THE GANGSTA GANGSTER- MOVIE GURU TALKS FILM FLATTERY, WHY HIS RECENT FILMS BRICKED, AND HOW HIS LATEST, ROCKNROLLA, WILL SILENCE THE HATERS.
By Matt Barone
Photograph by Mike McGregor

He bagged Madonna, but along the way Guy Ritchie nearly became a cinematic casualty. In 1999, the native Londoner blindsided the film industry with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, a sensory overload of gangsters, stylized violence, and potty-mouthed English humor. He upped the ante in 2000 with the even-more-badass Snatch, but his career derailed in ’02 with the romantic comedy Swept Away (starring his wife) and couldn’t quite get back on track with 2005’s Revolver.

Now, though, the 39-year-old auteur is once again in his comfort zone, pistol-whipping skeptics with this month’s recklessly entertaining RocknRolla. Already at work on a Rolla sequel, and with the Robert Downey Jr.–starring Sherlock Holmes green-lighted for 2009, Ritchie sat with Complex to discuss his rise, fall, and rebirth.

Your background is as a music video and commercial director. What kind of influence did that have on your early style?

So did you sense a class of imitators trying to copy your early flicks?

Where does your fascination with the criminal world come from?

How does the world of RocknRolla differ from those of Lock, Stock and Snatch?

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After Snatch, what made you want to break from your original, successful subject matter?

Were you happy with the result?

Well, it seems like a lot of people wrote you off after that. Did you feel like an underdog coming into RocknRolla?

ROCK ON | Guy Ritchie with Rollas Gerard Butler and Idris Elba

So going into RocknRolla, were you thinking, I’ve got to recapture that old tone that people loved?

How are you approaching Sherlock Holmes?

]]> Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:05:16 -0400 http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/shotcaller/Guy-Ritchie Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Cover-Story/Seth-Rogen-and-Kevin-Smith

You can tell a lot about a man by the porn he watches. you can tell even more by the porn he makes. But what about the movie he makes about the platonic slacker friends who decide to shoot an amateur skin flick because rent is due and money is low? In the case of Kevin Smith, who wrote and directed Zack and Miri Make a Porno, the raunchy comedy with equal parts hump and heart, and Seth Rogen, who stars as the film’s swinging dick, you can tell they love making people laugh as much as they love watching people make love.

Though Smith and Rogen represent two distinct comedy crews, their coming together seems as biologically fated as sperm meeting egg. Rogen, 26, who became a leading man in the smash baby-mama dramedy Knocked Up, has long been a fan of Smith, 38, who introduced viewers to his View Askewniverse (a world of recurring characters from New Jersey) with 1994’s Clerks. Smith saw Rogen for the first time in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and immediately wanted him to star in his next film—then wrote the role of Zack with Rogen in mind. While Smith favors dense, hyper-articulate dialogue, and Rogen’s posse leans heavily on improv, both like to find a happy ending by sifting through as much nastiness as their twisted minds can conjure. And as Complex learned when it sat with the comedic stars to discuss the adult arts, there’s no shortage of filth for them to draw upon.

So when did you first encounter pornography?

Kevin Smith: The first time I ever saw one, my mom, my dad, and I watched it together. [Rogen laughs.] No, my mom and my dad were at a family friend’s house and they went out to eat, and I stayed behind to watch TV. I went through her videotape collection and found a tape that looked like a professional tape, but in a regular VHS sleeve that you get at the store for your own recording purposes. There was something about it—the label was peeled off, but it was calling. I popped it in and I watched it with one eye on the TV and one on the door, one ear on the driveway.

Seth Rogen: How old were you?

Kevin Smith: I was 14 at the time.

Seth Rogen: Nice.

Kevin Smith: There was no Internet, and most of the adult magazines at the time, like Playboy, and even Hustler, never showed penetration. They would always show like a face or a mouth getting tantalizingly close to a cock. As it progressed in years, the tongue would inch out and always be a centimeter from the tip.

Seth Rogen: In Canada, Penthouse had full penetration.

Kevin Smith: Did they really? Goddamned Canadians.

Seth Rogen: We go right for the penetration.

Kevin Smith: But the biggest impression it made on me was the soundtrack done entirely on a kazoo. [Rogen laughs.] So, to me, the soundtrack of sex was a kazoo.

Seth Rogen: Every time you hear a kazoo now…

Kevin Smith: I’m like, “Oh my god, I gotta fuck!”

Seth Rogen: I initially thought you were going to say it was your family friend’s homemade porn. [Both laugh.]

Kevin Smith: I wish, man. Circa ’84, I don’t think anybody was hip to the idea of “let’s videotape ourselves fucking.”

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What was your first time, Seth?

Seth Rogen: My friend stole a Penthouse. We must have been 12 years old or something. The girl who was heavily featured in it had one of those really dangly vaginas.

Kevin Smith: Meat curtains?

Seth Rogen: [Laughs.] I remember that was the first one I’d seen like really up close, and it blew my fucking mind. I was like, “What the fuck is that?!” Even to this day, I don’t think I’ve seen one quite so dangly, so it really made a very odd impression on me. Then when I was like 13, right when I got in high school, my other friend’s cousin gave him a porn; it was called The Fisherman’s Wife. Again, it blew my mind; seeing something going into someone else just seemed like something surgical.

Kevin Smith: It also taints your first sexual experience, ’cause you’re like, “I have to do like six or seven different positions in order for it to be considered sex.”

Seth Rogen: Exactly. And then, at the end, the guy comes into an ashtray and the girl licks it out of the ashtray. I thought that was normal, like, “Oh, that’s what you do when you fuck somebody.”

Kevin Smith: You come in ashtrays to stop pregnancy! [Laughter.]

Kids nowadays have access to the filthiest shit imaginable online. Is that a bad thing? Are you surprised every 15-year-old isn’t a raging psychotic?

Kevin Smith: I feel sad for the youth because it used to be an insanely naughty thing to get your hands on porn, and now it’s just so accessible.

Seth Rogen: Oh, don’t feel bad about it. As I grew up, my sexual maturity developed right along with modem speed. Like, the hornier I got, the faster modems got. I feel like kids are going to look at porn no matter what. There were times when we were like 14 years old that we would just go online to find the sickest shit we could possibly find. That was the goal, and I don’t think it fucked us up. I think it got it out of our system, if anything. It doesn’t repress shitting in a woman’s mouth. You’ve seen it when you were 14—you know it’s not something you need to do.

Kevin Smith: Seeing someone shit on camera just made me want to hide my shit even more.

Seth Rogen: Yeah, exactly!

Kevin Smith: Like, “Nobody can see this angle of me.” It doesn’t look good with an attractive woman—it’s gonna look worse coming out of a hairy ass.

Seth Rogen: There was one where a guy was spread-eagle on a piano and a woman was eating his ass out; I remember thinking, “He looks so vulnerable!” I felt so bad for him! [Laughs.]

Kevin Smith: “Why won’t someone help him?!”

Seth Rogen: He looked like a turtle that had been flipped on his back!

Kevin Smith: Do you still surf net porn?

Seth Rogen: Oh yeah, definitely.

Kevin Smith: What is your preference? I find myself moving further and further away from styled shots and lights and shit.

Seth Rogen: Oh yeah, more amateur. The POV amateur!

Kevin Smith: It’s kind of sad and wrong, but there are websites where you can see people’s girlfriends.

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Seth Rogen: Sex tapes and shit.

Kevin Smith: Yes! It’s fantastic! You feel like such an insane voyeur and you just know on some level that the girl in the picture was like, “This was never meant to see the world.” But really, Largelabia.com is my favorite site. [Ed.—We think Kevin means Sexylabia.com, which is dedicated to “large labia and their sex appeal.” Loose lips sink ships, Kevin!]

Seth Rogen: Really?! That’s your jam? [Laughs.] Large labia, man!

Kevin Smith: I love to see dangling meat curtains. My wife is not like that, so I like to see how insanely misshapen they can be.

What’s the last thing that made you feel filthy just looking at it?

Seth Rogen: Gagging and choking girls seems to be seeping into the mainstream, and I don’t like that at all. Hopefully, it’s a fad; I’m hoping it rolls through town and just goes back to where it came from.

Kevin Smith: I think “Two Girls, One Cup,” that was really the one.

Seth Rogen: That was kind of the peak.

Kevin Smith: It became viral and went mainstream, and it was covered on morning radio shows and shit. I remember, somebody was like, “It’s not real! They just shoved the ice cream up there!” It’s still ice cream coming out of an ass!

Seth Rogen: I think once food is coming out of an ass, it’s shit. I don’t care if you ate it.

Have either of you had any really embarrassing discoveries of your porn?

Seth Rogen: Everyone’s found my porn and it’s always embarrassing, I have to say. I’m glad I’m not into anything weird. I know someone who’s married and his wife found his porn—and it’s all Latina porn. His wife is a white woman, and she was like, “What the fuck?!” [Laughs.]

Kevin Smith: “I can never do this for you!”

Seth Rogen: Exactly! “There is nothing I can do to become Latina! If it was anal, we could talk about it. There are things to explore, but I can’t change race for you.”

Kevin Smith: I’m pretty forthright and open about it, so nobody goes, “I can’t believe he’s got a porn!” I mean, we’ve got a kid now, so of course we take better steps to not file it next to the Disney DVDs. Did your parents ever not catch you jerking off, but still know about you jerking off?

Seth Rogen: They definitely found porn in my room, and they probably knew I’d been jerking off.

Kevin Smith: That’s a fair extrapolation.

Seth Rogen: “He’s not just looking at it and going back to bed!” [Laughs.]

Kevin Smith: One day as my parents were walking out, my father said to me, “Do me a favor—those tissues under your bed? Just throw them out.” And I said, “Oh, yeah, my nose was really runny last night,” and he goes, “It wasn’t your nose, throw them out!” And I felt mortified, ’cause I felt like he was going to come back in two hours and have a discussion with me about how to jerk off properly and throw things out.

Seth Rogen: “We don’t hoard our ejaculate—we throw it away!”

R. Kelly, pioneer of celebrity sex tapes, was recently acquitted of child porn charges. Were you disappointed?

Seth Rogen: Apparently it was not him. Whether he’s guilty of that or not, he does some nasty-ass shit, it seems like.

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Kevin Smith: I advocate ass eating. I am a big fan of ass eating, but not for the underage. I can’t even watch the porn sites that are “barely 18” and shit like that. Doesn’t do it for me; I just feel old. But I was staying at a hotel in Albuquerque, and I discovered three categories of porn that I had not yet seen. And they weren’t even insanely out there. One was “Over-40” porn.

Seth Rogen: Oh yeah, that’s big, that’s big.

Kevin Smith: I couldn’t imagine any business traveler going, “I want to see someone over 40.”

Seth Rogen: “That looks like my wife!” Except for young guys, probably.

Kevin Smith: That was strange. The other was “All British.”

Seth Rogen: That’s big, too. People are into accents.

Kevin Smith: The one that I had never heard of, never thought of—and this is a no-brainer—was called “Tomboy.” It’s basically chicks with short hair, small boobs, and athletic bodies. It was just like the idea of fucking your best friend in grade school.

Seth Rogen: That girl you always hung out with.

Kevin Smith: The girl you wrestled with before you knew how to kiss. I bought the Tomboy just to see.

Seth Rogen: And how was it?

Kevin Smith: Only one I would consider a tomboy. The other two just had short hair. The British one was completely bald. One looked like a chick from the ’80s with very Billy Idol slicked hair. There was one, whose image sold the video, who looked like a classic tomboy. And it was kind of fun. ’Cause as a viewer, you’re used to long hair being whipped around and shit. It was kind of neat.

Is there enough comedy in porn?

Seth Rogen: You know, I like it when porn stays as fucking far away from comedy as humanly possible. I went to the AVN Awards maybe five years ago, and one thing I learned is that porn stars are not fucking funny! They are good at a lot of shit I am not good at, but telling jokes is not one of them. The part of your brain that makes you funny dies the second you fuck nine women a day for 10 years straight.

Kevin Smith: I don’t think porn even needs a soundtrack. They don’t need to dress it up. Just get in close with a camera and show angles that you don’t get to see when you’re doing it yourself. I would love it just dry and you could hear [Smith makes the sound of slapping genitals].

Seth Rogen: I like my porn like a Charlie Rose interview: Black background, just the facts.

Homophobia—cop-out or craft?

Kevin Smith: See, I don’t think we’ve done anything that’s homophobic. It’s more homoerotic than anything.

Seth Rogen: Exactly—we celebrate male relationships. We don’t damn them.

Kevin Smith: We did take shit from this dude Scott Seomin at GLAAD who campaigned against Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Seth Rogen: Semen?

Kevin Smith: It’s spelled S-E-O-M-I-N, but…

Seth Rogen: That guy should never make a public announcement about anybody!
Kevin Smith: In some ways, he was the perfect guy. But they went after us because they felt the movie was homophobic, and I was like, in one moment one of the two titular characters says that he would suck the other one’s dick. That’s homoerotic. That’s not putting down gay. That’s upholding gay in a somewhat mainstream film!

Seth Rogen: We got some shit for 40-Year-Old Virgin, for the whole “You know you’re gay” thing. But I am the least homophobic guy you’ll meet. I’ll suck your dick right now. [Laughs.] To prove it, I’ll put your dick on my forehead!

Speaking of all this man-on-man action, Seth, how gentle is Kevin on the casting couch?

Seth Rogen: Pretty gentle. He’s a gentle lover.

Kevin Smith: I said I’m an ass eater, dude. I give as much as I take.

And Seth was pretty willing?

KS: He was gentle, like all Canadians. It was a Canadian kind of love.

]]> Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:17:55 -0400 http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Cover-Story/Seth-Rogen-and-Kevin-Smith Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/shotcaller/Aaron-Rose

The connector of the cool-guy art world wants you to go out and make something.

In a world full of self-anointed Renaissance men, Aaron Rose is the real thing: an artist, curator, and collaborator. He’s the man behind NYC’s Alleged Gallery and the Beautiful Losers art exhibitions who helped bring a laundry list of artists into the spotlight, including Todd James, Terry Richardson, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee, and ESPO. In other words, you have Aaron Rose to thank for your T-shirts, sneakers, and skateboards. This summer, Rose drops two more projects: August’s Beautiful Losers, a documentary focusing on the lives of his artist friends, and a DC sneaker project that he made with a little help from his crew.

By Bradley Carbone
Photographs by Estevan Oriol

Beautiful Losers really gives a face to the artists behind the sneakers, T-shirts, and ad campaigns—those guys who might have just been a name in a collab title.

You also have a shoe in the works with DC.

How did this one come about?

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So he hit you up to do a shoe?

The sole design is kind of crazy.

But then the packaging is where other artists really came into play?

That hand-painted aesthetic comes up a lot in your work.

]]> Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:35:43 -0400 http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/shotcaller/Aaron-Rose Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Complex-Men/Pure-Pwnage

Avid video gamers flip playtime into a hit Internet show.

By Rebecca Louie
Photograph by Daniel Alexander

› WHAT Web-based mockumentary shorts filmed by Lapaire about a monitor-humping pro gamer (Cale) out to pwn n00bs (son rookies, for those only versed in rap slang) in everything from Tetris to Halo 3. It started with an 11-minute episode in 2004, and it’s now a full-fledged company (ROFLMAO Productions) with five employees, regular 30-minute episodes, and three million viewers.

› GAME PRIDE PARADE Cale: “There is always this shame with being a geek. You have to hide the fact that you do well in school, that you play video games. Part of Pure Pwnage’s goal is to remove that shame.”

› CHARGE IT TO THE GAME After six years at the University of Toronto, Cale failed to graduate, but he did pick up gaming-related tendinitis and carpal-tunnel syndrome (hence the missing degree).

› MASS APPEAL Pwnage’s shorts are translated into 30 languages, and have had theatrical premieres in Toronto, London, and Melbourne, Australia. Despite being courted for mainstream distribution, Lapaire says, “We’ve decided to stick with what’s working on the Internet, and that comes with a lot of freedom.”

› PRODUCT An online store (noobstore.com) that sells Pwnage-related memorabilia.

› REVENGE OF THE NERDS Pwnage has two all-girl fan clubs. Cale: “I’ve even signed a few breasts in my time.”

INFORMER

In 2003, when he was gaming 84 hours a week, Cale considered playing StarCraft professionally in South Korea.

With his Konvict Clothing line out now, the Senegalese hook-master talks culture shock and smoking guns.

As told to Joe La Puma

Growing up in Senegal was a totally different way of living—you grew up with a family that lent each other a hand because of the struggle there… But in the U.S., there are so many opportunities, people focus on the hustle to make a situation where they big themselves up. Even though I’ve adjusted, I still have the old-fashioned morals of one-for-all, all-for-one.

I’ve never really believed in overexposure; you’re overexposed only if the music is not good… But if you continue to make hit records, you’re never going to be overexposed because people want to hear you. Music is supposed to spread, you’re supposed to collab and deal with other sounds and cultures. Being stuck on one genre, that makes music boring.

I’ve worked with pretty much everyone I wanted to work with. Michael Jackson was at the top of my list, and once that happened [“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008”] I was like, OK, where do I go from here?... But I would love to work with Beyoncé. And I haven’t done anything with Jay-Z. Other than those two, I’ve pretty much banged out records with everyone else.

Street cred is a bunch of crap, it really is. If you’re going to do hardcore hip-hop, having street cred is necessary, only because people believe their own hype. It’s immature and I think we can find better systems to make and break hip-hop… But it’s a lot of ignorance going on. A lot of people don’t know any better and you can’t teach them because they’re so successful they don’t even want to listen.

When you get these little Smoking Gun articles, I think, after all we’ve done for the community, they try to find stuff to discredit me, not even realizing it’s doing more good than bad. It doesn’t matter if I did a day in jail or 300 years in jail, the fact is I went in and it changed my life for the better…But that’s life. People feed off the negative energy and want to create something to pull you down.

INFORMER

Although he was raised in Senegal, Akon was born in St. Louis.

Our favorite Hills star talks plastic surgery, nude photos, and other things her friends would never do.

Men say: If we’re together, I don’t have to be friends with your friends.

Whitney Port says: It’s very important to be friends with your girlfriend’s friends because that’s a huge part of her life. If a guy’s not willing to spend time with the girls, that’s a negative attitude and not one that I’d be OK with. Maybe he’s just shy, but if things continued to go on like that, I’d probably break up with him.

Men say: Women who have had plastic surgery have self-esteem issues.

Whitney Port says: It could be true to a certain extent. If someone’s not happy with a certain part of their body, then I guess they have an insecurity. But it’s the individual’s choice. I would never judge someone for doing that, if that was what makes them feel better.

Men say: You can tell a lot about a woman by her friends.

Whitney Port says: That’s definitely true. Who someone gets along with and spends their time with is a reflection of their character. If you’re around people that have bad morals or aren’t trustworthy, then you probably have a little bit of a sneaky side as well.

Men say: I could never settle down with someone who’s posed nude.

Whitney Port says: If I was seeing a guy who’d posed nude, I don’t know if I would look at him and think about settling down—but to each his own. If a person is posing nude for the wrong reason, then that’s one thing. I’m not saying that I would do it, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.

Men say: It doesn’t matter how I look, women are attracted to money and power.

Whitney Port says: That’s ridiculous! There are certain women who are, but that’s just a huge generalization. I’m not attracted to that—not to say that if it came with a great personality, and a great human being, that I would deny it. However, those qualities are purely material and not something that you look for in a long-term relationship, especially if those are the only qualities apparent.

INFORMER

Whitney went to the same high school (L.A.’s Crossroads High) as fellow hottie Jonah Hill.

The 30-year-old Saturday Night Live, Tropic Thunder, and Pineapple Express comic reveals his guide to world domination.

As told to Qimmah Saafir
Photography by Matt Doyle

1 PERSISTENCE + TALENT = LUCK.
I never in a billion years thought I’d be on Saturday Night Live. I moved to L.A. and it was always behind-the-scenes stuff that I was more interested in. Then my friends started casting me—I would do shows in a backyard, just to get that experience. Be persistent; if you’re talented, you’ll get lucky in some way.

2 DON’T JINX IT!
I’m really superstitious. Anytime I think, Oh man, I’d like to do this, that’s when I fuck up. If I just don’t say anything, it’ll happen. I never said I wanna be on SNL or that I wanna work with Judd Apatow, when I secretly really did wanna do those things. Now I’ll say something and it’s like, Welp, you fucked that one up.

3 SHUT THE EFF UP.
On SNL, when Lorne Michaels is giving notes, I watch him work, like, Oh, so that’s how you do that. Amy Poehler too, she’s phenomenal. When Amy’s around, I shut the fuck up ’cause she’s a genius. I’m working with legends. It’s amazing. The best thing to do is just shut the fuck up and listen.

4 EMBRACE YOUR DARK SIDE.
When I was a kid, my grandfather took me to a bookstore. The first thing I saw was Salem’s Lot by Stephen King and I was like: vampires? In a small town? Uh, yes please. On SNL I’m always going, “Can I be a demon thing?” I love horror films. Watching serious films makes you funnier.

5 WALK, DON’T SURF.
I sit here on YouTube or some random blog, like What the fuck am I doing on the Drudge Report again? But I’m not on MySpace or Facebook. In New York, I’m able to say, “There’s this really cool Mexican restaurant downtown, let’s just walk to it.” A long walk to get a nice meal makes me happy. Cardio to get fat.

INFORMER

Bill has a large dent in his head, but it’s not from a Lorne Michaels beatdown. His skull just came together abnormally at birth.

N.E.R.D NOSE WHAT’S UP

REMEMBER HOW WEIRD THE NEPTUNES USED TO BE?
And then how, when they hooked up with their boy and formed a rock group, you couldn’t figure out what they were going for? Well, they’re still weird—at least compared to the baggy-jeaned aesthetic that ruled hip-hop when they first came around—but their brand of weird has become the new center. From fringe to mainstream, Pharrell and Chad remade hypebeasts in their own images. When it comes to N.E.R.D., though, they’re still searching.

How is it that their beats for-hire business has been a gold mine for years, yet their do-for-self mission has been so hit-and-miss? Easy answer: Weirdness is a risky business. When they provide the backdrop and let someone else deliver the message, they’re a novelty, and an infectious one. When they’re delivering their own message, though, it’s a lot harder—being at the vanguard is lonely when no one can match your speed.

They&rsquore doing their best to bring people up to tempo, though; their most recent record, June’s Seeing Sounds, adds a sprinkling of high-energy dancefloor sounds to their usual stew. And as an act on ’Ye’s phenomenally successful Glow in the Dark Tour, they’ve inundated the country with “Everybody Nose,” their ode to nasal candy and the eye candy that loves it.

Bottom line: Weirdness is the cousin of genius. Madness and artistry go hand in hand, and it’s what’s made them design icons in addition to just musical ones (LV, BBC, Bape—should we go on?). And most important, they’re just being themselves. You might not understand it, but you gotta respect it. N.E.R.D. = life, son!

Besides this shoot, I heard that KAWS recreated the Sistine Chapel in your house using Smurfs. Is that true?

What is it about his stuff that you like?

Shay: There’s this group out in Ohio, and they started a clothing line called Fresco. It’s a dope brand—I rocked one of their shirts in the [“Everybody Nose”] video. They have dope quotes across the back.

Chad: I think Pharrell Williams, as a designer. I think people are sleeping on that.

[Laughs.]

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How are people sleeping on him?

Musically, you guys aren’t exactly mainstream, but you’re probably the biggest producers that ever made it from the world of hip-hop. But then from a style standpoint, it seems you try to keep a proximity to the exclusive shit. You don’t have BBC brand in Macy’s, which you could. Why do you feel that’s the way to go for clothes, as opposed to how you handle your music?

But at the same time, a lot of styles you guys pioneered, and Nigo started, sort of trickled down to a lot of the mall brands. Does that worry you?

The process of designing?

You don’t try to overthink it.

When you guys first came out as the Neptunes, you were outsiders: You dressed different and the music was on some next-level shit. But now you’re on this big tour with like-minded artists, there’s an avant-garde sensibility to it. Clearly, the musical climate has changed. Is this tour meaningful to you for that reason?

What does it say that these artists, who five or 10 years ago were probably looked at as unusual, are now on the biggest tour out there?

Which is what?

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There are a lot of artists right now, like Gym Class Heroes, who are bringing N.E.R.D.’s mix of hip-hop and rock to the mainstream. Do you feel like the marketplace is more open?

Shay: I feel like early Black Eyed Peas, bands like OutKast, bands like N.E.R.D. definitely paved the way for Gym Class Heroes, Gnarls Barkley. But as a team, we still have a lot more to do. Music right now is a little redundant. I feel like it’s definitely open for something else to creep through and shake up the airwaves a little.

Do you think that’s what going to happen with this album? With the much better reception from the radio and so on…

In hip-hop, it’s no longer only about being a dope-boy rapper. Groups like the Cool Kids and the whole ’80s-baby style have really proven that things are opening up. Do you feel responsible at all?

Are you a fan of any of these younger artists? The Cool Kids? Wale?

When you guys are in the studio as N.E.R.D., how is the working relationship different than when you guys are doing a Neptunes record or a Pharrell album?

Transmitting thoughts?

How did “Everyone Nose” come about?

I can see that.

So you listened to a bunch of jazz records and you just got that beat...

Everyone knows what Chad and Pharrell do from the Neptunes. But what does Shay do?

So give me an example. How do you challenge them to think outside the box?

How would you say this album sounds compared to the previous ones?

Let’s talk about the Ice Cream shit a little bit. How difficult has it been to find acceptance in the skateboard world?

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To skate?

Back when Clones came out, there was talk about you guys making a movie called Dude, We’re Going to Rio.

No, I’m just curious what happened to that.

I’m surprised you haven’t made the Hollywood move already.

But can you see yourself producing movies and stuff like that? More behind the scenes?

Speaking of movies, I saw a video on YouTube called “Is Chad Hugo happy?”

And it was just a bunch of pictures of you not smiling.

You did?

So for the record, you do smile.

P, you often rap—and sometimes sing—about a very hyper-consumerist lifestyle. Do you feel conflicted about that when we’re in a recession?

Are you referring to the solo album [In My Mind]?

Any new projects outside of music you’re into?

Are you actually animating, or are you the big-picture idea guy?

Any other high-fashion collabos going on?

All right, man, I see how it is. Don’t talk about it.

]]> Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:39:25 -0400 http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Cover-Story/NERD Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Cover-Story/Lupe-Fiasco

To hear him tell it, Lupe Fiasco is the most unusual rapper in the game. And sure, a 26-year-old Muslim who raps about vinyl toy robots and Goyard luggage is left of center, but the Chicagoan fits in perfectly with a new generation of fans who are discovering that Lupe is the closest thing it has to a hip-hop “everyman” (Sorry, Yeezy). Do a cross-reference of rap fans today, and chances are you’ll find a kid who has no dreams of moving weight, likes video games, and lusts after the newest graphic tees and limited-edition kicks.

It took those fans a little time to catch Lupe’s drift, though. His debut album, the Jay-Z executive-produced Food & Liquor, was a Grammy-nominated flop that left most people scratching their fitteds—but since then, Lupe has gone from the geeky skateboarder who was Kanye’s mans-an-’em to an international style icon who’s embraced by everyone from X-Gamers to ex-cons. Mr. Gold Watch sat down with Complex and hipped us to everything from his Fall of Rome clothing line to how he dumbs it down. This ain’t no time where the usual is suitable, so pay attention.

Your fans have a perception of you as this well-read scholar.

So when you have a song like “Dumb It Down,” does that seem contradictory? It seemed like you were trying to reach a certain…demographic, right?

So you think that was the best way to talk to them?

Because I’ve heard people who are “dumb- ass niggas in the hood” be like, “I feel like he’s talking down to me,” like, “Why not just be on some Tupac shit and go straight at me?”

But Tupac was basically like, “Black people, you’re in trouble.” Like A, B, C, D. Your shit was, like, Ichabod Crane and—

The first album was dope, but you had a lot of people in the hood like, “Yo, this motherfucker is on some smarty-arty shit. I’m not really tryin’ to fuck with it.” But now it seems you kind of crossed over into both worlds.

So more people know you, but I remember you saying that you’re three albums and out—is that still the case?

Rapping is your passion, but you’re gonna stop after one more album?

Because if people stop, it’s usually because they don’t want to do it anymore, because they lost their love of it.

You’re one of them.

{NewPage}

So are there gonna be no more Lupe solo albums? Is there a CRS project that you’re—

I heard you were the one that actually gave the sample for “Us Placers” that was out there.

You’re like the rap Rat Pack.

When you came in at 18, rappers trying to be fashionable weren’t the mainstream; rappers were still wearing Rocawear and shit.

So how does it feel now to be the dude who’s emulated on the street everywhere?

Let’s talk about Fall of Rome—to come out with a clothing line yourself, it just has to be flawless.

How does that translate into clothing?

Everything’s black?

Are you going to wear Fall of Rome exclusively once it comes out?

Are you the kind of dude who buys something and if someone asks you where you got it, you’re like, “I can’t tell you”?

[To friend] He gives shit out?

Friend: Yeah, all the time.

Lupe Fiasco: Every day. “Here, you like these? Have them.” I don’t need to have it to own it. I don’t need to own it to have it. It’s not that deep and at the end of the day, it’s not that important.

If it doesn’t mean anything, why not just rock a white tee, some no-name jeans and…

“Because they’re the best.”

The Good Life.

]]> Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:50:01 -0400 http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Cover-Story/Lupe-Fiasco Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/shotcaller/Guillermo-Del-Toro

“Passion projects” rarely materialize for most directors, but Guillermo del Toro has made a career specializing in them. For more than 15 years, the Mexican-born auteur has written and directed only the films of his choosing, including The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and the Oscar–nominated Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). His Hollywood experience has been equally rewarding, allowing the professional fanboy to adapt his favorite comic book, Hellboy, into a 2004 film. Though modestly successful, the movie wasn’t typical sequel-worthy fare—until its DVD sales paved the way for the devilish antihero’s return this July in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Complex sat down with GDT to discuss censorship, fuck-you’s, and why he’s so good it’s scary.

By Matt Barone

You turned down Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to make the first Hellboy. Why such love for Big Red?

When you first read the Hellboy comics, did you instantly see movie potential?

{NewPage}

After Columbia backed out of Hellboy II, DVD sales inspired Universal to jump aboard. Were you ever nervous that it wouldn’t see the light of day?

That conviction is admirable.

You’ve been vocal about your rough time on your first American project, 1997’s Mimic. Do American studios treat you differently now?

Why are international genre films so much better than American ones?

So why do so many talented international filmmakers come to America and succumb to the terrible remake trend?

Do you ever see yourself stepping away from genre/fantasy films?

So no romantic comedies?

]]> Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:03:03 -0400 http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/shotcaller/Guillermo-Del-Toro Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Complex-Men/Kidz-in-The-Hall

Forget retro, rap’s next-gen duo makes future sounds.

By Damien Scott

One of the most promising new rap groups of the mid 2000s, Kidz signed with the storied indie label Rawkus Records in 2006 to release their critically acclaimed insightful boom-bap debut, School Was my Hustle. Unfortunately, Rawkus execs promoted the University of Pennsylvania grads as the second coming of conscious backpackers Reflection Eternal instead of pushing them as the more eclectic, complex future of rap. “I’m a valedictorian who reads Black Tail, eats fried chicken, and is addicted to Hennessy,” says Naledge. “I contradict myself every day.”

Relocated to Duck Down Records, an older but more progressive label, Kidz dropped their second album, The in Crowd, in May. In addition to mixing chopped soul and 808 drums with Euro dance sounds, Kidz have been collaborating with trendsetting contemporaries like Clipse, Black Milk, and the Cool Kids. “You can’t tell us that hip-hop is not evolving,” Double O explains. “Love what you listen to, love what you do with it, love who you are, and then take that shit to the next level.”

Teach them well and let them lead the way.

INFORMER

A collegiate track star, Double O competed in the 400m Hurdles for Belize at the 2004 Olympics.

The ex-NFL lineman and Get Smart’s comedic secret weapon reveals his life’s contradictions.

As told to Jack Erwin

I’m not a loner…

Beat Street was like my hip-hop Star Wars.

I didn’t know how to act...

I’m a pretty corny dude.

Thirty percent of people like you,

White Chicks was rated

Terry Crews Outtakes

We couldn't fit everything Crews had to say in one page of Complex. Check out the rest of his interview right here.

With her debut LP, Koko B. Ware, out this summer, the Chi-town MC gets inside the male mind.
As told to Saidah Petrie

Kid Sister says:

Men say:
Women who have dealt with weight issues tend to be passive in relationships.

Kid Sister says:

Men say:
My girl has no reason to distrust me, but I’d never give her access to my e-mail or my phone.

Kid Sister says:

Men say:
It’s not a good look to work in the same industry as the woman I’m seeing.

Kid Sister says:

INFORMER

After majoring in film at Columbia College, Kid Sister worked as a P.A. on two Sundance films—The Guys and The Best Thief in the World.

The star of The Foot Fist Way and Tropic Thunder chops it up (hiiiiii-yah!) about breaking into Hollywood.

As told to Mary H.K. Choi

1 DON’T BE A PRODUCTION ASSISTANT.

2 IF YOU HAVE TO BE A P.A., HAVE FUN.

3 INDULGE YOUR INNER FANBOY.

4 KNOW THAT L.A. IS DIFFERENT.

INFORMER

There are two Danny McBrides in Hollywood. Our Danny went by Danny R. McBride until he felt he’d usurped the one who is known for cowriting Underworld.

Our cover gentlemen may have killer credentials, but neither has mass murdered the box office…yet. Running and gunning together in Wanted, the two are finally shooting for the stars. Duck down!

By Nate Denver
Photographs by James Dimmock

James McAvoy and Common, two talents well familiar with critical accolades know the answer: Kudos are good for you and they’ll satisfy your hunger, but they’re not sugary sweet.

For a young man with a young screen career, McAvoy could not be more lauded. The 29-year-old Scotsman received British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations for The Last King of Scotland and Atonement. Across the pond, the latter also earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. His co-star, rapper-turned-actor Lonnie Rashid “Common” Lynn, 36, has several Grammy nods (and one actual gold phonograph) under his belt. He’s only appeared in a handful of movies, but his albums Resurrection and Be are certified rap classics. Despite the kudos, neither McAvoy nor Common has enjoyed the sweetness of blockbuster success.

But this summer, all that is set to change thanks to Wanted, the cinematic adaptation of Mark Millar and J.G. Jones’s graphic novel of the same name. Rife with guns, sex, violence, more guns, and then some bigger guns just in case, Wanted is a criminally minded epic that tells the tale of Wesley Gibson (portrayed by McAvoy, despite originally bearing an uncanny resemblance to Eminem in the comic), a pencil-pushing corporate cog who discovers innate superpowers that make him an ideal assassin. He links with a guild of like-minded individuals, including Fox (Angelina Jolie) and the Gunsmith (Common). Needless to say, mayhem ensues and mad blood doth spill. But in the meantime, Complex caught up with the critical darlings to discuss nihilism, superpowers, and Common’s beef with white boys on the Bulls.

What do you feel is the value of nihilistic art, whether in hip-hop or movies?

Someone or something who doesn’t believe in anything, rejects all moral conventions…

The killer is a nihilist.

Common: I’m an advocate for hope and I always feel like there’s hope; I don’t know why, that’s just what I believe. I don’t know if it’s my spiritual belief that makes me know it’s always hope, but I definitely didn’t feel that Wanted left no hope.

Did you trip out on your character looking like Eminem?

Was it more fun to film in Chicago or the Czech Republic?

Common: Prague, dude, I had a good time. It was one of the funnest times of my life. Just hanging out, filming, working, and relaxing; I sat by the river, looked at the bridge, and drank wine. We’d go out...

James McAvoy: Sangria. [Laughs.]

Common: [Laughs.] Yeah, drinkin’ sangria, just kickin’ it. We even went go-karting.

If you were given mega-strength in real life, along with a crew of people who would cover all your tracks, would you do good or bad?

Common: [Laughs.] We all misuse power at some point or another. Some of the times I get power, I see myself misusing it. If I had powers, I would do my best to do right in the world, but like James says, you’re gonna mess up a little bit, do something sneaky. But overall you just wanna do right. That’s what life is.

What kind of superpower would you want?

Common: Yeah, I think I would want to be able to create anything with my mind, so if I visualize it, I can create it. So that means I can do a lot of shit.

James McAvoy: Cool, man. I think time travel or teleportation, that kind of thing.

Common: Yeah.

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I would want to be able to talk to animals like Dr. Dolittle. They could do my bidding.

Common: Wow.

If you could talk to animals, what would you have them do, or do with them?

Common: For me, I don’t know what I would have ’em do, but I would want to be amongst the lions. I don’t know if it’s hunting or whatever, but I’ve always wanted to be a lion, like that kingly attack. They’re beautiful, too; panthers and stuff are beautiful too.

James, how has being a classically trained actor helped or hindered you?

Common, you have training as well?

Common: [Laughs.] I wanted to see that just because I liked James. So I was excited to work with him. Going back to the whole classical training, whatever he was bringing was just right, and he’s like that in every movie I seen him do.

James McAvoy: Thank you, man.

Common: So whatever training is going on, it’s right. [Laughs.] You can learn some things through training, but there’s a certain natural quality that God gives you and that’s what I saw in James that made me go, “All right, he got that thing that make you wanna watch him.” You wanna watch James. I’m just tellin’ the truth.

James McAvoy I should leave the room and do something about the raging erection I now have. [Both laugh.]

James McAvoy Thank you, man. That’s really kind of you.

Common: I’m very serious.

How does acting compare to being an MC?

Do you know of some MCs who are great actors? Studio gangsters, maybe?

Common: Yeah.

Do you listen to hip-hop, James?

James McAvoy Have you?

Common: Yeah, there’s still new ground to gain.

Which album did you give him?

Common: I think I gave him either Be or Like Water for Chocolate.

James McAvoy It was Be. Hip-hop’s not particularly huge in Scotland, although my little sister, Joy, was in a hip-hop group called Streetwise, which is kind of strange, to be a Scottish girl in a hip-hop group. But I’m quite glad I’ve been introduced to it properly.

We gotta get you Resurrection.

]]> Wed, 28 May 2008 19:21:03 -0400 http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Cover-Story/McAvoy-and-Common Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Complex-Women/Danica-Patrick

The IndyCar phenom speaks on rednecks, beer, and what makes her a perfect backseat driver.
As told to Saidah Petrie

Danica says:

Men say: Women are naturally less competitive than men.

Danica says:

Men say: Girls from the Midwest know how to party.

Danica says:

Men say: Women can’t help but be constant backseat drivers.

Danica says:

INFORMER

Danica’s “company car” gets 6 mpg, while her personal whip, an Acura MDX, gets 20. Her other at-home ride, a Lambo, gets just 10.

You can’t create buzz. It’s something that has to come naturally. That said, the path of an idea from someone’s brain to the lips of cool hunters to the center of the cultural radar screen has a lot to do with savvy, and the guys you’re about to meet know what’s up. They’re the masterminds who bring you the hottest kicks and most outlandish toys, the genre–bending beats and the freshest movies. They run the clubs you’re dying to get into, and turn your comic books into big–screen bonanzas. They know how to take what’s normal and make it essential—a graphic skateboard you crave, a record you’ve got to hear, a sneaker that’ll make you wait in line to drop 150 bucks on. And they do it not for fame or fortune but because they believe. They believe in their ideas, and sure enough, you wind up believing too.

THE YOUNGEST TYCOON

Before he could order a drink, Carmelo Anthony turned his basketball fame into endorsement dollars and celebrity status. Now just 21, he’s the ultimate street kid turned unstoppably ambitious mogul. He might even be your next landlord

BY SEAN FENNESSeY PHOTOGRAPHY BY Rainer Hosch

Chilling in the weight room of Denver’s Pepsi Center arena, Carmelo Anthony stares at the gym as the University of Utah’s basketball team runs layup drills. He’s quietly scanning the court when someone breaks in, “Yo Melo, you know any of those boys out there?”

“Yeah, no. 4, the real tall dude. I played against him in the Olympics,” Anthony says.

“That’s the No. 1 pick right there,” he adds, getting his Dick Vitale on.

Anthony has his eyes on Utah sophomore Andrew Bogut, the AP National Player of the Year. He may sound like a grizzled vet, but Anthony is just a year and a half removed from walking through the cold quad of New York’s Syracuse University and three years away from the cracked streets of hometown West Baltimore. Now he sips Hennessy in the club (legally) and leads his tenacious Denver Nuggets on win streak after win streak while moving more weight than a forklift off the court. Anthony was born for this, positioned to helm an empire before he could get into an R–rated movie. His mug is plastered all over billboards and TV as the centerpiece of both the Jordan brand of apparel and Radio Shack. His milk mustache, the ultimate stamp of celebrity, glistens from dozens of magazines. He’s more than just a basketball player; he’s part of a new breed of young, multiplatform moguls.

And despite having the intense heat of the media’s burners following his every move, the 6’8” baby–faced small forward has dealt with the transition from the streets to the spotlight without becoming a monster. He’s soft–spoken and modest during Complex’s photo shoot. He’s not barking orders and demanding caramel lattes. He’s just laying in the cut, nodding his head lightly and mouthing the words to the Jadakiss mixtape booming on the speakers overhead:

But right now all I do is sit back and listen / To a wise young man who quickly became a rich one / Put me up on the fact that it ain’t hard to get some / Chips if I just keep writing with ambition.

The words fit him so well it’s scary. He’s the center of attention. Fans and teammates imitate his every runner in the lane. Managers, P.R. hounds and overseers tend to his every need.

“Sometimes I sit back and I think, How do these people listen to me? I’m only 20 years old,” he says. “I’m 20, talking about being a businessman! It’s hard for me because there are people twice my age that I got working for me right now. And at the same time I’m trying to learn what to do.”

But what Melo lacks in overcooked confidence he makes up for in laid–back cool. Despite several hours of body styling, trouser tweaking and photo snapping on his day off, he remains unfazed, taking solace in brief breaks to answer the buzzing of his busy Sidekick. No business calls today, though.

“I’m only taking calls from two people: Mama and La La,” he informs his entourage. “Everybody else can wait.”

Mama is Mary Anthony, the woman who raised her boy in the grimy neighborhood of B–More where Melo’s favorite show, HBO’s The Wire,—“It don’t get no deeper or more truthful than that,” he says—is set. La La, for those who don’t scan Page Six every morning, is La La Vasquez, 23, the almond–eyed MTV Veejay and Melo’s sexy fiancée. After a year–and–a–half courtship that started in a New York club, they were engaged on Christmas morning of last year. No date has been set. Anthony brings the cheddar home in the form of his $4 million Nuggets salary and a reported $18 million deal with Nike, but he often defers to his lady—“She’s been in this game for a minute, so she could pretty much guide me”—and a small team of accountants. “I ain’t too big with trust,” he says matter–of–factly. “But you gotta trust somebody. I always manage my money, find out where it’s going, where it’s coming from.”

Most guys who are just losing their baby fat don’t have such concerns, but then most young men aren’t next in a line of sports superstars turned entrepreneurial giants. Yet Anthony’s not quite out of the mold of his Nike forebear, Michael Jordan, or wheeler–dealer Magic Johnson. Unlike them, the third pick in the 2003 NBA draft is getting his Andrew Carnegie on at the start of his career. MJ sold Hanes and Mickey D’s and Magic bought movie theaters and Starbucks franchises late in their basketball run. Anthony, though, has been delivering a different marketing point of view from day one.

“When brand Jordan and I first met, they felt I was being looked up to from the people in the street and in the corporate world,” he says with a smirk. “Since I basically am becoming a mogul, they wanted me to relate to the younger people.”

Still, when the time comes, Anthony knows when he has to get grown. Today he’s slipping into a suit crafted by Jordan Apparel Design Director Gemo Wong. Only one has been created in the world, specifically for Melo’s large frame. (That, sneakerheads, is limited edition.) These are the kinds of perks the face of a powerhouse gets. Any sneaker he wants, any sweatsuit he can envision, hats, occasional rides on the jet. He’s hooked up.

It should be noted that while he is a burgeoning force in the corporate boardroom, Anthony’s primary focus remains smashing the competition on the court. He’s already accomplished a lot, leading Syracuse to its first National Championship in 2003, winning a Bronze medal with the 2004 Olympic team and bringing his Nuggets back to playoff glory after nearly a decade of futility. But Anthony has struggled with his game in his sophomore season, while his friend LeBron James has elevated his to unseen heights. The comparisons between the two young’ns have been frustrating for the Anthony camp. He’s also seen head coach Jeff Bdzelik get the boot, only to be replaced by firebrand George Karl, perhaps the first man to sit Anthony’s ass on the bench to show him he isn’t always the golden child. “A good team plays the game at a high standard, and when you’re not playing at that standard and someone else is, you go with someone else,” Karl said after benching him for the final 17 minutes of a loss.

Anthony is the first to admit he’s not quite at MJ’s level on or off the court yet. Not close. He breaks his composed veneer and goes all “aw shucks” when talking about the legendary Jumpman, saying that if he wants to talk to him, he’s got to make the call himself.

“You know, I try not to ask him too much about basketball,” Anthony says of Jordan. “If he wants to give me some advice I’m always open to advice. I just call him to check up and see how he’s doing.” Checking up on Michael Jordan? Not bad for a big kid.

Also unlike his predecessors, whose toothy grins and winning jingles pushed their products to middle America with ease, Anthony’s got a quiet swagger that betrays a youth spent on the streets. He’s not the type of guy who struts around in pinstriped suits; Melo’s more likely to be seen in a gray bucket hat and matching sweatsuit, the sleeves cut off to reveal the tattoos that line both of his arms. This is his style, and it’s a way for him to remain true to his roots. Meanwhile, his experiences are becoming more typical of the way today’s celebrity moguls get their education. The hustling Anthony witnessed on Baltimore’s rough Myrtle Avenue is just a flip on the corporate endorsement game.

“It’s the same thing. Everybody’s mindset is stuck on one thing, which is being the best they can be,” he says. “If it’s hustling T–shirts, if you’ve got your own business, everybody’s going for that one goal and that’s becoming successful.”

Having skirted across those streets as a shorty on his way to school every morning, Anthony has found a way to combine his enterprising bobs and weaves with some goodwill. He’s been subtly looking into purchasing real estate in Baltimore and Denver to reconstruct as low–income housing. “It was my idea,” he says. “Ever since I stepped into the league it was something that I wanted to do. Me owning my own neighborhood? That sounds good.” He says he’ll call it Anthony–Ville.

It’s hardly news that every tycoon comes up against a set of speed bumps to roll over. His easily abbreviated name, his high–profile relationship with La La and his back–story have made Melo an easy target. In the past year, he’s been mistakenly cited for marijuana possession. He’s been the subject of a suspected extortion scheme: Three men were arrested in November 2004, accused of trying to pry $3 million from Melo for a videotape of a Manhattan nightclub fight that supposedly started when somebody spit in La La’s drink. And he’s been chided for his small role in a gritty street DVD called Stop Snitching, which prompted him to release a statement: “I don’t hang with drug dealers. I’ll always surround myself with good people.”

Of course, hanging with good people is getting easier now that Anthony has entered the young mogul’s club. One day he’s listening to Jay–Z in his bedroom, the next he’s dining with Jigga and Beyonce in an exclusive Manhattan restaurant. “When I first got here that was strange,” he says excitedly, then takes a breath and proceeds more casually. “When you’re growing up you see people that you think you’re never gonna meet. But then you meet them and then you’re hanging out with them and then you’re going to dinner with them and then you’re chilling at their place. Just to have a relationship with them is weird.”

Soon, Melo will have them all chilling at his place.

Atlanta’s newest rap phenom takes forward-thinkers 3000 light-years and beyond.
By Richard “Treats” Dryden

If the distance from the South Bronx to East Germany is to blame for the old rift between rap and trance music, then Decatur, Ga., might be the place where the two worlds reconcile. That’s the hometown of 18-year-old Bobby Ray Simmons, a.k.a. rapper/singer/producer B.o.B., whose trippy, synthed-up anthem “Haterz Everywhere” threatens to spawn a new musical genre—trance rap. “‘My Love’ with Tip and Justin Timberlake fused that trance and that ’hood sound,” recalls B.o.B of the Timbaland-T.I.-Timberlake collabo. “[It made me think,] I like that shit, lemme try to do my own twist.”

Growing up in Decatur—hometown of Andre 3000—B.o.B. had a more conventional hip-hop education, with influences that include DMX, Eminem, and Goodie Mob. With his allegiance to music, Simmons quit school after ninth grade to drop lyrical bombs over open-mic sessions. In 2006, TJ Chapman, founder of TJ’s DJ’s national record pool, saw B.o.B.’s performance and helped him land a record deal with Jim Jonsin’s (Trick Daddy, Danity Kane) Rebel Rock/Warner Music label last October.

B.o.B.’s forthcoming addition to the ATL-ien invasion, The Adventures of B.o.B., isn’t just a trance-rap concept album; instead, it’s a melodic experiment of B.o.B’s sing-song raps over vigorous collegiate drum lines (no Nick Cannon). Still, B.o.B. will continue to play the postman and try to push the envelope. “When everybody’s doing the same thing, I just look at it like, ‘Why?’” he says. “I’m going wherever I’m scared to go.” Boldly, where no rapper has gone before.

INFORMER

A self-proclaimed hippie, B.o.B. cuts back on waste by washing plastic cups and utensils at least three times before disposal.

TRANCE AMERICA

They don’t go back like ravers and pacifiers, but hip-hop and trance do have a shared history. Presenting the Complex history of trance rap. Get your glow sticks up, son!

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Chiwetel Ejiofor’s name is tricky, but not as difficult as you might think. Just say it with us: Chew–it–tell Edge–oh–four. Got it? Good, because you’re going to need to know it soon.

The British actor has been spotted as Watergate security guard Frank Wills in She Hate Me, Keira Knightley’s husband in Love Actually and a freed slave in Amistad. Most memorably, Ejiofor delivered a star turn as Okwe, a London cab driver from Nigeria in 2002’s Dirty Pretty Things, a highly slept–on immigration drama.

Though he was the centerpiece of that flick, you wouldn’t know it from the advertising, which prominently features costar Audrey Tautou’s mug. But that’s the life of the chameleonic 28–year–old; when someone’s this good, it’s hard to recognize that it’s the same person from film to film.

“The first thing that I look for in a script is the challenges of the character—that’s what interests me,” Ejiofor says. With meaty roles in a range of new films—including Woody Allen’s Melinda And Melinda, John Singleton’s revenge thriller Four Brothers and Joss Whedon’s sci–fi flick Serenity—Chiwetel (Chewy to his pals, but hold the Star Wars jokes) is certainly sticking to his philosophy. But enough about art—what about fame?

“Getting recognized always cracks me up,” he says. “There were some people moving some stuff in my apartment yesterday and they got pretty animated about the fact that I’ve kissed Keira Knightley.” There are worse things in the world to be known for, that’s for sure.—Sean Fennessey