Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Gucci For Jay-Z "Decoded" Leather Bomber Jacket = Will The REAL Gucci Mane Please Stand Up.


"Italian luxury house Gucci is partaking in the global scavenger hunt organized by Jay-Z and search engine Bing in advance of the rapper’s book release.

The innovative marketing campaign physically placed pages from Jay Z’s memoir Decoded in various venues meaningful to the hip hop impresario, including the Delano Hotel in Miami and the Spotted Pig restaurant in New York.

Clues as to where pages were hidden were regularly revealed on the singer’s Facebook and Twitter pages as well as on a dedicated Bing website.

Last week, Gucci unveiled two of the book’s pages in the storefront windows of its Fifth Avenue flagship in New York.


Gucci creative director Frida Giannini fabricated a special leather bomber jacket for the occasion with text from two pages of the book printed on its lining.

The jacket will remain on display until November 16 when the book goes on sale and will subsequently be gifted to Jay-Z.

Featuring an image of Andy Warhol’s ‘Rorschach’ on the cover, Decoded is a memoir of the multi-platinum artist from his rough childhood in the Brooklyn projects to his music stardom."

Information Courtesy Of: Luxuo.Com


CHRIS LIVE AKA SHAKER SAYS: Be careful what Y.O.U. wish for, because Y.O.U. just might get it! Although such a well worn idiom (NOTE: Allegedly derived from an ancient edition of Aesop's Fables wherein a lowly man impulsively wishes for death) sits perilously perched atop Mount Cliché, this most famous of clichés is just that because it's moral is timeless. To that end, Hip Hop has long had an infatuation with the greater pop-culture @ large, the overly romanticized view of an outsider whose failure to gain acceptance was both frustrating and perversely validating.

That was then, this is now.

Today, Hip Hop's collective rebel yell has been roundly reduced to sappy emo-filled status updates and most, if not all, have traded in the legacy of the Black Panthers for black diamonds. For this too I am guilty. I do NOT see this as ALL b-a-d though. Livestyle is steeped in the grand belief that an aspirational lifestyle need not be simply "wine and roses" and is only truly valuable when matched with an optimum standard of intellectual curiosity and a strong code of ethics. Jay-Z, in my esteemed opinion, has become 1 of the best, though clearly humanly flawed, examples of this new dichotomy. From corner boy to papered up occupant of a corner office, the man born Shawn Corey Carter has invited all to join him in his modified Maybach Tour Bus (NOTE: Patent pending ... lol) and chauffeured us to the promise land. Of course, not everyone is pleased.

While pilloried for losing some of his technical lyrical prowess and biting (NOTE: If not gumming his way in his old, by narrow Hip Hop standards, age) through the late, great Notorious B.I.G.'s catalogue) en route to success, I simply can't knock the homie's hustle. Now, if Y.O.U. are of a more political slant like, say, a group like Dead Prez (NOTE: Whom Jay-Z has recorded with, although he didn't make the video. Wack.), I could stomach the hate a lot easier. If you're not concerned with money or, for that matter, the trappings of fame, Jay-Z is probably NOT your idea of a leader. Cool. However, for all other money grubbing rappers with obnoxiously ostentatious bars stocked with millionaire wishes, Jay-Z is your living and breathing motherfucking precedent! Respect the game.

Anyway, on the eve of the release of his autobiography/choice verses translation tome, "Decoded", NOT so Young Vito has done it again with this 1-of-1 Gucci "Decoded" Leather Bomber Jacket. Yup, Gucci's lovely creative director, Frida Giannini, crafted this special jacket lined in satin with 2 pages from Jay-Z's book to especially to celebrate this momentous occasion! The scavenger hunt clue jacket is on display now until tonight @ New York City's 5th Avenue flagship Gucci store. Once the book goes on sale, this jacket is a goner ... lol.

Sooooooooooooo, how much is this collector's item supreme Y.O.U. ask? Good question, but, it doesn't matter ... this is a personal gift to Jay-Z from the good people @ Gucci! Whaaaaaaaat!? How Y.O.U. L.O.V.E. that? Holla @ ya boy in BK!


BONUS:

The above image is a complete listing of the 36 venerable songs deconstructed in "Decoded". For those counting, YES, that is indeed the equivalent of 2.2 pounds of uncut dope boy poetry! Bon Appétit!

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