Freestyle of fashion, Film & tunes

razed

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o n t e n t s

Nic Verity Interview

and photography

pg 7

L a u r y n Dugid

Art Studentpg 15

Dale Edwin Murray

HipHopHeadspg 19

Synergy of music and

filmpg 23

Past, Present, Future, New, Old, Who can really tell?

pg 25

1980 Inspired

Photoshootpg 27

The Rosewood Movement

pg 35

The Suited Manpg 39

The Zombie Boy

Rick Genestpg 45

Razed’ top10 album

downlaodspg 47

Heads up for t

he first ever

winter edition

of ‘Razed’

magazine. We are a loosely

controversial

magazine

covering areas

in music, film

and fashion. W

e aim to be hip,

revealing, thou

ght-provoking

and funny port

raying strong

urban visuals t

hroughout.

In this issue

we’ve taken a l

ook at Kanye W

est’s Rosewood

Movement, upcomin

g photographer

and artists, cinemat

ic

elements and th

e ‘Zombie boy’.

Come take a step back to the 80’s in one of our

fashion shoots

and see how you can dress to impress

without breaki

ng the bank an

d elaborating

your view on

the hip hop fas

hion in the Ros

ewood Movement

feature. Also

all eyes are o

n our main man

of this issue

; ‘The Suited

Man’, looking o

h so fly.

Here at razed, feel we are an all-rou

nder styled

publication ye

t we hold onto

our twist of u

rban aesthetics

due to being ba

sed in London, w

here our daily

inspirations

derive from.

Think no nonse

nse, real appea

l with a raw e

dge.

Enjoy our firs

t ever issue.

Editors le

tter

Jade Richardson

Editor

in Chief

contributors

Editor in Chief and Creative Direction

Jade Richardson

Fashion Director

Rebecca Collinson

Editor

Jess Atkins

Photography

Nic Verity

Daniel Henry McMillan

Features by

Jade Richardson

Joanne Blee

Lucy Bound

Rick Genest

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Abandoned places and unique faces

Nic Verity, 21, is a UK based, self taught fashion photographer, born and bred in Leeds. She has been taking Photos for almost three years now and has big aspirations to become a featured photographer in, her favorite, and three of the top magazines; Dazed and confused, POP, and LOVE. Her Inspirations are people, fashion, beauty, anything vintage, abandoned places and unique faces. As well as being a photographer, she also enjoys drawing for shoots, all of which are styled by her. A confessed shopaholic, she loves unique garments and accessories, always on the lookout for different props for shoots. She has recently been featured in two online magazines;

h t t p : / / w w w . t a n t r u m m a g a z i n e . c o . u kh t t p : / / w w w . p a p e r a q u a r i u m . c o m

So here we have Nic Verity.

When did you first become interested in photography

and

how did you first start out in the business?

I started being interested in

photography at an early age,

but from specialising in art

and design at high

school I began to see I had a

flare and an eye for getting d

ifferent shots to most people

in this subject and

started setting up photo shoo

ts with friends for art proje

cts, I’d look up to Tim Walker

who was major

inspiration when I first sta

rted out, and I still continu

e to look up to him, as well

as a lot of other

photographers who I have got

to hear of as I became more

interested in fashion photogr

aphy. I first starte

d out by starting a blog whi

ch I’m using as a website/po

rtfolio until my website is

designed, I have had

great feedback from my Faceb

ook page with currently 1,300

likes and in December I’m fea

turing in an online

magazine, so in this first year

of starting up the business I’v

e been trying to get contacts an

d make people aware.

Do you feel that your blog is beneficial to your work or do

you feel that it allows competitors to imitate your ideas?

Yes, most photographers have a web page or tumblr as a way of showing their work in an online portfolio,

obviously people can look at my work and imitate it, but I don’t worry too much about this as that shot is unique

and taken by me and I don’t think anyone would be able to get the same shot as I’ve created, the way I have

angled the lens and camera, also the way I retouch images is unique to me as an artist.

You have your own blog, does this help you advertise your work or do you think that

sometimes it is bad because people can steal your imagery?

I currently have my blog ‘T

umblr’ as my online portfol

io/website, until I have a w

ebsite designed, it

does help me advertise my

work, I’m starting to put a

copyright watermark onto my

images so people

can view my work without st

ealing my imagery, I prefer

not to so people can view

the image to full

potential but I am aware ther

e are some people out there

that do steal imagery and cla

im it is their own.

Do you think that the advances in technology today help you achieve the

high quality of work that you produce?

Defiantly, I couldn’t get the images I do without my cannon SLR, Photoshop isn’t a necessity it’s

all about light and love, but I do like to use Photoshop to retouch and experiment with my images.

I prefer the old school fil

ms myself; seeing the negati

ves and photographs in fron

t of you.

What do you think of the digital world do you think it has lost its sense of nostalgia?

I do love film myself, I have an Olympus trip which I love to use now and again, I like to

experiment with different f

ilm cameras, and I have ach

ieved some of my favourite

images from film.

-8-

What did you think of Polaroid’s? Do you think it is a shame

that that style of instant photography has disappeared?

I feel so strongly about Polaroid’s, it is such a shame it has majorly disappeared. I used to have the

spice girl Polaroid when I was younger, and I used it all the time, I sadly don’t have a clue where it

has gone but I do have a Polaroid 600 which I use more for personal than business use, or often I get

a Polaroid shot of the model during the shoot or beforehand to keep in a portfolio of models I’ve used

so I can look back and choose models to suit different shoots in the future. Film is still available

to buy, off the internet; the film is so expensive though, costing around £20 for a pack of 10 films.

Do you think that you get better results from developing the negatives in a dark room?

I haven’t developed my own film for a long time, but you do get better results from

developing in a dark room. It’s more exciting to see your images come to life that way too.

What do you think of the relationship between film and photography?

I think there’s essentially a limit to how far you can go with

photography, but that is not so with film. Also, most importantly, the

relationship between the viewers to film is quite different from the viewers’ relationship with

photography. Photography becomes an object at the end, but film must be experienced.

Your imagery seems to have a strong urban appeal to them,

is this

your preferred

style?

I am self-taught in photography and retouching and I think this adds to the unique

style of my photography. Everything I’ve done has been through experience and trial and

error. I think by exploring my photography

in this way has

created a certain style, as you said my work has a urban appeal, so my style is defiantly

recognisable by others. I thi

nk my personal style comes

through in my work, for exa

mple I will have got

inspiration from a piece of clothing or current trend and end up shooting with

that certain style in my head so a more urban style comes out within my work, a lot of pe

ople have told me this and I think it is the style I have developed, I think it is a good

thing as my work can be seen and said that’s by Nic Verity, like I would do when I see

a piece by Tim walker or Terry Richardson is easily recognisable to that certain photographer.

What are your current projects at the minute?

I have an image I took of a model called Farah,

featuring in Tantrum Magazine, alongside an article about grunge fashion.

Work for November and December include, Taking product shots and

photo shoots for a high end vintage store in Leeds called Best

Vintage. I am also taking product shots for an online clothing store called Hidden Lab.

have you any future plans

in this industry?

my future plans are to continue working as a

freelance photographer; I have thought about

giving my imagery to designers as I have had

some enquires about using m

y images on clothing.

Eventually my dream would be to

have my work featuring

in magazines such as pop, love

and dazed and confused.

Photography by Nic Verity

-10-

Photography by Nic Verity

Photography by Nic Verity

art student

Lauryn Dugid, 20, is an art student studying at Hertford Regional College in Hertfordshire. She has always had a huge interest in art but her biggest passion is music. She decided that the best way she can portray herself in her drawings is to combine both her interests together. This is clear to see in her work and her use of loose fluid lines and colour creates her unique style; admired by many.

Illustration by Lauryn Dugid

-16-

Illustration by Lauryn Dugid

freelance illustratorand graphic designer

I’m a freelance illustrator and graphic artist living and working in London. Always looking for new projects to work on so please get in touch if you like what you see.

mail@daleedwinmurray.com44 (0)781 382 4079I am represented by YCNstudio@ycnonline.com44 (0)20 7033 2140

The Hip Hop Heads portrait series started off as a personal project - a way to practice my characterture skills. It was quickly picked up on by a huge number of blogs and I got a load of emails from people asking if they were available to purchase as prints. Not one to disappoint people I decided to do just that.

-20-

Music is one of the most powerful tools used by movie producers. In many modern day films its role is to set the mood and create the drama. Over time the strong connection of music and film has been somewhat forgotten about in how they go hand in hand. The remnants of styles from old films have had a huge impact on films today. The film industry is continuingly evolving. The styles change frequently but it’s still apparent that many films of today possess a certain level of influence from older films. Joanne Blee, an English language and TV student from Reading University reviews her thoughts on the matter.

The presence of music in film has developed significantly over time, with it being used in more and more feature length productions in recent years. Some may argue its function has also changed with musical scores and soundtracks being used not only as a feature to keep audience’s interested, but also could be seen as a tool used for identification and association by the viewer today. In terms of identification, the audience would hear the piece of music which is used within the motion picture and immediately recognise its association with that particular film. In earlier years, lyrics in these ‘soundtracks’ seemed to be less popular,

with musical scores used for identity and association with particular movies instead. Examples of these musical scores can be seen with probably one of the most famous pieces of music, which everyone associates with the Pink Panther movie, the instrumental composition by Henry Manchini, along with ‘Axels Theme’ from the 1980’s Beverley Hill Cop trilogy and Rocky’s ‘Training Montage’. It is likely that most people immediately identify these popular soundtracks with the film they are composed for, yet are unaware of the artist or composer. However, not all instrumental scores have the same recognisable tune, thus it could be questioned whether the presence of lyrics is important.

synergy of music and film

In recent years, there has been a clear decline in purely instrumental compositions used as film soundtracks. This could be due to the current technological age we live in, with the population, especially the youth, relying strongly on downloading songs on to an MP3 device, which with instrumental scores can prove difficult. The lyrics in songs allow sing-a-longs and with popular music used, rather than composition, is this cooler or socially acceptable to listen to for the youth? With the youth as the prime target audience in this instance, it is very important to consider the presence of lyrics and what genre of music the soundtrack is as to whether it is

recognisable enough to provide associations with a particular film. Music is also crucial in creating a certain atmosphere in a film, almost like an alternative pathetic fallacy. For example with rain it creates a melancholic setting, so a ballad for example could reinforce this melancholy or sometimes even creates a romantic scene. Contrastingly, a fast, upbeat song would perhaps connote an action scene or if it was the soundtrack for the film it could highlight its status as an action or thriller genre film. An example of this could Celine Dion’s iconic power ballad ‘My Heart Will Go On’ which people immediately associatewith the romantic drama Titanic.

Other elements evident in how music and film go hand in hand are shown in today’s music videos. They have changed over time, coming to hold more film-like aesthetics. For example they create a film aspect to the song by having a ‘to be continued’ title at the end; Miriah Carey ‘It’s like that’ continued with the following hit song ‘We belong together’. Another element is how a collection of songs are put together creating a short film; Kanye West ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a perfect example of this.

Overall it is clear to see the greatness of synergy between the two platforms of media combing together to create a greater effect.

Article by Joanne Blee, edited by Jade Richardson

-24-

I suppose it’s always been then same, from back when I was a nipper in the nineties, to the kids of today in the ‘noughties’, if you would have asked me, do you want to watch a black and white mime film of Charlie Chaplin or the latest colour Disney flick in the nineties, a following of eye rolling backed up with the obvious answer of Disney would have won hands down every time, and likewise today 3d animation soars over, what to be fair, seems like a pretty dull coloured non-vibrant Disney film. But where did it all begin and really how different is it?

TV in general has changed drastically, with reality telly saturating almost every channel, spilling over to almost every other media platform, to TOWIE on every front page of every trashy mag, to x factor almost guaranteeing to take the Christmas top spot. So why are we so fascinated with the same regurgitated ‘quirky voices’ like Sue Pollard to today’s Diana Vickers or Diversities ‘innovative’ dance moves incorporating comedy?

So let’s take Britain’s Got Talent, a guilty pleasure of many, easy watching, usually providing forgettable ‘talent,’ however not so long ago a young lad, George Sampson, a street dancing act from Warrington took the nation by storm. His first audition providing fancy head spins, dad-like dance moves that he made look pretty cool, and we saw him sail through to the live finals.

Past? Present? Future? New? Old?Who can really tell?

I myself being a massive fan of the mini dancer was full of adrenalin to see what he was going to pull out for the big final. After seeing him perform I had to pinch myself. Had I time travelled back to the 50’s? Were my eyes deceiving me? The answer to my questions was no. George Sampson had used a similar combination of dance techniques and dry humour to the massive hit 1952 movie ‘singing in the rain’ in the 'make him laugh’ scene, to create a version we, today’s audience could relate to. Fascinated with the judge’s comments, ‘wow George you have brought something completely new to the table, something we have never seen before, this is why you are going to be the next big thing’ I began to question, is anything we get excited by today, really that new, has it all been done before and is just being looped back round again, making it seem fresh because we have forgotten the past?

The whole break dancing scene originated in the early 80s well before it’s now hyped up phase. The 1983 ‘Butterfly Gals’ music video justifies this clearly. Now through modern media the attention has grown on today’s well known break dancing group Diversity (winners of Britain’s got talent 2009). Original inspiration gets put in the pass but this article is just a little reminder of how trends are followed through. So I leave you with the question, music, TV, Film; are we living in the past or is the past shaping our future?

Past? Present? Future? New? Old?Who can really tell?

Article written by Lucy Bound

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Jack

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“1980 year that God made me

89 i started to get mine

99 i started to write rhymes

come, walk with me reminiscing my life"

Artistic Direction : Jade RichardsonPhotography : Daniel Henry McMillan

Stylist : Rebecca Collinson Model : Catherine Danica Murphy

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Jumpe

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the ‘Rosewood

From stretch hoodies to sharp suits, chavy cheque to Sherlock Holmes, the hip hop style has undergone a complete turnaround. Jade Richardson investigates. movement’

This Rosewood movement is about looking fresh in tailored suits, hard bottoms and shades. A style not seen since the days of the Rat Pack when what you wore said a lot about who you were.

After the Rat Pack era, the urban culture started developing. The fashion style in Hip Hop which focused primarily on the element of comfort; loose fitted tracksuit bottoms that drape low, trainers or high tops (with the laces pretty much left undone) and a baggy, coloured t-shirt, was the generic style during the eighties and nineties. The choice of size was oversized; a gangster’s clothing paradise.

The music behind Hip Hop was all about the politics and the words the artists spoke were true to what they believed in. Nortorious B.I.G a.k.a Biggy Smalls is a prime example, his song ‘Juicy’ included some words; “you never thought that hip hop would take it this far, Now I’m in the limelight ‘cause I rhyme tight... damn right I like the life I live cause I went from negative to positive and its all good.” Another artist of the same nature is Tupac with lyrics like, “that’s just the way it is things will never be the same that’s just the way it is.”Some now question the authenticity of the lyrics and condemn the materialistic influences behind it. Now the ‘swagger’ aspect is all about showing off and seems to have lost the original motive.

Although Hip Hop is heavily focused on the music material, clothing and accessorising became just as big a part of the movement. The music and fashion came as a package and held a huge stereotypical presence about it. The hip hop music and style has spilled its way into our streets and the youth has aspired to this so called ‘gangster look’. Soon creating this ‘hoodie’ culture we see today. Through the criminal vibe the style suggests, the baggy clothed ‘hoodies’ have created a stigma in society’s eyes. Hip Hop is seen as a lifestyle and we have seen the many variations entering different media platforms including film and TV making the style more idealised. When a star makes it big, we all know about it; the ‘bling bling’ chains and jewellery seem to be a way for them to show off to all us ‘less fortunate’ ones, and show us how not to splash your cash.

-35-

The Hip Hop style has been going on since the early 80’s so is the direction heading to something new for a change? The prison inspired hip hop look has changed; the former chunky, heavy, oversized bling has become more refined, the baggy clothes have picked up from the floor and the waist lines are sitting on the waist (where trousers should be sitting) and a possible alternative trend setter is on scene from the hip hop background where the colours were a lot more bold, bright and brash.

New and old musicians in the fame and stardom try to make their own stamp on the industry and they use fashion as a cool and effective way to do so. We are now seeing the likes of Kanye West, Labrinth and Cee Lo Green (three top hip hop artists) at the top of their game. Kanye West has pushed forward the suited and booted look which he has dubbed as the ‘Rosewood movement’, connecting back to the styles of the Rat Pack kings with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jnr. This kind of Rat Pack swagger seems to raise the level of sophistication in Hip Hop. But apparently the movement goes beyond the well cut tailored suits and hard bottoms. It is more than just clothes; it is about having manners and class and in turn having the old school gentlemen appeal, which we do not get to see much of anymore. The youth need to realise that manners are important and having respect for your elders does not go amiss.

Artists under Kanye’s record label G.O.O.D, (Getting Out Our Dreams), are expected to sport the movement with artists including John Legend and Kid Cudi to name a few. We also see newly emerged artist Labrinth sporting the style. Edgy, and yet still so cool, he carries the look so well. A feeling of awe passes over you when watching his music videos. Are the likes of these artists pushing the trend forward and taking it into a new direction away from the gang culture? We think so. Even though hip hop is primarily raw and crime is a strong aspect within the lyrics and original style, having a more sophisticated approach will give the audiences a desirable aspect yet obviously still relating to the lyrics and meanings behind the songs.

We are seeing these hip hop artists releasing their own designer collections, from the likes of Jay Z, Kanye West and Pharrell. Will these clothing lines change with the time also? We are looking forward to this trend influencing the hip hop culture. However, will this dressing up to the nines really take off? Even if it doesn’t, the principles behind it really ought to and should be an aspiration to the youth. The style of this movement will take effect in a positive way and become a step forward in society to change the look and stigma surrounding it.

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The overall style between the two musicians transcends them into the English heritage. And ironically this style will be present in Guy Ritchie’s newest adaptation of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which holds a very strong Burberry feel to the costumes. The Victorian fashion in our minds presents such an aura about it and is the closest in terms of its style to the modern suit that we know of today, despite the fact there were many previous creations that existed before it. The costumes in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, embraces a strong stereotypical Victorian aesthetic. Although they may not be exactly true to its original routes, it allows us, the audience, to relate to the style more easily and adapt the clothes into our wardrobes for today’s modern look, especially now androgyny is on trend, both women and men can wear this look. We believe this will result in a wonderful hybrid mixture of old and new traditions slowly filtering into our everyday dress.

We seem to have lost sight from traditional values where individuals took pride in their appearance and the idea that what you wear promotes who you are. There seems to be small minorities that actually do care. Will this change in the hip hop culture take an effect on the public? Will other influences from music and film follow in the same direction, be it period drama or not? Will the style stay for long? It takes individuals in fame to aspire to others. In relation to influences, many stars (musicians in particular) have had a huge effect on tattoos in society. It has become a somewhat new craze that has taken on by storm, making its way over people’s bodies. Yet could this be changed also?

A trend that hasn’t gone unnoticed is tattoo removals. Singer, rapper, record producer and fashion designer Pharrell (Williams) is undergoing tattoo removal as a way of smartening up his act. “I’ve got fire on my arms, I am a grown man”, he says, clear to say this is one painful way of going about it. Another artist also removing a tattoo; be it only one, is rapper Lil Wayne who is removing a tear drop tattoo from under his eyes after his mum told him to do so. (Good boy Lil Wayne, we like a guy that does what his mother tells him) Maybe acts like Wiz Khalifa might follow (although that would be one hell of a lot of pain as he is completely covered) time will soon tell. And will it make all of our readers out there, with or without tattoos, think twice when you go for your next “ink injection”? At least you know suits can cover most of your body. Adorn your body with clothes to express your style.

So is this look really easy to follow? Well with this cold winter season about to set in, why the hell not? Hats in particular, will be an easy statement piece of the suit apparel to wear. Embrace them. The sleek cut with classicism and masculinity, single or double breasted suits and sport coats, whatever you’re fancy they are the fancy and spot on for portraying confidence. Here at Razed like this new movement a lot. One of our editors is ‘obsessed’ with the suit look in hip hop and TV and if our team do say so themselves, ‘it is so damn cool’.

Kanye West

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And guys don’t be afraid to splash out on a good piece of quality workmanship. It is well worth the investment as you will still be able to wear it for a few years to come, which can’t be said for most other fashion trends. You don’t have to splash out either; you can buy into this look for no expense so should this not be the look everyone should be moving towards?

It may seem controversial, but at the end of the day everyone can wear what they want if it makes them feel comfortable and portrays them in a way they want to be perceived in. Then there is no problem in that, as long as manners are not forgotten which has been found to be the underlying aspect of the Rosewood movement.

Labrinth

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TheSuitedMan

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the zombie boy Rick Genest, Model and Muse

I learned at a very young age how fragile life is. When I was 15 years old I found out I had a brain tumor. The doctors said I had a very small chance that I could outlive it. The only alternative was to get on a long waiting list for open face surgery in hopes of removing it. I guess the first blessing happened on my 16th birthday, when the surgery was scheduled. I found out shortly after waking from the surgery that they went into the palette of the roof of my mouth instead of opening up my entire face. I guess you could say that was the second blessing. But the real blessing was that I overcame it completely and I survived something that most people never live through. I was close to death and I escaped it, and now I celebrate life because of it.

I wanted to be free. After this literal escape from death, I had some challenges at home and left at a very young age to spend my teenage years literally on the streets. I started with a hitchhiking tour all through Canada. Essentially I was homeless, sleeping on rooftops and under bridges and free. I met tons of interesting people, and experienced life to the fullest. Surviving the death sentence of a brain tumor was like defying death. I felt like the walking dead. I wasn’t supposed to be here. The doctors had told me there was no hope. But here I was, alive and breathing and being so free to live my life. When you live on the streets, you really appreciate just being alive. On the streets, you don’t have first or last names. So they started to call me Zombie, a person who is living but so close to death.

The tattoo artist uses the body as a canvas. I grew up in an environment where face tattoos were very common. Many of my friends were heavily tattooed and had piercings. By the time I was 22 years old I was already half-way tattooed as a Zombie and starting to get featured in tattoo magazines. I was very young to have this recognition with this kind of extreme tattoo. Then the first real international magazine wanted to fly me out to do a story, but I couldn’t get a passport because of all my mischief from living on the streets, whatever those things kids do when they’re homeless. So, Bizarre magazine came to Montreal to do the first big global story. They did an article about me and distributed it all over the world, and then all the requests came pouring in and I started getting tons of attention.

A body tattoo is like a walking art form. Frank Lewis, my tattoo artist from Montreal, did most of the body artwork and took my project seriously. Frank is like an artist who uses reference material of actual skeletal images to create his designs and you can see all the details in there. But he does all the designs free hand with the marker and then just puts his gun to it. It’s an original design and a totally free style. Sometimes we even have to erase parts and draw up certain places in a couple of times. It is a work in progress, and a long process to get to where it looks today. It doesn’t happen over night. No one goes to the tattoo parlor and asks for a full body tattoo. I just got a new section inked last week. I think it should be done in about a year. But it took over a decade to get here.

Rick Genest, Model and Muse

Photograph by Raphael Ouellet

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Razed’ Top Ten Album Downloads for Dec 2011

razed

end of issue one Dec 11’

end of issue one Dec 11’