Comedy

Throwback Thursdays: Mad Cobra, “Flex”, “Cobrastyle” + More

March 24, 2011

Words by Eddie STATS Houghton

Will probably be starting a lot of Throwback Thursday posts off with this phrase, but…remember this joint!? I do. I was in college when it dropped and my West African roommate copped the cassingle and kept it on brainwash rotation in our apartment, a 24-hour Pandora-style channel dedicated to three artists: Fela Kuti, Nigerian rapper Blackky and Cobra. One of my main memories of art school, in fact, is sitting at a figure-drawing easel clashing my classmates in a race to come up with more variations on the hook of “Flex”–Flex / Time to cash checks! (Time to eat Rice Chex, wear x-ray spex, etc.) My boy Patrick officially took the crown when he bust out in the middle of an art history lecture with: Fleeeex / Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Tags:"Cobrastyle", "Flex", Cobra, Dancehall, Jamaica, Mad Cobra, New York, TeddyBears, Throwback Thursdays

The Punany Monologues: Natalie Storm Talks About Sex

March 11, 2011

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Words by Natalie Storm

We have been going with this Fashion Fridays thing lately, but today we are going say fuck it and go Dutty Fridayz on you as well. From henceforth on one Friday a month we will be handing the LargeUp reins over to rising dancehall star Natalie Storm, who is now officially our first celebrity sex blogger. We want you to know that we did not solicit these sex soliloquies or pressure Nats in any way–she reached out to LargeUp because apparently she was looking for a forum to get some things off her, um, chest. So without further ado, may we present the first installment in a series of philosophical treatises Nats calls “According to My Vagina” and we call “The Punany Monologues” (We’re just waiting for her to drop an actual dancehall tune called “PumPum Monologue”).

Tags:Badda Badda Gals, female sexuality, Natalie Storm, pumpum, punany, TNT

Fashion Fridays: Shimmy Shimmy x Shabba Ranks

March 11, 2011

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Pixels cross the Atlantic at the speed of light (or at least the speed of dial-up) while physical package tek the slow boat. Which is why even though dancehall-friendly Shimmy Shimmy blog launched itself as a printed zine called No Ice Cream Sound at the end of last year, we didn’t get our oily fingerprints on it til 2011. But this is not a late post on No Ice Cream Sound (don’t get it jumble; NIS is a fine publication featuring our favorite new wave dancehall queen Natalie Storm interviewed by our other favorite new wave dancehall queen Erin Hansen, contributions from LargeUp UK correspondent Gabriel Heatwave plus a top 15 list of artists named ‘Ranks’ that’s right up our gully–and if you’re in New York you should proceed directly to Deadly Dragon and cop yourself one while supplies last). No, this is an early-out post on the recently announced news that the fools behind Shimmy Shimmy will be printing a 2nd run of their limited edition Shabba tee (did we mention this cat is everywhere this year?) a fine addition to the closet of any dancehall nerd. Word is they’ll be available soon at their online shop, so keep hitting refresh so as to cop the second the pixels say, Go. Cause while we applaud NIS/Shimmy for taking a break from the matrix and re-entering three-dimensional space, airmail does take mad long (More pics of the tee after the jump).

Tags:Heatwave, Jamaica, Natalie Storm, Shabba Ranks, Shimmy Shimmy, streetwear, UK

Post-Game: The Sights & Sounds of Haiti Kanaval

March 9, 2011

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Words by Erin MacLeod and Etienne Côté-Paluck

It’s Mardi Gras, but Haiti’s been partying for quite sometime. From mid-January, every Sunday there have been pre-Carnival—or Kanaval—parades. Marching bands take to the streets and folks don costumes in a series of what could be called dress rehearsals for the big show this week. Kanaval in Haiti was apparently smaller than it has been in past years, but its very staging is what’ss significant. In the aftermath of earthquake-caused devastation, it didn’t even occur in 2010 and the Champ de Mars, a traditional destination for carnival parades in Port au Prince, is currently jammed with tents.

Tags:Barikad Crew, Boukman Eksperyans, Haiti, Jacmel, rara, Rockfam

Faas Times: No-Maddz x Puma

February 22, 2011

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Words by Jesse Serwer

For their latest Jamaica-inspired commercial, Puma tapped dub poetry/improv crew No-Maddz to play “the world’s fastest band” (“Rocker, Flex And Groove”). The ad, which follows the quartet as they harmonize their way through the Jamaican countryside (where they, naturally, encounter Usain Bolt) is part of a broader campaign tied to the launch of the company’s Faas series of running shoes. Despite the seemingly Dutch spelling, Faas, Puma explains on its entertaining website for the shoes (“It has been scientifically proven the world over: Jamaicans are fast”) was inspired by Jamaica and, specifically, the “less-is-more” approach yardie runners take to training. See the second clip after the jump for an earlier, and longer, Jamaica-set commercial, also featuring Bolt. For a quick background check on No-Maddz, whose Sheldon Sheppard is the star of Storm Saulter’s game-changing new Jamaican period film Better Mus’ Come, check the EPK for their 2010 live album The Trod below, or listen to the album on their Facebook page (linked above).

Tags:Cedella Marley, dub poetry, Faas, Jamaica, No-Maddz, Puma, Track and Field, Usain Bolt

Bend Ova (Laughing): RDX x Omar The Comedian

February 1, 2011

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Words by Eddie STATS Houghton (via Federation)

Our cohorts over at Federation just posted this hilarious clip of Omar Thompson AKA Omar the Comedian incorporating the inna inna inna inna segment of RDX’s hit “Bend Over” into his routine–in several different ways–at Caroline’s comedy club, followed by a quick impression of a Passa Passa DVD. We could milk this for secondary jokes all day. And we will–offline. For now, just watch it, cause like R Kelly, you bout to double up!

Tags:"Bend Over", Daggering, Omar Thompson, Passa Passa, RDX