We’re looking for cats with the…

I went through a lot of old magazines the other night. Many of them were from my formative years, and were close to 10 years old. I happen to come across what I was looking for–an issue of Mass Appeal I had purchased due to my interest in the underground hip-hop scene. I can’t lie I was an unadmitted backpacker at the time (note: when someone tells you their not a backpacker there’s a good chance they are), and would routinely go down to Fat Beats to buy vinyls of songs I already had on CD or on mp3 OR couldn’t find on the internet or couldn’t buy anywhere (Disc-O-Rama doesn’t always sell underground music). I was that much of an enthusiast. As ass-backwards as it might sound, there is a comfort in purchasing a vinyl over a CD, but that I’ll go into in another blog entry.

It doesn’t just stop at Mass Appeal. Buried in my collection of old magazines are issues of Vice (back when that ish was raw–and I mean RAW[II]) and yes even Complex (I also have old issues of Don Diva and FEDS, but just like the aforementioned vinyl, I’ll save that for another entry). Perusing the pages of these magazines took me down memory lane . It was magazines like this that influenced me to move towards writing. More importantly they conjure up a feeling of nostaligia that defined pre-and-post 9/11 New York for me. As weird as it sounds but there is a driving connection that I have with these magazines. These magazines were my introduction to underground culture, which as it evolved has turned into the present streetwear/hipster culture and essentially become mainstream. It’s here in these pages that authentic street  culture and art is documented, unadultered and accurately presented by those who were genuine gatekeepers.

In this one issue alone Mass Appeal had Alife as it’s creative director, the IRAK crew as a photo spread, the SSUR store as a filler feature and graffitti photos that would make Commissioner Kelly blush.

Here I was a passive 14 year-old eager to become either (a) a DJ (b)a music video director, or (c)something in the music industry that involves getting taking seriously for having good ideas (which I would learn is technically an A&R, and would later learn there is no such position), and being exposed to street culture in one of its most authentic magazine not thinking that this culture would eventually hit the mainstream.

I guess this nostalgia also leads me to have a wakeup call. The scene has changed (or evolved). Mass Appeal is no longer published. If I had been a little less passive, maybe I would’ve attempted to intern for Mass Appeal or Vice. Of course even 10 year ago, having an under-18 year old intern would have been risky. I guess you can say that all of this looking back, helps me to look forward.

It’s amazing where a decade can take you. I look at this as the beginning of it all and though the landscape has changed, the inspiration remains the same.