Charmingly Ghetto "No Light" Music Video

Charmingly Ghetto is an artist that caught my attention back at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival and I've been following his music since then. He released a new project called Scotland Yahd and no that is not a typo. You can check out and download his latest EP here. Above is the video of one of his songs off his project, check it out and hopefully you enjoy his music.


Stay no less than Stunningly Fresh,
     Joe

Gag Order's Boston Tee Party Recap

Hello, Everyone! The above video features a couple brands like Branded Baron who participated on at the Boston Tee Party. Unfortunately there were audio issues, so you cannot hear the interview I had with Gag Order. You would think the guy who designed their logo would at least have his interview be fine, but it happens. I do like the beat in the video and you can see some of the quality from everyone in it, although it does look odd when you see people speaking and there's no sound from their mouths. Regardless big shout out to Gag Order for coming out and supporting the brands. I appreciate it and I know everyone else did too.


Stay no less than Stunningly Fresh,
      Joe

Boston W/ Gag Order & Cavata

I don't know why I didn't post this earlier, but it's up now. When I was up in Boston I met up with Lori of Cavata Clothing and Jehue from the funny online radio show Gag Order. We chatted up on various topics and joked around. We could've met up anywhere, but I had gone with Tiff to the SOWA Market and parked at this parking lot that was full and the time we started talking, we were the only people there. It was great to see Jehue supporting Branded Baron by rocking the Red Baron tee. Now Lori and Jehue are good people, which is why I'm posting this. Lori's clothing line promotes art and music and a portion of her sales goes back into the arts program for Boston schools. So yes, it's one of those weird times where I support another rival company, but it's friendly rivalry. We help each other when we can and that's possible with the internet. So, check out http://www.cavataclothing.com There's some items you may like.

Jehue is quite a character and talks a lot, but that's good when you run your own radio show. He somehow knows everyone and he shared a story when he was an upcoming singer and producer who was going to be mentored by Kanye until Mr. West was in diva mode and kicked him out of the studio. All he wanted was to learn and grow, well luckily that was the past and he's focused on Gag Order. I happened to hook up his radio show with the logo and it is mighty fine if I say so myself. lol Gag Order is a humor based show and worth the listen. It airs every Wednesday and you can check it out at http://gagorder.me/ I believe there is even an app for anyone who has a Droid phone. Oh and Gag Order features some good guests.

Here's a video of Jay with us from that day.


Stay no less than Stunningly Fresh,
      Joe

FRSHR Than Your AVRGE Sneaker Battle RECAP 2

Hello ALL,
    I hope all is well. I know I have not posted lately and my apologies, but the workload and stress of running a company can become overwhelming at times. So, let me tell you the FRSHR Than Your AVRGE event was a cool experience. It was the first time that it was held, so my expectations for it was to have a good time and try to gain more fans from Boston. Then again, having a good time and gaining more fans is always the goal. Ward of Bloodline Fresh Clothing hosted this and I was honored when he told me that he wanted my brand to be a part of this event. So, I'd like to thank him for that opportunity.

   After a week of ugly weather, it was refreshing to see sunny skies, which made this event to be very promising. It seemed like a cool event to be at and honestly how many sneaker battles to see? Maybe I've missed them, but I know this was my first one. The main purpose of the event was the sneaker battle, but it did contain other vendors and allowed for trading/selling sneakers. I met a couple cool people and even saw a familiar face like Paulie Hussle from Real Deal Radio.(Here's the video from when I appeared on it) He was participating in the sneaker battle.

I know I've been talking about the battle and you're probably thinking, "What are the rules?" Well the rules were the crowd would be judging the contestants on the condition of their kicks, the history behind the sneaker, and how well they rock them. It was interesting when the participants were given a chance to stump their opponent on their knowledge of the sneaker they were wearing, which showed who really knew the info on what they were wearing. It was definitely interesting to see and some people had some nice kicks. The finals was female vs female, which I don't think anyone expected. No such thing as female sneakerheads, guess again. The winner won rocking the "Ewings", which I expected her to go all the way to the finals. It was also funny that the semi finals did not consist of any Nikes. My only issue with the crowd deciding on the battles were, yes, the crowd were correct most of the time, but if you had a large group of people supporting you or you had a section that screamed louder, you could've moved to the next round. I think judges until maybe the finals would have been nice.

The turnout was okay, but I expected that from it being a first time event, but I heard that Rock the Bells was in Boston that weekend, so I figured people went to the concert instead of this. It made me think that if that didn't happen, there could have been more people. I thought the people that came by and showed love were cool. I even liked those who bought some tees. The event was definitely cool and I look forward to the next one and expect that shall be bigger. Check out some more pictures from FRSHR Than Your AVRGE.

Stay no less than Stunningly Fresh,
     Joe

Vinnie has his own sneaker blog(which he reviewed the tee he picked up) and you can follow him on twitter here . Thanks for the support

He kept coming back to the table so many times and finally decided that he had to have this t-shirt. Hey I appreciate the support.

The "no sock" sock or the "I need a bigger sock" sock. lol

Oh and his Lebrons to the Jordans he was competing in, which PROVES AGAIN that Lebron is not better than Jordan.

Yes, a bottle of Hennessy was part of the winning prize.

Bloodline Fresh's tee, cap, and posters.

Tiff holding the Branded Baron table down while I run around and take pictures.

Cool peeps from the Boston brand Inov8

Just had to take a picture of the Yankees & Giants caps.

 Yep, they wearing the Branded Baron buttons and they also rap.

 There was a dance group that performed before the semi-finals.

Can't decide which pair to wear? Wear one of each. Problem solved.

The winner with the organizers. Congrats!

FRSHR Than Your AVRGE Sneaker Battle

A Branded Baron table filled with stunningly fresh merchandise will be at this Boston event this coming Saturday. So, if you're a sneakerhead, from Boston, or both come out and chek this event out. It's a new event, but I know Ward from BloodlineFresh has been working really hard to make this event work and I honestly think it's going to be really cool. Why? Well, maybe it's because I'm not from the area, but I don't see to many sneaker events up in Boston. That could be an untapped market and it could introduce people to the world of the sneakerheads. Plus, sneakerheads are probably happy to have another event besides Dunk XChange. Come through and show off your heat.

If you want to participate in the sneaker battle you will be judged on these criteria: the condition of your kicks, the knowledge of your kicks, and how well you rock your kicks.

If you want to trade, buy, sell your sneakers cool. You can definitely pick up some freshness from the clothing companies selling just like yours truly. 

I've been excited for this event for awhile and look forward to going up to Boston. I like Boston, so this weekend should be good.

Stay no less than Stunningly Fresh,

      Joe

Photo of the Day: From Open Road Music & Arts Festival

 

This photo was posted on the Branded Baron facebook page and thought I'd share it for those who weren't a fan of it.  Photo taken by Joyce Michaud. View more of her work here.

Stay no less than stunningly fresh,

Joe

Boston Recap Part 2

The next day in Boston was fun, because Tiff and I got to explore Boston a bit more. I knew two companies would be at the SOWA Vintage Market, so we went there first. This market was packed with a bunch of vendors and ton of people. It looked great and I think I should go up and sell there as soon as possible.

I saw the Regan Smith Clarke's booth and I told him via twitter that I would stop by. Regan's apparel is great and the designs are cool and clean. I liked one of his designs and was hoping to buy it as a tee when his fall release drops, but he had the design on a tank and since it was hot, I bought it. Regan is a chill dude and I definitely chat it up for awhile. I recommend checking his stuff out and maybe a Regan Smith Clarke/Branded Baron collabo in the future. Who knows? You guys let us know if you want that. View the apparel and print by Regan Smith Clarke. http://www.regansmithclarke.com/

That wasn't the only person that I knew would be there. I saw Lori of Cavata Clothing who was there also selling. Her, her brother, and friend John schooled me on the usage of "wicked." It's cool to say, but "wicked awesome" isn't cool, only out of towners like that. I guess it's the same when people say "New Joisey", because no one says New Jersey like that. Cavata donates a certain percentage to save the music and art programs, which is great. I own Cavata attire, so you know that they have some good apparel.

  

Photo with Lori of Cavata Clothing while holding up the classic Astrohop t-shirt. Yes, I switched into the tank, because it was hot. It has me thinking of Branded Baron tanks for me next year.

Cavata Clothing

Guess which book I thought was funny? At these markets you'll see some old and vintage items, besides some fresh products.

Tiff and I ate some hot dogs that were huge and they tasted good. That's mustard, but it looks like cheese.

After the market we went down to Newbury Street, which I was told to check out. We stopped by some stores and I got some more inspiration at the Johnny Cupcakes store. We spent the whole day in Boston, because it was a beautiful day to walk around and I knew Cape Cod traffic would be ridiculous. I forget that Boston has a bunch of colleges, because on the way I saw them and remembered others. The scenery is nice, but I'm not sure if I would like to live there. I don't think I can deal with seeing Red Sox stuff everywhere. One question, what's with all the circles in Boston? It seems like I'm driving around in circles to get to one destination to the next. I'll definitely be back up in Boston and would like to have some more fun. 

Here are some scenic photos

Tiff wearing a Cavata Clothing pin while we sat outside.

lol I thought this picture was funny.

Stay no less than stunningly fresh,
      Joe

Boston Recap Part 1-UFC Fan Expo

I should've posted this right away, but the past week was another busy week for Branded Baron. Good things to come. Anyway, the last weekend in August was awesome from the anniversary to the White Train event to the UFC Fan expo, and chillin in Boston.

 Anthony wanted to head to Boston for the UFC Fan Expo and it was cool to go. Josh from MMAValor.com went to the last one in Vegas and said it was fun. Unfortunately Anthony and I didn't link up until fight time, even though we were in the same facility. Weird, I know. There were some cool games at certain booths like the American Gladiator jousting and this speed punching bag game that Tiff wouldn't play with me. I did that by myself, but you had to punch the target as fast as you can in 30 seconds. Tiff said I had a score of 166, which is okay I guess. See the picture below on what it looked like.

If you wanted to get a picture taken with any fighter, you had fun waiting on line. I didn't care to take a picture with anyone, nor did I want to wait on any line. Anthony got a bunch of pictures with a couple fighters from Roy "Big Country" Nelson to Martin Kampmann. I'll see if I can have him send me some photos, because he's not the fastest person to upload photos. There were a ton of UFC fighters and even the latest Celtic Shaquille O'Neal aka The Big Shamrock were in the building. I watched a Chuck Liddell answer questions from the fans and some from Mike Goldberg. I enjoyed that very much, but some people were asking ridiculous requests. Some guy asked Chuck to sign his bald head and then we found out that Chuck was going to shave his head for charity. His mohawk is part of his persona. Here's a great question and I'll title this video, "What's a Chuck Liddell?" 

It was definitely cool to see everyone having a good time and the fighters showing appreciation to the people that help pay them. I thought it was weird that Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez was signing at one of the clothing line booths. One thing I didn't like, besides it being incredibly packed was the clothing lines weren't that great. They all looked like copies of one another.


That was on the way to go watch the fight.


Tiff and I picked up Anthony, his wifey, and future sister-in-law and headed to watch the fight at a bar that happened to be across the street from Fenway Park. Being that I'm a Yankee fan I had to rock my New York Yankees cap which I matched it with the original "To Live Is To Fight" shirt. You know a picture of Branded Baron and the Yankee had to be taken right in front of Fenway. It's my obligatory duty as a Yankee fan. The fight was great and Jersey's own Frankie Edgar was able to retain the title he won months ago from B.J. Penn. Congrats to him.

Mike Goldberg and Chuck Liddell

Blurry picture of Rashad Evans

Matt Hamill

Tito Ortiz

Anthony & I at the bar watching the fight.

Rockin the original "To live is to fight" t-shirt and Yankee baseball cap in front of Fenway Park.

Boston Recap Part 2 coming shortly.

Stay no less than Stunningly Fresh,
     Joe

Open Road Music And Arts Festival THIS Saturday

Hey Everyone! I wanted to let you know that Branded Baron will be at the first annual Open Road Music & Arts Festival this Saturday. Branded Baron will be a vendor at this festival up in Worcester, Massachusetts. I'm excited that Branded Baron will get to meet and sell to people further up the North East. We're definitely working on traveling to other states around the nation for 2011 and have some things in the works, but in the meantime this is the next stop. It should be lots of fun and if you're in the area or if you're from Boston and need something to do, come on out. I know there's plenty of music and great vendors, so let's have some fun.


Here's more info from the Open Road Festival website:

Open Road is Worcester’s first sustainable and earth-friendly music and arts festival. The festival will take place September 4th, 2010 at Institute Park. On top of the great live music, there will be an eclectic variety of cuisine, many local artists and vendors, family-friendly activities and much more. Live music kicks off at 11:00 am and will proceed until 6:00 pm.

The goal of Open Road is to raise the awareness of alternative and sustainable lifestyles while bringing the Worcester community (and beyond) together to enjoy local art and extraordinary music.

Here are a few examples of the Open Road green initiative:
- Our sound system is powered by a bio-diesel generator
- Recycle bins located throughout the festival grounds
- All marketing/promotional materials printed on either organic, recycled or water based material.

Vendors will be located around the perimeter to sell art, crafts, food, and more. A portion of the proceeds 

I hopwill go to the Joy Of Music Program in Worcester.

Info:
Date: Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010
Where: Institute Park @ Worcester, MA
Starts at: 11a.m. 

I hope to see you there.


Stay no less than stunningly fresh,
    Joe

Photo of the day: Classic "To Live is to fight" tee+Yankees cap at Fenway Park

I will be posting a recap of this past weekend, because I went to Boston. It was my first time in Boston and won't be my last and I went with Anthony(Branded Baron v.p.), his girl, and sister-in-law, and Tiff. In a nutshell we went for the UFC Fan Expo and saw the fight at a bar across the street from Fenway Park. Being that I'm a Yankees fan, it was natural for me to wear a Yankees baseball cap. Being that we were right across the street from Fenway Park, it was my obligatory duty as a Yankees fan to take a picture of me rocking the cap. I of course I matched it with the classic "To Live Is To Fight" limited edition t-shirt that we released. 

Stay No Less Than Stunningly Fresh,

     Joe