Freehand Profit

A few months ago I was cruisin through websites trying to figure out just exactly what kicks I would be dumping my next paycheck on when I stumbled upon these crazy gas masks made out of sneakers........

The first one I saw was the Storm Trooper helmet made entirely out of the Adidas X Star Wars Superskate Mids. This wasn't the only one, there's one made up from the Cheech and Chong Nike Dunks, the Adidas "Darth Vader" Superstar II's, etc. I had no idea who was responsible for this sneaker insanity until i saw the caption; Freehand Profit.

This dude is currently holdin it down out in Los Angeles and is crankin out a different sneaker gas mask every other month it seems like. But he has a whole gang of prints including pop culture icons wearing gas masks, characters from movies and shows rockin em, I mean this artist has some sort of stellar obsession with gas masks. But it's amazing. Freehand Profit's sneaker gas masks bring different interests together; the sneakerheads are all down with it, the unique artists are all about it, and anyone involved with current streetwear culture is goin bananas over these designs! 

I actually reached out to him and ordered one of his prints and simply asked him to sign it cuz I was all about what he was doin. Come to find out, the dude is real and got right back to me, helped me through all the ordering and even hooked it up with a couple extra little gifts that he designed. I was truly surprised because most artists these days that are real serious, won't give people the time of day. Na, not Freehand Profit, this cat is all about gettin his art out there and spreadin the love. So be sure to head over to his website www.freehandprofit.com. Check out his shop, pick up some prints, some t shirts, shit, you might even be so hyped that you order one of these exclusive, one of a kind sneaker gas masks......That's right, all of them are FOR SALE!

DEADMEAT TOUR with Steve Aoki, Datsik and Autoerotique

Just about two weeks ago, my girl and I ventured over to the House of Blues here in Boston early, like around 7:00pm, to wait in line for the DEADMEAT TOUR. We had balcony seats and weren't about to be stuck standin behind some lames cuz we got there a little later than others. Not to mention, this was an all ages show so there were tons of "new electronic dance music fans" that were beaded out and covered in neon clothing. I put that shit in parenthesis because sooo many fuckin people say they love electronic music now yet half of them were the ones always saying, "I hate techno music, there's no words" like a year or two ago.....but I digress.

So after waiting in this line for close to an hour and being just about molested by the crack team security at the House of Blues, we were in, and cruise right up to a killer spot in the first balcony. Then we got settled with a few Red Bulls and just waited to have our faces melted clean off of our face.

The first DJ was some young kid, who actually was pretty fuckin ill, but he wasn't spinnin his own shit, still legit though. Of course I don't remember his name, so if anyone reading this does please leave a comment so I can try and find this kid, he's got potential. He spun for about an hour as the crowd spilled in, then he handed the CDJ's over to this dude Autoerotique. Now this cat is stellar, hailing from Toronto, Canada, Autoerotique is all about absolute bangers with drops that make you wonder where the fuck he got those samples and that sound?! This dude got the crowd hyped, he's a perfect opener for Steve Aoki and Datsik, but he was so dope, I would absolutely pay to see him headline any show.

DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS DUDE, HE IS THE FUTURE, IF NOT THE NOW OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC!

As Autoerotique ended his set, we were graced with the presence of the ever so popular stage hands, who changed the set around and wheeled out Datsik's booth. Fully equipped with a large LED Logo of his name that changed colors and it was a raised platform, simple yet fuckin sick.

It's now time for the Dubstep DJ that makes our ears bleed to hit the stage and do his thing. Datsik's set was nothing short of amazing; sampling some great hip hop like Dead Prez and even including older tracks like "Swagga" put out by Excision and himself in 2009. While simultaneously blending it all in with his new bangers that got the entire sold out crowd jumping, bopping, and straight going fuckin insane! Datsik's stage presence is nothing to forget either; diving into the crowd and surfing right after he drops intense dub beats, throwing Rockstar Energy Drinks into the sea of ravers and getting the crowd going by screamin on the mic right before some of the drops! This guy is truly a great dubstep DJ and has numerous tracks that I consistently wanna bump.

Yet again the stage hands hit the set to change it all around for our headliner, Mr. Steve Aoki. His booth consisted of this sort of half shell of LED lights that changed color and had all sorts of different variations that was raised a few feet off of the ground. He also had his named spelt out in huge LED lights surrounding him. Now when this dude hit the stage, everyone went fuckin insane, I mean they killed the lights and he snuck up behind the set and then just jumped up onto the booth and addressed the crowd, it was nuts. Now Aoki just got right into it, droppin banger after banger of his and a few from artists on his label, Dim Mak Records. Now I've seen Aoki once before at Identity Festival this past Summer and I was instantly hooked. He's all about the show and he loves to climb his set constantly. This time Aoki was throwin ice water on people in the crowd, he had two cakes that he threw onto people in the first row, he blasted three champagne bottles onto everyone that he could, he threw Rockstar Energy Drinks, Vitamin Waters and Poland Spring Waters into the mosh of heads. I mean it was crazy the things he was doing! Then the dude gets his team to throw an air mattress into the crowd and set it onto the side a little bit. Now Aoki is fuckin climbin to our balcony with no ropes or harness and walking across the ledge! The guy then grabs onto my girlfriend and I and stands up onto the railing and just fuckin jumps onto the air mattress that is in the crowd on the floor and crowd surfs away! Is this not the craziest DJ performance you have ever heard of?

All in all his set was dope and he is really a showman, this was easily worth the $30. By this time my girl and I are soaked in sweat, champagne, Aoki's sweat and our legs are like Jello. Steve Aoki and Datsik ended the show with both of them jumping onto the air mattress in the crowd and floated away atop of hundreds of ravers hands.....Only to then fall into the crowd and have to walk all the way to the front of the stage.

My advice to all of you is to go to any of these guys live shows as they will prove to be a killer time!

Be sure to go to http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/boston/ for all the latest and greatest shows coming to the bean. Rusko, Nero and DJ Shadow are all coming in the next few months so come rage with me!

Also check out Dim Mak Records at http://dimmakrecs.com/ for all of the newest Steve Aoki, Datsik, Autoerotique and other artists new music, news and shows!

And remember, until your next show, don't kiss Molly, she's a bitch and is not to be fucked with.

Gangrene- "Vodka & Ayahuasca"

As a music enthusiast and up and coming DJ, I am constantly on the lookout for new music in all genres, especially hip hop. So it's no secret that I sit on music blog sites such as UGHH.com and look for new mixtapes or albums to purchase. Recently their list of new releases and recommended Cd's have peaked my interest, more specifically the new Alchemist and Oh No album as the duo, Gangrene. After reading many reviews on "Vodka & Ayahuasca" that were both positive and negative in different aspects, and YouTube-ing a few of the tracks just to get a small taste of what will be sitting at my doorstep in just a few days, I decided to make this easy buy a reality. Now here is my own personal review of this album.....


"Vodka & Ayahuasca" has 14 tracks, if you include both the Intro and the Outro, but the first actual song track is "Gladiator Music." This track is probably my favorite on the entire album mostly because the verses have the smoothest flow out of all of them. This song features Kool Grap, someone I am not personally familiar with but he does do a decent job going in on this one. The next few songs don't grab me lyrically but the beats are pretty consistent and have the kind of grimy, psychedelic vibe that I expected from the album art. 


Track 6 is the blockbuster song that the album is based around essentially. Titled "Vodka & Ayahuasca," these lyrics are strictly about vodka, pills, and trippin the fuck out. Truly giving you that feel that the album art provides. However, the flow is still weak and as much as I do like these beats, Alchemist and Oh No are capable of much better. The rest of the tracks are mediocre, again just lacking solid flow and any type of direction in each song. "Top Instructors" is kind of a hot song but after that it falls right off with "Livers for Sale." This one is my least favorite on the album; it just makes me think they are trying too hard to be gritty and nasty, so they talk about stealing people's livers and selling them....? Yeah, epic fail on their part, didn't capture me in any dark way. 

Do not get me wrong, by no means do I not want to listen to this, it's good to throw on while you're pouring a drink and just chillin out. Maybe even trippin the fuck out, I don't know what some of you cats do out there but it could be a solid listen for that as well. Like I said, I don't dislike it at all, but I guess I just expected more from these two, since I have been a huge fan of The Alchemist in the past and Oh No has seriously overwhelmed me in a killer way that inspires me to use his shit in upcoming mixes. All in all, go out and have a listen to this, you may love it, you may hate it, or you may just feel sort of indifferent. I mean shit, this album is $11.97.....just buy it and form you're own opinion.


Decon Records puts out some great music consistently. They have artists signed to them such as Pusha T, Freddie Gibbs, Ninjasonik, Chali 2na, Jay Electronica, Jurassic 5 and 88 Keys. So absolutely check them out at deconrecords.com and pick up that new music, they do not disappoint.

Also be sure to jump over to UGHH.com for all the newest and dopest hip hop as well as fresh gear from top clothing companies, DJ accessories and Graffiti supplies.