Lyrics Matter...

...because, well, they do. Rah Digga - whom I heart to def - performed at this year's Vans Warped Tour and was seen sporting a #Lyricsmatter t-shirt. Sidebar: is The Ordinary Girl the only person who finds this whole hashstagging in real life mess lame? Back to Harriet Thugman. She breaks down why she thinks lyrics matter and also spits for some rhythmically challenged folks. Go, Digga!

Vans California Keeps Bringing That Heat

I think Dude is becoming a serious Vans fan more than ever. He's even been communicating with them on twitter looking for their Vans California drops and now they release more heat yo! The Vans California 2012 Fall Authentic CA “Native Embroidery” sneaker is what we're on about. Peep the pics below and let us know what you think.

Sneakers That Dude Is Feeling Right Now

Vans California 2012 Summer Authentic Decon Pack

 

Converse Skateboarding CTS Mid UK

 

 

Patta x KangaROOS Tennis Oxford

Nike Air Max Light 

Kute Kustoms

Kustoms are someof the most comfortable sneaker manufacturers. the Ordinary Girl actually has a pair of Kramer's that look like the ones up top except mine have a black and white diamond pattern on the low padded back of the ankle. I couldn't find ones that look like mine by the time I had to leave the J-O so you'll have to deal with these ones to give you an idea of how Kustom proves that "simplicity provides a fine line between eloquence and plainness." Only my Brown Sugar loving blaggers and blaggettes will catch that one.



Funny thing is, I wasn't looking for these sneakers but they found me. Awwww. OK, Dude has this place that he frequents. Every Saturday he goes there looking for Vans. They never have the specific pair he wants. But we'd go and check every sixth day of the week anyway. Then one day we went and I saw one Kustom Kramer and instantly knew I had to have the right shoe too. So we got them. And Dude was a little salty but wouldn't admit it.



And er, yeah, Dude's still looking for those Vans. Sigh.

A Vans Fiasco

The kid Lupe Fiasco, who has done collab with Reebok and Converse already, has added another sneaker collab on his resume' ( Ahem...That's a CV to South Africans ). This time its the skateboard brand Vans.
Vans added Wasalu to its roster of OTW collabs for Spring 2012 and I cannot front on these. They are super clean. I doubt that I'd kick push in these though. Peep them below and tell us what you think.

We Like: Vans California 31 CA

If you know us then you already know that we have a bit of a soft spot for Vans. So when we saw their California 31 CA looking too dope...OF COURSE WE'D LIKE THEM!!
The Vans California 31 CA comes in two colorways, black and grey. Its a beautiful tennis shoe with suede upper complemented by a brown nubuck toe tip and the same brown nubuck heel strap...You didn't need all that description right?? Okay then, Peep the pics below and tell us what you think.

Vans x Santigold Sneakers

Vans have enlisted Santigold to create a black, high top with perforated leather sneaker thats also got some gold chain decoration on it. The sneaker is said to be released next year, but til then peep some pics of the sneakers and tell us what you think of them.

Mister Cartoon x Vans

A while ago we posted a video of Dudes favourite tatoo artist Mister Cartoon lowriding around LA and this post is very similar. The only difference is that on this video, Mister Cartoon is not talking Lowriders but instead he is talking about Vans. Yes. Vans.
Vans made this video as part of the Vans OTW campaign which Mister plays a huge part in. Peep the video of Mister Cartoon talking about what Vans mean to him.

Inside The Vault

Dude is a huge Vans fan. I mean H.U.to the GE. Me? Not so much but I had to give it up to these Spectator LX's from the Vault by Vans collection. I know they're a tad bit Janelle Monae-ey but I'm not mad at them. See I wasn't checking for them at all until I began thinking about the kicks that women think they look better in.

Back track: I was talking to the all-round-awesomeness-haver that runs Leswapside (click on that link right there and check her out. And no, it's not french blaggers and blaggettes). And she was saying she doesn't think the Nash Money x Lacoste The Bravington would look good on anyone who claims to be a girl - except maybe Caster.

Don't laugh. That only encourages her.

Anyway, so I began thinking about the shoes that are "tame" enough for girls to rock confidently. And the shoes that the homie from Leswapside can be seen regularly in are...wait for it... Vans! Fah really, the Spectator LX seem like the perfect shoes for ladies with dainty feet.



And I'm not one of them but I could still rock these. What do you think?

Oh look, Chris Breezy wears them too.

Lowriding with Mister Cartoon

Peep Dudes favourite tatoo artist, Mister Cartoon, low riding around East LA. This video was done to promote an upcoming film “Machete” starring Danny Trejo, who is riding with Mister Cartoon below.

Danny Trejo aka Machete lowriding with Mister Cartoon from SA Studios Global on Vimeo.

Don't get it twisted though, its not just tatoos when it comes to Mister Cartoon. Peep some of his work below.





Still wondering why Dude digs him?

Claw Money x Vans

Continuing with Dudes woman appreciation(August being Womans month and all), we bring you Claudia Gold better known as Claw Money. Claudia is a New Yorker who is legendary in the graf artist fraternity with her iconic Claw tag gracing New York walls and subways.
Nowadays though Claudia doesn't much tagging and has turned her Graf alter-ego into a luxury clothing brand. Claw Money has been worn by style mavericks such as M.I.A., Santigold and Rihanna to name a few.
This post though is not about her brand, its about her collaboration with Vans and...We can't say anymore than "Check it out her video and tell us what you think"

RVLD: Claw Money x Vans from TheRivaled on Vimeo.

Here is the range. Thoughts?

Parra x Madlib tee

Stones throw are at it again. After a series of collaborations with Stussy for J. Dilla tees and doccie, comes another tee collab. This time its between Madlib and the Dutch Illustrator Parra(Dude is a huge fan). Parra, who has collaborated with brands ranging from Nike to Vans, put his own spin on the LA Dodgers logo to create a new Madlib design. This is said to be a first of a series of Madlib tees to come. This tee is now available on Stone's Throw Here is the tee.



For those who are not familiar with the work of Parra, here is some of his other work.



Your thoughts?

Something for the Sisters (Hellz x Vans)

Dude's twin got into theblagg this past festive season and naturally, she loves it. Her only comment was "Where are the female sneakers?" She even went as far as telling Dude to write about Pastry (I know! The nerve! But... she is fam). So we decided to meet her halfway. Enter Lanie Alabanza-Barcena.

Lanie is a designer and founder of a brand called Hellz and in this video she takes us through the process of a collaboration with Vans. Peep it.

Hellz X Vans from HELLZ on Vimeo.

Walking In Their Shoes

Hip hop duo, People Under The Stairs were in South Africa to perform in Jozi, Durbs and the home of real hip hop, we mean Cape Town this month and theblagg got to catch up with them.



Thes One and Double K are sponsored by Vans - and a competition on their website asking fans to submit a remix of a tune on their new album, Carried Away, was run earlier this month. You know theblagg captured the raw energy and these cats' fun spirits as they performed at Club O.S.T (Co-incidence? Hm...) in the Joburg leg of the tour. That footage is coming soon. So don't log off for too long. For now we'll break you off with a snippet of the interview:




theblagg: Tell us about the Vans deal?
Thes One: We’ve never been sponsored by anyone who took us seriously because we are the type of group that I think corporations look at and go fuck that! Like we don’t know what these dudes are gonna do. And Vans are from LA. They are from California. They literally called us and were like come down to the factory. Come hang out! Come see what we do. There have been a lot of companies in the past who have been like yo we are sponsoring you and send us a box of bullshit. Some stuff they didn’t sell. Just the ugliest stuff and things that didn’t fit us. They would be like what shoe size are you and we’d tell them but they would send a size six or seven. Vans was the first company that took us to the store and said pick whatever you want.
Double K: That’s why I’m rocking my Vans right now!
Thes One: It was like someone was saying we’re proud to have you to have you wear our stuff and that was like ‘for real?’ I don’t wanna buy clothes I wanna wear your clothes! It’s not a negative thing, it’s not selling out because they never once said that now that you are wearing Vans you gotta do this and this and this. They basically said keep doing what you do and we’ll keep giving you stuff. And that’s wassup. We wish more companies would have that attitude.