another great video

Technology has gotten amazing and literally when you watch this video you think you are watching legos. But no, everything in the film is real and just edited with a certain touch. have already posted a video like this here but this one is just as well done and worth your time:

wait what presents: the notorious xx

For some reason I always feel the need to give a disclaimer on mashups these days, i think its because they have become so popular. But when my friend at Avanza Press sent me this link I knew it was worth a look...

The notorious b.i.g. vs the xx was well described by its creator: "the marriage, if you can call it that... aims for a really solid connection between two people just tring to feel something - is admittedly unorthodox. Biggie's music can make anyone at the club feel like they're a rapper, and gets a dance floor going at most any party, whereas The xx are mostly consumed in iPod earbuds on public transit, sitting in isolation at home, or driving alone- in many ways, the combination of the two is the extrovert meets the introvert."

What strikes me most about the notorious xx is the quality of the body of work. They take the time to slow down biggie's voice or speed up the beat at just the right time to make a sound that is not 1 + 1; just one... if that makes sense. If you like what you hear download the whole thing here. Wait What also made a music video for their new mixtape and I believe it accurately demonstrates what I was referring to earlier about the work having quality. Notice how the timing of the video perfectly interacts with the music:

i made it like that i bought it like that im livin like that

im a big fan of chip tha ripper. hailing from cleveland and associated with kid cudi, chip brings some fire rap. i stumbled across his music video "like that" and thought i would share. it is pretty simple which is not a bad thing because it makes you listen to the music with a finer ear. his eyes are closed during every scene which is slightly different but so is he so it works. it would have been awesome to see this song in its element.



Chip Tha Ripper - "Like That" - [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

"just do it if you want it and dont stop until you there"

woa

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world

Tour de Dallas

after watching those guys riding bikes in san francisco like they owned the road i knew i had to try. so i hoped on my bike, blared rap on the headphones, and peddled harder than id peddled before. i eventually got the courage to hold onto the back of a car and ride like Massan does. it was terrifying. luckily i was smart enough to bring my camera and got some good shots of my college town: Dallas, TX. give them a look

ps: the grassy knoll is not just a grassy knoll but THE grassy knoll

 

forget cars

if you were at all intrigued by that you'd be a fool not to see this


or for those who prefer 4 rather than 2

This week in Rap

An interesting way to stay in touch with current events. Check out thisweekinrap.com

MGMT: Congratulations

I found it hard to believe when MGMT said their second album would have no tracks similar to the poppy electronica of "kids" or "time to pretend," but I shall doubt no more. "Congratulations," the second album from the Brooklyn group debuts April 13th, and it is a complete 180 from their last banger of an album. This album was said to have been written mostly "deep in the woods" as the band knew not how to deal with their successes; the result brings out somewhat of an emotional twist and less pop-rock.
"We're trying to come to grips with that world," he admits. "It's not our world. We don't feel comfortable in it. But we didn't want to make that typical second album either, about fame. So we're definitely observing it, as opposed to revelling in it." Make your own decisions, songs posted below (click arrow pointing down for download.) If you want the whole thing you can find it at MGMT's Website.

"We've been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it." 

  Flash Delirium  by  ballardjh

  Brian Eno  by  ballardjh

  It's Working  by  ballardjh

california

when i got to playing with my new camera on my first trip to the pacific I found there to be a rapidfire feature that ended up being pretty convenient. From the "rapidfire" pictures I was able to create a movie that there is some good in and would like to show you all. I tried embedding it onto the blog but think it is best viewed at its home here

The Future Looks- "going to california" from Harrison Ballard on Vimeo.

added to my bucket list

Artist Highlight: B.o.B

This young Atlanta Rapper is breaking onto the scene in the same class as Wale, Cudi yet is still just releasing his first album in a little over than a month; B.o.B Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray out April 27th. The reason for the delay comes with a story: B.o.B produced an album at the end of last summer that his record company wasn't pleased with due to its lack of basically "not sounding like what they thought a rapper should." Arguments ensued and the result was Bobby Ray saying fuck it, releasing a mixtape on dat piff (here) titled "Should have been the first album." Not a bad response, and give it a listen because its album like quality. Who knows what will come of his April album but i am highlighting him now to show that there was once a really good sound coming from this guy, not to say there will not be more to come. Anyway, I have highlighted some of my favorites that have come from his pre-album mixtape era.

PS: found a new way of bringing music to the blog, click the arrow pointing down to download the track

Lonely People by ballardjh

Haterz Everywhere by ballardjh

Stack My Paper Up by ballardjh

"The opposing team and my teammates, they knew I was high, but they didn't know what I was high on."

props to my mane for showing me
this a while back. its time to share it for everyone though. true story

A Tribute: Charles Moore

 

"Pictures can and do make a difference. Strong images of historical events do have an impact on society." 

-Charles Moore

I took the time to read an obituary today of an American photographer named Charles Moore who is most famous for his work during the Civil Rights era. The man was born and raised in Alabama but differed from his fellow Southerners in his ability to recognize the historical significance transpiring across the nation from 1958- 1965. "To people who were really bigoted, I was the worst enemy, a Southern boy working for Life," Moore told USA Today in 1991. "I knew the South. . . . I also knew how to talk back to racists." I post a tribute to honor a good man with a good eye for photography, his work helped African Americans struggles become better documented.

Below is MLK Jr. being arrested and visibly manhandled by Montgomery Police. The photograph was published in TIME and later regarded as "one of the most significant photographs of the civil rights movement."

For more Moore click here

Gorillaz: Plastic Beach

Unfortunately we only get a new album out of the Gorillaz every five years or so but its hard to complain with their good results. I've only given the new album one listen but it seems to satisfy many different genres; each song almost has a different identity. With guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, and ... Lou Reed? Damon Albarn is definitely consistent in going out on limbs and I think this may be his most creative work yet. If your not interested in buying the album at least check out the video for Stylo: one of the singles off Plastic Beach.

John Warren

John Warren is a Senior Designer at Vans. Hypebeast features him in a blog from which he displays some of his own photography that I find noteworthy. Got some previews below but the blog can be found here.

being the best at what you do

"The thing that makes me good is that I have complete disregard for money."

-phil ivey

Even if you don't respect gambling or poker players you have to respect being at the top of your game. Woods, Federer, Pacquiao, Bryant... all are mesmerizing. Phil Ivey is a poker player I have loved ever since watching him in the World Series of Poker the year that random Tennessean named Moneymaker won it all. The man just has the look in the eye when he searches your every expression for clues until your flat broke. The mothership of sports did a little documentation of the lifestyle and story of Ivey, and I would say its worth a peek regardless of what angle you see it from.

more photographic highlights from vacation

creative mashup

mashups have become a little too overdone these days if you ask me but I came across this one and its enough of a curveball for me to bear. yall try it out here

my style

Forget backpacking across Europe, I wanna bike across Australia.

"Flat Out" Teaser

and then once my skills are honed, I wanna do this too.

Stress x Wildlife!: "Hood Up"

and I wish this I could say I wanna do this, but it just looks impossible.

A POV Lap

And this is just day one of our trip

a simply incredible short film

As a new camera owner I have dabbled with making shutter speed, aperture, and all the other technicalities that come with making good film. Sam O'Hare's short film "Sandpit" is an example of mastering such crafts. At first you may believe it to be made with minature models, but his shots are real life. He explains exactly how he did it, but ill let you watch his astounding film first

 (worth the wait to full screen, HD this video)


  
"It is shot on a Nikon D3 (and one shot on a D80), as a series of stills. I used my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 lenses for all of these shots. Most were shot at 4fps in DX crop mode, which is the fastest the D3 could continuously write out to the memory card. The boats had slower frame rates, and the night shots used exposures up to two seconds each. […] I shot over 35,000 [stills]. I did some initial tests a while back using a rented 24mm tilt-shift lens, which is the standard way to do this. However, after my tests, I found it made much more sense to do this effect in post, rather than in camera […] The entire shoot was completed in 5 days and two evenings, during the hottest week of August 2009."

going to california

Bought myself a camera today so soon I hope to bring you my own works rather than highlighting others. The timing of the purchase was cued with my departure to California tomorrow. Led Zeppelin is the only source I have on such a trip as it will be my first time. I cant wait to show you what I see from my mountain of dreams.



"Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems."

"my mind runs i can never catch it even if i got a head start, I dont need to worry 'cuz I know the world'll feel this nigga"

 My main man Kid Cudi has some more new tracks headed our way in his 2nd LP titled "Cudder: The Revolution of Evolution." The track im previewing was selected due to the fact that Dr.Dre produced it and as far as im concerned he has the best ear for beats in the business.


Kid Cudi ft Snoop Dogg- "I do my thing."

^ j daddy ^

Props to my man J-DADDY letting me know OK GO was back to their old trick of creating unbelievably creative music videos. If you havent seen their Grammy award winning video "Here It Goes Again" then be sure and check it out. These guys have a great sound, but what they do best is advertise the sound through creative music videos. Check their latest here.

I was lucky enough to see Jay-Z live last and my consensus was that he is one of the greatest performers of our generation. Lucky for us, photographer and filmmaker Danny Clinch has documented this art in his upcoming documentary "NY-Z." It was filmed during Z's September 11th memorial show last september at Madison Square Garden. Its a Drew Brees to New Orleans as Jay Z is to New York kind of thing if that makes sense. Anyway, here is the trailer.

bitch i feel good.

Lil Wayne created the Carter III hype through mixtapes, Kid Cudi first album sold big because of his masterpiece mixtape and now as I see it the next big thing has hit the scene through wouldn't ya know it... mixtape. If you haven't downloaded The Cleveland Show then your a fool. Its thirty tracks of good shit. Below is my hypothesis of what will be his "day n nite" type breakthrough song.

Chip Tha Ripper- Feel Good

DJ Danger Mouse blew up the internet with "the grey album," a mixtape featuring tracks enfused with both Beatles Rock and Jay-Z Rap. The next big thing comes not from one of the countless faux DJ's who have attempted to recreate Danger Mouse explosion. Tom Caruana, a 28-year-old music teacher and producer from Brighton, England who spent two months stitching the likes of The Beatles and the Wu-Tang Clan to create "Enter the Magical Music Chambers."

Tom Caruana Presents: Wu-Tang Vs The Beatles- Got Your Money

Both of those links have lots to offer but this next gem holds a special place in my heart. Rad Omen made the most bad ass music video I have ever seen. Everything in it is just the way it actually goes down if that makes sense. And the fact that the main characters are played by fast food advertisement mascots makes me think we could watch this video in fifty years and be nostalgic of the way it used to be. Turn up your volume all the way and full screen it, because this is just so bad ass.

RAD OMEN - "Rad Anthem" from Nicholaus Goossen on Vimeo.

slightly outside the lines

first off, let me tip my hat to my man at Feel Good Lost for the heads up on these guys: Die Antwoord. What makes these guys legitimate in my book is their confidence in their individuality, however oddly cultured they may be. Judge these guys as you may, but do it in terms of being original artists who are expressing their own art: this may be a bit dramatic introduction for a clan of South Africans rocking to the beat

less is more: a great short film

Leave Me (3 minute contest winning version) from Daros Films

We are Generation Rx: and this is PILL

Today the rap game is dominated by who is doing it the most. Not necessarily who puts out most mixtapes, platinum hits, etc. But rather about who has more jewelry, money stacks, or enough AK's to start an army. Atlanta based rapper Tyrone "Pill" Rivers shows us the root of these aspirations of becoming a true hustler by preaching in his own backyard: known to most as the hood. Whether it directly effects you or not, his backyard is our country's backyard. And as Thomas Jefferson once said "Whenever there are in any country uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right." The video "Trap Goin Ham" was immediately pulled by youtube due to explicit material; this about characterizes how most Americans have dealt with the idea that there is discomfort outside of their comfort zone. I intended to make the focus of this post on PILL, but what attracts me about him is his raw ability to portray the true culture that millions of Americans experience from birth to death. PILL will be successful and perhaps become like those rappers before him and use his verse to display his own strength via drugs and money, but at this stage in his career he is just being real and thats why he is worth looking into. If you like what you see here be sure to check out Glass.

"Seize every moment that life presents to you and attack every second you are given with wreckless abandon and dedication to the pursuit of enjoyment"

If there is a man that knows about living life right, which as it sits with me means possessing a mentality that's all about living from the inside out rather than the outside in, its Phillip T Annand. Creator of The Award Tour, writer for Hypebeast, and the man is just trying to get a diploma at Rutgers. He is a true individual in the true sense of the word. The great Ayn Rand once said "A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others." There is something special about Annand and he is worth a look to say the least.

P.S. the man keeps hinting at a major project in the works, The Madbury Club, but at this point we know nothing other than the man is excited about whats to come and so am i. as he says it "We’ve got some things for you folks, we’ve got some things."