Jay-Z: The Art Of A Classic Song.

A great song doesn't attempt to be anything — it just is.

Great read from Jay-Z in Rolling Stone on writing classic songs.

Frank Ocean: Acura Integurl

Another great visual feast for your eyes, this time from Odd Future's Frank Ocean. This video has some beautiful shots and top editing and is a world apart from Tyler's Yonkers, and so it should be. I love the colours and filters used in the video and the credit must go to director Dave Wilson. Enjoy.

City And Colour: Fragile Bird

Regular readers of Village Boy will know that I am huge fan of Dallas Green, whether it be in the form of Alexisonfire or his solo project City And Colour. After seeing his incredible Royal Albert Hall performance a little while back, my anticipation for his latest album, Little Hell, could not be any higher. And just to whet the appetiate even further, he has released the video for Fragile Bird.



The video features his beautiful friend Shantel Vansanten, who plays an emotional distressed women. The videos got a really dark and gothic feel to it and reflects the song perfectly, props to director Michael Maxxis.

It's also worth taking a look at the 'making of' below.

Music Monday 53: Bumper Edition.

Yeah it was one of those weeks where new music was coming out of all the cracks, so I'm going to shut up and let you listen this week.

Arcade Fire - Speaking In Tongues



Arcade Fire - Culture War



Bon Iver - I Can't Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt cover)



Bon Iver - Your Love (The Outfield Cover)



Yeasayer - The Devil And The Deed



J Cole - Return Of Simba



Limp Bizkit - Shotgun



Dot Rotten - Normal Human Being




Told you it was big.

Outside In: Art vs Law.

Ever since the first person decided to get a can and spray their tag, a word or picture onto a piece of public property, the question has always been asked 'is graffiti an art or a crime?'. Well it's both. But it's a crime that allows people the freedom of expression in a physical and public way, one that even the internet cannot always provide. It's a crime that can make people think, appreciate or even challenge themselves and culture's values (Banksy is the number one example in this). And sometimes it's just simply some art that brightens up a neighborhood, turning some grey old wall into something beautiful. Surely there's no harm in any of this?



This Outside In documentary looks to explore the idea that if graffiti is done on a canvas and put between four walls, is it suddenly legal and acceptable? And does it still have the same artistic value and potency it may have had on the outside world? As one guy remarks, "everyone in there has been arrested for graffiti". Exhibitions like this look to be a sign that the authorities and general society are beginning to appreciate what is a truly magnificent and talented art-form, even if it is on their own terms.

Tarantino: The Disciple of Hong Kong

You know that bloke that does them films, Tarantino, Quentin Tarantino? You even noticed that there's quite a lot of Asian film influences in his work? Yeah thought you did.

For me, Tarantino is one of the greatest film directors of recent times. It's his attention to detail, the perfection of every detail, from the framing of a shot, to a costume, to the soundtrack, it's always perfect. He's not afraid to push boundaries and to give the audience what they want, and quite often what they didn't know they wanted. He is more than a gory film director, his scriptwriting is up there with the very best, many lines and moments going down in pop culture history (see Pulp Fiction).



French duo Jac & Johan present a new trailer for their upcoming made-for-tv film, Tarantino: The Disciple of Hong Kong, focused around the relationship between famed Director Quentin Tarantino and his love for regional Asian cinema. Featured in the film will be a slew of impressive interviews, the most intriguing being City On Fire Director Ringo Lam, who gives his first interview in a decade. The trailer is featured above with further details on the film to come in the following weeks. (Hypebeast)

Nike 6.0: The Pool

This is what Nike is all about, and what other brands need to take notice from. Nike combine the talent of professional sportsmen to put on an event that is watched by the immediate community, but is then shared around the world for all to watch. It is this knowledge of their target audience and the skill to produce what they want to see that puts Nike up with the top brands in the world.

In their latest project, for their 6.0 department, they decided to covert Dagenham's local swimming pool into a skatepark and they get some very, very good BMXers to rip it up. Seriously some of the tricks are insane. Watch.