Celebs as DJs and DJs as Celebs

“This is a journey…..into sound”

It’s a journey that takes us through London and other cosmopolitan centres to Witness the ongoing exploits of Usain Bolt, who has manned the turntables for his sponsors Puma and Hublot, among others. Former NBA great Dennis Rodman has also been trying his hand at the trade, joining other tabloid fodder such as Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan for typically over-hyped celeb DJ gigs. As the overall profile of our athletes increases, so too will these types of gigs, as their Euro and US sponsors seek to cash in on the exploding electronic dance music (EDM) trend.

The quote above should be more than familiar to EDM fans. The lyric is a sample from a hip-hop classic, “I Know I Got Soul” by the legendary duo, Eric B & Rakim, but its relevance to our discussion springs from its further use in the dance classic, “Pump Up The Volume” (1987) by British group M.A.R.R.S.

The DJ, or turntablist to distinguish from our dancehall toasters, has completed a remarkable ascendancy over the last decade. No longer relegated to “wheel-spinning” obscurity in the back-end of the club or content to merely propel dancing hordes, DJs are stars in their own right, bona fide celebrities who are prompting celebrities from other worlds – the sporting world in this particular instance – to become DJs.

But let’s leave that world for a moment, and return to the Jamaican setting.  This part of our journey runs through radio and one station and DJ in particular. Capital Stereo, which in the early 80s, morphed into FAME-FM boasted a Saturday night dance music marathon, initially known as “Discomania” with Holford “Hol” Plummer at the controls.

Its  this trail-blazing stint that’s cited by DJ Alrick, of the duo Alrick & Boyd, as his earliest influence. Boyd, who had studied in New York City, had been weaned on the then burgeoning hip-hop movement. The connected on the latter’s return to Jamaica (By which time LArick had already logged significant musical mileage with several nightclubs, courtesy of DJ Andrew Henry) and before long, they were making their musical presence felt at several venues. Radio, as it turns out, would provide something of a base for the two as they got the opportunity to work on the aforementioned FAME –on the midnight to 5 a.m. “graveyard shift”.  By dint of an uncompromising devotion to “pure” dance music (as opposed to the US Top40-driven pap that was dominant on the airwaves, the two built a solid following.

The also built a number of links with overseas DJs, most notably Jamaican-born, German-based Rix Rax, who, on his frequent trips home, heard the shows and formed an alliance with the pair that remains to this day. ALrick & Boyd are. Like many dance DJs (if not all), intensely and actively focused on production, as they seek to join the David Guettas and Diplos of this world.

Radio was pivotal in the development of another Jamaican duo, but of more recent vintage. Dean “DJ Breach” and Shane “Firestarter” together comprise The Housing Project, an unabashedly forward-looking house/trance (and almost all in between) outfit that also recalls its antecedents. “My first introduction really came via the radio” Shane shares, “the kind stuff that was being aired on a Saturday morning through the afternoon.”

Radio may have lit the spark, but this “house” was built via the Internet. Through Breach’s regular livestreams (a pioneering move for the Jamaican market) and with subsidiary coverage via blogs, a following of reasonable size and unreasonable loyalty was built which ultimately led to the next transition. Music impresario Steve Wilson heard the duo’s work and decided to add them to this growing “Brand New Machine” party series at the Fiction nightclub, a gig the pair still holds down every Wednesday night.

The two duos are part of a growing contingent of dance spinners. Pieter Barrow has been putting in regular appearances at Red Bones The blues Café under the sub-moniker Deep Cover; DJ Archie is also an integral part of the scene’s early development and others are rapidly emerging.

Its only a matter of time therefore, before Jamaican turntablists and dance music specialists command the kind of global cachet enjoyed by the big Euro and American names, not to mention our sporting “legends”. Bolt may be triple-gold, but when it comes to the wheels of steel, even he has  lots more ground to cover.

Our journey will continue again soon.

FACE MAN

“We clean!”

That’s the almost daily refrain from our dancehall stars and from the general looks of it, our sporting achievers take the line seriously themselves.

No question, men’s grooming has taken on loads of added substance, pardon the pun, since the days when a shave and a splash of Old Spice (ironically, still in vogue thanks to its great ad campaign) meant a special occasion was afoot.

Men’s grooming is currently a billion-dollar business, in fact, projected to hit US$33 billion globally by 2015, according to economic forecaster Global Industry Analysts, Inc. The report states, inter alia:

“the trend is being driven by the male role models, including sportsmen and film personalities. As the gender boundaries are blurring, global firms are increasingly focusing on finding new ways of making profits from the emerging characteristics of men consumer segment. The trend has resulted in entry of a large number of personal care products manufacturers into the men's grooming market with cosmetics and beauty products designed exclusively for men.”

Sports men and film personalities. No surprises there. Image, as the ad tagline famously declared, is everything, and the clean-shaven (often bald-headed) look sported by many top-tier athletes was bound to be an influencer for the scores of impressionable sports fans.

Shaving, along with after-shave care, is arguably still the premier men’s grooming activity, and men's top complaint is "not getting a close enough shave," according to says Kristina Vanoosthuyze, senior scientist at the Procter & Gamble, proprietors of the legendary Gillette shaving brand.

Sales of men's razors and blades world-wide are expected to hit nearly $13 billion this year, up from $12.8 billion in 2011, according to market-research firm Euromonitor International This as shaving products, including razors and creams, have become more focussed on helping men get that close yet sleek look, and free of those annoying (not to mention painful) bumps and nicks.

Some of the discomfort and frustration from shaving is inherent in the act itself:  it is, after all, ablade applied to the skin. Several experts are weighing in on the issue of just how to shave – and what to shave with.

While more blades (five is the current “gold standard”) generally equals a better shave, blade design is just as important. Blades that “glide” reduce the inherent friction of the process and result in a smoother, pain-free shave.

The #1 key ingredient, however, is moisture. Water, and specifically warmer water, softens the keratin, or skin tissue, around the face. Again, the end is result is smoother hair-lift, less aggravation. For the same reason, a shave in the shower is most advisable.

When applying pre-shave moisturizers, the main caveat is “read your labels.” Though it’s on its way out, some products still contain alcohol, a proven irritant. Aloe and ginseng are, of course, much better and more common.

The old adage for houses is that “new brooms sweep clean.” Similarly, for disposable razors, its best to use them fresh. No more than a week, the experts recommend, but simply, if you feel a noticeable drag from your razor when shaving, then it’s time to toss.

Unfortunately, nicks aren’t totally unavoidable, but one can lessen the sting by either applying pressure to the area for about two to three minutes, or also an ice cube. Leading men’s products purveyor Clinique has come out with it’s branded “Post-Shave Healer” to soothe such scrapes.

Ingrown hairs, on the other hand, are preventable. Firstly, shave with, not against the grain of the skin. Some men still swear by against-the-grain shaving as a means of getting closer to the roots of facial hair, but this practice actually pulls the skin too tight and the result is then inevitable. A topical vitamin A cream (retinoid) applied before bed, can also help prevent hairs getting embedded in the skin.

Never tweeze. Never. Instead, use a wash cloth (warm) before shaving in a circular motion to gently dislodge the superficially embedded hairs.

Baby Range

RED –HOT RANGER

From “they might not build it” to “they can’t build it fast enough” the new Land Rover Evoque is rewriting the compact SUV rule book. Could it lead Euro-cars into a bigger share of the Jamaican market?

“Looks nice, but I bet they won’t build it”

That was the general consensus from automotive pundits back in 2010 when the land Rover Evoque first broke cover as a concept. Well its not the first time that critics will be proven wrong. While opinions are still mixed about the overall value proposition of the “baby-Range” asa high-end vehicle in a sub-category almost littered with more pedestrian, affordable options, the numbers, as they say, don’t lie.  How about 70,000 units sold worldwide since its commercial debut in 2011, with a reported backlog of 40,000+ to build. Supermodel-sports wife-popstar

If that’s not enough, Victoria Beckham has already designed a Range Rover Evoque Special Edition, of which limited numbers are being carefully placed in key markets (read: China, the oil-rich Arab world and the US). The awards have been piling in, notably Motor Trend SUV of the Year, N American “Truck” Of the Year (American parlance) and World Auto Design Car of the Year. It will, like its bigger “cousin” the Range Rover and the LR4 (formerly the Discovery) feature in the prestigious Dakar rally.   To put it mildly, Land Rover Design chief Gerry McGovern and the rest of the team must be awfully glad the higher powers did decide to build it. Moreover, It’s not like Evoque has cannibalised sales from other Land Rover models, either. Around 90 per cent of Evoque sales are to customers who have never previously owned a Land Rover product.

While no definitive sales numbers are available, that’s likely to be case also for the Jamaican market. The new SUV is repped by ATL Automotive’s Britannia Motors Division, which also handles sales for Jaguar. Jamaican car buyers tend to have rigid preconceptions about their vehicles and even with the prevailing media overload, old attitudes are unlikely to change in a hurry – a Benz is a luxury sedan, a Porsche is a sports car and a Land Rover is a all-terrain jeep.

Moreover, at roughly twice the price of available “economy” SUVs, the Evoque is essentially a discretionary investment – it will be those who are aware of the Range Rover brand’s intrinsic values but wish to detour from the relatively stodgy design of the apex Range Rover and increasing the “fun-to-drive” stylish components that make the new vehicle stand out.

Those elements are also what make it attractive as a rally vehicle (ironically, with a little help enginewise from competitor BMW). The British Excite Rally Raid Team will race three cars commissioned by RaBe Race Cars and driven by an all-British line-up consisting of Martin Rowe, Andrew Coley and John Hardy. Their T3 race car’s body shell is based on the new Range Rover Evoque. 

But even in these challenging times, the longstanding notions of “price and fuel economy” which have helped Japanese models dominate locally are being put to the test. The Evoque is no mileage champion – most tests this writer has read cite about 24 or 25 miles to the gallon in a variety of conditions. Butthere’s no doubt that the Euro models are catching up on their Japanese counterparts and that the performance column remains – with a few exceptions – in their favour.

Ina any case, as one recent reviewer put it: “No one will buy the Evoque because it’s a bargain. Far from it. You buy it because it looks good (ask designers at Rover competitors) and it’s fun to drive.”

Some super exotics

Land Rover’s new Evoque is positioned as a high-end compact SUV, and it has the styling to fit, but its far from the very top of the automotive pyramid. Here’s peek at some of the four-wheeled wonders that are:

McLaren MP$-12 C

The successor to the famed McLaren F1 boastsa name out of the Star Wars movies (kinda like R2D2) but it runs better than the Millennium Falcon, pushing out just under 600hp from a 3.8 litre engine. It also incorporates its racing heritage into features like “brake steer” where the inside rear wheel is braked during fast cornering to reduce understeer in high-speed cornering.

Price (est) US$300,000:

Lamborghini Aventador

Bring your ego to this car in its most fortified state, because after driving with this “bull” you may have very little of it left. The 6.5 litre engine roars on ignition and zooms the brute from 0-60 mph in a dizzying 2.9 seconds.

Price (est.) – US$377,000

Bugatti Veyron

Named for a former engineer (Pierre Veyron) at this most legendary of exotic carmakers, the Veyron SuperSport is virtually a race car in street kit. Top speed is a staggering 268 mph, and if you’re an economy shopper, get ready for the sticker-shock: US$1.7 million. 

Maserati Granturismo

Not merely the “Swiss Army knife” of the exotics (for its wide variety of available configurations) the “Trident” also represents a comparative value buy, offering good looks, very competitive performance and durability at a starting price of “only” US$135,000. Not bad.

THE MAN WHO “BLINGED” THE BEAST

Michael A Edwards

Richard Mille 

Richard Mille is not a watchmaker.

At least he’s not in the conventional sense of a guy seated over a long white table, wearing a monocle and piecing together intricate, tiny gears and movements.

The man who controversially outfitted double-Olympic silver medallist Yohan Blake with a custom timepiece estimated between US$400-500K has certainly worked in horology (watchmaking). He spent his formative years at the House of Maboussin, an entity more known for its high-end jewellery, but which also puts out watches.

But Mille, who launched his first device under his own name, the RM 001, in 2000, is foremost an artist and a manager, a fairly rare combination in today’s business world, and that combo has propelled him to the top ranks of horology over the last decade or so. Yohan joins a select but growing roster of high-profile Mille ambassadors that include fellow sportsmen Rafael Nadal and golf prodigy  Bubba Watson, as well as hip-hop producer-star Pharell.

Mille moves in these circles easily, if somewhat shadowily. Apart from fine dining and the occasional movie (he claims not to watch television) Mille’s passions are airplanes and fast cars, fitting since timing is such an essential element of high-performance motoring. Of the latter, he owns five, including a vintage Porsche 917 that took part in the famed Le Mans 24Hour race in 1973. He is well-read, well-travelled, a highly cultured man who channels his varied interests into his watch creations and uses his skills and contacts in promoting that business better than many of his contemporaries.

But almost any purveyor of goods, luxury or otherwise can line up a celebrity or two to shill their product. That in itself doesn’t justify a six-figure price tag for something which essentially sits on your wrist and, complications aside, performs one primary function.

So, what is it about Mille and his creations that can command those stratospheric amounts?

Exclusivity

The RM001 was presented to the public at the watchmaking mecca of Basel and was followed by more than fifteen further developed new models within a span of only six years. None of those models have exceeded 35 units. Several, like Blake’s and Nadals’ are one-of-a kind prototypes that are then used to push demand for reproductions and other models. The fewer the pieces, the higher the price – generally.

Specialty materials

 Richard Mille timepieces have been created through the application of new materials, methods and concepts in watchmaking the majority of which have never been used before.

“Our concept,” Mille said in a previous interview “was based on three pillars: the best of the technique and innovation; an important artistic and architectural dimension, a watch easy to use, robust; and at last the best of the watch culture, each piece being polished and finished by hand.”

In particular, Mille pioneered the extensive use of ceramics and titanium. As any car enthusiast knows, ceramics (or carbon fibres) are lighter but stronger than steel or aluminium. The difficulty however, lies in manipulating them, especially titanium, which is one of the least malleable and most unforgiving materials known.

The Swiss cachet

Though Led and other digital watches threatened to wipe out conventional Swiss watchmaking in the late 1970s, the watchmakers survived and over the last decade, the “Swiss Made” tag has retrieved much of its cachet, even if some of the old individual watch houses have been conglomerated (Swatch Group, Richemont, etc). The lure of “haute horlogerie” appears to be stronger than ever, and as an independent, Mille can pretty much exploit that cachet as he sees fit.

High-performance timepieces, made without compromise for global high-performers. That’s the Mille philosophy and that, whatever the IOC rules, is the world in which Yohan Blake now finds himself. It should be an exciting journey for both ambassador and brand. As the man himself summarized, “The success of my brand is due to the fact that I can pass on my passion to my client, and my clients can say that they won’t change this watch for another, although they have plenty others in their safe. It means that they know my watches are truly genuine, and that there is no lie in the technical data.”

The Watch List – 6 models in the stratosphere.

If you think a half-million dollar watch is crazy, how about a million? Or three-quarter million? The following is but a sampler of the super high-end of watchmaking.

Hublot Big Bang Black Caviar – He may be a legend, but Hublot ambassador Usain bolt may have to do more to be allowed to wear this all-ceramic curiosity, one of the first timepieces to feature this material exclusively. Limited to a reported 7 units, the suggested price is a cool one million

GruebelForsey –  This watchmaking duo are known for making devices of high technical capacity and extreme complication, which results in extremely high prices. Their latest flagship model “retails” for over US$750,000

Van Cleef & Arpels Poetic Wish – From another famed jewellery house that also produces high-end watches, this model, like all their pieces, blends high art and super-technique. The face depicts a scene from early 20^th Century Paris with the Eiffel Tower and other famed landmarks in evidence. The line ranges from US$500,000 to over US$700,000

HD3 Vulcania Black Pearl – Another joint effort, this time between three well-known (in watch circles anyway) independents – Jorg Hysek, Fabrice Gonet and Valerie Ursenbacher, the Black Pearl, an extension of an earlier (Jules Verne-themed) model features a pirate motif. Limited to 11 units, this will set you back anywhere from US$450,000 .

Jean Dunand Shabaka-  Said to be modelled partly on the burial chamber of the Egyptian pharaoh after whom its named, the Shabaka utilizes rolling barrels for the day, date and month. Costs around half a million. Ironically, Jean Dunand contracts much of its movement design to….

Christophe Claret – one of a select group of watchmaking “overachievers” who put out pieces for other brands as well as under their own names. His new Blackjack piece, which actually allows the wearer to play the famous casino game, is actually the “bargain” of the bunch, priced at a mere US$225,000