In less than 7 hours, I'll be on a plane leaving London for 7 weeks and yeah, I'm excited but I'm pissed at not spending the summer with my team. Everyone that knows me will know that I don't use the term friend lightly...like a lot of people I don't have time these days - I make time for the people that matter so I'm annoyed that I won't really see much of my homies this summer. My friend M told me to watch the new Jay Z interview with Zane Lowe and when he speaks about his relationship with Timbaland, and how they only recently reconciled on MCHG, like most people I sat up and took notice. I had never really questioned why the two suddenly stopped working together, so I was definitely shocked when both Jay and Timbo came clean about the story behind their parting of ways up until now. Peep the whole interview below, Jay is really revealing about how the whole album came about:
Knowing that come October I'll be front row with my homies waiting for Jay Z to perform makes me that much happier! I know for a lot of people £80 for standing tickets is extortionate, and to some extent I have to say I agree...but my love for Jay and his music eclipses everything else so hell my bank balance took a hit but I don't regret it. All I'm saying is for that kind of ticket price, he better put on a hell of a show...
So Jay himself admits that MCHG isn't his best album. It's his 4th best after the Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint and the Black Album according to him, and I definitely agree.It's a great album, not legendary. But the truth is, Jay's 4th best is probably still better than the best album of some rappers' entire careers - he is THAT deep. That's kind of how I feel about Hedi Slimane. Like Jay, I put him on this pedestal with good reason, he's proved that he is a visionary. His rebranding of YSL was dangerous to say the least but it paid off.
Slimane was responsible the refurbishment and redecoration of the Saint Laurent flagship stores worldwide from Paris to New York to London, and having looked at photos from the new stores I don't really have much to say except for the man has the ability to create masterpieces in every artistic discipline.
PARIS:
NEW YORK:
Hedi's preoccupation with perfection is evident here, he was clearly in complete control of the creative process. Marble is often associated with antiquity and yet here, Hedi was able to give it contemporary significance, adding luxury to an otherwise minimalist palette. The store is opulent yet simplistic, possessing a contradictory character reflective of Hedi's own. The monochrome colour scheme coupled with the restrained use of nickel-plated brass, mirrors and marble all add up to make a beautiful concept that seems to define the new image of Saint Laurent whilst still referencing Yves' love for French Modernism. All I know is when I visit Paris in March, I will definitely be paying a visit!
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