The New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) knows funny. In an effort to promote the NYILFF this week–July 27 to Aug. 1– a series of videos were released. The videos pay homage to those who have supported independent Latino film makers when resources were limited. The NYILFF strives to celebrate the independent Latino film community and will come to a close this weekend. Read more for details on two free panels being offered today in the city.

SATURDAY, JULY 31
HBO PRESENTS “ART OF THE SHORT”
12 – 2:00 PM @ Industry Lounge
Explore the key elements of creating a compelling narrative short – one that showcases a unique style, talent, and point of view – in an intimate workshop hosted by HBO development executives.

“RETHINKING FILM DISTRIBUTION: DOING IT YOURSELF”
2:30 – 4:30 PM @ Industry Lounge
This panel offers an in-depth examination of how to realign your marketing and distribution strategies to capitalize on the new independent distribution landscape, including digital marketing tools, synchronous online/theatrical releases, Video On Demand (V.O.D.) and limited ‘do it yourself’ theatrical runs.

Source: Kiss My Black Ads | NYILF

WORDS BY BRITTANY EPPS

David and Phillipe Blond, collectively known as The Blonds, have been turning the fashion industry into a naughty freak show since 2004, and we have no complaints. Phillipe started his design career as a M.A.C make-up artist, while David worked as a window dresser for stores like Macy’s and Sak’s Fifth Avenue. The Blonds are known for their bizarre, hand-made corsets with striking prints, flashy jewels and lengthy, razor-sharp spikes that are to die for—pun intended.

See photos from The Blonds Fall 2010 Fashion Show at New York Fashion Week after the jump.

This clothing line is not for the faint of heart. It screams bedazzled Rock & Roll glam. It seems that The Blonds design clothes especially for alien creatures, or the freaks of fashion. Media-proclaimed fashion “bad girl” Rihanna has been spotted wearing the brand while lighting up the stage at her concerts and when steaming up the red carpet. Katy Perry, Adam Lambert and Fergie are also fans of the line.

The Blonds put on a sassy show at New York Fashion Week for their Fall 2010 Collection. “It’s A Jungle Out There” was the theme. A model in a gorilla suit started the show. The gorilla did a quirky strip tease and out popped Phillipe Blonds. True to form, all the models sported blond wigs and fierce compositions. The Blonds are a 25 favorite.

Photo: Mary Blanco, newyorkcool.com.

Photo courtesy of Kareem Black

WORDS BY REDONAH ANDERSON

Kareem Black can never predict the outcome of his day. On his desk is a list of clients who want him to shoot photos for their upcoming albums. The phone rings and on the other line is Verizon’s advertising staff asking him to shoot their Super Bowl advertisements. He does this every year. After accepting, the celebrity photographer continues to spend the day booking more shoots in his New York City office. He caps his night off with some bar hopping in Manhattan.

Black is living the life, but his success did not come easy. After receiving a scholarship to the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Black began shooting images of people in the local community, which led to his big break working for popular Japanese publication Warp Japan magazine. Black’s go-get-em attitude has rewarded him a widespread résumé featuring notable clients including Sports Illustrated, MTV, Spike Lee, Clinton Portis and Venus Williams.

Now as a successful photographer, Black loves the business and competition of the industry. By engaging in personal pow-wows and bonding before a shoot, Black is able to produce images that better cater to his client’s desires and keeps Black in their pool of personal contacts. A good sport on and off the scene, Black continues to be the shinning gem that will light up the photography industry.

25 Magazine: How was life like for you growing up?

Kareem Black: Life was good. I was born in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I had great parents. My mother is a doctor and my dad is a professor teaching political science. One of the things I liked was that I never felt constrained or restricted because we were not always financially stable. I never felt like we were struggling.

Before my mom was a doctor, she was a secretary who worked to put herself through medical school when I was in middle and high school. I get most of my motivation and inspiration from my parents. It’s very amazing that they instilled that “anything is possible” mindset.

25: What inspired you to pursue a career in photography?

Black: I’ve always been an artist. I started out drawing comics and elevated to paintings, particularly oil paintings. I would have models come and pose in front of me while I paint them.  But, because of the conflicting schedules and my lack of patience, I then moved on to taking pictures of the models and creating a painting from the picture. This is how I got into the desire of taking photos. I began to like the interactions that I shared with the models. From there I went to SVA [School of Visual Arts] in 1996 on scholarship and wanted to become a photographer, particularly for music and entertainment.

25: How do you plan the type of photo you want to take when shooting a particular celebrity? Is it based of their personality, profession, etc?

Black: Each shoot has different aspects and goals. My vision comes from the connections that me and the subject have. It is based on the level of trust that the subject has in my work and to know that I will make them look like royalty. Also, it depends on the theme of the shoot. For example, for the “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” photo shoot, there was a 1950’s theme, so we incorporated the 1950’s clothing, make-up, and the props related to that decade.

Photo courtest of Kareem Black

25: What do you enjoy capturing about a person when shooting?

Black: I love to capture pictures of faces. I love every detail of a person; every freckle, every mole, every line and every eyelash. A person’s face is a big part of the story that describes who one is.

25: How would you describe your style of photography?

Black: My style comes from the places where I’ve traveled. I love variety. That kind of gives me inspiration to keep my work new and fresh. I hate taking the same picture twice. It’s like having a desk job where you expect to do the same thing every day. I hate that. So I always experiment and explore new things and places. Also, I love to take pictures with humor and I’m currently into taking black and white photos because I think it’s beautiful.

25: What does a “top class” picture consist of?

Black: Well, I believe that a top class picture is at the eye of the beholder. You know what I mean? It’s all based on a person’s artistic style. Different people like different things. What does an image mean to you? Is it a picture of some kind of historical significance or is it more of a documentary that can capture an incredible moment?

25: What inspires you as an artist?

Black: Everything inspires me! I am fortunate to live in a place like New York that is full of wonderful friends who are artist and can arouse his creativity, which most of my ideas are formed. Additionally, competition inspires me to work harder on my craft. Whether it’s from other photographers or friendly rivalry (Whoever gets the photo shoot/client that we all were trying to get, the loser buys dinner).  Traveling is another inspiration for me. I enjoy seeing things I’ve never seen and going to places I’ve never been. Witnessing different cultures and people of different nationalities are amazing. This is what inspires me to create images and helps me to provide a unique vision.

Photo courtest of Kareem Black

25: What photographer do you idolize?

Black: Wow. I idolize many photographers. I love the work of Brooke Nipar and my ex-girlfriend Emily Shur, who is an amazing photographer and one of the people I admire as an artist. Also I love painters, Philip Corey and Phil Cotton.

25: What celebrity would you dream of working with in the future?

Black: Leonard Nimoy and Lindsay Lohan! I really want to shoot them both but for different reasons. Actually, shooting the two of them together would be amazing, now that I think about it!

25: What do you like to do in your downtime?

Black: I’m a big nerd. I love “Star Trek” and chess. I try to play chess every day and I’ve seen and/or own every episode of “Star Trek” and all its spin offs-except “Star Trek Voyager” of course because Voyager sucks! Other then that I love to drink. Is that wrong?

25:  Hey to each, his own. What advice would you give to someone wanting to or considering becoming a professional photographer that would help them in this regard?

Black: You know that reminds me of what my professors at SVA would say to me, “shoot what you love.” You have to a have a passion for what image you are capturing. I was going to be a fashion photographer but I didn’t like or did not know anything about fashion. So, I went to music.

Also, one would have to move into a hub; meaning go to a place like New York, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles, where you can prove your talents and where networking opportunities and chances of success are at its highest. Fish where the fish are. Also, one has to be open to everything and willing to learn. One should never be afraid to embrace their abilities, explore and try new things. I had a shoot for Nascar then after I began watching Nascar and became a huge fan. That probably never would have happened if I didn’t shoot them.

For more on Kareem Black, visit www.KareemBlack.com.

MTV Alexa Chung Times SQ Billboard from kareem black on Vimeo.

Steven Colbert joins Alicia Keys for a special rendition of “Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down” on The Colbert Report. #veryfunny

Mighty Healthy’s online store is now open for business! Lookbook and featured tees after the jump!

Check out their Fall lookbook here.

Shouts to Freshness!

25 reviews New York Fashion Week 2009.

Review by Craig Montague

Charlotte Ronson:
Charlotte’s spring 2010 collection gave a breath of fresh air with her light blue denim and nude color scheme. Her emphasis on shoulders, whether it be with over the top angular shapes or showing off the shoulder with no fabric on them, gives a sort of subtle sex appeal to her collection.

Ralph Lauren:
A woman seems to never go wrong with a Lauren piece in their closet. His timeless clothes for this spring 2010 collection did not steer far from his legacy. With his male themed runway show, Mr. Lauren showed that you don’t have to just wear women’s clothing to be fashionable. He also showed that mixing clothing for the sexes is the next step in this androgynous forward fashion industry.

Academy of Art University:
One of the things that will automatically draw your attention to this collection is the wide range of colors used for the color scheme. Their cutting edge collection plays on color and shape, giving the fashion savvy a heads-up of what to look for spring 2010.

Christian Siriano:
America’s project runway designer has brought a collection that can be said to have heart, soul, and passion in each and every piece. This collection displays how drama in clothing can be done correctly and has an effortless high fashion theme about it that doesn’t become overwhelming or complicated.

Duckie Brown:
Brown’s collection showed a certain quirkiness towards men’s fashion for the upcoming spring. You can see the trend of the nude colors throughout this collection as well as others. Brown made a collection that will allow men look at other venues and colors when it comes to the way they dress for the spring.

All photos came from mbfashionweek.com and are Getty images.

Check out the first installment of 25′s unsigned and undiscovered series, “The Breaks” featuring Yung Reno.

New York is not only the birth place of many music industry legends such as KRS-One, Jay-Z, Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kid Capri, but it is also the birth place of the music, the culture and the lifestyle that we know today as hip hop. Even with the title of being the birth place of hip hop, New York has lately fallen off the map and is constantly being replaced by the emerging hip hop scenes in Houston, Tallahassee and the Bay Area in California, but new up and coming artist and Queens native Nick “Yung Reno” Hamilton is determined to change that.

A reserved junior political science major at Howard University by day and a flashy emcee by night, Yung Reno shows the versatility of any successful artist on his mixtape, The City is Mine released in April 2009. On the track “Bars” he freestyles at a local radio station shouting out Howard University and the DC community, and shows his softer side with his track “Cupid,” a classic boy meets girl love story. With only his first mixtape under his belt, Yung Reno has a lot of work to do if he wants to put New York City back on the map and take his career to the next level, but with a heart full of determination, he doesn’t seem to mind.

25: Where did you draw inspiration from when recording The City is Mine?

I had the idea for the mixtape before I even got to Howard. The inspiration just came up basically from listening to a lot of different artists and by personal experiences from back home in New York and all around the city so that’s why I named it that.

25: Who is the person that inspired you to pick up the mic and start rhyming? How did you feel when you heard this person perform?

I would say Jay-Z being the New Yorker that I am and also UGK as a group. And Jay-Z being a New York dude and just seeing what he’s done. He started out like making himself as his own song like his own brand and you know who wouldn’t wanna do that?  And I just wonder if a little fella like me can do that. And UGK, they were just something different from what I was used to. They’re from Houston, Texas and I’m from New York and they had a different type of slang and different stories. I really think they kept it real on a regular. It was just what they said and how they put things together. Pimp C being more socially conscience. He’s more of the environmentally charged part of the group. They’re just really different from what I’m used to.

25: What sets you apart from the rest of the rappers that are out today? What is it about your lyrics or flow?

Well it’s the fact that I don’t have one type of sound. You know, some come out here gangster, some people be doing the social conscience rap. I feel like I’m good enough to be all around and talk about a little bit of everything and not just have one preference.

25: How different is Nick Hamilton the student and Yung Reno the artist? How do you balance both identities?

Well Nick is more reserved while the artist is more out there. Yung Reno the artist is the flashier one, not that it’s an act or anything, it’s just different kinds for different people. You can’t be Yung Reno in intro to political science or political science 101 or nothing like that. I guess I’m good at balancing both. Maybe because I’m not faking in either one of them. It’s all work and dedication.

25: Where do you see yourself musically in five years? What do hope to achieve?

Well I’ll be 25 then, and my sex appeal will probably be starting to fade, but in five years I see myself on top of the charts and a few million in. You know, I can see myself with a brand name because I started out early. I see myself in the upper echelon. As far as what I hope to achieve, I hope to change lives. Hopefully someone can hear what I’m doing and they can see themselves doing it. Just listening to my music and taking away from it whether its advice or just something to get through the day. That’s better than success.

You can find The City is Mine as well as new tracks from Yung Reno at myspace.com/yungrenosce

25 Magazine catches up with Von Pea and Donwill of rap trio Tanya Morgan on the heels of their LP,  Brooklynati.

Music has met its match, the internet, and over the past decade they’ve built a strong alliance and revolutionized music discovery and distribution. Many artists have benefited from the joining of the two mediums. Some notable offspring include Soulja Boy Tell’em, who has over 400 million views on YouTube; The Cool Kids, who formed after finding each other’s music on Myspace in 2005; and Asher Roth who was signed by Atlanta based manager Scooter Braun through Myspace in 2006. But long before these artists used the internet to network and share music, rap trio Tanya Morgan had already been there and done that.

Rapper Von Pea credits the internet for Tanya Morgan’s formation. Its connecting power brought Von Pea from Brooklyn, and Donwill and Ilyas from Cincinnati together. Back in 2000, Donwill was working with Ilyas in a group called Ilwill, and first heard Von Pea’s music on okayplayer.com. By 2003, the three emcees formed Tanya Morgan and released their first mixtape Sunlighting online in 2005, as well the EP Sunset later that year. In 2006, they dropped their debut album Moonlighting and took their career on the road. During the mid-2000s, Tanya Morgan made their presence in the indie Hip Hop circuit performing in Toronto’s NXNE Festival with Noveau Riche and performing in the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival with Consequence and Ghostface Killah. Just last week they headlined with Torae & Marco Polo at Southpaw in Brooklyn.

In the past six years, Tanya Morgan has received nods from rap notables De La Soul and Black Thought from The Roots for their affinity for both lyrical complexity and content. The trio has pumped a steady flow of music into the blogosphere over the past few years, releasing their mixtape Tanya Morgan Is A Rap Group and The Bridge EP in 2008, and their LP Brooklynati in June. Although Tanya Morgan has not hit the mainstream Hip Hop scene, their focus is not on commercial cross over. They understand true success, and rather than define themselves through records sold and Myspace hits, they’d rather focus on making the best “intelligent car music” possible.

25: What is the story behind Tanya Morgan’s name?

Donwill: Pretty much the name was designed for a one-off project. It was to throw people off with the album so they discover that it’s rap. It’s kind of like a weird inside joke and the name stuck. We’ve adopted several meanings to the name but it’s to expect the unexpected.

25: How did you all form Tanya Morgan?

Von Pea: Donwill and Ilyas met in college. They went to college together in North Carolina and they’re both from Cincinnati. I’m from Brooklyn. They hooked up and became homeboys in college. I was just starting to try to get my demo together. I was working with DJ Brainchild and Phonte back when Phonte was a solo artist. Donwill was one of the first people to hear my music when I first started in 2000, I guess through internet music sites like okayplayer.com and mp3.com. From there we started working with each other, but as far as being a group, me and Don became a group and he and Ilyas were already working together. From there, I just started working with both of them. We decided to do what was supposed to be a one-off project and we got stuck together.

25: You guys merge styles from Cincinnati and Brooklyn, how does that impact your sound?

Donwill: I would say our music is a mix of the east coast boom-bap and the mid-west stump. We make intelligent car music. It sounds good in your truck bunk and sounds good when you think about what we’re actually saying. In short, we make smart car music.

25: What distinguishes Brooklynati from your other productions?

Donwill: I think if people have ever heard anything that we’ve done it’s just a progression of the things we’ve done. It’s just everything is on a more professional, better version of what we’ve done. More thought out. We just did our own production this time around.

25: Do you think your music would be heard without the internet?

Von Pea: It would be interesting to see that, because we would have never become a group if not for the internet. I wouldn’t have any way to meet them, [Donwill and Ilyas]. I would have to go to Cincinnati. I don’t have friends or family in Cincinnati. They’re like my family in Cincinnati now but before them I had no reason to go to Cincinnati. We wouldn’t even be a group.

25: Why did you sign with Interdependent Media?

Donwill: We were actually, since our first album, signed with a subsidiary label called Loud Minority and that label got dissolved into Interdependent Media, as opposed to switching up the whole team that was part of the creative line up. A lot of our ideas are unconventional, and we wouldn’t be able to receive that sort of creative control from other vessels. So we just chose to rock with what we’ve been rocking with, and try to see what we can do together on a slightly larger scale.

25: How do you feel about the music industry and how has it impacted your work?

Von Pea: I feel like the music that we make is influenced from our life, and is the music that we gravitated to and listened to growing up. As far as hip hop, it’s more of the same. It hasn’t really changed. It’s more of a financial or monetizing thing. You see less intelligent music and more commercial, mainstream music. It’s harder to find, but if you go into Fat Beats, I guarantee it is all there. I think hip hop is okay. I think the rap game is in crutch right now because we don’t have record stores. We have Fat Beats and your local mom and pops. You go in there to look around and they carry our products and many of our friends. Hip hop is alive and well. It’s not really dead, it’s just harder to find.

25: You have been making music for some time, how do you feel about your slow rise to recognition?

Donwill: Still waters run deep. Nothing is overnight. Even if it looks overnight, it was probably 10 years in the making. You can’t really name an artist that was just concocted and rose to this meteoric success, without understating the 10 years or 20 years of work they put in until they get to that point of even having a meteoric rise. Name any artist, and there’s at least 10 years worth of grind and hustle. They just don’t talk about it because it’s behind them; it’s the past. It may work to be slow and steady, but 10 years from now after all is said and done and we have our cult following-I’m not in it for the fast run. The quicker you get in the quicker you leave.

25:What has been the defining moment for Tanya Morgan?

Von Pea: I think every time we meet artists that we grew up on, they always seem to know us and show us love. Just to see emcees we grew up on and we’ve learned so much from have respect for us, gets me every time. It’s been De La Soul, Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest, and Black Thought from The Roots, the whole Hieroglyphics [artist roster], and DJ Jazzy Jeff. It’s been so many people that you would think pay you no mind at all, and then they go, “Oh yeah! We know you! We like what y’all do! Y’all are dope!” They understand that you’re the next generation of what they do. They still have the torch and they’re still running, but if they say, “If I stop today, the torch will be handed to y’all,” that’s special to me. That’s defining to me. That’s how we know we’re doing the right thing.

Editor, Stacy-Ann Ellis reviews the Tanya Morgan and Marco Polo & Torae show  at Southpaw (NYC).

Brooklyn was the place to be this Wednesday, as rap trio Tanya Morgan and Torae & Marco Polo graced the stage at Southpaw in Park Slope to promote their freshly released albums, Brooklynati and Double Barrel, respectively. During their time on stage, up and comers Tanya Morgan playfully called out all those in the audience “tweeting” throughout the evening’s performances...25 Magazine staff were not excluded.

Check out some of the evening’s tweet highlights:

@25mag: “A lot of rappers will sell you dreams. But I give it to you real. I keep it 100. And a [dude] don’t stop cause I love it.” – Torae

@25mag: @tanyamorgan make you want to like them. There’s nothing like hunger and love for the craft to steer an unfamiliar ear.

@25mag: Did @tanyamorgan just call their openers on to the stage to be their hypemen?

@25mag: @chegrand is hilarious, awkwardly trying to convince the crowd he knew all the words to TM’s single

Fortunately, Che has a sense of humor: @chegrand: @25mag lmao. reckless

Aside from Torae & Marco Polo and Tanya Morgan, special guests Che Grand, DJ Element, and Brown Bag All-Stars also performed during the event. Though all performers brought their A-game to the stage, Tanya Morgan was the clear crowd favorite. “Bang & Boogie” and “So Damn Down” got the crowd head-bopping, pumping arms, and swaying every which way. Their music was not the only thing securing their title for best performance of the night. They were fully animated (and choreographed!…sort of) and as they performed, drew energy from the crowd and each other. By the end of their performance, all of the night’s performers were on stage with Tanya Morgan hyping up the crowd and ending the show with a bang.

Amanda Diva is creating new buzz with her new EP:  Spandex, Rhymes & Soul which features production from Chuck Inglish from The Cool Kids. Read more for tracklist and download.

To get the free download click on the album art below.

[Shouts to the The Cool Kids for the album art]

-Natelegé

Check out Kid Cudi’s latest track “Sky Might Fall” prod. Kanye West. Read more for download.

Download Full Version Here

They came from two different worlds. Kristal Hansley was student body president, and Ricky Wayo was just the quiet guy that kept to himself; however, their love for chess brought them together as friends. Soon the unlikely match were inseparable and by prom, even though they came with different dates, they both ended up spending most of the night together. By graduation they were official. The summer was filled with romance, but Hansley realized it was beginning to crumble as it got closer for her departure date for Howard University. Wayo was going to be staying in New York for school. As arguments and talks of the future increased, Wayo became more and more upset, but still they decided to go the long distance relationship route.

“By October we had our first breakup,” Kristal Hansley says, a sophomore political science major from Brooklyn, New York. “We had a wonderful summer together, but it wasn’t enough for a long distance relationship. It proved to me a long distance relationship needs a strong foundation as a couple, and we didn’t have enough time together to have that.” By April of 2008, Hansley and Wayo had broken up four times. Hansley’s sour experience is a reason why many college students do not want to be bothered with long distance relationships.

“Long distance relationships can work though,” says LaDawn Black, host of The Love Zone on 92.3 FM in Baltimore, Maryland. She is an expert on relationships and covers topics on her show such as cheating, marriages, dating, and homosexuality. She is also author of the book Stripped Bare: The 12 Truths That Will Help You Land the Very Best Black Man, published in June 2003.

“First, you have to set rules and expectations. Are we going to see other people? How often will we see each other? How often will we call each other? You have to set rules so nobody gets caught off guard.” Second to ground rules is open communication. “Whether it’s sending each other nice text messages, or sending care packages or gift baskets through the mail. You have to find a way to keep the romance heavy to keep the feelings fresh,” Says Black. Lastly Black suggests scheduling reunions. “If you know when you are going to see each other then there is something to look forward to.”

This does not mean everyone is cut out for long distance relationships. There are some signs that one should not get into a long distance relationship in the first place. “If the relationship was not going well at home. If we were having that whole ‘knock down drag thing’ at home chances are things won’t get any better,” Black says.

According to Black other things can lead to break ups in long distance relationships including cheating and failure to compromise. “If there is no compromise or communication, that’s a sign that the long distance relationship will not work too. If he or she knows the rule that you can go out with others and have friends, you don’t feel guilty because you are still having the college experience but still honoring the relationship.”

Jasmine Whiting, a sophomore chemistry major from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was also in a long distance relationship her freshman year at Howard. “My relationship worked while we were apart, but when we reunited in the summer, I realized that I had grew apart from him,” she says. “For some reasons things weren’t the same so I broke up with him before we went back to school this semester.” Whiting went to Howard while her boyfriend stayed in Milwaukee and attended community college.

“Sometimes you have to be honest with yourself. If you are going down two separate paths, then it is less likely that it will work out,” says Black. Black had a similar situation when she was an undergraduate student at Meredith College, in Raleigh, North Carolina and her boyfriend stayed home and began working. “Because of the different paths our lives had taken the relationship didn’t work.”

According to Will It Ever End, a study published in the Communication Quarterly in 2007 by Katheryn C. Maguire, 25-50% of college student relationships can be classified as long distance. The study showed that the success of long distance relationships in college is determined by whether the couple has a positive or negative perception of the future of the relationship and whether or not they will reunite again. For college students, chances of being in a long distance relationship are greater because they are constantly relocating from their hometowns to their schools, completing internships in all parts of the country, and studying abroad internationally. Because of this relationships can be difficult and are often put on the back burner, and as a result some students just don‘t believe in them.

“It is definitely possible. Just remember you have to set expectations, keep communications up, and establish when you guys are going to see each other. Be willing to compromise and realize that relationships can constantly change,” says LaDawn Black.

Nevertheless, Hansley has decided to avoid long distance drama and exercise more caution next time around. “Our friendship foundation saved our friendship at the end. It was hard. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone,” says Hansley. “Stay away from long distance relationships.”

 httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGlkbSDqi40