GO BABY

It's a proud day for Chicagoans in 09... home to the first black President in United State's history ((OBAMA)) & a host of Superstar heroes like Kanye West, Common, Lupe Fiasco and our big Oscar- and Golden Globe-winner, Jennifer Hudson. Plus let's not forget the strong possibility that Chicago will be hosting the 2016 Olympics... The world's spotlight is on Chicago right now and we're really starting to feel the energy build, creating a movement amongst the Chicago music artists who live here.

KINKY NOTTI

Summer '09 promises to be the takeover for Kink Not. After a couple of years of member changes, lining up ducks in rows and bangin out a bunch of hot new tracks... Kinky Notti is moving FORWARD FAST, so be on the look-out for our fresh release campaign b/c we're just about ready to pull trigger! Music, art, fashion, freedom and of course... Paaaarrrrtaaay's! Succumb...it's pretty much a wrap. Get 2 Free Downloads right here! Nasty Nasty & Beneath the Deck

HEY CHAMP

This band was ridic the first time we saw them rockin at the One Night Stand event. We bought our very own Hey Champ CD before leaving, and yes- it's still gettin bumped in the Kinky Notti whip. Hey Champ's sound is a hot splash of that electro pop shit that makes us 80s kids feel 7 again. We knew it wouldn't be too long before we heard bout them getting signed... and sure enough it was announced that they're f*cking with Lupe on 1st &15th.

HOLLYWOOD HOLT

We've known Hollywood since Nigel... since he was the "b-boy with the fresh break-moves" days. We first saw him puttin all hype men to shame, rockin as sidekick with Mic Terror. Now Hollywood Holt's blowing up the college scene, touring & going from Adult Swim to mtvU... pickin up uber exposure along the way. We think we might havta cop that hot new single from iTunes right now & you should too!

HE SAY SHE SAY

Since Million Dollar Mano's DJ years, we've watched him continue to increasingly command rooms time & time again. Now we're getting his reinvention as the producer of edgy rock, electro joints, along with Drea his partner in crime. Our first encounter with them was on that same One Night Stand set with Hey Champ. It was love at first hear and we can't wait to check out their new project when it drops.

C4

Check a few of our previous blog posts & you'll know that C4 are the muffinking homies & by far our favorite bearded rapper & DJ combo. C4 is dope for so many reasons... not only do you get Floydthefourth: the monster on beats & emcee, but you get DJ C.y.Not on the cuts... plus their emblem looks sick chromed-out on tshirts. They promised us their first copy of Garage Sale, the LP coming soon :P

NIKKI LYNETTE

Although she's the newby on the yard, Nikki Lynette is going hard with her new single "Now That I'm Fine" ((now spinning on B96)). We received a formal introduction to the stage presense of Nikki Lynette recently at Dark Room & now only expect to hear big things about this hot & super sweet chica...

Get 2 FREE Downloads here! Now That I'm Fine & Need a Man

SHALA.

Last but not least on our list is our muffoccur, Shala. He's got flows and bangin beats to go along with em. Who knows what goes on in the mind of the former Mr. Esquire but its never failed over the years. Get ready for a monster....

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