Music's two favorite badboys Wiz Khalifa and Asap Rocky are bringing their respective camps together for the Under The Influence Tour set to take off this July 2013. The two plan to kick things off in San Francisco, California on July 17th and end it off in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 11th. Other invited guests include B.O.B., Trinidad James, Joey Bada$$, Pro Era as well as special guests Berner, Chevy Woods and Smoke DZA. It's fair to say that concert-goers can expect tons of smoke and antics. 

With the New York Knicks in this year's NBA Playoffs a large portion of the Big Apple (all of them sports fans) is ecstatic about the opportunity. You see, it's been a long time since the nation's most abundant metropolis has staked its claim in basketball fame past the first round of action. Of course, folks can point out tons of reasons behind the lackluster performance of psst years--injuries, distractions, lack of moral support, politics even! Here's what New York City-based writer and new República recruit, F. Garcia has to say about some mayoral-affiliated reasons for New York's recent basketball run: 

Words by: F. Garcia

In his 3 terms as mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg’s inescapable presence has impacted a whole lot of us New Yorkers. Whether it be for the ban on trans fats, the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, the ban on sugary drinks, or his unapologetic support of the NYPD’s Stop & Frisk policy Bloomberg, he's has proved to be quite a divisive figure. The truth is that Bloomberg’s time in City Hall has affected us in more ways than we could have possibly imagined. In 9 months time when the next mayor is sworn into office there will be many fokls glad to see him go. The fans of the New York Knicks being chief among them. The fact is that the Knicks have been by the worst professional sports team in New York City (statistically) while Bloomberg's been in office.

The idea that politicians can be blamed for the fates of our beloved sports teams isn't necessarily a far-fetched one. Take New York's other beloved sports franchise, The Yankees. They've won 9 championships, all with Democrats in the White House. In fact, the last 5 World Series that the Yankees have lost have all occurred during Republican presidencies. How's that for politics affecting team spirit?

On November 6^th, 2001 Bloomberg was elected mayor and in the 12 NBA seasons since then the Knicks have only won 1 game in the playoffs. Sounds incredible, right? During Bloomberg’s time in office the Knicks have had 8 top-10 draft picks and not one of them played on a winning team in New York. Meanwhile 2 of the draft picks the Knicks traded away, Lamarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah, went on to become NBA All-Stars elsewhere. Up until two weeks ago every New York professional sports team except for the Knicks had won at least 1 division title during Bloomberg’s time in office.

There is renewed excitement around the Knicks this Spring as the team’s first division champion since the days of "GO NY, GO" appeared ready to make a deep run into the playoffs. While we all hope that these Knicks will do the unthinkable and win their first championship in 40 years (the time it takes to be born and become a jaded middle-aged father), at least we can all take solace in the thought that if they don’t we can just chalk it down as another reason why Bloomberg is f-ing up and folks like me can't wait until he leaves so we can finally get us an NBA Championship. Real talk.

*F. Garcia is a native New Yorker, teetotaler, vegetarian and sports fanatic. Check out more about his passion for the city, the politics and the opinions here.*

With the unofficial stoner's holiday (4/20) going down tomorrow we thought it'd be nice to provide some essential grooves to get down and let the mind flow freely with. We stumbled upon DJ Mirandom's Pick It Up mix and choose to look no further. Props to the female DJ for blending (and/or rolling) this one up to perfection. Light it up and let her rip!

Any music fans in New York City this evening should definitely check out Shut Skateboard's founder, Rodney Smith's, band Superjuice playing at Tammany Hall. Sponsored by Cult Bikes, Rockstar Games and Sailor Jerry Rum, what's not to like? Show starts at 7PM. Make sure to at rsvp@shutnyc.com

Jasper Wong's artist and cultural gathering in Honolulu, Hawaii, Pow Wow, just completed its second year on the island. The result was another successful joining of creative minds and hands that converged to engage the community and each other via murals, panel discussions and social events. From the looks of it the gathering is a success story for Wong, just not one that's complete yet! You see, Pow Wow needs to be documented and its message needs spreading. Hence a Kickstarter campaign that's seeking to publicly source a film documentary about the project and a book cataloguing all of the amazing art that it has produced. Not a bad thing at all! Even though they've already reached their pledge goal fans can still jump on board to contribute and receive supporter perks as well.

Philanthropic initiative Art Without Borders will be hosting a custom vinyl art exhibition two Saturdays from now. The event will feature the work of over 50 international artists whose custom Dunny and Munny dolls (Kid Robot) will be on deck to raise money for Doctors Without Borders charity. Some of the artists participating include ANTZ, JC Rivera, Phu and RunDMB to name a few. Readers in the Maryland area should definitely make it out for the opening reception if they can. We promise your eyes won't be dissappointed, and for a great cause at that!

Opening: Saturday, Febuary 23, 2013

Art Whino Gallery 
120 American Way
National Harbor, MD 20745 

Any skate rats and creatives in the Uptown Manhattan area of New York City this weekend should definitely make their way out to the local presentation of Girl and Chocolate Skateboard's Pretty Sweet. The Rat Collective alongside 596 Artist Union and APT 78 are going to showcase the flick on a projector this Sunday evening. Free food and skate giveaways!

Last week New York City's global music mogul, Jay-Z, decided to add his brush stroke to the Miami Art Basel scene by throwing a launch event for his D'usse Cognac. Little to say, the event (hosted at LIV) was pretty epic, with tons of who's-who in cameos and appearances along with a performance from newly signed Def Jam act, Trinidad James. Even Mrs. Carter, Beyonce, was in the mix! Take a look at the event recap video. Dude's life is a movie. Literally!

Our good friend Laurie Ladybird of 596 Artist Union is showing off some of her recent photography work this Wednesday (12.12.12) in New York City. Anyone looking to check out the work should trek down to the Lower East Side and visit White Rabbit. The exhibition runs from 7PM-1AM.

República comrade, The Peralta Project, will be hosting a Black Season Affair over at APT 78 in Manhattan, New York City tomorrow evening (November 28th). Fans in town should make their way out as the line will release its exclusive winter series of merchandise and prints. There's also a dark skateboarding-meets-vandal short depicting some of the inspiration behind the "Defend Uptown" slogan. Check it out!