TBT Redbull Public Assembly w Talib Kweli (2012)

A few years back, we were asked to participate in the Redbull Public Assembly Event Competition with Mad Decent & The Shakedown. The competition which happened in various cities, is about who can throw the dopest party with short notice at a different venue than normally used with a modest amount of money from Redbull. We were given about two weeks to pull together visual assets, an effective promo campaign, guest performer/host, co-sponsors, and event concept. Talib Kweli was gracious enough to join us which took this insane party over the top. A secret panel of judges attended each party and scored each event based on various criteria and decided our event was the illest. (pun intended) Anyhow, in honor of Throwback Thursday, we decided to post some lost archive footage following the entire process. This was both fun and stressful but worth it after seeing the smiles on so many faces throughout the week.

- Mr. Sonny James

Red Bull Public Assembly 2012 | Philadelphia, PA from MING on Vimeo.

The BODYROCK Returns This Friday @ KFN!!!

We're back this Friday at Kung Fu Necktie. We adore this party and appreciate you all for coming every time! BODYROCK is everything. See you on the dancefloor! 9pm

Click to RSVP

Crate Raiderz Show #10 w Mr. Sonny James

Crate Raiderz is a show about recording collectors and the stories they have about various pieces in those collections. Other DJs featured include Blaak The 9th Man, DJ Cash Money, Skeme Richards and more. Check out one of the latest episodes featuring DJ Statik aka Mr. Sonny James.

I Need That Record (Full Movie)

From Crackle: I Need That Record! The Death (Or Possible Survival) of The Independent Record Store

Hezekiah Talks All Together Now

Hezekiah is one of the many artists to appear on our debut album coming out on March 29th. While he was at our new studio recently, we filmed him discussing his contributions to the project and well as his relationship with us and more. Pre-order All Together Now.

Filmed, edited, and directed by Mr. Sonny James for Illvibe Media

Art Direction of All Together Now

Panek who is 1/5th of Illvibe Collective and the crew's art director has branded our identity for over a decade. Our websites, our CD covers, 90% of our fliers, stickers, and posters have all been designed by him and in this clip he shares his process of the artwork for Illvibe's debut album, All Together Now being released next week on March 29th via Soulspazm Records.

Filmed by John Delancey. Edited and Directed by Mr. Sonny James

Most EXCELlent

Illvibe comin at you with the latest version of ill!tv! (bottom of the page) We got an exclusive interview with our compadre, philly's legendary DJ Excel of the Skratch Makaniks. In this edition, he gives Mr. Sonny James (aka Statik) some insight on his latest decision to move to the west coast and continue his hustle out there. Props to Excel and our extended Philly fam, the Scratch Makaniks Crew. Good luck homey, we'll be out to visit soon!

YES WE CAN... Use an important message and concept to promote TV sitcoms?

Its clearly evident that people all over the world have embraced Obama's campaign messages and iconic imagery and have attempted to spin them their own way. The driving visual posters (HOPE, CHANGE, or PROGRESS. etc) were designed by one of the worlds more famous graphic designer/artist, Shepard Fairey so that helps with the adoption of such a powerful design.... it was done by someone who knows how to create such a thing of impact. Ive certainly loved how the visuals played such an important role in Obama's campaign. They truly managed the brand identity well. For me, as a graphic designer, I believe it has opened more people's minds to the power of design and communication in terms of it being a significant factor in the world. The fact that a design can FIRST captivate and SECONDLY deliver a message is the objective for all professional graphic designers. So seeing all this in motion was a beautiful thing. The adoption was also a great thing to see. There were great interpretations of those posters and the campaign messages. Some of course, were terrible and some were funny and playful. Ill probably have another post up soon with an analysis of what I thought was great and what I thought was terrible. But i'll get to the point of this particular post now that you have some context of where Im coming from.

I was watching CBS after dinner last Sunday night before the inauguration... just relaxing with some mindless TV. Then here it comes.... CBS promoting their Monday night TV shows, and ripping off the Obama logo, poster art and the Yes We Can messaging.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Well, i yelled an edited version of that out loud as I was sitting there with my Mom and my grandmother, but the F bomb almost dropped. Now, as I said, we've seen people rip-off the poster art so it wasn't too surprising to see that. I was more angry with the fact that they were taking an important message, the "Yes We Can" message, and slapping it around to promote a damn series of TV sitcoms.

This bandwagon-jumping disrespectful approach got under my skin. SERIOUSLY... this IS... not WAS... a message to millions of people during one of the toughest times in our country to overcome issues of race, economic strife, hate, and difference. There was a man delivering to us an idea that we as a people need to come together and put aside our differences, motivate one another, and believe in the power of the human race to be able to overcome challenges we all face. Regardless of this being a presidential race or not, it was still something that was impacting the world in the fashion it was delivered. All his promises aside and whether or not he does a good job has yet to be determined. We all know how difficult it is and he IS a politician. History will soon tell us if he's able to change the game. (and I have faith that he will do a good job by the way) To me, Obama already did the most important thing for our country in his roll as president... he inspired us and reminded us of the power of unity. Something people of my generation and circles of friends have never known in respects to this country. The things my grandmother may have spoke of in years past with other presidents... the feeling of pride with the people you share a country with and the sense of trust that I am somewhat starting to feel now. To me, we are on our way to having the face of the country who we really are... not some old white geezer pretending to know who the middle class is.

So that's why I got so mad at CBS. Shame on them for making an important concept into marketing propaganda. I cant believe no one else has said anything about this either. Are we that used to advertising and marketing folks doing distasteful things. Maybe its part of what they have to do, but we need to check them on these things and keep em in line. That's fundamentally part of the problem in our country today. People act and don't think about the consequences of their actions. How dare they take a powerful message like that, make it feel "fun" and gimmicky and treat it like it was some temporary slogan that was only intended to get a man in office. Its evident that it has done more than that and was intended to do so from the start.

- Panek

The End of an Error

Bush is done. President Obama is here. America is ready!!!

Interesting Auditory Experience

So yesterday I was crackin away on some design work at the job but I was in more of a chill mood. Not into some hype ish so with my music I was staying away from the rock and the hip hop joints that I been listening to in the car. So i went in the opposite direction on some classic jazz with none other than the great John Coltrane ("The Best Of John Coltrane" to be specific). It put me in the right place of mind. It has its ups and downs and amazing arrangements. I always feel like I embark on a new journey when I go back to classic quality jazz. It tends to be an interesting listening experience each and every time, even with the albums I know well. You have to let it lead the way though so you really have to sit with it. If you are on some A.D.D. ish, you will never get it. In fact, if you are A.D.D. you should force yourself to listen because it will probably fix you. lol. So in saying all of this, I still have yet to tell you why I am writing this post...



Like I said, i was listening yesterday, at work so I was rockin my ear buds. Needless to say, I was getting a full stereo experience. And if you are familiar with how they mixed classic music and jazz specifically, you should know that the engineers maximized their advantage of the stereo spectrum, panning the instruments for the mix. So yesterday I experienced the collection of songs one way. TODAY, when I returned, I experienced it another. How? I haphazardly plugged my ear buds in my ears and realized that they were in opposite ears (apple ear buds are unlabeled and (pause) go both ways). To my delight, it was a rather happy mistake that made me experience the album in almost a full 180 degrees. crazy. Jazz music is truly one of kind, ALWAYS next level timeless ish. Thank you John Coltrane.

- Panek

BARACK THE VOTE WEEK!

This week, while you prepare to head to the polls to vote in Barack, also make sure do a couple of other things as well. One, pick up the Q-Tip Renaissance album tomorrow. Two, cop the new Mr. Lif single featuring me, Statik aka Mr. Sonny James on the hook. It's called Welcome To The World and is the 3rd single from the "I Heard It Today" LP being released on Inauguration Day. And Last, come out to check Mr. Lif, Metro, and myself in your city as we're rocking dates throughout Election Week.

Dates:

Monday, Nov. 3 - Heirloom Arts Theatre
155 Main Street, Danbury, Connecticut

Tuesday, Nov. 4 - Knitting Factory
74 Leonard Street, New York, New York

Wednesday, Nov. 5 - Rock and Roll Hotel
1353 H Street Northeast, Washington DC, Washington DC

Thursday, Nov. 6 - Bedrock Baltimore
401 West Baltimore Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21201

One Love to Cosmo Baker for being the Vet he is and killing it at The BODYROCK on Halloween. We miss hearing him rock regularly at the Remedy, etc. He's a monster...



Finally, is there a need to speak on how important this election is to us all?
Folks, please do what makes sense at the Polls. 8 years of the government considering no interest of the people is enough, don't you think. There has to be a change in the White House. Responsibility needs to be had and progressive action taken in order to make things work for once. Clearly, Barack Obama has presented the better plan proving he's prepared for the duties involved. If you're digging Sarah Palin because she's cute, please get over it. If you think John McCain is the better choice because of all that Prisoner of War business, take a look at how many long lasting negative aspects he could have possibly taken away from that experience and tell me that won't affect his judgement in the White House.

Now please get out to vote tomorrow and call your friends to make sure they know where they are registered. We can't afford to have excuses on Wednesday morning. The future of our country, us, and our children ultimately depend on our ability to think critically and choose logically tomorrow.

Thanks and we hope to see you out this week at one of the Lif performances. The new album is crazy!

Holla

Statik