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EYES ARE UP August 31 2012
Here are some photos from last night’s EYES UP that featured Chris Hutch, Rappinismyhabit, Brian Ashton and the Dirty Legends Crew: Gibby, Hugh Augustine the MC, Arima Ederra, and Al B Smoov. Full coverage is on Rick & Ray’s Tumblr. Peace to everyone that came through!
Seattle takes over our event next month on Thursday, September 27 for The Physics’ TOMORROW PEOPLE Tour.
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THESE TWO August 30 2012
Don’t judge, but we had Korean BBQ again, this time with Eric and Campos of Backside. Eric is headed to the east coast for about two weeks, and it was Campos’ birthday. We thought a farewell/birthday/team celebration was appropriate.
This is Campos. 19 years young with nearly 20k Instagram followers. I’ve blogged about him here a couple times, and I can’t stress enough just how much I love this dude. He’s a great asset to the Backside team because of his work ethic, his willingness to learn, and his enthusiasm to bring ideas to life. When CA was making its exit out of the clothing industry as a t-shirt brand, I got pretty jaded. I’m sure there are a thousand things I could have done better, but I wasn’t ready to admit that; I just didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. Cue Campos. He consistently reminds me how dope this industry is and how dope it could be. Happy birthday, baby boy.
You know Eric. He’s been on this blog countless of times, he was also our first TASTEMAKERS feature. Eric has now added Marketing Director for Akomplice on his resume. This is him taking a call during dinner while Hypebeast and Complex Magazine posted about new AK product. He’ll likely be taking more of those calls from the Rock the Bells New Jersey arm of the tour. He’ll be at the event as a vendor. It works out perfectly, because some of his staff will be vending at FYF in LA this weekend, too. True entrepreneurial move to hit both coasts for the big summer events, at the same time. It’s really great hearing him speak about his plans for the future. He always has everyone in mind.
This was the damage done. It was both Eric and Campos’ first time there (it was Campos’ first time actually having Korean BBQ, and he loved it). Keep up with these two. Seriously.
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TOMORROW! August 29 2012
It’s the last week of August and by now, you should know what that means: EYES UP. Rick & Ray hosts its monthly hip hop concert series tomorrow night at Nola’s featuring a gaaaaang of performers.
I had a conversation with a friend a couple weeks ago (hi, D) regarding the “music scene” in Los Angeles. We both agreed that the talent pool in this city is deep, but it exceeds the amount of outlets artists have to get heard. Sure there’s YouTube, the music blogs, and social networking sites. But the stage, in our opinion, will always be the best platform. The performer is in its rawest form.
And that’s what EYES UP is, a place for that to happen. Since last week, we’ve been running mini interviews on all the performers on tomorrow night’s bill. Everyone had to answer how they felt about our event. The consensus is that we’re doing something good here, we’re keeping this music scene alive. Hope to see you tomorrow.
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STAR BBQ August 28 2012
I have a new favorite all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ spot called Star BBQ. I was first introduced to it a couple months ago by Glen and Wella, but I didn’t bring my camera that time. I probably wouldn’t have taken pictures anyway because I was too excited about the food. Anyways, I went back, and it was exactly how I remembered it.
One reason why it’s my fave: they have free hot drinks on tap, one of them being Korean tea. We don’t really know what’s in it - maybe barley, maybe nuts, maybe crack. Either way, it’s the perfect start AND end to the meal.
Another reason: K-Pop music videos play all over the restaurant.
Big reason: the food, especially their side dishes which includes Japchae, and I love Japchae.
They offer intestines as part of the unlimited menu, and we tried it. It’s gotta stay on the grill for awhile, and when it’s done, it’s like tripas and chicharon bulaklak at the same damn time.
We were happy.
c a s h o u t.
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RACE TO FINISH August 27 2012
Last night we went to the viewing party of The Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race (episode 2), featuring the Seoul Sausage boys. Our relationship with Yong, Chris, and Ted started because of a CA tee. They had put in an order through a friend (shout out DJ Duel), and from that point on, we just kept up with each other. Sure enough, they were developing their own business - a catering company that served Korean sausage. We went to the tasting party two years ago, blogged it, and since then, we’ve been watching them grow. For them, that has meant a food truck, competing on a reality TV show, really cool collaborations, and soon, a brick and mortar in Los Angeles. I don’t know what’s more humbling - seeing this growth, or being allowed for the ride because they ALWAYS want CA involved in what they’re doing…
They came out on top this episode, grossing the most money with items like fried Kimchi balls (!!!). There are five episodes left, though we think they have a goooood chance of taking the title.
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