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®Society Original Products

Fresh for 2009, you suckas...

Our Boston brethren, ®Society Original Products, returns to Karmaloop with some seeeriooouuus heat to get us all out of this deep winter freeze.

With gear influenced by living life creatively and to its absolute fullest, S.O.P. blends crisp graphics and distinctive designs with top-shelf garments to bring you the most innovative apparel on the streets. Whoever you are, whether hopping rooftops looking for a fresh concrete canvas to bomb, destroying handrails and ledges on your four-wheels, bouncing from bar to bar living the life, or even as part of the machine trying to keep us down, there's not a single lifestyle ®Society Original Productions has not explored and touched upon. Blending cultures and embodying the spirit of the people is what exhilarates these cats, and judging by the latest gear bestowed upon us, it looks as though the S.O.P. third eye has been open for some time.

Influenced by the intro to Nas classic Illmatic and the Wild Syle film samples, ®Society Original Products WILL be earning a medal for The Genesis Jacket. As soft as Soulja Boy and aesthetically hard as the God's Son, The Genesis is ideal for these lingering weeks between the winter and springtime, especially with the detachable hood. Cotton soft with a warm fleece interior, the hood simply zips off to provide your new favorite spring jacket, be it the temperature or the ladies sweatin' you up in this one. Heed the words of advice provided by S.O.P. printed on the jacket's interior via punk-ass Hector, and "Stop fuckin' around and be a man." Ditch the track jacket and grow up.

Speaking of Nas... isn't it nice to see two grown men putting prior differences aside to share a drink? No official word if Jay's drink had been polluted before the shot was taken, but that picture is just sweeter than project Kool-Aid. The Super Ugly Tee features the Kings of New York in a candid party flick above text reading "Don't get caught slippin'." Do the same and cop it quick because once this sun don't shine... son, you won't shine.

Only you can prevent forest fires... but there's certainly no harm in buring some trees now and then. Combining Chris Tucker's turn as Smokey in Friday with beloved PSA icon Smokey Bear's campaign hat, you better put in on this, man, because The TGIF Tee is destined to be the next top-seller that leaves the rest choking on the lye smoke left in it's wake. And you know this... mannn!

We have much more coming, but for now, between Newbury and Tremont, we got the ®Society Original Products line herey herrre here... (check out a little bit for your cataracts).

Hey, Boston! Where the fuck are ya?!

 

Karmaloop is hosting another Hub-town throwdown, and if you're still alive and remember the holiday jam from last year, this will be another epic not to be missed!

Golden Nuggets features a special guest appearnce from ITF, Vestax and DMC World DJ Champion A-Trak, who will be taking a break from backing Kanye West's live performances to get down with us for one night only. Joining A-Trak in front of the decks will be Chicago's own Murder Club moped rider Hollywood Holt with DJ Mano and Bodymore, Murderland's own B. Rich.

The madness comes to fruition the night of St. Patrick's Day, a perfect way to top-off Boston's unoffical city-wide holiday. Hosting again this year is Estate, one of Boston's premier venues located in the infamous Alley at One Boylston, capable of holding three floors worth of us maniacs.

Always recession-sensitive here at The 'Loop, tickets are just $10 and can be purchased at www.wanttickets.com. Don't sleep! Last year's turnout brought Karmaloop friends and family from across the globe, so make sure you get in before you're left out.

Check out music from A-Trak, Hollywood Holt, Mano and B. Rich if you don't already know, and show up on the 17th displaying your love for Boston with these classic tees!

 

Hiphopopotamus

 

We just took a quick glance at the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for this week, only to find that the sole representative for hip hop is Kanye West with his vocoder-heavy, nearly rap-free record, 808s and Heartbreak at #8 (T.I.'s Paper Trail is resting in solitary [oops] at #12).

The hell is going on? Is hip hop dying? Is it already dead? Or are the hottest artists just hiding beneath the radar?

We miss that Golden Age of hip hop, the mid-80's to mid-90's days when artists took chances, made an art of sampling, spoke freely and authoritatively without fear of public backlash and more than anything, RAPPED. If something sounded like Auto-Tune, you know it was probably a Zapp sample. All those sounds that would have been perfect for a ringtone? Actual keyboards, damnit, either sampled or played live in the studio.

Whatever the case, it looks like some of our favorite vendors out there are feeling the same way. Karmaloop has three tees for the Golden Age Hip Hop Head out there, including RockSmith's ATLiens Tee, the Tricknology Tee by Alphanumeric, and a more abstract reference to rap's glory days, the Do As De La Does - No Swine! Tee from Sons Of Liberty.

Atlanta representers OutKast put the south on the map (sorry, 2 Live Crew) with Andre3000 and Big Boi's debut, Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik, before coming right back two years later to completely space the rap world out with ATLiens, featuring the single "Elevators (Me & You)." The ATLiens Tee takes reference from that single's chorus, and Karmaloop brings back an old winner because 2009 gon' be that year that all y'all playa haters can bite us... around this bitch...

Where is the Prophet when we need him most? Karmaloop teams with Alphanumeric to bring you the Tricknology Tee, in memory of Jeru the Damaja's classic banger "Revenge of the Prophet" from Wrath of the Math. As you can see, Tricknology is up to his old games of mind control, so take a tongue-in-cheek stab back at the bastard and let the herb know you think for your own damn self.

Finally, new Sons Of Liberty joint, the Do As De La Does - No Swine! Tee cites the vintage video for De La Soul's "Breakadawn" joint from Buhloone Mindstate which features Pos rocking this tee back in '93.

Rocksmith has come to the plate swinging with some more tees that touch on the Golden Era, all of which can be seen here, and definitely check out the rest of Alphanumeric and Sons Of Liberty for more forward-thinking, original future classics.

Mark Ward x Burton Collaboration

World-renowned, London-based graphic artist Mark Ward collaborates with snowboarding giant Burton once again following his success with the Project 13 campaign last spring.

Fresh off of a stint at London’s Convent Gardens-based skate shop, Slam City Skates, Ward’s off-the-wall art sent shockwaves throughout the graphic arts community after the premiere of his “Hand Rendered Hype” show which ran from mid-August through September 2008. Drawing influence not only from the punk show flyers and skateboarding scene of California's 1970's and '80's salad days, Ward’s British roots are exposed with his use of South London-esque signage to create modernized, way-the-fuck-out-there art ranging from graphic prints to sneaker designs to custom toy painting, particularly seen in his work with Cali herbs Stussy (we’ll forgive him for that), Nike, Medicom toys and a collaboration between DC Shoes and VICE Magazine.

The aftermath of Ward’s first go ‘round with Burton, creating a take on his ubiquitous “chattering teeth” logo to include one of Burton’s Project 13 sticks, a la The Rolling Stones iconic tongue logo, results in this latest partnership to bring you the Mark Ward Premium Zip Hoody, the Mark Ward Brain Tee and the FA Mark Ward New Era Hat, amongst other collabo joints here at the ‘Loop.

The Zip Hoody is siiiiiick. It is hard enough to take your eyes away from the allover wave print on the nylon exterior, but further treasures are to be found once the sweatshirt is reversed. That same print, in retina-scorching orange, yellow, black and white, adorns the interior as well; sure to melt snow covered slopes and concrete streets.

The Brain Tee proudly displays the mind state of any serious rider. No matter what the season, Ward and Burton know where a snowboarder’s head is at 24/7/365, and now you can show your love for the powder (er… snow) whether at the beach waiting for the tide to roll in, or at the mountain waiting for the Pipe Dragon to carve out crisp edges on the half pipe.

Your third eye is kept open with the FA Mark Ward New Era, featuring a pair of glasses with a punked-out right eye and Burton “B” stamped on to the left. The gold interior features an identical print found on the Zip Hoody, so try not to sweat and stink that up too much.

See more of the Mark Ward collaborations and the rest of the Burton line here, and be sure to check out other samples of Mark's work at his site here.