Complex Blog » Complex

Happy Holidays! The Complex Gift Guide

donniek — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:35:13 +0000

Black Friday is just over a week away, but you’re an amateur if you wait until the day after Thanksgiving to get your holiday-shopping on. That’s why we’re today unveiling The Complex Gift Guide, a super-fresh interactive catalog of present-worthy items that will satisfy all the cool people you like, love, or smash on a semi-regular basis.

What’s inside? Well, along with the greatest Complex-approved clothing and kicks that you all know us for, we’ve curated loads and loads of cool stuff—everything from computer mice to soccer jerseys to Legos to rare Scotch whisky to Modern Warfare 2 throat communicators to Kanye West books to Snoopy box sets to Crank 2 to switchblades to RiRi’s new LP to Kubrick Watchmen figures to muthafuckin’ remote-control boats that go 300mph. (See how Complex we be?) And each and every item has both a direct link to purchase and an “ASK FOR IT!” button so you can let all your would-be Santas know that you’ve got enough striped ties, thanks. So, get to clickin’ and get your PayPal weight up, ’cause it’s about to get grizzly out there…

• CLICK HERE TO START BROWSING THE COMPLEX GIFT GUIDE!

The Complex Soundboard 2: Click On It!

donniek — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:47:46 +0000

Since we laid down the audible-fuckery blueprint with the world-famous Complex Soundboard, it’s only right that we cook up a worthy sequel. And rest assured, this is no Blueprint 2—nope, we made the O.G. better by diversifying our lineup to feature a wider range of talking heads that includes old dudes (Larry David, Howard Dean), youngins (Latarian Milton), and hot women (Superhead, Olivia Munn, Kim Kardashian). Most importantly, SB 2 features two gems from the one and only Super Craka—you may not know him yet, but you will soon.

As with the original, the fun-filled clickfest above is a fully embeddable, interactive collection of awesome audio clips. Let the chatter begin! After the jump, read our handy legend so you can identify who’s who…

ROW 1: (Left to right) President Obama, Olivia Munn, Ras Kass [Ed.—it's his boy in the clip], Ras Trent, Rick Ross, Eric Cartman, Kanye West (South Park version)

ROW 2: The Joker, Larry David, Lil Wayne, Kim Kardashian, Mooj (from The 40-Year-Old Virgin), Latarian Milton, Jonah Hill

ROW 3: Randy (Aziz Ansari in Funny People), Red (Danny McBride in Pineapple Express), Clay Davis (The Wire), Smokey (Friday), Kanye West, Tommy Buns (DMX in Belly), Howard Dean

ROW 4: Bow Wow, 50 Cent, Brick Tamland (Anchorman), Cam’ron, Kenny Powers, Leon Black (J.B. Smoove in Curb Your Enthusiasm), Super Craka

ROW 5: Brian Collins, Leroy Jenkins, 2Pac, Mike Tyson, Superhead, Craig Robinson (as club bouncer in Knocked Up), Christian Bale

ROW 6: Kim Kardashian, David Letterman, Raekwon, R. Kelly, Super Craka, Jay-Z, O-Dog (Menace II Society)

PREVIOUSLY: The Original Complex Soundboard (August 2009)

Eliza Dushku Covers Our October/November Issue! (3 of 3)

bfred — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:47:40 +0000

X-Mas comes early! Yesterday, and this morning, we unveiled the first two cover stories from our October/November issue (Cover 1: The Clipse x KAWS | Cover 2: Young Jeezy x ESPO), and now we’re dropping our third and final cover—Eliza Dushku—just in time for the premiere of Dollhouse Season 2 this Friday.

The issue hits stands on October 6, but luckily for you, we’ve posted the full gallery (including some issue outtakes!), cover story and behind-the-scenes video. Don’t say we never did anything for ya.

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ELIZA DUSHKU COVER STORY
• CLICK HERE TO SEE ELIZA’S FULL PHOTO GALLERY

WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:

Young Jeezy x ESPO Cover Our October/November Issue! (2 of 3)

bfred — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:30:30 +0000

Yesterday, the internet was going nuts over our Clipse x KAWS collaboration, the first of three cover stories from Complex’s October/November issue (click here if you missed it). Well now it’s time to feast your eyes on our second cover: Young Jeezy, with illustration by Philly graf kingpin ESPO. Both artists are known for flipping American capitalism on it’s head, so the partnership was a natural fit.

The issue hits stands on October 6, but you can check out the full interview by Sacha Jenkins and a behind the scenes video now. Stay tuned tomorrow for the release of our third cover—the issue’s sexy female side.

• CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL JEEZY x ESPO COVER STORY!

WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:

Clipse x KAWS Cover Our October/November Issue! (1 of 3)

bfred — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:14:15 +0000

Welcome to the beginning of Complex’s October/November 2009 issue! If you’ve been keeping up with perennial hip-hop underdogs Clipse, you already know the duo frequently collaborates with art icon KAWS. And with their third studio album ’Till The Casket Drops coming soon, we thought we’d keep the partnership going with our latest collaborative cover. The sick action figure image will be on newsstands everywhere on October 6, but we’re dropping the full feature and behind the scenes video online now to whet your appetite.

Oh, and don’t forget, this is Complex cover week—tomorrow we’ve got a second cover collabo between a rapper and artist, and then on Wednesday we’ve got our third cover that shows off the sexy side of Complex. Stay tuned!

• CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CLIPSE x KAWS COVER STORY!

WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:

Vote For Complex’s 2008 Aubrey O’Day Cover!

bfred — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:38:05 +0000

Click on the image to view a bigger version of the cover.

Here at Complex, we take pride in creating some of the sexiest images to ever hit the newsstand. So we’re thrilled to announce that one of our all-time most talked-about female covers—Aubrey O’Day from October 2008—has been nominated in Amazon.com’s “Best Covers of the Year” contest. In the category of “Sexiest Cover,” the Aubrey image is going up against covers from Vanity Fair, The Advocate, New York, and Elle. And after looking at the nominees, we think you’ll agree that Complex can’t be beat. Follow the link below to help us out!

• CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE IN AMAZON’S COVER CONTEST!

The Complex Soundboard: Click On It!

donniek — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:46:03 +0000

Whether it’s something hilarious a rapper said in a video, or a classic line from our favorite TV show, a majority of our time in the Complex office is ~~wasted~~ spent quoting our favorite lines and catchphrases. That’s why we’ve put together this little bundle of fucking awesomeness called The Complex Soundboard—yep, it’s a fully embeddable, interactive collection of the illest, funniest, and most memorable sound bites from a diverse group of celebrities that includes Bill O’Reilly, Bizzy Bone, Jim Jones…and Jim Jones…and Jim Jones. Crank the speakers, get your clicker-finger ready, and prepare to terrorize your cubicle-mates (or fuck up your school library). Soundboard burial!

Complex Back in the Day: The Best of 1989

justinm — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:05:02 +0000

See what was on our minds in ‘89? Not much has changed.

Any man who’s dated a chick for more than a month knows that things go in cycles. To constantly bring you the future of freshness like we do, Complex has to keep perspective on not only what is hot, but also what was hot so we can stay one step ahead of your average retro kid. And thus our new feature “Complex Back In The Day” was born.

See, Complex might have been founded in 2003, but our taste is timeless. What would we have covered if we were around 10, 15, or 20 years ago? For the first edition of “Complex Back In The Day,” we’re taking a close look at The Best of 1989. We created fake covers with some of our favorite ’89 celebs, and then rounded up our favorite sneakers, movies, TV shows, albums, video games, women, brands, trends, and more in a series of top 10 lists…

JUMP TO ONE OF OUR “BEST OF 1989″ LISTS:

Keri Hilson Covers Our August/September Style & Design Issue!

bfred — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:48:33 +0000

Yesterday, we unveiled our cover collaboration between Kid Cudi and Augor (catch up!), and today we’re giving you the other side of our annual Style & Design issue (August/September): Atlanta singer Keri Hilson. In a collaboration with French artist So-Me (you may know him from videos like Kanye’s “The Good Life,” Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” and Kid Cudi’s “Day & Nite”), we captured Miss Keri’s sexy, playful style like never before. The issue officially hits stands next week (August 11), but we’ve got more than enough to keep you busy til then…

• CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL KERI HILSON COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KERI HILSON x SO-ME GALLERY!

WATCH THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO:

Kid Cudi Covers Our August/September Style & Design Issue

Joe — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:21:34 +0000

Back on his first (and only) official mixtape Kid Cudi rapped, “They say I’m Complex like the magazine, I want my closet complex like the magazine.” A bit of foreshadowing? Perhaps, because the G.O.O.D. Music MC is now a Complex cover star, appearing on our August/September 2009 issue, the annual Style & Design special, which officially hits stands on August 11.

The self-proclaimed lonely stoner is currently on The Great Hangover Tour with Asher Roth, and has fans eagerly awaiting his debut album The Man On The Moon: End Of Day, which is now set for September 15. His melody-heavy raps bring an innovative sound to the game, which is why we paired him up with graf artist AUGOR for some illustrations that show Cudi battling his demons. We just put the whole story up online, and you’ll see that Cudi really invited us inside the mind of Scott Mescudi. You think you know, but you have no idea…

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL KID CUDI COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KID CUDI x AUGOR GALLERY!

RECAP: Complex’s Best of 2009 (So Far)

bfred — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:20:12 +0000

To commemorate the first 6 months of the year, the Complex team spent last week putting together a series of lists on 2009’s best releases (so far). Which products made the cut? Check ’em all out now:

• THE BEST OF 2009 (SO FAR): The Top 10 Sneakers
• THE BEST OF 2009 (SO FAR): The Top 10 Albums
• THE BEST OF 2009 (SO FAR): Style Essentials
• THE BEST OF 2009 (SO FAR): The Top 10 Video Games
• THE BEST OF 2009 (SO FAR): The Top 10 Movies

Jonah Hill Covers The June/July Issue of Complex!

bfred — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:55:01 +0000

Could Jonah Hill be the new king of pop? The scene stealing actor from flicks like Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall is taking 2009 by storm—he stars in America’s current #1 movie (Night At The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian), as well as Judd Apatow’s upcoming dramedy Funny People, and he’s even co-writing and producing Sacha Baron Cohen’s eagerly anticipated Brüno flick. To celebrate Jonah’s new superstar status, we photographed him in various Michael Jackson-themed scenarios for our off-the-wall June/July 2009 cover story. Shamon!

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL JONAH HILL COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE MICHAEL JACKSON-THEMED GALLERY!

Watch the behind-the-scenes video below…

Katy Perry Covers The June/July Issue of Complex!

bfred — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:46:05 +0000

We have to admit, it took us a while to come around to pop’s latest princess Katy Perry. But somewhere between “I Kissed A Girl” dominating radio airwaves and her two-riffic Grammy appearance, we realized that the female K.P. is in fact the complete wifey package—sexy, funny, talented, and easy-going. Don’t believe us? Get to know Katy a lot better in our June/July cover story…

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE KATY PERRY COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KATY PERRY GALLERY!

Watch the behind-the-scenes video below…

Ashley Tisdale & Vanessa Hudgens Are Twice The Fun

Joe — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:01:24 +0000

Our friends at The Bastardly said that Ashley Tisdale & Vanessa Hudgens were their lesbian fantasy for the day. Good enough for us. More pics over here.

Peep this Miller vs Bud beer girl showdown. [CoedMag]

Reebok gets back with Orchard Street for a different looking sneaker. [Nice Kicks]

Here is the first real relationship translator.

Owww. New Marisa Miller bikini shots.

Phew. You’re no longer allowed to have sex with animals in Florida. [Flisted]

Bawse! This is the funniest video you’ll see today.

If you’re a fan of the Fast & Furious, click HERE.

The Class Of 2009 Covers Complex’s April (Fool’s) Issue!

bfred — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:05:30 +0000

By now, we’re sure you’ve seen our latest issue with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian on the cover. Well, the issue was so popular that it sold out completely in less than a week! To make up for the issue flying off stands so quickly, we decided to rush out a second issue for the month of April: Meet The Class of 2009!

That’s right, Complex has chosen our 6 favorite trendsetters to grace our latest split cover: Aaron “Yung L.A.” Reid, Officer Ricky and Sean Kingston on one side, and Stack$, Yung Berg and Nefu Da Don on the other. The issue hits stands today, so go cop it! Get full size covers below…

Kim Kardashian Covers The April/May Issue of Complex!

bfred — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:05:48 +0000

In case you couldn’t tell from the groundbreaking Kanye West cover story we unveiled yesterday, Complex’s April/May 2009 issue is gonna be a doozy. For the issue’s other cover, we knew we had to get a woman who could go toe-to-toe with 'Ye’s larger-than-life celebrity. Who else but our girl Kim?

See, Complex was the first magazine to feature Kim Kardashian on a cover back in 2007, just before she blew up. And now that she’s America’s Sweetheart, we had to reunite and do something different for our annual Green Issue. Instead of the same old cookie cutter sexy shoot, we decided to go conceptual'shooting Kim in front of a series of projected backgrounds that highlight our planet’s environmental plight. Think of it as curves with a cause.

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE KIM KARDASHIAN COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KIM KARDASHIAN GALLERY!

Watch the behind-the-scenes video below…

Kanye West Covers The April/May Issue Of Complex!

bfred — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:06:16 +0000

No matter how many times we collaborate with him, we can always count on Kanye to come with a completely original idea when it’s time do a cover story. And as you probably guessed from the preview he posted on his blog back in January, we’ve got something really special planned for our April/May 2009 issue.

The magazine officially hits stands on April 7, but you can check out the full story now, along with the futuristic photo shoot, co-created with photographer/director Chris Milk. How did we make the hi-tech computer generated imagery? Watch the video below to see the whole process…

• CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL KANYE WEST COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE FOR THE “MAKING OF THE AIR YEEZY” STORY!

Tomorrow we’ll be revealing the other side of our April/May issue: Kim Kardashian!

Elisha Cuthbert Covers Our Feb/March Issue!

bfred — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:51:56 +0000

What is it about our Feb/March cover girl Elisha Cuthbert? Maybe it’s her sense of humor, her perfect body, or her good-girl-gone-bad looks. Or maybe it’s her roles: the jailbait jump-off in Old School, the terror-fightin’ daughter in 24, or the ex-porn star in The Girl Next Door. Whatever it is, we got it bad'even if she only dates pro-hockey players.

Our first issue of 2009 officially hits stands on February 10 (click here to check out the issue’s other cover story with Kobe Bryant), but we’re giving you a chance to check out the cover story (and the sexy photo shoot) right now. Still not enough? Watch our special behind-the-scenes video below and you’ll feel like you were there…

CLICK HERE TO SEE ELISHA’S COMPLEX COVER STORY!

Kobe Bryant Covers Our Feb/March Issue!

bfred — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:03:34 +0000

He’s been in the public eye since he escorted Brandy to the senior prom, but the truth is, not many people really know who Kobe Bryant is. For our Feb/March 2009 cover story, we really wanted to get inside the NBA superstar’s head, so we sent the one member of our staff who can relate to million-dollar checks and the ups and downs of life in the spotlight: our founder Marc Ecko.

Whether you love him or hate him, you won’t knock Kobe’s hustle after reading our candid Q&A. The issue officially hits stands on February 10, but we’re giving you the chance to check out the full Kobe cover story now, along with a few videos we shot on location at the shoot.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE KOBE COVER STORY!

VIDEO: Marc Ecko Interviews Kobe
VIDEO: Kobe Breaks Down His New Nikes

Preview Complex’s April/May Kanye West Cover Shoot

Joe — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:04:36 +0000

Ah, Kanye you spilled the beans again. Over the weekend, Mr. West posted some pictures on his blog that show the behind the scenes process of his upcoming Complex cover shoot. Yup, the secret's out'we're hooking up with 'Ye on some next-level shit for our April/May Issue, which drops on April 7.

Renowed video director/photographer Chris Milk is shooting the Louis Vuitton Don with a little help from the Graphics Lab at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, the same special effects team who worked on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. As Kanye said, there won’t be any grey hairs on this cover, but we don’t want to give away any more of the final concept. Hold your breath, it's going to be a banger…

Click Here To See More Behind The Scenes Pics At Kanye's Blog