Dangerously Beautiful

On my last and only free day in Tokyo, I decided to do it up BIG.

I hit the Supreme, Stussy, XLarge, and Undefeated stores, spending $0, but enjoying the sights.

I then embarked upon the rest of Harajuku, which MUST be the fashion mecca of Tokyo. Store upon store, this is where Sex & the City Tokyo would take place.

Venturing into the fashion world myself, as well as trying to avoid all Soulja Boyisms, one brand name I hear over and over again is A Bathing Ape (BAPE). Knowing that Japan is the birthplace of this pricey spectacle, I decided to hit one of their flagship stores. When I first arrived at BAPE in Harajuku, there was a line around the block to get into the store!!! Of course, they were only letting in 1.5 people at a time, but people were waiting anyway.

However, while I was across the street, when I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the line and the store-front, a BAPE employee appeared out of nowhere telling me that I cannot take pictures. SMH…….somebody told him WRONG!

Though I had already decided not to enter the store, upon this warning, when Maki and Tokirin suggested we return, I was GAME. We ventured back later on in the day. I took pictures outside, inside, I even shot video.

Why aren’t I posting those pictures? BAPE patrol. The Blawk Hawk-like chopper flew in, and to keep a long story short, I’ve said too much due to pending litigation. I kid. Maybe.

And then, it was on to the mission of the day: OPERATION SNOOPY.

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After the long drive back to Tokyo, I went on a walk to stretch my legs and see more of Shibuya. I walked into a record store with this guy scratching and cutting all the current pop jams you didn’t even know they made on vinyl. There was love in this club store.

FK from Tribe Records managed to conjure up an alto saxophone for me to rock during the in-store performance. I was a tad nervous because I really only play tenor, so I went to the top floor landing and tried to figure out what key some of my tunes are in.

I was fairly hidden from the street, but this one lady in a building not too far away was thoroughly confused or annoyed as to who was torturing a cat in one of the buildings next to her.

Mihara also performed at the first show I did in Tokyo. How fitting then that he should also be at the last. His tunes have deep and jazzy textures with raw sounding breaks underneath. I did a remix for his forthcoming 7″ record (and my remix features my mom).

The toys are waiting.

As is the crowd.

And now they are deeply lost in a deviant-induced trance. Or they are all falling asleep, except for smiley in the front. For my version of the story, we’ll go with the trance.

Yet again, a picture that I could caption so many ways, but ultimately it speaks for itself.

No, I didn’t jump to South Beach for this picture. This guy rides in a donk on 20s, maybe even (dare I say) 24s…..in Tokyo.

And that’s the end of the night as far as you’re concerned. Afterwards: dinner, and Tokirin took me to meet Shoga, who revealed some great mysteries to me. I have been sworn to secrecy, unless you really want to know, just ask.

Woke up in here,

Had more of this

Which is why I <3 her

Then saw this

While he planned and plotted

Noticed the Jamaican uprising in the countryside of Japan

Back on the road, I saw mountains. With Snow.

Stopped at a biker boyz rest-stop

There were flowers and babies and stuff

If you don’t know, now you know.

After Riding or Dying @ N7, we were off to the show @ Rocksteady in Odiya.  Rocksteady is named after the love of Jamaican culture, so you know I fit in fine.

Before I opened the car door, these two were on the job.  They were so tough at first…

But once you get to know them…

Sound check and waiting to go on was cool.  While some of the dopest DJs I shared the stage with on the entire tour held down the night with vintage 90s hip hop, I recorded shout outs from people in the crowd so that I could construct a track out of the voices while performing, letting the people in on that Dvizzle magic.

And there was wood.

This lady here, though I have forgotten her name……again, is one of my favorite people on this planet.  Many of you have quizzed me about the cuisine in Japan.  I tried raw salmon, and there is also a 15 minute video of me and DJ Yuta in Asakusabashi as I attempted to attempt to try octopus on a stick.

In other words, it was not until this lady, bless her 5’3″ soul, made me an amazing plate of Jamaican/Deviant food that I truly grubbed in the land of the rising son.  Ironically enough, two days later I ate some more great Jamaican food when back in Tokyo, so maybe Japan is coming for that number one spot.  Afterall, they’ve already got Junko.

What she prepared.

1 minute later.

How the mighty have fallen.

Toka the neck Choka.

Pretty sure this was the first time anyone drove one of these to come see me perform.

The kid on the right was telling me a wild story of how he decided high school in Japan was too boring, so he moved to Vancouver so he could go to high school and snowboard.  That little not speaking English thing did not deter him at all.  3 years later, he’s back in Japan, speaking English, still snow boarding, and he and his friend rock free Deviant tour CDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(!!!!!!!!!!!!)!

Mesato

Classic.

Let it burn.

I’ve been back home from Japan for a few days now, but since when does that slow me down from posting photos like I’m still away?

Ahem…..

NEXT day we headed back to N7 art gallery in Nigata, ran by my man Koba Abe (seen pimpin’ below).

Coming soon…..

I’ve been co-opted by the man, yet again.

N7, like Japonica in Kyoto, was having a two-week long exhibition of the art work of the man like La Mano Fria.  La Mano  Fria has been holding down the dual city living between Ft. Lauderdale/Tokyo for the last few years, always pushing forward with his message and artwork.  Peep game:

We were at N7 for a long time.  I started meeting everyone, like Hamazi.  Speaking with Hamazi was my first time holding a full fledged conversation with someone who does not speak the same language(s) as me.  She did, however, manage to tell me (through like 4 translators) that I’m MEGACUTE, proof that language is totally unnecessary.  As you can see below, she liked what I had to say.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

Hamazi makes these.  The story behind them is too precious, check her out.

One of those pictures that I took because it was so bloggable, but it really speaks for itself.

Throughout the day, this skateboard pwned me fairly bad.  I’d done a bit of skateboarding in Kyoto, on a long board.  This board knocked all that “I can skate” talk out of me.

Then Kota decided to bring that point home.

All…

Day.

Actually, he was super-helpful and managed to school me on a few things.  Before the art exhibition and I parted with Kota, he and I discussed a lot of the cooler things about this global culture we have like Shepard Fairey, Alife, and the Ride or Die ethos of all things rebellious and DIY.

Then we rode into the sunset towards Odiya.

to be continued…..(isn’t every blog post?)

After Kyoto we returned to Tokyo for one night. The next morning we were off on a 4hr car ride to Nigata. The pictures are presented in reverse chronological order (from last to first).

Morning after a very long night.

Another crowd moved…(head nods, no feet movement required)

The finished product!

When Tokairin “doesn’t understand,” he suddenly makes us aware of his German heritage.

This dood……..Daisy aka Disney, the name should already let you know. He started telling me about his lady problems. So interesting, I had the capture it for the YouTube.

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The morning after the Osaka show, we awoke to this specially prepared breakfast made by Kamanchi’s wife.

In his Clark Kent disguise, Kamanchi dropped us off at the train station so we could return to Kyoto for an art exhibition/workshop.

In the 11th century, Kyoto was the capital city of Japan, until the late 1800s, when Tokyo became the capital. See the resemblance- KYOto….toKYO. Other Kyoto historical figures can be seen on the big screen Summer 2009.

Later that night, back at the record store Japonica, La Mano Fria held his art show-workshop.

We met Kaz two nights prior at the Shiga show. Dood has been around the world, literally. If you’ve been there, he’s already been there twice. (Not really twice, but he’s been there too!)

The return of the original Cherry Boy.

On the skateboard I had been riding all day, Atsuko attempted to be styling on me. She failed.

After the art show, we wandered around Kyoto into the wee hours, ending up at Kaz’s massive traditional-styled house. We then some how wandered back to the hotel where I documented various snoring patterns of certain individuals. This material will surface in the event of future beef/styling on ‘em.

Later that morning, there was a May Day march/parade/protest/fashion-show.

Stussy is heavy in the streets.

Eventually, we returned to the bullet train station to take the 4-hour long journey back to Tokyo. Not my definition of a speeding bullet.

We are often burdened with the jarring differences between Earth’s inhabitants. I have been trying to detail the many similarities the world’s cultures share, however, sadly, I now have to point out a disturbing difference in the Japanese. Apparently they’ve got this absurdly silly notion of building houses that “conserve energy” by making use of this power source called “the sun.”

Unfortunately, no one has told the people of this country that “solar power” can’t be used on anything other than calculators. This so-called “solar energy” is obviously going to be a dud, oil is the way to go!

And then when I returned to Chistose-Funabashi in Tokyo, I saw this guy, Samurai Sanders.

Some of you have asked, “But how did you get booked on a 2 week tour of Japan, anyway?”

So….You’re trying to build your profile, gain some name recognition, book those shows in Osaka, Japan. There is one person you have to go through.

Maron.

Yes, that’s my “bed” he’s laying on.

If Maron were from Miami, his name would be Rick Ross. Interestingly enough, if he was from NYC, his name would be Corleone.

These may appear as simple aww-cutesy-cat-photos, but Marlon is a boss. They say cats are…feline-like, but Marlon walks right up to you to find out what the deal is, or rather, what’s really hood.

Started from nothing, but he got this strong.

He may pose tough now, but I’ve seen pictures of him in a matching plaid scarf. Of course, his owners don’t have children.

WARNING: Mega GAME ON Update below.

Off the heat of the show in Shiga, we arrived in Osaka that same night.  The following morning, our long day began.

This answers so many questions.

Oh that snazzy marketing.

I love her!

Damn, I gotta take all they bad-*%&% to Show Biz? (c) yeezy

WAIT: The photos & commentary continue!

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Trying to squeeze some vacation-esque sight-seeing is difficult, but I managed to venture throughout Tokyo before my first show later on that night.  Hit the train station:

Walked.

Walked some more.

Linked with DJ Yuta.  He had just returned from 8 months in Miami and 2 months in NYC.  We know a lot of the same Miami crowd, though this was my first time meeting him.

And the one and only Taka provided most of our navigating.

Then we walked some more.

I know Taka from school, only I just met him a week or so before heading to Japan.  He is from Japan, but has lived abroad for some time.  He’s in the doctoral program.  I know you can’t wait until you can get therapy from this guy.

Though foreign bathrooms are usually interesting with all sorts of widgets and gadgets I don’t see everyday, Taka warned me not to touch anything in this toilet.   Yes, this is for 1 and 2.

We arrived to the more traditional part of Tokyo where original buildings still stand from yester-year.

Then Taka left us. <tears>

Yuta and I were on my own…..only Yuta is not from Tokyo and this was his first time to Asakusabashi as well.

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