Presto’s video from his upcoming album State Of The Art dropping on Concrete Grooves June 17, 2008. “Conquer Mentally” features Sadat X & Large Professor. “On” features LOWD. Scratches by DJ Mino.

Check out ConcreteGrooves.com for more info.

Click on the flyer to RSVP…

For all the Frankophiles out there. 

Our fam behind Frank151 France just launched a brand new website for the iLL-Studio, their Parisienne fine arts and design collective, and the site looks… well, ill.

Take a look at this stop motion reel of their past efforts:

Located at 21 rue Hentry Monnier in Paris, the iLL-Studio brings together ten artists (Léonard Vernhet, Thomas Subreville, Nicolas Malinowsky, Thierry Audurand, Sébastien Michelini, Pierre Dixsaut, Harold Urcun, Artus de Lavilléon, David Luraschi and Fred Mortagne), working in a variety of mediums — graphic design, photography, typography, illustration, video, motion design. 

The Studio provides a space for these artists and their complimentary influences to meet, whether for collaboration or mutual inspiration…  Work developed in that environment, as a result, winds up more inventive, free-thinking and genre-spanning than most contemporaries.

Check out the new site — support your Frank boys, at home and abroad!

:: TONIGHT THURSDAY APRIL 24th!! ::
MONEY $HOT

Special Guest DJ Elle
TurnTableLab :: NYC

Along side resident Money Masters:
CONTRA & INDUCE

Free Before 12 :: $10 After :: 18+ Girls 21+ Guys
Every THURSDAY :: DWNTWN MIA
Doors Open @ 10pm

The Vagabond
30 NE 14th St
DWNTWN MIA
305.379.0508

myspace.com/moneyshotmiami
www.thevagabondmiami.com
www.epoplife.com

Frank Fam and contributor, the ever-talented and constantly cooking-up-something Patrick Martinez, sent us an email with this image from his latest project - ARMY SET

When we asked Partrick to elaborate, he sent us the following response:

‘I install the army sets in various department stores across Los Angeles in the toy section of the store. The piece blends in with the other military figures at first glance. With a closer look, the viewer will get a suprise with the package and contents. They are all hand painted army men from all races. The package reads “Army Set includes: poor and middle class people. Bonus! Includes one special limited edition rich gold soldier!!!” On the back of the packaging it reads “Made in the USA, then shipped to Iraq.”

‘I think I want to remind the shoppers / viewer that they, or their sons or daughters, could be targeted as a potenial canidate to fight a senseless war. Maybe because they don’t have much money or might be lost and look at the military as a way out. so I’m dealing with the class system and trying to shine light and remind the viewer with their children in hand that they should protect them and remind them that they have many options.

‘I have created 50 of these and plan to keep on installing them till they are all gone. So if you find one at your local department store, you can have it because they don’t sell them there anyhow. They are all signed and numbered on the back with graphite.’

More info: patrickmartinez.com

Lately there’s been a debate over hip-hop’s vital signs: dead for years, alive and well, comatose…. While the state of hip-hop in the US all depends on who’s taking its pulse, it looks to be in good health elsewhere in the world.

From graffiti to breaking to beats, from the UK to Germany to Russia, like it or not, all things hip-hop have exploded in Europe. And anyone who says they’re not doing it well isn’t paying close enough attention.

Take for example rapper and producer Sam The Kid. Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Sam has built upon the foundation of a traditionally American art form to create something that is at once uniquely Portuguese and universally enjoyable.

Frank151 recently had the opportunity to speak with Sam The Kid at Frank’s Chop Shop (where else do you go on your first visit to NYC?).

Interview after the jump…

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Nas with Frank151 @ Electric Lady Studios

Frank151 and Sugar High Music proudly present….

Sensation Festival 2008
featuring the NY King himself…..NAS

May 30th: Daegu - Daegu EXCO
May 31st: Seoul - AT Center

Tickets: Ticketlink.co.kr and Interpark.com
VIP Tickets: Rhythmer.net

As a bonus for all the Nas/Frank151 heads out there, Nas blessed us with a special preview of his new single, “Be A N*gga Too”… Enjoy.

In honor of Earth Day, we’d like to share a few recent Enviro-stories with y’all…

* Our friends at Vice recently published a killer expose on the plight of North Pacific Gyre — a Texas-sized meeting point for all the major currents in the Pacific Ocean.  Because everything converges there, anything caught in those currents also ends up getting caught and floating around perpetually.  Vice’s Thomas Morton went to the Gyre to see how it looked; what he found was basically every piece of plastic that’s ever wound up in the Pacific, floating there right now.  Truly disturbing. Read the article — the consequences get scarier and scarier (especially when we start eating fish).

* The National Toxicology Program acknowledged today that Bisphenol A (a chemical found in common plastics and used for everything from baby pacifiers to CDs to dildos) has been linked to breast cancer, hormonal changes and Down syndrome… which means all the aging ravers out there have some serious issues by now.

* And, amid all this, Al Gore says things are actually worse now than they were before An Inconvenient Truth.  Let’s all pretend to be surprised.

* On a (slightly) lighter note, when you finally leave this pollution-ridden world, you can do it “green” — London funeral home Green Endings is pioneering new eco-friendly funeral services.  Buy stock now — business will only pick up as the environment starts killing us faster and faster.

Census Bureau theorists are projecting the world population will hit exactly 6,666,666,666 on May 10 this year.  That’s just a few days away. 

Frank151 recommends you do everything you’ve always wanted (but never had the cojones) to do… by May 9. 

Just in case of apocalypse.  You understand.  

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Frank fam Keith Paciello & Alfred Spellman — contributors to Chapter 28, the Miami book — just held the grand opening of their brand new club, Bella Rose.

Renovating the failed Boom Boom Room, the guys completely revamped the joint in favor of a more intimate atmosphere, opting against the stale bottle service style that dominates clubs these days, while keeping the space small and welcoming. The style paid off — the Miami Herald shot the first positive review, pointing out how Bella Rose echoes the aesthetic of classic Miami nightspots The Spot and Lua.

Follow the jump to see a bit of the transformation from Boom Boom to Bella… and some pics of the opening week. Congratulations, fellas!

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