Feel that sting in the air? To most people here in NY, that burst of icy breeze that came around the corner this week signals that the next five months are open season for bitching and acting like they’ve never heard of winter before. To my crew it means time to shred brah! If you don’t like cold and snow, move to Miami.

Deka – Baker Back Country

In the spirit of what is being rumored to be one of the best impending snow seasons in recent memory I wanted to give some attention to my homie Brian Deka Paupaw. Born and raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Deka grew up about as far away from the snowboarding lifestyle as humanly possible. While kids in the mountains were patiently waiting for powder days, Deka was dodging bullets just trying to make it to middle school. Needless to say, snowboarding was not on the radar. Deka survived growing up in the do or die though, cultivating a talent in art along the way and eventually receiving a scholarship to the prestigious Parsons School of Design.

At Parsons Deka was exposed to an entirely different cross section of society even though he was barely 5 miles away from home across the river in Manhattan. “There were white dudes talking to me about snowboarding like it was the best thing on earth,” Deka tells it, “I was like what the fuck is that?”

But curiosity got the best of him and soon Deka was taking solo missions to Hunter Mountain determined to figure the shit out. Fast forward a decade and Deka is an ill shredder with half the world’s mountains under his belt. Sure enough, I first met homie in Aspen where he was tearing up Snowmass in the Burton x Kidrobot kit that I hadn’t seen anyone rocking yet. Yeah, you could say he’s committed to snowboarding.

As a response to the immeasurable impact snowboarding has had on his life, Deka is producing a documentary film called Hoods To Woods. In it, he tells the story of how snowboarding changed his life while also drawing some too infrequently noticed similarities between the renegade spirits of hip hop and shred cultures.

I got a chance to screen the film at Deka’s lab in Bed Stuy the other night and let me tell you, this dude has had a unique experience. What’s particularly dope is that the deepest moments he’s had in his life come from the people he’s met through snowboarding, even more so than the physical sport itself. Hoods to Woods is being screened now for friends and family but should unspool officially sometime this winter. Watch out for the complete interview then. More after the jump.

The Concierge sent me over this teaser for the upcoming Halloween Hell Raiser contest to be held on the roof of the New Design High School on November 1st. Sponsored by Vans, Supreme, Shut, Acapulco Gold, Red Bull, KCDC, 5Boro and more plus a $3000 check for best trick, the Hell Raiser is an event that only NY could pull off. Hit back for pics and results yo!

At about 2:30am on Friday I found myself in need of a plan after a friend was suddenly consumed by the need to make an urgent call to Uncle Earl. Yeah, that’s always fun. So anyway, I called up my homies Klash and Jayceeoh and within 10 minutes was sorted out and on my way to Sutra in the LES. As luck would have it, shit was poppin off. The whole spot was one grimy fleshfest (peep Village Slum if you want to see more) and other than the punk ass bouncer would had nothing better to do than try to terrorize me for wearing a hat it had to be one of the best late night saves of recent memory. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better your man Mickey Factz appeared out of nowhere and tore the spot up from the DJ booth. What?! You gotta love New York!

Unfortunately I had to bounce to Chicago on Wednesday so missed out on several dope CMJ jumpoffs, but it is was it is and some good biz got done. Last night I was back at it, hitting Santos hard for the Dubshot Records showcase featuring 77Klash followed by the Frank151 party with the Noisettes and U-God from the Wu Tang. As much as I find myself in Santos, the spot just keeps getting better. 77Klash was on fire last night! With the impenetrable wall of sound that is the Santos Sound System, Klash’s electro craze dancehall insanity was at it’s sharpest peak yet. Klash himself said “I’ve never been calmer for a show in my life” but you wouldn’t know it from what transpired on stage. With a full squad of dancers, DJ Gravy on the decks and his righthand man Barrington holding him down on vocals, Klash demonstrated why he needs to be Brooklyn’s next big thing. The show’s highlight, Klash mashing his “Caroline” to Santogold’s “Starstruck” – Pure Fiya!!!

Following him was a perfect throwback performance from U God. Golden arms was in top form spitting Wu bangers and solo joints with the energy of a new jack and the swagger of a vet. I spoke to him afterward and he was gassed, “I just thank everyone for coming out to support Wu,” he said before adding “watch out for my new album!” Word up. Finally, the UK’s Noisettes tore shit down. I’d seen them three or so times before and was already a fan but getting the chance to kick it with the impossibly amazing Shingai before her show put everything in a whole new light. Shingai if you are reading this (and I know you are) don’t go. Ever. Seriously though, this chick is the truth. Aight, it’s Friday and I’m back at it again. Peep some pics below.

As a diehard lifelong Wu fanatic, I nearly lost it when I rolled into the 1992 party at Santos the other night and saw my homie Noah CEOah rocking this jacket. Too bad it doesn’t look like any of us are getting one soon, for now it’s a Power exclusive for friends and family only. Damn. Shit is ill!

The annual CMJ marathon kicked off last night. With literally a thousand shows to hit over the course of a week, the trick is to choose wisely. Last night I got things crackin at my homey Peter Bittenbender’s Decon jumpoff. I’ve known Peter for almost a decade and have watched this kid build a real deal hip hop empire out of his love for this shit. Working with sustainable superstars rather than flash in the pan rappers, Peter now has the likes of Aceyalone, Evidence and 88 Keys on his roster. They all came out in top form last night and threw a jammy like it was 1993. From the sound of it, 88 Key’s new album, The Death of Adam is gonna be some shit! Look for it November 11. Pics after the jump.

Right around the time it gets cold every year and we all start to get bummed about how we didn’t really do shit all summer, a magical group of heads roll into town, show us a ridiculously dope snowboarding movie and tell us to stop our bloodclot cryin’! Well this was that time of year. The movie was It’s Always Snowing Somewhere. Bring on the snow!

You already know how I feel about New Era’s so you can imagine how excited I was to be damn near the first person in the world to get a hold of the two new colorways of the Craig Wetherby x Manik New Era’s. These joints are official! Unfortunately for everyone except the Japanese, they are only going to be available in Japan. You didn’t hear it from me but there may be a few of them circulating around NY right now – holler if you want to try to get one. My email is to the right. Pics are below.

I got a couple of video treats for you courtesy of some homies. Clearly a reflection of our current time of crisis, both joints focus on the only things in life that are truly free: bangin beats and booty.

First up is the new joint from Team Facelift. Produced by dance wizard Armand Van Helden for his new mix album New York: A Mix Odyssey 2, “Shake That Ass” is clearly primed for club banger status. The low rent video with a gaggle of half-nekkid british birds does not hurt either. Check it out.

Treat #2 is an exclusive leak from Young Libido, Bready Filth and Franc Bacon as Megabone. Part thug, part auteur, part vegetarian vampire, Megabone channels the Jungle Brothers and Kool Keith with their ode of female stimulation, “Vibrator.” “Vibrator” was produced by DJ I-Truth. Video by The ICU. Currently on strict strip club rotation, you can be the first to have it here. Gotta love that Aly-Us flip!

Ok so considering all the hype for Diesel’s XXX jumpoff on Saturday, you’d figure something would have gone wrong to cast at least a bit of disappointment on the evening. Wrong. Other than a slight shitshow at the entrance, this party was off the meat rack. Once we were all sorted and in the VIP’s VIP, it was nothing but bottles, models and Lohans y’heard?! With back to back to back mind blowing performances from Hot Chip, Chaka Khan (what?!), T.I., Franz Ferdinand, M.I.A., and NERD amongst fire eaters, midgets, jugglers, trapeze artists, unlimited carnie food and every beautiful person in NY, XXX was everything it was cracked up to be. And it was in Brooklyn. Front if you will, this was that shit! Props to Carvalho for getting it up first!

“Swagger Like Us” What?