Champions are not birthrights, but are made through the course of life. Take cyclist Rahsaan Bahati, a relentless pursuer in the sport of criterium, a short track race, who brought home some 80 wins, including 2008 National Pro Criterium Champion. Growing up in crime-ridden neighborhood of Compton, California, where exposure to violence, drugs, and illicit temptation was the norm, Bahati was on his way to become another crime statistic had it not been an intervention by his 7th grade teacher and parents. A way to dissipate his pented-up energy, Bahati’s father introduced him to world of velodrome and the youngster never looked back. As an avenue to give back to those in under-served communities, many from the same Compton neighborhood, Bahati established the Bahati Foundation to empower inner-city youth through education, guidance, music and finally, cycling.

Atlanta’s T.I. has been making numerous headlines as of late in regards to his whereabouts, in addition to his upcoming album, King Uncaged, which is scheduled to be released this Summer on August 17th. The appropriately titled first single, an emphatic song declaring that the King of the South is back, “I’m Back”, has finally released an official video. “I’m Back” is the first music video from the once incarcerated rapper who is now focusing his efforts on releasing a follow-up album to the widely successful previous albums, including T.I. vs. T.I.P. and King.

Yes, time flies. It has been half a year since GUCCI embarked on its temporary pop-up sneaker shop tour, GUCCI Icon-Temporary, with DJ Mark Ronson. In this four-stop tour, Gucci Icon-Temporary had just made its third stop in London and opened with quite a music fiesta last week.

Mark your calendars, Sneaker Con will be back in NYC with a show on May 22nd, 2010. This upcoming show will be located in a bigger venue with more vendors and a few different showcases. LEV from Toy Tokyo who is one of the biggest collectors of KAWS collectibles will showcase his rare KAWS Collection at the event. Vendors, hit up Sneaker Con now and everyone else, please save the date.

Sneaker Con NYC
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 – 12pm to 7pm

151 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012



Born in the heart of New York City’s counter culture action in the Bowery district, Dave’s Quality Meat has been the quintessential retailer defining and purveying the New York City style since its inception in 2003. This season, DQM continues to push for effortless simplicity with a point of view through button downs, graphic tees, pants and accessories designed for the urban crawlers and those with a love for wheels (literally). Keeping in line with the down-to-earth styling, DQM has just released its Spring 2010 lookbook featuring both staff and friends chilling the in city, riding and pushing. The lookbook is shot by none other than NYC street photographer Sue Kwon, who has been documenting the down, real and gritty side of the city since the eighties. All items are currently available for purchase both in store and online.

The Game has finally released his highly anticipated mixtape, The Red Room, the only change is that while most people anticipated that it would be a DJ Drama/Gangsta Grillz mixtape, Game made an 11th hour change and decided to release the tape with his longtime friend, DJ Skee. The new mixtape is a prelude to his upcoming LP, The R.E.D. Album, which is being executive produced by both Dr. Dre and Pharrell Williams. However this new mixtape features a number of new material with production coming from DJ Skee and features that include Diddy, Busta Rhymes, Travis Barker, Jadakiss, Lil Wayne, and more. Take a look at the full tracklisting after the jump. via XXL

Jordan Brand’s hybrids have certainly been a large part of the roll  out for the past few years. Beginning with the Spiz’ike, and carrying through the Air Force 1 fusion models and the 60+, it seems that Jordan Brand is searching for new ways to bring out the old models. This upcoming hybrid, deemed the “Rare Air” combines noticeable elements from the most famed of Jordan models. The sole is basically a Air Jordan VI (6) sole stacked on top of an Air Jordan IV (4) outsole. The elephant print hits on the toe and heel are grafted from the Air Jordan III (3), and the tongue is taken from the Air Jordan V (5). Lacelocks from the Air Jordan IIIs (3) and the toggle from the Air Jordan V (5) also appear on the shoe. It appears that the geometric pattern on the midfoot resembles the Air Jordan VII (7) a bit as well. The heel features the tab from the Air Jordan II (2), to make it seem as if models 2-7 are covered here.  No word on a solid release date yet, but these are tentatively slated for a Holiday 2010 release. If you can’t wait until then, you can head over to RMK store to reserve a pair now.

Style: 407361-101
Color: White/Black/Cement

This is a matrimony that will be happily blessed by slope shredders and urban crawlers alike– adidas Originals has teamed up with snowboarding company, Burton, to bring the latter’s slope style into the concrete jungle. This collaborative collection is quite an impressive one, consisting of seven footwear styles and 21 apparel pieces. First up for preview is a hefty winter boot inspired by the Burton Freestyle snowboard boots, and a co-branded navy fleece-lined graphic hoodie. Thus far, the collection seems to be headed for a cool, muted masculine tone in greys and blues, but the rest of the collection could still surprise with bright pops of colors, since Burton is not exactly a brand to shy away from neons brights and eye-catching patterns for its shredders. This seems like a collection which will be perfect transitional pieces back to reality for the shredders who wish they can live in a lodge and wear their snowboarding boots all day. Sure we all have to leave the mountains sometime, but that doesn’t mean we can’t live vicariously through our clothes– appropriate clothes. via: HS

The New Era 506 Plate Umpire cap, as its namesake suggests, are based on silhouettes of caps umpires wear on the fields. But with the rise of the cycling culture, these models have become rather popular amongst cyclists, due to its shorter visor which provide more visibility while riding. These are however, a new type of 506 models designed for non-umpires. With a mesh fitted style that will be great for hot Summer days, these caps come in black and woodland camo for men with different styles. Just as a comparison, the visor is half the length of the 59FIFTY caps and the front panels and visor is made out of 60% wool and 40% polyester blends. via: On Spotz

Since even the crazy volatile spring weather is not stopping the cycling fanatics from taking their wheels out, gear shouldn’t be an issue in the least. For the love of the warmer weather (slightly debatable depending on the hour) and the sport of cycling, Brooklyn’s BMX build shop, Brooklyn Machine Works, has collaborated with adidas Consortium to revive the latter’s heritage cycling shoes– the adidas Cycling Shoes. This model has been specially designed to suit the needs of a cyclist regardless of how hard or leisurely he pedals on, and has been around since 1989.

Drake continues to travel across the US, promoting himself to new audiences, as well as promoting his new debut album, Thank Me Later. Fans have been eagerly anticipating Thank Me Later ever since his So Far Gone mixtape was released last year. The Toronto MC was spotted out last weekend at the Rites of Spring Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as at the BMI Unsigned Urban Showcase in Atlanta, Georgia, alongside Birdman performing songs off his new album and his acclaimed mixtape. During these two shows Drizzy decided to switch it up from the Red Wing boots and go for something that shows his affection and love for sneakers– the soon-to-be-released Air Jordan XI 25th Anniversary sneakers in all White. This is the sneaker that will be hitting stores this upcoming weekend (May 1st, 2010) at select Jordan Brand retailers across the country. Take a look at more pictures from the performances after the jump…

As the weather warms, the color palates seem to get brighter in all facets of one’s wardrobe, and sneakers are no exception. These Spring-inspired white and vibrant yellow Jordan 1 Phat Lows features the use of white patent leather on the upper (like the soon-to-be-released Air Jordan XI (11) Retro Anniversary edition), and silver contrast stitching on the Jordan logo on the heel. Styled simply with a focus on materials, this model also features a uniquely styled sole that is somewhere in between the icy clear soles of the Air Jordan VI (6) and a gumsole. More information on this release will follow, so keep checking with Freshness for updates.

Style: 338145-105
Color: White/White-Vibrant Yellow-Light Bone