#editorial feature

[brownsugar4hersoul]

[yours-stevie]

Pretty 🌸

[debonairafrik]

Mọ́remí Bloom 

When a queen finds the courage to bloom, she becomes free, fearless and strong all season, all year round. Her beauty is more defined and then, self-determinism is enforced.

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    CREDITS:

Photography: Tope Adenola (@TopeAdenola)

Style Direction: Sharon Ojong (@SharonOjong)

Makeup: Adella (@adella_makeup)

Model: Blessing Williams (@IamBlessingWillams)

BLESSING WILLIAMS FOR XOSO STUDIOS Mọ́remí Bloom  When a queen finds the courage to bloom, she becomes free, fearless and strong all season, all year round.

[rungangzhu]

Editorial 

[vulgarcolors]

'On Stage with Kris J. x Lorenze Davis' 

[ T I M E ] 

“Control the controllable” is a difficult concept to process for an artist who has to sit out due to great mysteries that occur. Creators move in phases and waves as the creative process isn’t always available at the touch of attempting to innovate. Inspiration springs from nothingness, an empty circle looking to be filled with substantial purpose. The journey has to be approached differently when this happens—an injury distorts the mind of a working artist. “You feel like you got robbed, like someone takes your capability away when you know you’re fully capable,” says Izabeau Giannakopoulos. The New York based photographer currently is taking time off that the great, physical mystery hit her with while experiencing a tragic accident on a film set. Active and true to her craft, it’s mind boggling to watch my dear friend along with another photographer friend, Lorenze Davis, retrace steps to the drawing board for spunks of inspiration to create again. As Davis battles through a broken tendon in his hand, he’s unable to film, shoot and even begin a new life in Atlanta as his big move is put on hold. “Does it make you resentful toward life? No, you just gotta deal with it,” continues Giannakopoulos. Instead, you bust ass even harder in preparation for thee comeback. Timing is a complex staircase to climb but a true artist will die for their craft, and greatness isn’t accomplished overnight. Building a legacy takes brutal experiences and elaborate effort spread across a timeline. Davis and Atlanta based rapper, Kris J. know this all too well.

Birthing a brand and raising it from the ground up suggests commitment, passion and competence. Kris J. leads the pack as he started taking the game of hip hop more seriously as a junior in college, while starting urban apparel clothing line, skheduleone. Four years later and still keeping the bass pumping, the kid is on a progressive schedule with his endeavors. Making an appearance on SXSW stages this year and releasing new pieces for his brand, Vulgar Colors shall say the 23-year-old is doing quite all right! The impact I see from a collaborative duo between Kris J. and Lorenze Davis is positive and appealing from an artistry perspective. Two young black men networking on a college campus, starting a strong foundation and actually sticking to it is a beautiful sight to witness. Unifying talents of musical backgrounds and media, the two hooked up while meeting at the “island tree" on campus and “it clicked from there,” says Davis. Bouncing ideas and support off of each other, it’s clear that dwindling in the losers pile isn’t much of an option from the duo, even if Davis is currently impaired. Unable to capture Kris J. and Skhedule One’s current activity, the groove these two men are building together is temporarily on pause, but the heartbeat still pulsates.

“It’s been a long time coming and there’s a lot more ass busting to do. Kill yourself to make sacrifices,”

preaches a frustrated Davis as he feels incompetent to create. Jeans are to restriction as injuries are pauses to artists. The mission ahead is the reason to keep thriving in your craft even if interruptions and distractions occur.

As time continues to chip away, it’s too easy settling into an imaginary notion that we have more of it to spare. Giannakopoulos, Davis, Kris J. and Skhedule One are prime examples to continue the hustle despite obstacles screaming at you. Know what it is that you need to fulfill and haunt it like a consistent shadow that doesn’t disappear. Utilize these seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years to blossom into a concrete success that stains this earth after departure. You see something you need to make happen and you do just that—make it happen, captain. “Diligence makes dreams come true. Since I graduated, I’ve been on the road,” says Kris J. Keep the ball moving; push it if need be. Don’t ever lose the light that reigns in you.

[ Fotos Provided by Lorenze Davis ]

Peep the ‘In the Mix’ footage of SXSW here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUEGUE3zi2M&feature=youtu.be