YESPLEASE digital
XIII
ISSUE 13 / November 2017
YESPLEASE PROGRESSIVE URBAN CULTURE
IN THIS ISSUE: CULTURE LUKE HOBAN
FASHION KONFUZED MR PRICE PROJECT
MUSIC
YES PLEASE RADIO INNANETWAV THE BIG HASH
culture
CULTURE BILLION DOLLAR STREET WEAR BRAND LUKE HOBAN
Shuji Kobayashi Photography .
When looking at Shuji Kobayashi’s photographs you may notice it’s not just about taking photos of beautiful young women. Using natural light in diverse private environments, the Japanese photographer wants to capture the His dreamlike images convey a sense of nostalgia and thoughtfulness with a good dose of sensual seductionuniqueness and vulnerable intimacy of a particular moment.
When looking at Shuji Kobayashi’s photographs you may notice it’s not just about taking photos of beautiful young women. Using natural light in diverse private environments, the Japanese photographer wants to capture the His dreamlike images convey a sense of nostalgia and thoughtfulness with a good dose of sensual seductionuniqueness and vulnerable intimacy of a particular moment.
Shuji Kobayashi Photography .
Luke Hoban Luke Hoban is an award winning visual designer, with a strong focus on immersive interactive experiences. The final year graphic design student has numerous passion projects publically available online, a diverse body of work which includes an experimental interactive website and a san serif typeface that the young designer has been working on for quite some time now. However what really gets us excited is the designer’s series of digital paintings showcased on the designers Instagram profile wackily titled Tangy Design.
fashion
CULTURE BILLION DOLLAR STREET WEAR BRAND LUKE HOBAN
K
ONFUZED
Konfuzed is an exclusive streetwear brand born out of the heart of the Eastrand. The brand borrows its style cues from High-End streetwear brands such as YEEZY and Virgil Ablohs OFFWHITE fueled by a youth sensibility that is specific to its creator’s influences and preferences.Â
The story of the brand, which used to be represented by an owl but later was reimagined as a simple red font, is that of perseverance even when the path is unclear. The brand boldly defines the attitude of the generation that champions and celebrates it by defying the odds that society may force on them.
SUPREME IS VALUED AT R14 BILLION Through an exclusive interview with Business of Fashion, Supreme founder James Jebbia effectively confirmed the rumor that he had sold a stake in the company to the private equity firm The Carlyle Group. It's the first deal of its kind involving a streetwear brand, and what's more, the particulars of the transaction reveal a surprising fact about your favourite source of graphic tees and hoodies: Supreme is worth fourteen billion rand. That's the news coming out of a report from WWD, whose due diligence reveals that Supreme sold a 50 percent stake in its business to the Carlyle Group for a whopping seven billion rand.
This is truly elite company: the Wall Street Journal keeps a running tally of privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more, and as of September 2017, the exclusive club contains just 168 members. And now that Supreme has joined the ranks of Vox Media, Shazam and Warby Parker, the eternal question that surrounds the label comes once again to the fore: can Supreme maintain its credibility even as it expands? And make no mistake, The Carlyle Group's stake means that Supreme will grow larger. How that growth is carried out, and how its core audience reacts, will present a fascinating case study to smaller streetwear brands struggling to strike the perfect balance between exclusivity and accessibility.
MRP PROJECT
Last month we introduced you to Lorenzo Plaatjies the graphic artist who illustrates beautiful pop art pieces which he creates on his cellphone. This month the guru is back, however he is not alone. The young visual artist is a part of the “Mr Price Project” a limited edition woman’s graphic T-Shirt series that hosts 6 of South Africa’s most recognized digital designers work on capsule collection available at select MRP outlets nation wide.
DIRECTIONS
music
BILLION DOLLAR STREET WEAR BRAND LUKE HOBAN
The Innanetwav. (UU) is a Johannesburg established Record Label which is forming into a media powerhouse that has brilliant artists on their roster who have strong work acumen. Under the UU banner, the following artists are constituent: oshoku, 808x, Slay’By Lann, Mykey & Solve The Problem (The Steptwins), Southside Mohammed, e and The Big Hash. The label boasts a qualified sound engineer, qualified graphic designer and an astute media lawyer; who together ensure quality, professional and high esteem media production by brilliant artists cross genres – be it music, photography, motion graphics, videos. Within its catalogue: Innanetwav. (UU) has led the production of their own media (audio and video projects) as well as with numerous affiliates of the same.
THE BIG HASH
THE BIG HASH THEORY
Listen on Soundcloud
At 17, The Big Hash took a bold and unorthodox move dropping out of High School to largely focus on his music career. Confronted with constant criticism and misunderstanding, one wonders how The Big Hash, at such a tender age, fights such mental conflicts going ahead to make ground breaking music. The Big Hash Theory EP is a 10 track expression of how his trials. The artwork to the EP, as designed by oshoku, is inspired by portraying “Hash’s be coming of age” – both in life (as he edges towards adulthood) and in drawing a balance that allows progression in his tradecraft. The Big Hash Onset, the EP may seem to provoke an uneasy feeling within the listener as it borders towards what one can perceive as slur towards his mother. However, on a well thought listen, the EP highlights honesty in voicing and sharing personal sentiment many in life have kept bottled up. In the EP are notable features from the likes of the legendary Ginger Trill. Hash’s success seems imminent as he displays a courageous work ethic backed by the right production team, Innanetwav.
LOUW - ALL THE GIRLS (Prod. Mashy beatz) Katlehong native Thabo Louw’s single, All The Girls, is arguably one of the more anticipated music releases of the year. The 22-yearold hip-hop artist has guest starred on no less than 13 songs this year typically as the stand out hook, chorus or verse on each song which earned him the affectionate title of “the hook G.O.A.T of Strobe Light Studio’s.” With a run that long and a rep that far preceding you would imagine the young artist would reach his creative wit's end and level out.
However it turns out Louw still has some gas left in him and not only that he was only getting started. Thabo Louw has stepped out of the shadows and unleashed a potent trip pop trap infused summer banger which will have you singing along all through the festive season. Click on the album art above to listen and download on audiomack
contributors Kgothatso Moleko Lorenzo Plaatjies Alexis MacKenzie Lynn Marie KONFUZED #Baps INNANETWAV Gaborone Mokgohloa
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