"To now test to see if I got pull/hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full" (Rakim)

If I should go down the memory lane , this is a joint that made me the rap fan that I am today. My homie Claudio O was this punk friend of mine that gradually turned into a club dj and he was spinnin alternative indie rock and early hip hop for the clubs. This translated may be De La Soul "Say no go", NWA "Express yourself", Boogie Down Production "Illegal business" and of course some Public Enemy like "Fight the power" or "Can't truss it". I was ignorant and carefree, young and wild, the less I knew about culture and life, the better I felt. A timeless joint that Claudio was used to spin in that period was "Paid in full". Enchanted by the oriental mermaid-like chorus, beside the solid rhymes of Rakim the God, this stands out in my memories like an essential step in the ABC of "how to have (a little) rap knowledge". How could I imagine that twenty years later I would hand a tee shirt that says Paid in full to my friend Emanuele E (Decks4Necks Ceo) and shoot pics of him for my blog? That's further confirmation that some music is eternal, no trends can beat an old Rakim joint. It's a Matix tee from Capital Collection. Remember? I told you about this activist way to save America already. Made in America 100% cotton tee shirts like these make you proud to support your economy if you're born in the USA and you feel that Uncle Sam is pointing his finger at you because you're giving economic strenght to other nations. Can you read between the lines or you need some help? Desperate times, desperate measures, you heard this before. Crisis time. Recession. We are short on money. If somebody pays you in peanuts (slang word for "coins" or "little amounts of money") you can be paid in full but you still wouldn't be happy. Not the case here: Fresco distribution delivered at The Maxiemillion megastudios this item and I was happy like a kid on X-Mas eve to see this modern twist on an all time classic. Support the States, support China, support who you want: I support Matix. The occasion is good to give a special shout out to Rakim too: goodtimes are forever.

"When I crept up on the scene (when you crept up on the scene)/lookin real fresh and clean, know what I mean? (I know what you mean boy)" (Nate Dogg)

What could I tell you about these Circa footwear kicks that you can't see for yourself? Simple: that leather is smooth for real. They say "smooth as a baby's a**" and this is definately the case. Sign o' the times, like we were in Prince record label offices, this is a pure cross among a man shoe and a sneaker. I'm very low on attention level, so I will keep on asking questions, sorry. When shall you wear these Unim in Taupe color, you ask? My experience suggest these for an everyday use where no matter where you go, you look fresh, elegant but informal. Office? Yes. Shopping? Most definately. Club to party like you should? No. Hell no. You don't want to cry at 2.30 am because some drunk punk in front of you just turned and pasted that liquid mixture that lays on club pavements from his sole to your upper. This is no joke, it's premium natural tumbled and buffed leather. Wingtip perforation detail on vamp soft pigskin lining is not to be taken lightly as well. No way to even think that you can wash this leather. I'm not even asking questions here: I'm sure you can't. There is a science about kicks to wear at the club and it's the following: no nice shoes. By nice I mean canvas and suede in any color but black. Club life may lead people to drink, to be loud, to move without payin' too much attention and next thing you know, they step on your feet or somebody hits them from behind and ops... sorry, I spilled my drink on you. Do you want this to happen on your Circa Unim? Sure not. I don't know about you, but when I saw that scene in Do The Right Thing where dude says to Giancarlo Esposito "Your Jordans are fu***d up", that's what I think every time I see somebody with dirty kicks. So pay attention to what you do with them. I heard that you fell in love and you want to go to your favourite skate shop and buy these now that you've seen them. Is it true? You have to wait some more months because these are part of Circa release that will hit shops in Autumn 2012. Option Distribution gave The Maxiemillion a preview via Max P that officially declared that he is happy to deal with a collection that can cover all the aspects of urban life: from heavy skate sessions to family man duties. Life is changing, you wanna change with us?

"Livin in Compton, Cailfornia C-A/his uzi up yo' ass if he don't get paid" (Ice Cube)

TLFI is a favourite on The Maxiemillion. I thought you knew. One of the main supporters of this blog, these limited releases of LA's finest brand are always welcome here. What we have today from the land of True Love & False Idols is their Welcome Back Reggie hoodie. Think about it: you are from Australia but somebody took you to Los Angeles. What you have to do first is to adapt to a different vegetation and instead of eating Eucalyptus, you start smoking some other leafs. This procedure, in a natural step by step plan, turns you into a gangster so what you need to rep your hood is a cap. Therefore Reggie is steady rocking his Los Angeles TLFI cap. A classic one, in the tradition of classic OG mcs like Eazy E or Ice T. But in the hood it can be tough sometimes, things may get complicated, situations may require the essential Uzi so since Reggie is a smart cat, ops... koala, he got one. I didn't say he bought one, I said he got one, got it?! He's equipped to fit in every situation now, from the club scene to sketchy neighbourhoods, exactely like LA city life requires. The undisputed champ of all TLFI designs, as you may have seen already if you pay attention to every post that ends up here, is flossing here in his original form then. This is the same design that you see pictured on label tags hanging on every TLFI item, the brand with a designer that goes by the name of Alex 2Tone. This lightweight fleece hoodie is a classic item in any street soldier ready to attack. What? You have no hoodie in your closet? How comes you are reading this?! The Los Anges based company just added a very light touch with that label on the hood, close to the string, just as a mark of distinction. Luca M here seems to look good in that hood, without looking too hood. Wait, am I going too far here? Enough is enough even for The Maxiemillion readers? It could be. But you know how it goes, Eucalyptus was over so...

"Reeemiiiix" (Bue the Warrior)

You know that sometimes you feel like doing something that you never tried before. In this case this happened because I had a lot of leftover material of good quality. So instead of telling a story twice I kindly invite you to read the story just once here and smile at this visual remix of the fantastic New Era Artist Series caps by Bue The Warrior.

"Timberland, sweat pants, sacks of hydro/the dirtiest flow in magazines like Whoa" (Rah Digga)

Let's make it simple and short this time: when you should wear a sweatpant?
a) going to sleep
b) going to breakdance
c) going to the gym
d) going to jog

Just say no to:
1) chicks wearing sweatpants with designer glasses and fake LV bag
2) scooter boys thinkin' "it's ghetto style"
3) lazy motherfu****s pretending "it's comfy"
This one here is good for purposes from a) to d), so don't miss this Urban Classics item if you're in need of a proper way to cover your legs and just feel at ease with life. Easy people to contact in order to have this garment in your shop are Boma Agency. Tell them you're down with a-b-c-d plan.

"To each his own, I'ma have this known from the door/I make ni**az walk like ball four" (Roz)

It's a collaboration, bit***s!. "The shoes we skate" is what Lakai limited footwear claims, but this time leave skateboarding out for a minute. Think about skating a couple of days in a row, landing tricks down stairs, bailing, hitting hard on your heels. What you want to do the day after, if you're not under 25, is to chill. Recharge those batteries. Scenario number two: you feel like going out with your girl, give her some quality time starting from that pizza place that she likes a lot. You can't hit that spot with holes in your shoes, right? Up to now you were wearing "those other brands" to hang out in your non-skating time but now Lakai has the solution to let you stay true to your game. The Muni is an extremely lightweight running shoe that Lakai is proud to present us. Born from a joint venture with the Italian company called Vibram, this sneaker is the answer to the question "What should I wear now that I'm not going to skate". Vibram is this company from Varese that is the equivalent to G-Dep in hip hop music when it comes to soles: like make up, I got it all covered. If you're bamiliar with boat shoes, boots and other trekking kicks you may have seen this brand out for a minute. Let's put it like this: it's the godfather of all gum soles. That's why Lakai teamed up with them. It's called quality, my friend. A tacky gum sole that, together with a lightweight molded eva footbed and a cut and buff eva midsole, make these suede kicks an offical chill item. Mike Carroll and Rick Howard founded this company in 1999 and since then this brand has been synonymous with skate progression and fun. Not bad, you may say. It's the bomb, I reply! I'm all about taking things lightly and this is a brand that wants his riders (and you) to skate without forgetting to smile. I give them a special shout out for their am Daniel Espinoza that, beside the big names involved in the team that deserve props, got my attention for his smooth and careless spontaneous style. You'd better check him out in this old clip, when he became part of Lakai familia with an editing by Federico Vitetta, another Italian element in this post. Consider that Fresco is distributing this brand in the best Italian shops and for now it's case closed with spaghetti and mandolin tales...

"...while I be dippin in the Range Rover/all jewelled like Liberace/you watch me while Jakes tryin to knock me and lock me" (Prodigy)

I've seen a lot pass by. By "a lot" I mean that I've seen it all. Go back to 1987 and a trio from Long Island called De La Soul, laid down the foundation of what is now called golden age hip hop. On a friendly vibe, they carried on the legacy of Afrika Bambataa afrocentric hip funk style and often on their necks you could see leather medallions portraying Africa or the red, black and green flag, as Marcus Garvey told every brother to represent African Nationhood. Rick Rubin's protegées Beastie Boys were too far from these concepts and then they represented sillyness by rocking a VW logo on their chain. Flavor Flav to show motherfu***rs what time it is, still has a clock hangin on his neck. Slick Rick paved the way for large amounts of chains all together. I've seen Treach when Naughty by Nature perform in Milan about 20 years ago with a thick chain made of steel. Yes, those used to lock doors. He jumped on stage and said about the chain"This is for my brother locked down". Years pass and in no time you have Biggie rocking that link in Rolex style, then it's Lil' Cease with his twin Jesus pieces. Diamonds? Too many diamonds. Too many diamonds? Black diamonds! One thing seem to come out in this last year that is catchin' up real quick is wood. Wood pendants. Lately even wood sunglasses. If you are too fast forward and standard wood pendants got you fed up already, I'm coming with a banger here. Custom wood pendants made out of skateboard decks. With more passion than Lizard King himself, Epis brothers Emanuele aka Yoda and Fede aka Becco came with a smart idea: let's give new life to broken decks. Here comes Decks4necks. Custom made jewelery... I mean, wood pendants handcrafted by two brothers in love with skateboarding and art. Be on the lookout for Decks4necks because their recycling program is nothing short of sweet. I didn't ask them to do this pendant above. It was one friday night at the club, I was busy givin' directions for the shooting of the cap here below when Yoda came and he said: "Look what I have got here!". I kinda give him no attention, but he showed me this chain that had my eyes pop out. What?! A pendant that says "The Maxiemillion" hand made out of Canadian maple?! This is a gift that made me really happy. Money can't buy this. Further proof that happiness is priceless.