Ryan Monihan is a rebel, plain and simple. He always has been, from his early exploits skating for the legendary H Street Team, his crazy European skateboarding champ years, all the way to his epically anti-commercial films and commercials he directs. Monihan is always stirring up shit in the best way possible.

He’s a rebel rouser, a brilliant thinker, and an all around super talent. Monihan has directed videos for half the rappers you like, and a few your probably don’t like. He’s made short films for people like Scion and RedBull, and directed the funniest commercials you may have ever seen. He still skates all the time, following a serious knee injury that would have made most people hang it up forever. Always the comedian, Monihan never heard a bad joke he didn’t like.

His recent project titled “The Uniform Project” with his lovely counterpart, Sheena, is a truly interesting and charitable concept. It’s one of the zillion creative things he’s been involved in over the years besides, being my video directing partner (he directs, I produce). Monihan, never one to hold back, coaxed me up to the Chelsea skate park on a windy, rainy, hot day after coming by the pop-up so I could shoot a few pics of him doing what he still loves to do, even if he it ruins his knees again! Monihan Monihan is another reason why NYC is such a great place to be.

http://www.bricolagista.com/
http://www.scion.com/installation/artists/monihanmonihan.html
http://vimeo.com/user730218
http://cultureshoq.com/tag/monihan-monihan/

You may be asking yourself, “Who is Big K.R.I.T.?” If so, get a late pass, bro. He’s the newest cat on the block/blogs, and rightfully so. The Def Jam signee recently released his ‘K.R.I.T Wuz Here’ mixtape and received accolades across the board.

The MC/producer from Mississippi has been in NYC killing shows in front of packed houses, winning new fans nightly with his unique sound. K.R.I.T., unlike a lot of Southern producers, is a proponent of sampling, making his sound soulful. His mixtape is better than most entire albums, and that’s the God’s-honest.

His manager (Johnny Shipes) is a friend, and mentioned K.R.I.T.’s favorite brand was Famous Stars and Straps, so we arranged a tête-à-tête at the store so we could chop it up, as we are all fans of K.R.I.T. and his music. I also wanted to show the homie some love and hook him up with some FMS Shoes and new Famous gear, which he vowed to rock at his show at SOB’s tomorrow! Look for big things from Big K.R.I.T., Johnny Shipes, and The Cinematic Music Group in the next few, these cats got it crackin! Next up for Cinematic is Harlem’s own Smoke DZA, watch out cause that boys baaaaad!

BIG K.R.I.T. talks..

K.R.I.T. and Dante Ross talk about signing to Def Jam, NY, and the South…

Big K.R.I.T and my boy Johnny Shipes, the hardest working man in the world!

Big K.R.I.T. on Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/bigkrit

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/bigkrit

Downoad that mixtape right here:
http://www.djbooth.net/index/mixtapes/entry/big-krit-krit-wuz-here/

Ari Forman is originally from Philly by way of LA, but he’s been on the scene in NYC for over 10 years, so he qualifies as a real New Yorker. As one of the brightest and most creative people I know, he also played a key role in The Bench, a goofy little project we did a few years back. Ari designed one of the most controversial pairs of sneakers ever made, the Ari Menthols, which sparked of a ton of dialog among sneaker heads and downtown intellectuals alike.

He and his partner in crime, Steve Espo Powers, helped establish one of the funniest hip-hop magazines ever, “On The Go”, which led him to form his marketing company, On The Go Marketing. Ari designed products and graphics for a slew of cool-guy entities, and beyond that he has amazing taste and style.

Check out some links about Ari and watch his video explaining the Air Menthols.

This was “On The Go Magazine.” One of the best mags of its kind, on par with the mighty “Ego Trip”, another personal fav of mine. If you can ever track one down, cop it.

You can check out more about Ari Forman at:

http://www.onthegoari.com
http://www.observer.com/2007/bench-bunch#
The Bench
http://www.smyrskicreative.com/journal/steve-powers-and-ari-forman

Don’t forget to check out the NYC Famous Stars & Straps Pop-Up Shop at 659 Broadway, Blades, NYC.

I figured since I’m the guy helping with the NYC pop up shop blog, I should introduce myself. My name is Dante Ross; I’ve done lots of creative things in my life, made music, worked for a few brands, and recently started to help out at FMS Shoes and Famous Stars and Straps. I will be hosting the pop up shop in NYC and the blog behind it. So far so good, Monday was the first day of taking meetings on location, and I met with some great thinkers. It really got my creative juices flowing, and also inspired me to run up to Chelsea Skate Park to interview my brother from another, Ryan Monihan.

All that said, this blog ain’t about me, it’s about the people who inspire the Famous family and make NY a great place to be! Come through and check it out, we will be open everyday till July 11th @ Blades NYC 659 B’way on Bond.

Take a looksie right here:

Look who just got hooked up!

Chace Infinite is a recent transplant to NY by way of LA, and member of the longstanding conscious rap group Self Scientific with uber producer DJ Khalil. Chace also reps for the mighty Soul Assassins clique and is a long time friend of the Famous family. He’s a very positive brother, making him one of my favorite people to chop it up with. He moved to NY a few months back to help run Prohibit NYC with his boy Shin (who came along for the shoot but didn’t go for the interview, cause he’s too cool… I mean it was 92 degrees out and he didn’t even sweat.)

Back to Chace, his recently released “I Would Have Killed That” was a homage to beats his producer and partner in Self Scientific did for other artists as well as the Africa medallion he designed for Good Wood that’s been flying off the shelves. Chace has proven himself to be an excellent creative multi tasker. He brings a bit of LA with him everywhere he goes, which is a good thing cause I love LA and the culture Chace represents. We’re thankful to have the brother in NY hanging with us and making our city that much better a place to be!

Download Chace Infinite’s newest mixtape, “I Could Have Killed This” here.

or check out more on Chace Infinite:

http://www.chaceinfinite.com
CHACE INFINITE X GOOD WOOD Africa Medallion
Prohibit NYC

Don’t forget to check out the NYC Famous Stars & Straps Pop-Up Shop at 659 Broadway, Blades, NYC.

What can I say about  El Saeso? He’s been around as along as I have, he’s a True Yorker as he’s prone to say and a proponent of serious cardiovascular exercise. His many exploits over the years have made him an all around beloved figure in downtown NY. Him and his Bridge Runners have made a real impact in terms of making people aware of the importance of exercise with in the community of NY. His Harold Hunter run he put together every year since Harold’s passed is another a great thing he does for the community of downtown NY.  Besides that he’s also a pretty funny person and an amazing father of 3 wonderful kids Ilan, Mikayla and Indy. Mike stopped by to chop it up and tried to convince me to play on his upcoming softball team for the league he’s about to set off with a very prominent athletic brand.  Me my knees aren’t so good these days I might just play DH if they let me not feeling playing the field too tuff. Enough of me check this stuff out to learn a little bit more about the homie Mike Saes.

Check out more on Mike Saes and the NYC Bridgerunners at:

http://nycbridgerunners.com/
http://vimeo.com/user2590382
http://politrick.org

Fully stocked with FMS Shoes, head over there today and make sure Jay takes care of you.

The Shop
10060 Natural Bridge Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63143

Be one of the first 25 people to pick up a pair of FMS Shoes tomorrow at The Fast Life, Los Angeles and we’ll give you 2 spots on the guest list for the FMS launch party at The Roxy. The party is slated for 7/14, with a very special performance from Yelawolf w/ Travis Barker. Better get in line now..

Click the flyer to expand and get the full list of retail locations. In-stores with Lil Jon in LA and Joell Ortiz in NYC, don’t miss out…

FMS Shoes take their first stage dive thanks to Yelawolf today in Santa Monica. Check out how that lady in the front row almost caught a crispy high top to the noggin! Thanks to Emilio Sanchez for the photo.

FMS Shoes + Paul Wall ‘Sole Of A Champ’ Event:

Only available at certain accounts starting in July. They’re smaller than they seem, about the size of that wisdom tooth you just had removed.

Look out for the next FMS Shoes release on June 26th.

DOWNLOAD SOLE MUSIC

Don’t forget to join us tomorrow in LA for our Sole Of A Champ event with Paul Wall. Come early to grab pair of our ‘Future’ high tops.

The Sole Music mixtape drops this weekend in conjunction with our grey Futures at The Fast Life. Album artwork above, and here’s your first taste of the Sole Music. Check out Yelawolf on the “Live It” Remix, produced by Travis Barker.

Paul Wall – Live It (Remix) feat. Yelawolf by fms

One for each of the 3 styles in our Fall 10 line. These are drawer-style and completely custom.

Event details courtesy of Joel and Marcial, ambassadors of The Fast Life.