC and cooking at Mile End.  L+T: Eli, you’re a line cook at Brooklyn at Mile End Deli. Tell us a little bit about this spot? What’s unique about it? Eli: Mile End is a Jewish style deli with many traditional Jewish and Montreal dishes. My chef Sam Filloramo has a great ability to reimagine dishes and make them unique and perfect for our clientele. Breakfast and lunch are much more traditional Jewish deli fare with smoked meat hash, bagels and lox and sandwiches. Then at dinner it transforms into a more upscale restaurant with offerings you really can’t find anywhere else in the entire city. We use a lot of schmaltz and there are flavors that take on classic dishes that you may recognize from your grandmother’s cooking, but it always comes together as an entirely brilliant and new version of that classic dish. The smoked meat sandwich draws the tourists and the press praise but it’s what happens at dinner that makes me so exceptionally proud to be a part of the Mile End team.  L+T: How and why did you decide to put forth a book of recipes? Was this something you always wanted to do? Max: This kind of came about in a response to our friends who were always asking us for tips. We had thought about doing a website or blog but a collection of recipes and instructions on how to cook really basic stuff ended up being our first book. With This is a Cookbook, we decided to take this further, reflecting our further experience but still making it fun and relevant to the home cook. Eli: We love writing about food and conveying our passion to people who are up until reading our cookbook, reluctant to get into the kitchen and experiment and try new flavors. We have over the years acquired a lot of cooking related skills and we’ve found through our first two books and doing live demos that we also have the ability to teach what we’ve learned to people and that they immediately can put the recipes and techniques in the book into action. The most rewarding thing about writing the books is when people relay back to us that they tried a new recipe with flavors they’d never had and loved it. L+T: In your book you bring readers more than 60 killer recipes that demystify the cooking process for at-home chefs and pack in tips for how to make life in the kitchen easier and frankly, more fun. What’s the key to fun in the kitchen? Max: This goes back to the whole idea of making mistakes. It’s going to happen. So don’t worry. Invite your friends over, open some wine or just relax and when the food’s ready it will be ready. People have started taking their relationship to food incredibly seriously, which is good, because it invites a lot of thought and discussion about what you’re eating and where it comes from, and whether this is good for you and the world. But when it comes down to it, it’s a meal. We all have to eat, so just relax and enjoy yourself. Cooking is supposed to be a positive time where people come together and share stories, so remember that. Eli: Here’s the secret combination – the alcoholic beverage of your choosing, some amazing music blasting and your friends to help out with the cleaning. You should be able to sit back after the meal and put up your feet and soak up a few compliments while somebody else does the dishes.  L+T: There seems to be a big culinary wave coming out of Brooklyn. What are your thoughts on this? Max: New York is such a crazy vibrant place with a lot of people working on amazing food projects. Brooklyn is great for eating and cooking, and on a fundamental level I think it’s great that people have been centering food in their lives in a much more thoughtful and important way. The new stuff coming out of Brooklyn is just reflective of the huge attention that the food world has gotten in the last five years. It can definitely get a little out of hand at times but at its core it’s just people liking food. Eli: There has definitely been a ton written about Brooklyn and the attention paid by chefs to details in terms of reverence for the ingredients and trying to push boundaries by using unique hard to find products and pioneering new techniques. But honestly that’s happening all over America and all over the world. Brooklyn has incredible chefs and talented food personalities at every level front-of-house and back-of-house. Obviously this is an interview so we’re part of that media machine but there are tons of other cities doing incredible things in food. When it comes down to it, Brooklyn has incredible food and I love living and working here. But there is so much other great food to experience coming out of other dynamic kitchens around the US.  Eli and Max Sussman’s new book This is a Cookbook is available now. -Is[Smile]- |
Saturday, February 23, 2013
New Music: 24K [Kris Kasanova]
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| For My First Music Feature of 2013... Here is Kris Kasanova's New Project 24K, I Was Put onto This Young Man When I Was at Dominion For a Stalley Show [Def Was The Best of The Opening Acts by Far] and Ever Since Then He Has Been a Hometown Favorite of Mine... Witty, Lyrical and Fresh ! This is My First Time Featuring an Artist From My HomeTown, So It's Dope That it's Kris ! Check His Other 2 Projects Out as Well... If You Like J. Cole, You'll Like Kris [He Might Not Like That Comparison, But Hey...] Listen on His SoundCloud Don't Forget to Download and Support... -Is[Smile]- |
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Happy Birthday Mommy !!! [Beautified Series]
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| Today is My Mommy's Birthday [May Allah Rest Her Soul], and This Artwork is Dedicated to Her... And is Part of My Beautified Series ! She is Surely Missed and Loved. I Wish She Could See The Man Her Son Has Become... I Owe ALL of Who I am to Allah, Then That Beautiful and Excellent Woman ! The Song Below Make Me Think of Her and I Appreciate Elijah Blake For Makin it ! Beloved As I Mentioned, This is Part of My Beautified Series, So If You Would Like Your Birthday Beautified or as A Gift to Someone Else Email Me: Calligrafist@gmail.com Happy Birthday Mommy !!! May Allah ReUnite Us in Jannah [Paradise] LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND I WILL NEVER LOVE A WOMAN AS MUCH AS I LOVE YOU ! -Is[Smile]- |
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Words & Beats [Art, Poetry, Music and Hip Hop] Feb 18th !!!
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| This Monday [February 18th] !!! Come Out To The Nuyorican Poets Cafe and Enjoy The Evening With Some DOPE Artists... My Big Brother Quadir Lateef: One of The Dopest Hip Hop Poets I Know, Always Keeps it 1000% ! Najmah53: My Homie and Talented Poet and All Around TALENT ! Drea D'nur: Soulful Songstress... Recently Got Put onto Her... CLEAN ! Rain Maker and Austin Ellis ! Hosted By Me [Calligrafist] & Najmah53 Support Talent and The Grind ! Nuyorican Poets Cafe 6PM, Admission:$10 236 East 3rd Street Between Ave B & C Reverend Pedro Pietri Way New York City -Is[Smile]- |
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
HOT97 Interviews "Central Park 5"
The Central Park Jogger case involved the assault and rape of Trisha Meili, a female jogger in New York City's Central Park, on April 19, 1989. Five juvenile males—four black and one Hispanic—were tried and convicted for the crime. The convictions were vacated in 2002 when Matias Reyes, a convicted rapist and murderer serving a life sentence for other crimes, admitted to having committed the crime alone and DNA evidence confirmed his involvement in the rape.
I Know One of The 5 [Yusef Abdus Salaam] and Have Heard The Story From Him in Person, This is Very Deep and Disturbing... Learn From This Watch The Documentary and Spread The Word !
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| Checkout The NYTimes Article on The Case... Check The Website http://yusefsalaam.com/ -Is[Smile]- |
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Listening Event For Jess Tondu [Photos By: @Calligrafist]
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| Jess Tondu Had Her Listening Event For Her EP 'The Beginning" at Smash Studios in Manhattan, I Had The Pleasure of Being There and Capturing The Moments. Here are Some of The Photos I Took of The Event, Enjoy and View The Rest on My Facebook Page !                to View The Rest of The Pictures, Check My Facebook Page ! -Is[Smile]- |
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Custom Camouflaged Dunks, By: FlyKickz
The Homie FlyKickz Recently Finished Her Custom Camouflaged Dunks...
Her Work is Crisp, Clean and Dope. As a True Artist Does She Dwells on The Concepts and Take Her Time to Create a Fresh and Unique Piece of Art, With Kicks [Sneakers] Being Her Canvas of Choice !
I Watched Her as She Created These Camo Kicks Via Her IG "FlyKickz"
Watch The Video and FindOut Why They're Called "Camouflaged".
Check Her Website IamFlyKickz.com and Support Her...
Check My Previous Post Here.
-Is[Smile]-
Friday, January 25, 2013
Belief x Possibility
An Individual Often Becomes What He/She Believes Him/Herself to Be... If I Keep on Saying to MySelf That I CanNot Do a Certain Thing, it is Possible That I May End By Really Becoming Incapable of Doing it. On The Contrary, if I Have The Belief That I Can Do it, I Shall Surely Acquire The Capacity to Do it Even if I May Not Have it at The Beginning...
-Is[Smile]-
Monday, January 21, 2013
Up close with June Ambrose by: Yasmine Yasmine [Article]
Up close with June Ambrose: The celebrity stylist shares her secrets! By: Yasmine Yasmine
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| June Ambrose on why she posts so many pictures and comments on her social media sites: ‘I am the Anna Wintour of my page.’ Credit: www.TheQaffect.com Wednesday night [1/16/13], in a style that made it difficult to believe that you were not her bestfriend dishing over a quart of ice cream, June Ambrose, arguably one of the most influential women in fashion, sat down to share her most intimate thoughts on fashion, business, media and more. With rolled up sleeves, the celebrity stylist unpacked real stories behind what appears to be a glamorously charmed life, revealing that her first name is really June Marie. And that was just the beginning…  What people may be surprised to know is that June did not haphazardly stumble into the world of fashion; rather it was a calculated, hard fought decision borne of a childhood spent dodging bottles lobbed at her by local philistines frightened by her foreign culture and even more foreign fashion sense. Later in life, June encountered similar resistance to her sartorial choices when her boss deemed her efforts towards "reinventing the corporate America look" via the mixing of plaid skirts and boots with office ecrus and grays as "unacceptable."  Armed with the brains that earned her the title of salutatorian, an entrepreneurial spirit she credits to her West Indian heritage and a passion for fashion, June Ambrose went into business for herself. Legitimately. So that her hardworking, single mother could respect her decision as a real career move. "The first thing I did was get a tax ID. I got incorporated!" And incorporate she did, incorporating costume design into the urban aesthetic via Hype Williams productions and celebrities into fashion marketing campaigns for Karl Kani & Cross Colours. When speaking about Hype, a legendary video and film director, June casually mentioned that she "...knew Hype as the guy who painted walls. He was a graffiti artist." She continued on to share that she "...worked with Jay-Z from inception" with a wistfulness that seemed to hint at a nostalgia for the early years of hip hop when creativity was currency and celebrity was a serendipitous side effect, not a goal. Indeed, June’s voice took on a more serious tone when she spoke on her dual role as a stylist and a celebrity starring in her own show. "I have to do the celebrity things and then go back and tie my clients’ shoes." For those who may consider styling as a shortcut to fame June cautioned that "without good work there is no celebrity," which is true even of herself and is why she still gets nervous with new projects, and continues to work 18 hour days.  Hard work and heavyweight connections alone, however, does not a June Ambrose make. Listening, learning and restraint are all trademarks of the fashion maverick who said of herself, "I spent a lot of years being wallpaper. I listen. I’m always the sober girl in the room." Aspiring interns and employees of June should take careful note of these traits as they are the same ones that she values in her staff. Indeed, in a particularly humorous moment June warned against the dangers of cyber "ratchetness" and the negative impact it can have on your career, as "your social media is an extension of your resume." Which leaves one wondering if her aversion to "ratchetness" had anything to do with the decision not to renew Styled By June for a second season on VH1. A move she confirmed for the first time during last night’s conversation. For those trying to figure out how they will get their style fix in the absence of her show, June stated that she will be launching her shoe line, June Ambrose, later this year on the Home Shopping Network. June will also continue to avidly post on her social media sites for which she proudly stated "I am the Anna Wintour of my page."  If you’re surprised by June’s reverential Anna Wintour comment, don’t be. Humility seems second nature to the woman who revealed that her first job was at Kentucky Fried Chicken, her first audition for LaGuardia as a drama student was met with a denial and that her first styling gig nearly ended in disaster when she only brought one look for DJ Quayshon to wear in his video (A HUGE styling no no). "We made it work!" June laughed, but only after accepting the invaluable critique doled out to her by Quayshon’s publicist who counseled, "You need options. Always show up with options." Over the decades June has not only shown the world that opting to walk (or style) to your own beat is a viable path to personal and financial prosperity, but that it can be achieved without sacrificing your relationships with loved ones. When asked about juggling work, a husband and kids June unhesitatingly responded, "My team knows my family comes first." ![June Ambrose on the subject of people being flirtatious while they work: "Don't flirt if you don't how."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width_scaled/hash/9a/40/9a401f807b7b4f56d5fa45a88cadd782.jpg "June Ambrose on the subject of people being flirtatious while they work: "Don't flirt if you don't how."") What comes second you ask? A good guess would be integrity or a sense of humor given her response to the question of how as an attractive woman she managed business with clients who wanted to mix in some pleasure. June spoke to the importance of setting clear boundaries, engaging in responsible interpersonal interactions and not doing anything you don’t want to do. She coyly ended with a warning for all parties that may be involved in such situations, "Don’t flirt if you don’t know how." With such an abundance of wisdom the question inevitably arises as to what makes this woman of many achievements (and wardrobe changes to match) worry in the still hours of the night when the lights and Louboutins are off. "I have anxiety about not being relevant...I have anxieties about not being remembered." This from a style icon who at that very moment was sitting on the stage of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture facing a standing room only crowd of fans, fashionphiles and newly minted friends attired in various signature Ambrose accoutrements. Perhaps she didn't notice that she was the sole reason that they left work early, trekked across state lines and sat/stood transfixed for two hours at the Harlem's Fashion Row sponsored event. Or maybe she missed the multitude of devices being held up to capture her every word, gesture and outfit thread. Well June Marie, now is a good time to listen. If not to this writer who will never forget your commitment to candor paired with a sparkling cardigan, floral blouse and skirt combo, then to the inhabitants of the hallowed Schomburg; Richard Wright, Romare Bearden, Gordon Parks and many others. An honest servant of art will always be relevant and well remembered… -s[Smile]- |
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