Day 280: Sneaker Pimps 10-yr anniversary celebration in LA recap

Check out the Sneaker Pimps event recap I wrote on uncvr right here.

TGIF!

Day 272: Frank Ocean performing 'Pyramids' Live (Video)

Frank Ocean - Pyramids (Live)

Here's a video I took from the Frank Ocean show at the Wiltern in LA this past Tuesday.

I just have one word for his performance: mind-changing. He really puts it all out there on the stage, so if you have an opportunity to check him out live then I'd advise to go see him before he gets too popular.

Check out this recap my partner in crime (Twinksy) wrote up along with the pictures I took:

uncvr - Frank Ocean Recap

Check out another video of Frank Ocean performing 'Strawberry Swing' after the jump...

Day 237: Jay-Z live at "Watch The Throne Tour" in Staples Center LA (Events)

12-12-11: I got a chance to go see Jay-Z and Kanye West while they were in LA last Monday on their Watch The Throne Tour. Above is a video I took of one of my favorite Jay-Z tracks from a while back called "Dirt Off Your Shoulders"

This was probably one of the dopest concerts I've been to so far: great transitions from song to song, awesome stage & lighting/special effects, and they did all their top hits from past to current (solo & together).

The sh*t did get cray at the end of the show as (that day) they set the record of doing that song ("N*ggas in Paris") 9 times in a row. I laughed for a bit that they actually did it but I went with it anyways. Song is mad catchy and easily energizes the crowd.

Here are a few good pics I took:





How can you not be amazed when you see these two together in the same building? #EPIC

Day 225: araabMUZIK performance at the Mondrian Hotel in LA (Events)

11-11-11 (Hollywood, CA): I was running a bit late but managed to catch the tail-end of an awesome MPC performance by one of my favorite beat-makers, araabMUZIK #MVPofMPC

araabMUZIK is known for his mad skills on the MPC (obviously) and he also has a great sense for hip-hop music/beats as well as the electronic stuff, which makes him an even more talented & well-rounded musician. I don't think anyone is even close to doing what he does on the MPC live... lemme rephrase that... no one can do what he does on the MPC.. LIVE.. PERIOD.

Afterwards I got to chat with him real quick, and I gotta say he's really cool & humble in-person. Hopefully the next time we meet, it won't happen because I'm a fan but because I'm ready to collaborate.

#StayingMotivated

Day 113: My NBA All-Star Weekend - D.Rose signing, Pictures, & More! (Events)

All was crackin this past weekend with NBA All-Star Weekend happening in Los Angeles, CA this year.

Since last Thursday, there have been so many NBA players making live appearances for the fans all over the place from the Fox Hills Mall, 3rd Street in Santa Monica, the Beverly Center, and more. There were also mad club parties each night hosted by various NBA players and so many celebs/rappers everywhere making special appearances too, but I wasn't able to get access to any of those parties so boo... =(

My one highlight of the weekend was that I did get to see one of my favorite NBA players, Derrick Rose. I got real lucky when I got to see him because the day before his appearance I found out that you needed a wristband to see him. They only handed out 150 of those wristbands and luckily I got one of them.. I waited 2 hours to get that wristband but it was so worth it.

I didn't have a jersey for him to sign so I got the next best thing.. his new shoes: the Adidas Adizero Rose 1.5. Freakin awesome bball shoes btw! I got pics below:


I got a few more pictures in my album right here (mostly just sneakers & displays):

NBA All-Star Weekend: Los Angeles

Lastly, I just want to say the best part of NBA All-Star Weekend wasn't the NBA player appearances, totally not the exciting dunk contest Blake Griffin owned, and not even the All-Star game itself. The best part was actually the half-time performance by Rihanna! (I hope you know I'm being sarcastic but Rihanna did have an awesome performance tho, haha!)

In case you missed it, I got it right here:



DROOOOOL ;)

Day 56: Jose Cuervo's Day of the Dead Event (Pics)

11/04 (Los Angeles, CA): I went to go check out this Jose Cuervo Silver Launch Party in Downtown LA with some friends, and it turned out to be a cool event. C'mon, free Jose Cuervo shots & mixed drinks, a chill atmosphere, good music, and a cool set up... what more can you ask for? And it was all free too!

The theme of the party was "Day of the Dead" which is a holiday celebrated in Mexico (of course the perfect theme for this brand). There was also a performance towards the end which was pretty lame, but overall this was a nice event. Here are some pictures I took to give you a view of how it was:


- Freaky yo; it was just looking at us the whole time...


- Cool bar.


- My homie got scared because this skeleton was about to take him to the underworld...


- So then I stepped in and made peace with it. We all good now.


- A scary beauty.


- I couldn't just have one. =)


- Good job Mr. Cuervo. May you R.I.P.

I'm noticing more alcohol labels are throwing these type of free parties on occasion (ex. Heineken & Hennessy), which is good PR for them because it draws young adult to come out to these kind of events and alcohol is something almost every young adult consumes whenever there's a party.

Props to Rex4000 for another one. Go check out his blog; it's pretty cool.

Day 27: SeptemberFest - Perfect Excuse to Drink! (Events)

9/25 (Culver City, CA): Clear skies + Hot & sunny weather + Unlimited beer sampling = A very good buzz! This past Saturday I went to go attend "SeptemberFest" hosted by Drink-Eat-Play. It was a pretty fun event as they had a wide selection of beers to sample from, some tasty food trucks, live music, cool setting inside the Sony Studios lot, and a bunch people with one mission in mind: GETTIN WASTED!!

I wish I took more pictures, but I was too busy sampling beer, eating food, and then more beer again! I'd have to say my favorite beers were the different types of Pale Ales, especially the Piraat Ale, which has 10.5% alcohol!! I probably had like 3 or 4 of those.. actually iono, I lost count!

Here are a few more pictures I took from the event:







I heard there's an "OctoberFest" event somewhere down here that's even bigger. When I find more info about it, I'll relay the info. In the meantime, who's down to roll???? =)

Day 12: MTV 2010 VMAs live this Sunday (All Promo Videos)

Aside from football, I'll definitely be watching the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards this weekend, which will be airing live at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, CA this Sunday, 9/12, beginning at 9PM EST (6PM PST). There is a very good line up of performances which include top artists such as Eminem, Drake, Kanye West, Usher, B.o.B., and many more (Hollaaa!).

If you haven't seen all the promos yet then you can catch them all right here:

Eminem:


Drizzy-Drake:


Nicki Minaj:


Justin Bieber:


Ke$ha:



More coverage @: http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2010/

Day 3: F-A.. B-O.. L-O.. U-S (Events)

8/28 (Culver City, CA): Yesterday, some friends and I attended the Heineken Inspire event in LA and maaan it was awesome. Tickets to get in were mad cheap ($1, $5, $10) because it was all for a donation to a good cause. The set up was real cool inside as they had lounge areas up where you can play video games, Foosball, or just hang out on the couches & kick it. They were giving our free Heineken all day since it was a Heineken sponsored event, and on top of that there was free food (hot dogs, tacos, mini burgers, veggie panninis), cool free t-shirts, and even booths to take fun pictures. The scene was super chill accompanied by a lot of beautiful young ladies which was definitely a plus (where did they all come from???!!!). I'm surprised and happy it wasn't that crowded because usually events like this, especially in LA, always get packed with people.


So, we went to the 3-7PM showing which featured performances by Ryan Leslie and FAAAAAAABOLOUS! In between performances, you had Skillz keeping the energy up alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff who was just rippin it up with cool beats on the turntables. If I ever have a baller bday party, I'm definitely gonna have him DJ at my party. We also saw QuestLove there, but I think he was just kickin it. Amber Rose made an appearance later on, and she was looking sooooo nice & seemed like a super chill person. I swear if you look into her eyes too long you will turn into stone.


Anyways, good music, live performances, free beer & food, cool scene, something to do, and it only costed a $1! Major props to Heineken, and I'll be looking forward to the next Inspire event. I'll donate more next time... =)


Here are some more pics:


- DJ Jazzy Jeff scratchin those turntables



- Skillz & DJ Jazzy Jeff keepin the music flowin



- Wdup Skillz!! He says he will be dropping an album sometime this October, so I'll be on the lookout for that



- Hey look it's QuestLove! My homie got a pic wit him; I'm so jealous because he wasn't letting too many people take pics with him



- Ryan Leslie performing.. did a lot of R&B songs. Time to get some more beer!



- No more man, we just want to see F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S



- Amber Rose... no comment



- We finally got her to notice us and she decided to do a pose for us, but right when we took the pic this goober got in the way. Way to ruin a picture d00d!



- Fabolous had a good set; a mixture of a lot of his good old songs along with some new ones. LIGHTS OUT!



- Thanks Heineken! I'll be back ;)



- I'll end it with this quote. Enjoy...

Day 2: Jennings to Wall Alley-Up

Just saw this video yesterday:



After I saw that video I found out they were hosting an event over here in Venice, CA this weekend called the Elite 24 where ESPNU scouts selected the top high school ballers from across the nation for a scrimmage game. So, yesterday there was the dunk contest, which I came to check out but I didn't really see any super amazing dunks, granted these were just high school kids. There were 4 judges: John Wall, DeMar Derozan, Brandon Jennings, and Tyrek Evans. It was cool seeing them there, but they seemed bored. Here are a few pictures from the event:

- Booooooooo!



- From left to right: John Wall (out of picture), DeMar Derozan, Brandon Jennings, Tyrek Evans




- Finally a good dunk, which got Derozan & Jennings off their chairs. Too bad I missed it because there was like a 7-footer blocking my view...



- This was probably the dunk of the day: off the backboard between the legs. I think this d00d won the contest with this



- John Wall showing his appreciation to the fans. Let's see what he can do in his rookie season with the Wizards.


More of this event can be found here: http://rise.espn.go.com/


The actual scrimmage is today, so if you're in the area go check it out @ Venice Beach 4:30PM PST (Free to the public).