WHERE DID U COME FROM?!

I haven't had a proper boyfriend in a long time. Which is probably why I had to wipe my dribble from the pages of the new Supreme catalogue caused by this piece of hotness...Who are you!? Where did you come from?!

NAILED!

Check these nails out that me and Grace saw on the tube. It was an advert for something and I couldn't stop laffing. These nails are SERIOUS!

NUFF SAID!

PEACE IS THE WORD!

I'm a lover AND a fighter but if I had the option, i would always choose PEACE. The word has its own marketing campaign! A cool logo, adoption from the hip hop community and the hood (where as we know, 99% of trends are born) and the crossover to the house n rave scene. Its branding is tight!! I've been wearing a few peace signs lately. I always wear earrings and necklaces, long necklaces I mean, I feel naked wthout them. I been through phases of wearing hearts, then crosses, now im feeling the PEACE sign.



















SHE NEEDS A PEACE NECKLACE!



HE NEEDS A PEACE NECKLACE!

NATURAL VS SYNTHETIC

Woop woop!!!! I was walking home to discover that a natural afro hair salon is opening up in Hackney!! How good is that!? There is nothing more personal to a girl of any ethnic minority than her HAIR!!! Every boy knows not to fuck up no black girls hair. When I was kid i used to have pretty long hair. Im half Indian so it was sorta wavy, but still really thick, more like candyfloss than true Coolie hair. I used to have a fat plait with a red velvet scrunchie around it and i'd cry everytime my Mom had to wash it and comb it out. Fast forward to when I was 13. The combination of me having to get up crazy early for school and not being able to manage my hair alone, along with peer pressure from my older cousin doing it first, led me to RELAX my hair!! Oh lawd! What the hell was I thinking? It took two relaxer kits to wither my hair down to a flat, lifeless, straight surface. Yeh, I loved the ease with which i could do my hair but it was never the same since. Fast forward again to aged 21, and i'm wondering why my hair wont grow past shoulder length when it used to be so long. Hmmmm, maybe its the hundreds of potent CHEMICALS i put on my scalp every month?! So in Jan 2005 I stop relaxing my hair. It took a while of trimming the ends and looking after the new growth, and about a million headscarves and bandanas to cover my nappy roots but now my hair is allll natural. Except for the fact i got bored and dyed it ginger, but I'm not even gonna do that anymore. Its taken a year and a half to grow to the length it is now, but I'm very very happy and hopefully in a few years time i'll have some thick ass long black natural hair. If any other girls are thinking of doing the same thing, but are unsure, lemme give you the positives and negatives of growing out your relaxer.

POSITIVE - You have more choice!

If i want my hair curly i wash it, if i want it straight i get my Yardie hairdresser to press it out for me. When she presses it out its straighter than i've ever had it when i used to relax it which makes me wonder why i ever relaxed it in the first place. I got way more choice with natural hair whereas with relaxed hair it never has any volume, or character.

STRAIGHT OR CURLY? U DECIDE!



NEGATIVE - You can sweat out your style.

Oh my days! On a few occasions i have actually sweated out my hair straightening from going crazy on the dancefloor in a packed club, and one time i had a fringe. can u imagine that! an afro fringe with a straight ponytail!! Oh dear! However it just forces you to be more creative. On that occasion i pinned back my hair and wore the closest dude's New Era and carried on shaking my ass on the dancefloor.

DON'T SWEAT OUT YOUR HAIR!



POSITIVE - Your man will love it

You know that funny scene in like say a Wayans Bros film when some black chick is bing f*cked doggy style and her hair piece comes off in the dudes hands? THAT SHIT IS NOT COOL. Having natural hair means you never have to worry about being in bed with a guy or having someone running his hands through your hair and it coming out. Plus it says something to the opposite sex about you being strong minded to not follow the crowd.

DO YOU WANNA PUT YOUR HAND IN THIS HAIR?!



NEGATIVE - It needs maintenance

If your hair is thick you gonna have to go to the hairdressers and get that shit steamed and treated so it remains soft. If i wash my hair and go to bed without doing anything to it, it looks like a big ginger tennis ball got stuck on my scalp.

GET SEEN PROPERLY!



POSITIVE - You feel part of some secret club

Every girl and their cat has hair extensions these days. With even Posh Spice hanging up her fake hair, being natural is the minority. Don't be part of the masses!

THE SECRET AFRO CLUB



NEGATIVE - Ummmm...

I cant think of anymore negatives. Having natural hair is lovely. Don't get me wrong, I get bored quickly so i'm partial to the odd single plaits or cornrows every now and then, but they are just temporary! Its taken me a long time to get here and now my hair is healthy and strong!! No chemicals girls!

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

ALL PART OF THE GAME

This was part of an artist sets called Sushi organised by the German Art Directors club. It by an amazingly talented graphic designer called Matt, check him at MWM Graphics This catchphrase is something I say to myself every day. And then just get on with it.

A NOTE ON FEMINISM FROM MARTHA COOPER

In the first issue, i had a headline saying WE AIN'T...FEMINISTS. A line I included because I love men and don't wanna be seen as a dick basher. I also love women and am constantly interested in supporting them. I remember a while back, in conversation with the legendary Martha Cooper she sent me this email...

"Hey S-dean,
You don't have to march around with a sign to fight for women's rights. You just gotta live the life of a strong, independent woman and not cower in the face of discrimination of any kind. You are out there on the front lines leading the way. You are a feminist big time in my book and that's something to be proud of! WAH is an amazing piece of work--a breath of fresh air in a male-dominated field. Congratulations!!
Martha C."

And this was from her partner in crime, Nika Kramer, who translated her Hip Hop Files book and is another advocate of females in hip hop...check her site weBgirlz

"The only thing we don't understand is the sentence:
We ain't feminists...because we are! I think it is sad that a lot of young women today think it's bad to be a
feminist. It only means we are fighting for our rights, fighting for equality.
Men try to make us believe femimists are naggy old hags and that's why young
women today don't dare to call themselves feminists anymore...but Sharmadean, you are a
feminist and you should be proud of that!

Check this out:
Feminism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Feminism is advocacy for women, and is comprised of a diverse collection of
social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated
by or concerning the experiences of women, especially socially, politically, and
economically. As a social movement, feminism focuses on promoting women's
rights.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Greatings from NYC!

Nika & Marty"

RETHINK YOUR STATUS LADIES!!

TLC ROCKS!

Remember when you were in competition to see who could have the biggest bandana bun. Or who had the best scrunchie round your ankle? Y'all gt TLC videos to thank for that!

POP SUPER GLOSSY!!

Saturday is the day for magazines and newspapers, and i'm sending a huge dollop of WAH love to Pop Magazine. This and the J-Lo issue are my fave issues to date. The Courtney Love piece is fucking amazing. She is soooooo cool man. She has the best attitude to life and the interview with Paul Flynn is so addictive i read it twice. I had no idea she dated my dreamboy Edward Norton. I am in love with Edward Norton!!! The shoot is brilliant too, the usual super standard by Katie Grand and Mert & Marcus, the photos show her natural porno-esque body is all its naked glory. Its very LA and very Courtney Love. I used to dislike Courtney Love, but this interview has turned me around. Go buy it fools!

HOLY BEJESUS! CHANEL X BEARBRICK!!

Originally intended to be a collectors set, but now deemed by Mr Lagerfeld to be too precious to sell, these 1000% Chanel Bearbricks are blowing my mind!! I saw them in the windows of Chanel store on Brompton Rd a while back and now they are in the lovely new issue of Pop magazine. We can only look and love...

THE MOGULS OF HIP HOP + THEIR FEMALE SIDEKICKS

I got the new issue if i-D Magazine last week and its bloody brilliant. i-D has totally stepped up its game, and now after checking the masthead I realise its cuz if this new editor Ben Reardon. I've never met Ben properly, but he has completely turned the magazine around and made it into the interesting, cool document of culture that it was before. This is his 6th issue and its fun and poppy and intelligent...For a while it was actually depressing me. I think i stoped buying it in 2004, just because all the images and content was so bland and dreary and depressing. Now its ultra cool and colourful and it makes me believe in magazines again.

My only gripe was that this cover shot with P.Diddy and Cassie and the accompanying interview inside was almost identical to Jay Z and Teairra Mari cover in August 05. They basically talk to the guys more, the interview is like 90% Jay Z/P.Diddy with the girl just being pretty accessories...*sigh*. Both them girls are dry anyway we know. Cassie has as much personality as a doorknob and look what happened to Teairra. I sorta understand the system. P.Diddy and Jay-Z are businessmen and trying to promote their artists so they probably woulda have only granted i-D the interview on the basis of having their female signees in the shot too, which is fair enough. So maybe they should interviewed the girls properly too. But I suppose if they gave boring interviews then its nt even printworthy. I understand but as usual I just gotta have a moan. Just looking at the two covers side by side now I can see how much more energy is in the P.Diddy cover, again a testament to Reardons skills. Well done i-D!

The Older and Wiser Issue...Dec 06



The Straight Up Issue - Aug 05

I CAN SING A RAINBOW!

I live on the thirteenth floor of an apartment block with crazy amazing views all over the East End of London. When there its bonfire night or Divali, i have a panoramic view of all the fireworks or whatever else is going on. This morning there was a rainbow! Not a shitty little rainbow, but a FULL one, like what you draw in school. It went from one end to the other, for about 20 secs and then it fogged over. I used to see rainbows as a sign that everything is gonna be alright. My cam couldn't get a full shot in but here is the end of it. Look out for that pot of gold!

DJ Session must live in Crackney too, because he sent me this video in of the rainbow!

SO GIVE US A MILLION DOLLARS!

Bong Zee Bong!! The new book by the 12oz Prophet/Also Known As crew is almost here!! With the same beautiful tactile finishes set by previous publications, the new book entitled Million Dollar Vandal chronicles the story of Brooklyn writer Desa MTA from his beginnings right through to all the major shit thats happened in his life. Amazing photography and a great layout, I'm already creaming my pants over the metallic and fluoro inks! Pre order now at the premier online shop Four The Hard Way

HUFFA PUFFA!

Thank you Uniqlo for creating the jacket i have been looking for all my life, albeit in a mens size! Uniqlo is absolutely rocking it these days. I know Tabs from MTTM has been there and said that but seeing as I have bought my entire winter wardrobe from there I need to throw in my two pence. This puffa jacket is what dreams are made of. In the softest fabric, a PROPA PUFFA, made in purple, my fave colour!!! and a bright orange lining like what bouncers jackets are like. I'm so haps! I saw it on Kish and he was cussing me for buying the same one but errrr, do I fuckin care what HE wears? Especially when that shit looks better on me. I also bought a red n black lumberjack fleece, 2 pairs of the best fitting jeans on the high street and some flannel shirts. The new fashion director is my old boss Nicola Formichetti would ya believe it. He is so amazing, i'm so pleased!!! Oh my!

HEAT FROM THE STREET

STYLE RAIDERS

What the hell was it that attracted NWA to so many kids around the globe? Sure, there's the endless profanities which were like, really cool when you were about 9, and there was the slick production skills from DRE ensuring that even tunes without choruses were sing-a-long. But I know i am right in saying that their LOOK was what drew you in first. Totally LA, totally gang led and oh soooo cool in head to toe black, these muthafuckers were the most stylish dudes on the West Coast (with P.E being in New Yawk n all...) and it was from seeing them that I started to covet Raiders gear. Now i'ma tell you the truth, I didn;t even know who the Raiders team were, i didn;t even know what bloody sport it was. But that was irrelevant. It was sportswear, it was black and it was worn by NWA. Nothing else mattered. Obviously when i was a kid, my moms wasn't buying me shit. I had some wack no name trainers and my Bermuda shorts to play in (course i still rocked it with styleeee) So when i started working in a vintage store in camden, my wildest fantasties came true. No, not that one with me and Edward Norton at a foam party! The one wear i got my very own Raiders jacket. I was sooo happy! It was small, and an original, with all the Starter logo tabs in it. Woop Woop!!! I was at a party lately and i started seeing other people wearing Raiders shit. Course i was a little pissed but who cares, it looks hot! New Era have made a classic black Raiders cap, and check this hoodie by one of my fave labels Bounty Hunter...RAIDERS 4 EVA!!!

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON!





RANDOM HOTTIE



MY VERY OWN JACKET!


BOUNTY HUNTER GOODNESS!





Thomas Georgetti, the sneaker king from Paris, has sent this in!!!


DJ Atrak in more Raiders goodness...



If I see any more Raiders hotness, i'ma let you know. Oh shit! thats Jonathan on the phone telling me about a new LA KINGS jacket he just got in in my size. The cycle starts again...

GHETTO SHUBS

So XIT got a show in Lovely Luton tomorrow so if you live there or in the surrounding regions come support! It's gonna be GULLY, pure hoods and hats!

FRESH-2-DEATH

Sooooo Jenny lost her Camera on saturday and my battery conked out before I had the chance to take many but i got a few of the fresh to death crew!