Una Mae's Photoshoot

This time we had a "for real, for real" photo shoot with muff-occurs flying all the way in from NY to take pictures of us! Sometimes opportunities knock & remind us that we're kind of a big deal. We felt honored that the out-of-town-crew wanted to create a direct mail piece and send it out to a list of millions, featuring Kinky Notti & the legendary Big Daddy Kane ((Common's favorite emcee))!!

We literally shut down Una Mae's Freak Boutique ((Kink Not's fav vintage & rare-find-boutique in Chicago)). Usually they close at 8pm everyday, but they agreed to accommodate our photo shoot schedule from six pm til one am one Friday night. The owner Nancy, & Nick are the shit for their support! xoxox



First we met up with Agga B. the stylist ((architect in fashion...the girl's truly on the come up)). She took us shopping and helped us piece together our fits as a group. The crazy thing is that we were originally assigned to another stylist but she came down with strep at the last minute before the shoot. So when Agga became our stylist it felt like a ten-minute shopping spree trying to find our entire wardrobe with only one day to shop.

We had to work our regular jobs on photo shoot day...so when we left work, we felt like Superman (& woman) changing out of our gig-wear into Kinky Notti wardrobe. HaveMax's hair had been double-strand twisted prior to the shoot, so it needed to be separated on set...a task that was misguestimated by hours. The crew had to rush our hair & makeup session in order to stay on schedule. Luckily we had the talented Alfred Lester ((makeup artist for Alicia Keys, Heidi Klum & Fergie just to name a few)) to quickly whip us up into shape!

A few crew candids...

Dave = head producer by day... Draw Tippy by nite

So once we were all dazzled and frazzled... we took our first shots on the green couch. We worked with Matt Salacuse ((this photographer does it all...rock, rap, celebs, mag covers, ads, documentaries, you name it!))...he was loads of fun & beyond awesome. Every once in a while, he gave us wild suggestions like "Hey HaveMax- you should act like you're grabbing Chivas' tie" (it was silk-screened onto his shirt)...or "Have- I like that one evil face you made, gimme some more of that"...then he told Chae to sit on the arm of the couch, which was super skinny so it completely cut up her ass...but hey- beauty is pain :D

Couch shot before Matt Salacuse

Couch shot after Matt Salacuse...Kink Not??

When Matt shoots, anything goes...
he had us all standing on the couch for the keeper

It was dope checking out all the shots right away on the computer screen. Between shots, Agga and Alfred would jump in to tighten up shirts, fix stray hairs & touch-up makeup...their grooming went a long way to help us get those hot shots for the piece.

Una Mae's is such an amazing place. Since we already shop there on the regular, it felt like we were playing dress up, pulling clothes right off the rack for most of the shots. We'd be like "ooh lemme see that belt buckle... or "yep, these pants are gonna bang with this fit!" We even got to keep all the gear from the shoot in the end :D

Street traffic kept stopping & staring inside at the spectacle. We spent part of the photo shoot taping the video-interview portion of the piece. In all actuality, we don't know whether the piece will be used for the web, or as an included DVD with the direct-mail piece, or both...but we'll keep you posted on where you can find it. Anyway, the video-interviews were tight...we took turns spitting our piece about music, life, & random shit we give a fuck about.


During the final shot, things got a little more Kinky & Notti...the Tellian had us warmed us up by then! We asked Nick & Nancy to blast some of our music through the store speakers as Matt clicked away from the floor. We started getting wilder with our poses, sprawling ourselves across the display table & lip sinking "Beneath the Deck" for the camera. By the end, we were totally performing for the entire crew!

So, long story short (too late) in July-O-eight you might just open your mailbox and find us inside...Kink Not?

Kinky Notti Mail = way better than bills anyday :D

HaveMax B-Day Special

As of late, we've been kinda floating around, falling into different spots- just drawing inspiration from every corner and crevice we can find. We spotted the Velvet Lounge one nite and decided to stop in for a drink. It was such a dope & unexpected treat to find live jazz in the hood!! We chilled at the bar for a min to feel the vibe.

Clap your hands for my band Sexual Chocolate

First Part- HaveMax's b-day weekend. Saturday nite, she wanted to go somewhere off-beat & not really deal with the obnoxious club scene. Liam of The Life Askew invited us to their exclusive fashion event called "The Focus" which turned out to be just the type of event that HaveMax could adore. It was at 773Event ((dope spot where they basically turned a work space into a raw tri-level house party)). The grungy basement had a bar, then the main level's walls were all covered in graffiti by the hands of Joe Suta ((Choke of the Chicago graffiti movement...might've seen his work at Akira)). We all hung out upstairs in the "impromtu VIP section" which was the perfect spot for smoking out.

why was this dude over seven feet tall in real life?

All we needed was an airbrushed Mercedes Benz behind us & wed've had the perfect
"oh-so-hood" take-home souvenir-pic, complete with the black, matte take-home frame

Instead of a fashion show, they did an interactive photo shoot, where they projected tons of dope shots right onto the wall. It was cool how the same models blown up on the wall were gallivanting around us in the same outfits as in the shots. It was such a dope concept... plus it took up a lot less space than putting a biggass runway down the middle of the floor.

HaveMax kicked it hardcore with Chiv & her sister Brit that nite which was a nice treat because Brit's got a new baby- so naturally she's working overtime with lil Jabber Jaws. Chae was M.I.A. that nite, which turned out to be hilarious because muff-occurs actually thought that Kinky Notti had replaced its third member...but Brit can't really hold a note, so Chae doesn't have to worry about that one happening!

The old skool photo booth in the spot was a hot touch.
Now we'll always have our little keepsake from that nite.

Part II - Sunday nite... We kicked it at Crimson Lounge ((basically the downstairs lounge of Saks hotel)). We were fashionably late and had to politic our way through the door because it was a marketing event & they had already pulled the list before we arrived. But once we got inside, the party was already juking with tons of muff-occurs on the dance floor. To loosen up a bit we went to go sip the flask in the bathroom.

The bathroom waiting area was kinda dope & somehow inspired us. It was something about the decor with its velvety-blue walls & caramel-colored leather couch across the hallway...either that or the booze was woorrrkiiing. Or maybe after such a fashion-driven experience the nite before, we just felt like striking a few drunken poses ((this has now become one of our favorite hobbies)). So the next thing we knew we were all into our "mini shoot"- not even caring about the people entering & leaving the bathrooms around us. We'd just wait until they got out of our shots and then *click click*

Hey you- don't be a shithead & steal our pics!
Hit us up first at kinkynotti@gmail.com
((then it'll be OK for you to use some of our lame pics :D ))

.....Peace to the Babies.....