The Brilliance!

HTTP://WWW.THEBRILLIANCE.COM

We’re really internet and we’re really back. A website about things Benjamin , Chuck , Virgil , and various friends & guests think are interesting. Little-to-no specific focus, a bit odd, speling errors, and incredibly culturally relevant.

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Bun-B?

Man…I guess I was just expecting more. I mean, he’s no Jay-Z…but he has such flavor and personality, so I was expecting something new and refreshing…that’s all. Nothing classic, just something new. Draped Up, Trill Recognize Trill, Pushin, and Story (!)…after that, you can skip all the other tracks. Seriously. And real quick, that Get Throwed track has a perfecto beat but Bun’s flow is too…I just didn’t like it. Pimp C did his thing though. One more thing too, Late Night Creepin…Bun hits it correct but the beat doesn’t work and who the hell is the dude at the end?! Anyway, maybe it was the beats maybe it was his lyrics…not sure, but this album doesn’t work for me. I was expecting a UGK type feel…more south, fuzzy beats, chopped & screwed hooks, more of that whole southern feel…I love that stuff. These beats could have been for any rapper…he should have had Bun-B tailored beats. That’s all I got. Shout to Peter for the hook-up as always. ***Get the album at the link below, King of the Trill. It makes up for everything. Shout to Nat @ ASF.

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OMG NYC Real Estate!

Get it skraight…I love NYC real-estate. Lavish, decadent…whatever. I’m back with round 4 or 5, not sure. ONE – Wowzers…I’ll take two of these. In SoHo, huge, 13 foot ceilings, 4000 sqft, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, etc. Simply beautiful, I love it…everything down to the furniture in this one. So sincere. Hits for $5.2M… TWO – Crispy, white and expensive. This one has a soft feeling to it but you still have to take your shoes off at the door. I love the book cases and the flooring. Classic and new at the same time. Cop one for $6.48M. THREE – The ceiling in this one is nuts…good flooring too. Everything except the bathroom…what the hell? The marble looks like an old school screen-saver, it actually looks stressful. This place just needs some new touches. $4.27M. That’s all I got. Honestly…I hate the idea of co-op. It bothers me every time I look through real-estate. My current condo association is enough as it is! Draped up and dripped out.

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My city, Grand Rapids!

Nope, we’re not from nyc. I love Grand Rapids. I’ve been living in downtown ‘GR’ for roughly 2.5 years…the city is almost hard to describe. Yes, it really is a ‘city.’ We have fresh loft buildings, great night-life, great art scene, unreal new art museum on the way, tons of commerce, progressive people, good diversity, low cost of living, 2 hour drive out of Chicago, an hour and 20 min out of NYC by plane, and we are only 20-30 minutes away from some of the most beautiful beaches in the US…and I’ve been to Maui! I basically wanted to post this because of all the great things that have been going on in our city in terms of cultural growth. The fashion shows as of late have been pretty incredible thanks to Dyce and 11-11 productions…for real, I feel like I want to personally thank them for making things happen here! Those model girls at the last one were perfecto…yessir. Speaking of which…Dyce is throwing a fashion show / gallery event this Friday (14th) at A Pair on Monroe Center starting @ 7 PM. Shout out to all the designers and a big shout out to the crew at Blame Clothing…also HUGE shout out to the whole Premier crew…they are doing big things in the city. Plus the whole real-estate scene downtown…shout to Virgin Soil, doing huge things. Shout to Bar Divani, Thursdays at Drink, Penthouse Scott, AK Rikks, Urban House, European Living, The Chop House, Conduit Studios, Bottega Salon, Nooma, Lumber-Barron’s, Monroe Terrace, Landmark Lofts, People’s Building, Cherry Street Lofts, Yesterdog, Martha’s Vineyard, The Dog Pit, Sundays at Billy’s…All districts: downtown, east-town, the hill, north Monroe, EGR, etc. LONG POST. ***Also…I have a one bedroom loft (800sqft) in the new Union Square building that I will be renting out. Get at me if you’re interested, it’s beautiful.

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SVSV, Collection 2!

SVSV is back for round two. I’ve been lucky enough to watch this brand grow from the imagination of David Gensler into a beautifully executed line. The pieces are wild, the look-books are great, especially the one Chuck and Kareem did, and the whole theme of the brand is really quite refreshing. Some might find it over the top…but let’s not forget this is fashion. Anything goes. One of the things that I really like about SVSV is the ‘looming’ feel the brand has. It has this quiet looming feel to it. I can’t say I like all the pieces…but there has never been a collection from any designer where that was the case. I was actually just talking with David like 2-3 days ago about branding and where SVSV is headed…we got into a conversation about heritage and how it is built. This is one area where I really feel SVSV will stand out from the others. Slow, thoughtful growth, and disregard for trends will end up making SVSV an important brand in the future. T-shirts are dope…but for the cool season you need to step your wool game up! Lambs wool, merino, cashmere, vicuna and all that. Catch me in something soft and vicious!

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iPod video!

Ehh…not really ground breaking…the Nano was more exciting. The thing is kind of wide too, almost too wide. So yeah, you probably read it already, but the Apple iPod is now video capable. 320 x 240 screen, plays both music and videos which can be purchased using the new iTunes 6.0. There will be 2000 music videos available for download right away and they cost $1.99 a pop. Not a bad price really. There are a million questions and all that already…will it be a replacement for the current iPod, will the new iTunes compress tv shows or tivo stuff, can I return my Nano, etc… Engadget will be your best resource for all that. It drops next week with a 30GB model for $299 and a 60 for $399…also you can get it in white or black. Steve Jobs…when the dude speaks he brings websites down. No joke. ***And for all the emails I got after my first post about this…I guess I was right!

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Burger ‘King’ Masks…

How could I not post this. Man…I remember when these commercials first dropped. I distinctly remember saying ‘what the hell?’ all quiet/to myself while watching TV. This crazy Burger King mascot that looked thru your windows in the morning, woke up next to you, etc. He seemed…scary as hell but too funny. Does it fit Burger King’s image or product offering in terms of branding? Not really…but it’s got to be subliminal or something cause I eat BK all the time now. I’m telling you, he has that look like knows something about me. Either way…you can now be the Burger King guy yourself. I can’t wait for the Drudge to post the first article about an armed robbery where the suspect was wearing one of these. Ha…you know it’s going to happen. THE BRILLIANCE is…un-sure about the ‘Burger King.’

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Escape Artist, get gone!

I’ve been a frequent visitor of this site for a while. It’s basically an often-updated guide/portal on how to leave your ‘regular’ life and head off to some ridiculously exotic place for the rest of your life. Everything from off-shore banking, property/real-estate availability, culture customs to get familiar with, relocation services…and some sketchy stuff like anonymous off-shore credit cards, 2nd passports, overseas judicial information, etc. It’s seriously a pretty thick resource for everything you need to know to basically disappear. Hmm. If anything its an interesting resource if your interested in exotic travel or owning real-estate in another country. Remember that movie ‘The Beach’? This reminds me of that. Also, I really like the design of this site…I mean, if it was all ‘glossy’ and well designed it wouldn’t feel so real, right?

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Levi’s finally opens a web store…

Finally…for real. If you don’t live by a Levi’s store it is somewhat difficult to find their stuff. They have their entire line available, all the 501s, Premium, and LVC…jeans, tops, accessories and all that. Good stuff. And really, their prices are so cheap for just the standard 501s…I love that. One thing though…they need to show actual pictures of their product rather than like the ‘computer’ version of it or whatever. For real, you click a different color and it just pastes the color over the existing model picture. Not very cool. Either way…good place to grab a couple pairs nice and easy. Also super easy to find your size, they have all the obscure sizes. This was an informative but kind of boring post.

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This just in: Louis Vuitton makes crazy $$$!

I love LV. I’ve said it in interviews and in my posts. No, I didn’t start ‘rocking’ it cause Kanye talks about it. I bought my first piece when Kanye was still living in Chicago…ironically enough I copped it in Chicago on Michigan Ave back when the Louis store is where the new Lacoste store is in Water Tower…if you’re down with all that. So they are launching a much needed redesigned website (I hate that flash product scroll thing) and they just recently opened their largest retail presence on the Champs-Elysees…the pictures from the opening looked pretty wild. What is real crazy about this new store, get this: It took 2 years to build but will be profitable in its first month. What?! Either they got a good deal on nails, screws, and 2x4s or we are paying too much for a wallet. I love what they do…what can I say? For real though…long live Louis Vuitton. And please ladies, step up your game; get rid of the fakes and buy something in the Damier pattern for once!

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Latest Fader…

Magazines are hit-or-miss for me. One month I love their styling, content, and writing…the next its just like ‘whatever.’ Fader is one of those mags that does their thing on a pretty regular basis. The one with Camron on the cover is still a favorite of mine. So the new one that just came out has a couple good write-ups. The ‘hip-hop’s untold stories’ thing is worth buying it alone. Some interesting pictures of BIG in the studio and some very interesting stories from insiders of the hip-hop business world. Managers, ARs, execs, etc… The Ghostface one is interesting as well. Then the write-up and photography on the ‘black night-clubs of the 80s’ is cool as well… Legendary stuff. Check The Fader.