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Woodie White takes tennis style off the court – Andscape

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The term lifestyle is usually seen merely as a marketing pitch for products or brands, but when applied to a Chicagoan Woodie Whitestays a much simpler concept: get out and do exciting things. The first time I saw him was inside a series of videos on YouTube he did it with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. He starts by visiting the team’s facilities and learning about the every day lifestyle of skilled hockey players. But soon, he adds ON protective equipment, jersey, skates and ice heads. By the end, he watches the Coyotes play live and is totally absorbed in the motion. “Man, I had so much fun,” White recalled excitedly. “I think that’s what I’m looking for in life. It’s always nice to pick up new things, like new hobbies and new interests, and that’s what I do. Just what interests me.”

Oyster Tennis Club founder Woodie White wears On trainers and items from the Oyster Tennis Club clothing collection.

Sam Macon from Oyster Tennis Club

White founded the brand Oyster Holdings in 2014, with a business ethos of “Travel is Sport” and offering a wide selection of styles to wear while traveling. Over the next decade, Oyster expanded to incorporate the Oyster Expedition, a mountain climbing and outdoor adventure group, and the Oyster Tennis Club, a weekly gathering of individuals playing tennis on public courts. The goal is to extend the number of individuals, especially Black people, usually participating in these sports and activities. Now Oyster Tennis Club has began cooperation with the Swiss sportswear company On Roger Clubhouse Properformance-ready sneakers designed for tennis and on a regular basis life.

The clean and restrained design refers to the history of the sport. The ivory and evergreen color scheme pays homage to the grass courts of Wimbledon, where the sneaker’s namesake, former tennis player Roger Federer, won a record eight times. The same CloudTec performance features that make the brand beloved by runners also point to the way forward for the sport, making the model playable on multiple surfaces and worn in quite a lot of contexts. “For me, these are performance shoes. But they feel like a modern shoe that you want to have,” White said. “It means when I leave in the morning, go to work and run, and then on Wednesday at 6pm we have the Oyster Tennis Club match, I’m in the same shoes.” The Clubhouse Pro also comes with extra cushioning along the midsole. White is hesitant to call the lifestyle shoe collaboration On. “I do not really imagine on this category of lifestyle footwear. For me, lifestyle is something you reside, not something you create in terms of product.

Tennis sneakers have a deep cultural history, from Adidas’ legendary Stan Smith shoes and the cool Rod Lavers that debuted in 1970 to the brilliant neon Nike Air Tech Challenge shoes worn by Andre Agassi and the Reebok Court Victory Pumps worn by Michael Chang, each in the Nineteen Nineties. However, the sneaker’s place in the cultural zeitgeist has as much to do with how extraordinary people wore them each day as with their athletic achievements. Tennis can seem confined behind the tall hedges of country clubs or the closed doors of prohibitive training complexes. U.S. Open finalist Francis Tiafoe was only introduced to the sport through his father’s work as maintenance chief at a suburban Junior Tennis Center outside Washington, D.C., where he and his family sometimes slept in a warehouse.

A well-known theme in fashion, especially black fashion, has been to take the traditionally elitist aesthetics of country clubs, Ivy Leagues – polo shirts, button-down oxfords, striped rugby shirts, tennis shoes – and transform them right into a more democratic, accessible and classy look. Changing the different canvases on which clothing is presented – from suburban to urban, private to public – can completely change the context of the garment and its wearers. Roger Clubhouse Pro is each a part of this tradition and separate from it. “It’s like we took the green and white aesthetic of a country club, put it on a professional tennis model and then brought it to the park,” White said. “It’s the same aesthetic of luxury, but now you can see it in a park with cracked courts.”

Oyster Tennis Club is attempting to further this subversion by changing the context around where equipment ought to be worn, who’s playing and where it ought to be played. “The social part and my involvement in spaces that are not traditionally ours was just an interest of mine,” White said. “I’ve had experiences in some neighborhoods where people have come up to us and asked if you live here,” White said, recalling events at the Oyster Tennis Club. “Because you are playing tennis on a public court in Pacific Palisades, but the attitude is, ‘What are you doing driving through the hills in search of a tennis court?’ And you then realize that you just should not welcome there.

The next time I see White, I’m on a Zoom call. Due to a little bit confusion about time zones once we planned our chat, it was early for him. But he’s punctual and able to talk as soon as he drinks his coffee. He’s in quite an excellent mood. “I was just looking at the gram and saw (footage of) the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Roger Federer pulled up and I thought, “Oh, great.” He’s at the Rolex Masters. He is a Rolex athlete. He jumps out of the car and what is he wearing?: Oyster Clubhouse professionals,” he said with a smile. What’s next for Oyster Tennis Club after its sneaker collaboration made waves around the world? “More tennis. We wish to expand to Atlanta. We wish to keep the free urban tennis movement alive, attract people and construct community.

Greg Whitt is a author from Washington, DC. His work has appeared in VIBE, Genius, Consequence of Sound and several other other publications. He likes freestyle when he’s alone in the automotive.


This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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Rasheeda finds herself drawn into conflict after comparing herself to Michelle Obama and Beyoncé amid rumors of Kirk Frost’s divorce after years of infidelity

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Rasheeda compares herself to michelle obama and Beyonce

It’s a delusion or a denial, say “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” fans after Rasheeda Frost tried to explain why she forgave her husband, Kirk Frost, after repeated acts of infidelity of their marriage.

The couple have been married for 25 years and during that point they’ve created a blended family, consisting of two sons and Kirk’s 4 children from previous relationships. But things modified when, in 2018, one of Kirk’s cheating incidents led to him having a toddler with one other woman.

Rasheeda is compared to Michelle Obama and Beyonce
Rasheeda’s marriage advice backfires when fans broach the subject of Kirk’s quite a few infidelities. (Photo: @rasheeda/Instagram.)

The Frosts’ mess took place on the VH1 series with Kirk, and Rasheeda took off her ring when she discovered about his beloved child. Now the mother of his youngest child is accusing him of not only being an absentee parent, but additionally of continuing to try to sleep along with her these days.

With all this drama and divorce rumors began by fans, viewers clearly cannot understand why Rasheeda continues to be married to him.

In the Oct. 21 season finale of “LHH: ATL,” Rasheeda opens up in regards to the difficulties of leaving her marriage, leaving fans stunned by her pathetic comment.

In the video re-posted by The Neighborhood Talk, Rasheeda says: “When you’re in a relationship with someone you’ve spent your whole life with, there are a lot of things you have to think about before you throw it all away. You can ask any woman. From Keisha to Michelle Obama. … Ask Beyoncé.”

However, fans weren’t here to compare two of probably the most admired black women on the earth. One person said: “Rasheeda….I’ll hold your hand when I say this…Kirk is neither Barack nor Jay.”

A second person wrote: “Kirk isn’t a billionaire nor has he been president, so where is she going with this?!?” A 3rd frustrated fan said: “Girl just say ‘I won’t leave my n***a’ and move on! We cannot be angrier than you might be.

Judging by her face this episode, Rasheeda thought she ate after that answer, but fans don’t seem to be buying it.

Perhaps she believed that Beyoncé’s once-turbulent marriage to Jay-Z could possibly be compared to her marriage due to unacknowledged acts of infidelity.

While there aren’t many details about what happened, the “Sorry” singer infamously sings about being betrayed by “Becky with the good hair,” but she also appears to have forgiven her at the tip of her 2016 album “Lemonade” your partner’s offenses. ”album.

The difference is that while rumors flow into, the Carters have never confirmed any infidelity of their 16-year marriage. In contrast, viewers watched on national television as Kirk cheated on Rasheeda in a hot tub with multiple women and others who knew he was married on the time.

As for former First Lady Michelle Obama, there aren’t any confirmed reports that former President Barack Obama cheated on her. There were only rumors dating back to 2017 book titled “Rising Star: The Rise of Barack Obama” and while detailing Obama’s life, he mentioned an alleged affair.

In the New York Times bestseller, creator David Garrow wrote that Barack continued to see his ex Sheila Miyoshi Jager for a short while even after he began dating Michelle.

He and Sheila dated for 3 years within the mid-Eighties, but split in 1987 when she twice rejected his proposal. Sheila’s parents allegedly told her “not yet”, believing their daughter, who was 23 on the time, was too young to get married.

In 1989, Barack met the lady who would turn out to be his wife, and after rejecting his advances, she eventually gave in and, after one whimsical date, spent almost day by day together.

Rasheeda could tie her marriage to theirs to show that marriage just is not easy. There was an infamous moment in 2022 where Michelle stated that there was some extent where she “couldn’t stand” her husband within the 10 years they were married.

However, the essential difference from the Obamas and Rasheeda’s marriage is that Barack didn’t repeatedly publicly shame or disrespect his wife. Therefore, all of this will be why fans don’t see the correlation.

Either way, judging by their loving Instagram posts, Rasheeda and Kirk seem to be sticking to their vows: “for better or for worse.”


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Lil ½ Dead’s 1994 album “The Dead Has Arisen” is one of the most well-produced West Coast albums that almost no one has heard

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thegrio.com, lil half dead, death row records, 90s hip hop, snoop dogg

I actually have a friend who, while in college, would buy any CD (remember that?) by any artist he had even heard a little bit about. Said artist’s talent was less necessary than supporting various homies and fans of superstar rappers and singers. As a collective, all my friends joked that he was the only one that actually bought Young Turk’s debut album (Hot Boy that Lil Wayne, Juvenile or BG – no shade), Young & Thuggin’ – the album title I had to envision out. (Which is saying something, considering the 1999-2000 debut albums by Cash Money Records artists were a banger.)

Either way, while I often added fun or two to the joke session, I could only be so amused; in highschool, I used to be that friend who bought all the artists’ albums that no one else was buying. I could not help myself; I had such a voracious appetite for music that I had to listen to every thing, even when I had no idea who the artist was, but possibly indirectly they jogged my memory of an artist I would know – especially if he was from the West Coast. I used to be a fanatic about West Coast artists and NWA. While the listening experience for these albums is very different at this point in my life, albums like “The Chronic” by Dr. Dre, Ice Cube’s “Death Certificate”, DJ Quik’s “Safe +Sound”, etc. were my absolute favorites to hearken to Do. Each of these albums still holds spots on my list of favorite albums of all time.

Each of these albums often featured artists or groups who made songs that were cool enough for a verse, but whose subsequent albums weren’t excellent. I do know this because like I said, I purchased ALL of their records, especially the ones related to DJ Quik. Well, it’s getting worse; I used to be so immersed in the sound and music of that era that even the mention of it by one of these artists made me buy the album.

This is how I discovered myself in a small group of individuals who bought the debut album by Lil ½ Dead, rapper and comrade of Snoop Dogg and Dogg Pound from Long Beach, California. I used to be minding my very own little business in October 1994, either at Sam Goody or one of Huntsville’s other now-defunct record stores, Madison Square Mall in Alabama, after I got here across “The Dead Has Arisen.” I learned Lil ½ Dead’s name from a Snoop Dogg verse “The Boy from the Little Ghetto” from the album Dr. Dre “The Chronic”. I suppose I didn’t know if it was the same one, but what number of rappers will be called Lil ½ Dead, right?

Lifestyle

I had the lowest expectations for the album. First, I only knew his name; I didn’t actually hear his voice, much less a verse from him. I didn’t know what I used to be getting, but I assumed it will be the same West Coast G-funk sound that was in vogue at the time.

What I heard knocked me off my feet.

While Lil ½ Dead is funny, even funny as a rapper, the lyrics throughout the album are full of house parties, gang shootings, rampant violence and misogyny; mainly every thing most west coast Los Angeles albums were stuffed with at the time. While this is not a great thing, it was normal in that era. Lil ½ Dead is neither great nor terrible as a rapper, but a serviceable voice and guide to an otherwise true gem of an album.

The production on this album is amazing. Controlled entirely by Tracy Kenrick AND Courtney Branch — two producers I learned produced songs from a litany of my favorite 90s West Coast albums — the entire album is full of smooth, soulful productions that I’ve never heard before. There is not a single beat on the entire album that might be considered even average; The fact that Snoop (or anyone from that era) didn’t hear this album and ask to play on every beat is surprising to me. I’ve been working on this album for 30 years and I’m still amazed at how well it is produced.

If Dr. Dre worked with Tracy and Courtney to combine this album and run it through the Death Row publicity machine, I actually have no doubt that “The Dead Has Arisen” could be as successful as any Tha Dogg Pound or Warren G album, all you Lil ½ Dead homies . In fact, one of the biggest questions I’ve asked myself over the years is why none of these collaborators were featured on this album. Perhaps it was produced and finished on the side and everybody was delighted after the fact.

For example, one of my favorite hip-hop beats ever (and I’m not exaggerating) is on this album: “East, West”. This beat is literally perfect. If Dr. Dre used this beat on “The Chronic”, I’m sure we might speak about this song in the same breath as “Dre Day” and “Nuthin’ But a G Thang”. From the single “12 Pacofdoja” to the Roy Ayers sampling of “That’s What You Get,” each beat hits the spot perfectly, perfect for driving around in a low-rider or minivan.

I still hearken to this album purely for the production quality. It’s reminiscent of the same conversations New York hip-hop artists are having about Group Home’s “Livin’ Proof,” where the conversation often centers on what might have been if higher rappers had these beats. The beats on The Dead Has Arisen are so good that I can not help but wonder what this album might have been in the lyrical hands of Death Row’s more popular talent.

But what is life without a little bit wonder? What I do know is that Lil ½ Dead, a rapper that the overwhelming majority of people either do not know or have already forgotten, still has one of the best-produced albums of all time, even 30 years later and 1000’s of years later. and 1000’s of albums were created. That’s a feat in itself; I still return and hearken to “The Dead Has Arisen” since it sounded SO good in 1994 and 30 years later it hasn’t lost any of its musical luster.


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Gwen Stefani Accused of Using a Wig to ‘Hide Face Lift Scars’ After Her ‘Unrecognizable’ Appearance During ‘The Voice’ Return

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Fans and a few beauty industry professionals say there may be “no doubt” that singer Gwen Stefani has had some facial work done.

After her spectacular return to host “The Voice”, the leader of a 90s band that mixed rock, pop and hip-hop music, many are saying how unrecognizable she looks.

Even though Stefani has been in the general public eye for over three many years, she’s still one of probably the most beautiful women in Hollywood, but fans think she just doesn’t appear like the person they fell in love with when she was within the group No Doubt or made her debut along with his solo project “I’m Just a Girl” in 1995.

Gwen Stefani’s unrecognizable appearance shocks fans following her return to ‘The Voice’. (Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)

On Monday, October 21, the “Blow Your Mind” singer showed up together with her signature blonde locks, but made her debut with a blunt bang on the NBC competition show.

Her makeup was subtle and included peach shades, but despite her hairstyle change, many individuals speculated that she can have undergone cosmetic procedures.

After posting promotional photos on X, some fans shared their thoughts, with a mixture of admiration and skepticism.

Some admired her youthful appearance, others questioned the changes.

“How can you look younger and younger?” one fan wrote, while one other he said“The Hollywood look is really getting old.”

Experts he said Daily Mail that they believed the singer had work done and based on what they saw, they provided a clinical diagnosis of her face.

Dr. Corey Maas, a facial plastic surgeon in San Francisco, suggested that the fullness of Stefani’s cheeks could also be due to fillers, which help smooth wrinkles and restore volume.

He also noted the tightness of her jawline, noting that “a 55-year-old woman just doesn’t have a jawline like that.”

Maas further suspected that behind her flawless appearance could be a lower face lift, which, if true, would involve tightening the skin round her lower face.

Dr. Maas added that Stefani’s lack of deep wrinkles, which often appear in her late 20s, could also indicate Botox use. Additionally, he noted that while her bangs may distract from any signs of a facelift, it’s unlikely that the fuller appearance of her cheeks is due to the hairstyle change alone.

Another New York-based facial plastic surgeon, Dr. Joel Kopelman, agreed with Maas, suggesting that she could have had a mini facelift, specializing in the looks of her jaw and lower face.

“Looking at Gwen’s recent appearance, especially her smooth jawline and lack of sagging around the cheeks and neck, a mini facelift may have contributed to these results,” he said.

Not everyone criticized the artist. One person criticized the publication, saying: “Two photos taken 18 years apart and MoL says he looks unrecognizable! Most people don’t appear like they did 18 years ago.

Another said: “I think it looks great.”

Other experts also spoke out.

Popular YouTuber Dr. Gary Linkov speculates that Stefani can have spent as much as $428,000 on no less than nine different procedures, including fillers and a brow lift.

Meanwhile, Dr. Michael Bassiri-Tehrani identified that Stefani’s plump cheeks suggest the use of fillers because facial fat tends to decrease with age.

Many people commented on the outlet’s comments section, saying she didn’t need it and sharing their frustrations with celebrities who do unnecessary work.

“I watched The Voice last night and I almost didn’t recognize her,” one person wrote. “My first thought was that he now has bangs to cover the facelift scars.”

Another wrote: “Yes, the (hideous) wig is apparently intended to hide facelift scars before they heal.”

Some people said, “I like Gwen, but she fixes her face too much” and “I went too far, honey.”

“As Joe Gillis from the legendary movie Sunset Boulevard says, ‘There’s nothing tragic about being 50 unless you are trying to be 25.’ I’ll leave it at that,” another person added.

“It’s really sad. “Cosmetic surgery began to be performed on people who needed it, such as those who had been in a car accident or suffered severe burns,” said one commenter, before adding, “Gwen didn’t need it. Her appearance didn’t improve one bit.

Stefani herself hasn’t publicly addressed the speculation, though she did say so once in a 2004 People story interview“I hope my children will protect me from my vanity. If not, cosmetic surgery is an option… Growing up sucks. We all have to accept this.”

Regardless of what treatments she has or has not undergone, the Grammy winner continues to reinvent herself and remains to be a beauty. Her fans could also be divided over her appearance, however the singer’s evolving appearance stays a testament to her status as a popular culture icon.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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