Thriller Day.

I'm sure everybody is posting this today... maybe. Classic down to the last frame.


This version may be just as entertaining. It's definitely funnier!

The female lead is running for either one of two reasons - the makeup or the dancing.

Where All The Videos Have Gone.

MTV has put up a beta version of their MTVMusic site, which houses what seems to be all the videos they have ever aired, including the small TV spots during the commercials.  They can't quite trump YouTube seeing as how they don't have EVERY music video known to man, but they have the most popular ones.  Check it.    

So if you wanna see videos on MTV, check the internet. Backwards.

Shameful.

How could I?!?!

Now get your friends!

Wassup!?!? Change.

When I saw this I didn't laugh - I was moved.  Eash one of the "Wassup" guys are going through some major issues.  It's really a somber parody... yet there's a glimmer of hope at the end.  Word. 

Kickin it old school:

Early.

...today.  You should too.  I suggest you vote before November 4.  I was waitng to vote for about an hour and a half!  The polling place was packed, so I'm sure it'll be just as packed come Election Day.  Early voting ends October 30, so get on it.

Notorious.

I am thoroughly intrigued.  Seems to me to be the absolute first major studio rap biopic worth seeing.    

Jean's Story.

Jean Grae is one of the dopest MCs today.  She's in my top 3 for female MCs.  I don't think this is an official video for her song My Story, though the lead female actor looks a lot like Jean.  Its a dope video nonetheless with great direction.     

Caught this on the Solemates...Chicago blog.

Sony Colours.

Sony just released their latest Bravia commercial, Domino City. 

 I likes, but its not better than some the ones they've done before.  One draw back to this one is I believe the dominoes are computer generated while past Bravia commercials actually shot what you saw with no computers involved - until the final editng process that is.  Take for instance the Bouncy Balls joint.  They actually filmed a slew of bouncy balls bouncing down San Francisco streets.

The paint blasts one was cool...

...but the claymation bunnies is my favorite.  So clever, so colorful, so time consuming, yet so interesting to watch.

Even the making-of featurette is entertaining. 

Fall Review - Part IV: Kill That Gun Talk.

"Yo, I grasp the ratchet, the blinker, the biscuit, the burner The heat, the toaster, the twister you meetin your owner The banger, the hammer, the flamers I aim at the cannons and can ya, manhandlin ya, you'll be famous like cancer..."

-Nas (verse from Made You Look Remix)

Everyone has heard a gun called something other than "gun" at one time or another.  Maybe you were listening to a rap song, watching a mobster flick,  or listening to old uncle Jebediah talk about his hunting days.  The graphic of the gun is comprised of slang terms for "gun".  I don't want to give away all the terms, but you can check the urban dictionary for assistance.  My favorites here are the thumper, and the nine.  Thumper was my favorite character from Bambi, and I like the Muppet/Sesame Street style number nine.  J. Peezy did an excellent job piecing those pictures together to form a gun, don't cha think?!

Though we enjoy our rap songs, mobster flicks, and uncle Jebediah's hunting tales, the truth of the matter is gun talk can get to the point where people are actually shooting one another.  So kill it.  ...Then again I will continue to listen to Nas and the like, but it is a cool play on words I thought.  

...And that concludes our fall review.  If you already have any one of these shirts, thanks for the love!  Now snap a shot and send it to us at info@wildleekworld.com and we'll post you on the blog.  And if you don't have a shirt, get them before they're gone, sucka! 

Smooth Operators

Fall Review - Part III: Unity.

I remember learning about Pangea back in like 4th grade.  It's always been a dope concept to me to know that the continents as we know them were once one giant land mass.  We were all together as one.  Its a little mushy/preachy, but still a dope concept... so we brought it back.  With the wars going on outside that no man is safe from (I forget where that line originated from, so i'll just say... word to Mobb Deep), what better time time to promote unity than now.  

The front graphic is the word "unity" in about 10-12 different languages.  We have what I like to call the citrus colorway on classic brown, and the (seemingly) glow-in-the-dark colorway on black.   

The back graphic is an outline of Pangea with W!ld Leek logos in it.  Perhaps we should have called this joint "United Nations"... or not.  Either way the message is complete.




It warms my heart to know that we've had at least one overseas order through Karmaloop for this tee.  He gets it.

Next Up... Kill That Gun Talk.

Jack Move.

Enstrumental, fellow Chicago brand, recently had one of their designs jacked by some lame brain t-shirt company.  Check it.    

The "artist" calls himself Jac Rip... the irony.  Shout out to J Peezy! 

Fall Review - Part II: Suspect.

DISCLAIMER: I will try my best not to spoil the movie by possibly giving away the ending. Operative word being: try.


"In a world where nothing is what it seems you've got to look beyond... The Usual Suspects." That's just one tagline for Bryan Singer's 1995 suspense classic. I can't quite call it a cult classic because people aren't dressing up like Verbal Kint and throwing parties to watch the movie. I do believe its safe to say The Usual Suspects was influential, at least in the world of Hip-Hop. Lines from the film have been sampled on various rap albums - at least twice on Ghostface Killah's Ironman album. Timbaland was calling himself Keyser Soze at one point. So on, and so forth...


Its a dope movie, and the ending makes you say, "Whaaaaaaa!?!?! I gotta watch this again!" The easy route would have been to do a homage with Keyser Soze as the focus, but why not do a joint with just as instrumental a character to the plot - Kobayashi. That name actually unravels the entire movie. I'll stop there before I say too much, but... yeah... Kobayashi is mad suspect.

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist..." This quote makes a lot more sense if you've seen the movie. Once you see the movie you'll also understand how this quote applies perfectly to the Kobayashi character. The whole idea of things not being what they seem and illusions in general comes full circle in the front graphic of this piece. Some see the words first, and some see the face.

Word to Pete Postlewaite.

Evil Collector.

The Evil Collector featured us on their site today! We appreciate that love!

Fall Review - Part I: Stylin'.

The team has been asking me to do descriptions for our latest line of tees, but I don't wanna tell people what they should be thinking when buying a shirt. People will buy for their own reasons... but explaining how the designs were born and why they're relevant to W!ld Leek shouldn't hurt.

A 4 part series starting with: Stylin'.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was on the air from 1990 - 1996, and still does well in syndication. The classic tale of a fish out of water, forced to cope with the trials and tribulations of being different, as well as the victories. One of the main things that made Will different was his style of dress. His Philly fashion sense was always a little jarring for the kids in Bel-Air... yet they loved it. He was always daring in his style choices. Take for instance the conscious choice of wearing his school blazer inside out. Genius. His shoe game consisted mostly of Jordans, and his t-shirts, even the questionable button down joints, were always full of poppin' colors.

So with this piece we tried to capture most of that. The typography on the back matches the fonts from the show's credits, hence the homage is complete.






Will was definitely stylin' on herbs (what up New York!) with his fashion choices. That quote actually derived from a now infamous rap battle. Check it:





...Next up: Suspect.

Babes In Toyland.

This past Monday, Danielle and I took a trip to rotofugi, the designer toy store we visited not to long ago.  Husband and wife art duo Le Merde are showcasing their new work in the rotofugi gallery entitled Vanfar and Boko Raton. Dope name, and I'm not even sure what that means.

They showcased their latest resin figures as well as their paintings.  The price tag on the figures range from $135 - $200, while the paintings range from $350 - $600.

After checking out the gallery we perused the store a bit.  

Danielle said this guy looks like me.  I couldn't agree more.

Steff Bomb works at rotofugi, and she has her own plush toy brand - IMM (I Make Monsters). She's a little camera shy.

Dope tat.  Make sure you say what's up to Steff when you visit rotofugi, suckas!
Danielle has me collecting Dunnies (kidrobot), so we copped some before we left.

I know what you're saying, "More toys!?!?!?!"  Yeah, and what!

Loop Love.

Dennis, the Director of Grassroots Marketing over at Karmaloop, emailed me this past weekend and informed me W!ld Leek is in the top 10 for sales in the Kazbah this month so far. He placed us in the rotating banner of the Kazbah homepage. Thank you Chelsea and Dennis!

...And thank you to all our supporters! We truly appreciate the love.

Robot Pirates: Part Duex.

Dott (Matt), my guy Parrish, and I made a couple of stops on Friday, and I think we spent the most time in the kidrobot store on Milwaukee. Its only here 'til December, but if they do well they'll build out the space and there will be an official kidrobot Chicago store. I'm excited!

To know me is to know I have a strong affinity for cartoons (more on that later), and kidrobot is known for their cutesy, yet adult themed character toys. And when I say "adult" I don't mean sexy time. kidrobot characters usually seem to be involved in some type of morbid, sadistic behavior. The type of behavior toys probably shouldn't be involved in... like smoking, killing, and just looking scary in general... and I love it. Anyways, kidrobot has toys as well as apparel, which is just as popular. Their toys and apparel lines are usually released in limited editions.

Jamal here let me take pictures. Don't know what Danielle's deal was. So already he gets cool points. Among the other things we dicussed, he told me about an upcoming Madlib concert. Major cool points.

Parrish was more impressed by the shiny balloons, than those silly toys.

Jeremy (far left), the manager, showed us maaaaaaad love. We had a conversation on the state of streetwear in Chicago vs. New York among other things. We appreciate the love, and we'll be back.
Make sure you say "what's up" to Jamal and Jeremy when you visit kidrobot. They might let you get one of their limited edition balloons... like the one Parrish got.

Go Representers.

GLC's new video for "I Ain't Even On Yet" premiered on his website this morning.  Check it.  

This is fairly old now, but I like the song.  A little more of Chicago, this time brought to you by Consequence.  Check the cameos.

More Magic.

I've been meaning to post Dame's pictures from MAGIC, so here they be, peoples.

The Jabbawockeez.
I don't even remember what company these ladies represented, but I don't think that mattered 'cause none of us are even in the picture.  Dame just loves the ladies.
Bobby Hundreds!
Bobby and Ben Hundreds!  If you know me, this is a big deal for me.  The Hundreds is currently one of my favorite brands.  I've been wanting to do a clothing line for some time, and started developing one back in 2003, but never felt like it was good enough to be accepted by the general public. Reading The Hundreds blog faithfully everyday since late 2006,  gave me the courage and info among other things to go for the gusto with this clothing thing.  
LRG had quite the booth.  This giant color pencil display is only on one side of the huge, store sizeed booth.  



Undrcrwn and Two Black Guys held a concert smack dab in the middle of the Streetwear section showroom floor.  They featured Mos Def, Asher Roth (get familiar), and Sean Price (who only did like 8 bars of a song - I want more P!). 
Asher shows the Leek some love, and Nana appreciates it... I think.
Another random girl pic, but this time its really something to see.  I think we all agreed her tat was pretty dope.  Along with prostitution, being pretty much naked is also legal in Las Vegas. This is some of the best marketing I've ever seen!  
And (booty) crack kills, lady.  

Shoot, First.

Danielle just send me these shots from our very first photo shoot.  We were a little rushed and pressed for time, but I think the everything came together the way it was supposed to.  We'll have better behind-the-scenes pics next time... bear with us, we're learning.

Danielle looking like she got some business.  Whatever!

(L-R) Trilogy's boy (I forget his name. My bad, homey.), Trilogy, Boy Wonder, and some homeless looking KiD. 
That C-stand is attacking that KiD and Hustle!
This guy.
That guy (Nana).

Video Disclaimer:

The thoughts,views, opinions, perceptions, lies, and observations, of one Mr. Hustle Simmons DO NOT reflect the personality, views, etc. of W!ld Leek, LLC.  

Love Lockdown.

This video has a lot of pros... and cons. You'll have to catch me in the streets to discuss. Either way, I still love the the song.

Can The Pirates Come Out To Play?

The W!ld Leek Special Ops team (Danielle and Auntie Kim) went out and got some shots of the kidrobot store over the weekend.  Since they couldn't take pictures inside the store, this is all they got... sorry kids.  Danielle did leave with a couple toys though. 

Check it out for yourself, live and in living color:

kidrobot

Wicker Park 

1573 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago, IL

Celebrity Mindgames.

"Mavericky"

Robot Cars>Robot Pirates... For Today.

Went to the KidRobot Pop-up shop (it's only here 'til December) today, but the line was SUUUUUUUUUUUPER LOOOOOOOOONG... which is a good sign.  If they do well, they may make the shop permanent.  Anyways, I couldn't wait in line.  Nana and Danielle (you'll get familiar soon enough if you don't know who the heck these people are) are going early in the morning - so hopefully they'll allow picture taking in the store.

In the mean I saw this KAP10KURT video for they're song Danger Seekers.  Never heard of the group, nor the song, but the video reminded me of those old school action cartoon intros.  Fresh.

Check It!

Very Humble Beginnings...

Okay, so I found the Kicks And Chicks interview we did back at this past MAGIC convention... and... well... you can tell we're rough around the edges. The best part is probably our intro music.

We're the 4th interview:

Eh... it's our very first interview - what do you want! Sheesh!

Robot Pirates.

I'll be checking them out Friday. Pics on the way...

Word Is Bond.

...So if you haven't noticed, our site is completely up now! WOOHOO!  Poke around!  Most people seem to be excited about the shop - featuring Chicago's own Hustle Simmons (check his blog), DJ Trilogy, DJ Boy Wonder, and Drunken Monkeee.  When you see these fellas in the streets show them some love for me!  

Oh yeah... looks like we're in Karmaloop's Kazbah as well!  Add us to your Karmaloop purchases! 

Anyways, this is just the beginning.  We got a lot of exciting things planned, so stick with us and watch us grow!  I promise it will be an enjoyable ride.  I promise.  Now shop 'til you drop!