AYEO Life is an up-and-coming brand I met while in Atlanta last year for Sneaker Friends. Polite dudes, interesting clothing, but still had a ways to go in order to further differentiate themselves from the rest of the graphic tee shirt crowd. While I like what they’ve recently released, I still don’t see any signature pieces that would shut shit down. I do like the teal leopard print–a subtle twist to the “it” fabric of the moment–as well as a couple other pieces, so I have no reservations about suggestion that you check them out for yourself.

After your visit if you have any thoughts on what you’ve seen, feel free to come back and share them with me in the comment section.

No shots but when you visit the website for Holla Fashions, you see two things–well actually THREE things: TWO music videos that I assume are in place as promos for the brand and ONE message “12.2.11 A DAY TO REMEMBER“.

Now because I don’t know buddy behind the brand and I don’t know his personal situation, I’m not going to murder him for implying that his clothing would be ready to sell by Christmas of last year. Does it look bad? Hell yeah it does but that’s neither hear nor there because that’s not what this post is about.

Besides, maybe they DID release that shirt already and it sold out. See, now if that IS the case and I go off on them–I’d look like a total douche.

Anyway, the two promo videos I mentioned are actually pretty dope. One is from a dude named Case Arnold while the other is from a guy named Michael Marxx (he’s from Memphis). In fact, he’s the only reason I even know that Holla Fashion even exist. If it wasn’t for his unsolicited email (his management OBVIOUSLY didn’t read my post about WHY YOU SEEN THE SAME BRANDS ON EVERY BLOG–but it’s all good, they caught me in a good mood), this particular post wouldn’t have been written. Go figure.

Like I said, I don’t know who these dudes are but the songs were dope in their respective places and the videos are really well done too. Sucks that one could not actually BUY the tee shirt that they are so heavily promoting in each clip (as of my posting of this article, the online store was down). Ah well, better luck next time.

I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I did, I think I like Case Arnold’s joint better though. Let me know in the comments if you have a preference & if I should have been more harsh on Holla Fashions for not having their gear ready for sale.

I don’t know how many of y’all are familiar with Bettie Grind but he’s a rapper out of Charlotte, North Carolina with a stead buzz coming out of the Queen City. Anyway, he recently dropped a trailer as a preview for his new video entitled “Mr. Famous” that will be debut in full sooner than later. Why am I posting the trailer? Because it does its job as it makes me want to see the rest of the video. I figured maybe someone else would be just as interested.

AS A BONUS, here is a song he did with fellow North Carolina spitter Royal Tee called “Everything I Love“. Not sure who’s song it is but I since I’m getting y’all acclimated to Bettie Grind, I might as well post it right? Give me your thoughts on this if you wouldn’t mind!

Yeah, this weekend I took things kinda light as it was my birthday but on this lovely Tuesday (at least in Charleston) it’s back to streetwear business. During my Twitter cruises last week I stumbled upon this brand that was founded in 2008, Colourful Money has set themselves as “…a visual adaptation of joie de vivre (the joy of living)”. Their clothing certainly plays the part with bright colors and flashy graphics, including the brand’s mascot (Hanzo stand up!), that nip at the heels of being gaudy without taking a full bite. Take a look at their most recent additions via the Colourful Money online store, and if you have time, feel free to check some of their older stuff to get a feel of the CM way.

Atlanta based brand Honor Roll Clothing Group wrapped up their college tour not to long ago and they have kindly provided a short teaser video of the full documentary that will show the company’s exploits on this trip. Stay tuned to H1GHER LEARNING for information on when the full clip drops. I can’t wait to see what they come up with. And while you’re at it, swing by Honor Roll’s new website and see the sights.

Thank you for the birthday love but that’s not what this post is for! I have some great news that some of you may or may not be aware of so I decided to share it with y’all on this, the day of my birth*.

Peace and blessings to the brother Rick Williams and for the successful launch of his premium basics line known as The Distinct Life. Of which the denim (13oz. Raw Selvedge Denim created in collaboration with Detroit Denim) and the scarf (manufactured by Mitchell & Ness) are being carried by the Boylston Trading Co. right now.

And speaking of the BTC, they recently posted a short video interview with Rick as he briefly discusses both the purpose and inspiration behind the Distinct Life brand. Check it out and if you’re interested in getting some of his gear, visit the Boylston Trading Co’s webstore today.

In March I gave you a look at the pending collaboration between Atlanta creative brand FRESH.i.AM and UNKNWN, the Miami based boutique owned by the three time NBA MVP LeBron James. This “MIA” cap that they released this past week is, as the standard of FRESH.i.AM, a limited product with only 50 hats made. Created with the ATLiens’ signature Bamboo fleece lettering on a standard all black snap back hat, this will only be available through UNKNWN–so don’t be surprised if you see LBJ himself wearing this cap to a game during their upcoming match-ups with the Indiana Pacers!

I became familiar with the New York based brand Outlier a couple years ago after seeing some pants they made on the Esquire website. Why do I remember them? Because I thought they were dope and it’d be awesome to own a pair–if they made some in my size (oh, and I used to have a subscription to Esquire Magazine too). Well, I just watched the co-founder of the brand, Abe Burmeister, telling the attendees at the PSFK Conference in NYC how he went from identifying a problem (my pants suck for riding a bike) to looking for a solution (trying to find pants that didn’t suck for riding a bike) to attacking the issue head on (making his own pair) with literally NO experience in the clothing world (Abe was a graphic designer by trade).

This is a great video for when you have those “This stuff is too hard” days when building your brand. Of course it’s hard, if it wasn’t everyone would be doing it like rap music. I’m learning just like you so trust me when I say, this video was NOT a waste of time.

SOURCE: Hypebeast.

I know that most of the time I’m the only person looking for “deeper meanings” in a tee shirt graphic. And to be honest, I’m ok with that. But that deoesn’t mean that I can’t take things for what they are worth without looking for some higher level reasoning–I mean, Soulja Boi used to be one of my favorite rappers for goodness sake (just for the record, it wasn’t for his lyrical abilities).

Case in point: The Rich Kids brand. Are they trying to front like they’re the Shakespear of streetwear? Nope. They are just a brand built on the priniciples of becoming rich OUTSIDE of financial gain, having a good time, and enjoying the company of those you keep. As someone who gets emails from brands all the time claiming to be the next Ralph Lauren or Stussy, it’s good to see someone that does good work and has a professional presentation but doesn’t take themselves too seriously. They just launched their Spring 2012 campaign so if you’re interested in seeing what they have, swing by their website today to check out their lookbook.