Urban Exploring: Mott Street Cycles (Special Edition)
In this special edition of Urban Exploring, Iquan takes Guru to pick up his bike from Mott Street Cycles in China Town NYC. The two explore the shop and then cruise through the lower east side and Manhattan Bridge.
It all started a week prior to this journey when Iquan discovered Mott Street Cycles and immediately brought his bike from the unique and well branded bike shop. While heading back to Jersey Iquan texted Guru about the discovery and sent a few photos of the bicycle, Guru instantly said... "I want one". The very next day, the two headed over to China Town to order Guru's custom bike. It was a simple process, walk in, point at what you want, tell them the colors and what accessories then within 5 minutes your bike is ordered. Guru color choice was based off Iquan's color scheme which is the color scheme of the Artoholiks overall branding.
In a matter of days, Guru got the call from MSC to pick up his brand new means of transportation, the Urban Exploring duo got there within an hour and began they're exploration around downtown Manhattan. And just like that they created another story for Artoholiks.com, enjoy the video above and check out more photos in the photobooth. Deuces!
THE DISCOVERIES
MOTT STREET CYCLES
MSC Customs is a local bike and apparel company based in China Town Manhattan. Specializing in assembling fine personalized bicycles at a reasonable price, built with a commuters mindset. Learn More[/one_third]
Urban Exploring: Episode 5 – Orane Williams
In this episode Iquan get's up earlier than usual to catch his friend Orane Williams at the gym as he get's ready for a very important day. Watch Orane and Iquan workout at Retro Fitness in Kenilworth, NJ, grab breakfast from Mark Twain in Union, NJ, then head to Montclair State University as Orane sits on a 'swagger panel' in front of over 300 young males.
Discoveries:
- Orane Williams
- Mark Twain Diner
- Retro Fitness
- Montclair State University outreach program
Music:
Clear Blue - Light Roast
Shot Written & Edited:
Iquan Worthington
Thanks:
Orane Williams
Urban Exploiring: Lil Wyte (Special Edition)
In this special edition of Urban Exploring, Iquan and Guru get access to hang out with Memphis rap star Lil Wyte and his friends in New York City at the Merchants Cigar Bar for his album release of 'No Sick Days'. Check out the recap of their night.
DISCOVERIES in this EPISODE
Lil Wyte:
Patrick Lanshaw better known by his stage name Lil Wyte, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a member of the rap collective Hypnotize Minds and owner of the independent label Wyte Music. Read More
Merchants NY Cigar Bar:
Cigars & cocktails are accompanied by an American food menu at this clubby basement lounge. Learn More
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Urban Exploring: Episode 4 – THE InstaMEET
In this episode Iquan Worthington hops out of the car and on to NYC transit to meet up and document with a group of street photographers as they roam parts of NYC in search of the best Instagram photos of the day.
In this journey Iquan hooks up with fellow Artoholik/friend Steve Cancel a.k.a @smbnyc, and pretty much shadow him as they both get to know the group of young street photographers starting out at Grand Central Station and ending in Long Island City. The whole idea started when Steve noticed that Iquan commented they're mutual Instagram buddie @4thkind photo, once the two realized that they were both trying to connect with him they pretty fell into the instaMEET group put together by @cityof_dreams. Overall the day was long and tiring from constant walking, taking, stopping, posing, and sharing ideas. The end result? We all earned new friends, new respect for our work and have documentation on exploring parts of the most beautiful city in the world.
Special shout of to @cityof_dreams, @smbnyc, @truthsoverlies and @cathya0528 for contributing their photos to the video.
Here's the rest of the crew, follow them all..
@truthsoverlies, @
We hope you enjoyed another Artoholik Original Story. Click here for the photobooth of this event.
Urban Exploring: Episode 3 - Sunday's Beats for Brunch
In our third episode of Urban Exploring, IquanW hops in a cab with Guru and DJ Ream Supreme to check out "Sunday's Beats for Brunch" at Pianos in the LES of Manhattan. As the crowd enjoyed food and drinks, Laytonic, El Siete, DJ Polarity and The Grand Affair each had an hour to bless the crowd with good music. Enjoy this mini recap of event.
"Sundays Beats for Brunch was once just an idea, but with a little bit of time, networking, and getting to know one another, Laytonic's idea for Sunday's Beats for Brunch came to fruition.
It's always astounding when something imagined or pictured in the mind becomes a reality, but when that reality becomes a successful idea, it just let's you know that you were born to create.
To us, this day was a success not because of the number of people that attended or because of the amount of money made, but for the simple fact that all of our friends that share the same story as creators were here to witness an idea turn into a goal. That goal became Sunday's Beats for Brunch." - IquanW
Urban Exploring: The Internet x Phony PPL (Special Edition)
This past weekend we went out to chill with the lovely folks at SOB's and was treated to a great show performed by The Internet and Phony Ppl. Phony Ppl set the tone of the night, their energy was great and they kept the crowd excited at all times.
When The Internet took the stage, the crew went nuts as if they weren't hyped enough. Syd & Matt Martian lived up to their expectations, mixing some of their old joints in with tracks off their latest release Feel Good.
Even after the show, both bands came to hang out and chill. Everyone was extremely friendly, posing for photos with one another, exchanging social media handles and simply soaking up what was the end of a dope night out. But of course you know the night didn't end for us, Urban Exploring with The Artoholiks always require food. We left SOBs and headed East, to enjoy a burger from Mikey's on Ludlow St. in the Lower Eastside.
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Urban Exploring: Episode 2 - Harvey Hirsch
In this edition of Urban Exploring, IquanW's former employer Harvey Hirsch takes over the episode to show him and Guru his old neighborhood, Coney Island. The trio started the day by having breakfast at one of Harvey's favorite spots, The El Greco Diner in Sheepshead Bay and after chowing down on the Brooklyn Breakfast of Eggs, Locks and Onions, they took a short ride to Brighton Beach where Harvey grew up. Harvey then showed the two where he made his first dollar by hustling comic books, sandwiches and lemonade to the beach goers. The last stop was lunch at the Original Nathans for some good old fashion hot dogs!
Here’s why we decided to ask Harvey to be included in this month's adventure...
Harv has traveled the world, in the US ARMY in Vietnam as a helicopter Crew Chief in 1968 and as an international marketing expert. He started and managed one of the most innovative direct market firms in America, winning all sorts of prestigious awards for his strategic communications work and for his revolutionary patented marketing technology. In fact in 2006 Xerox named his firm #1 on the planet when they awarded him their First Place PIXI Award for Variable Marketing. IquanW and many other students worked as paid interns in his agency, (and learned secrets that enable us to get and keep jobs). Now he's a food video blogger, specializing and having fun with getting his videos placed on page one of organic Google searches. But most importantly, Harv said he would buy us a real Brooklyn breakfast. He’s just a fun guy and he knows things and that's why you hang with a foodie! Check out his YouTube channels... Food of the World and Free Range Chow Hound. That's it for this month's Urban Exploring, stay tuned for Episode 3.
Urban Exploring: Episode 1 - Moruf & Aaron Brown
Back in January, we kept the love in Newark, NJ and attended a special event to celebrate Dubois's birthday, hosted by our friends Kaylan Jones and the P-N-F crew. The small yet intimate event featured a live performance by local rapper Moruf who currently holds a mean street buzz right now in the music world. Moruf released his latest mix tape back in December titled Shades of Moo. The following morning we hung out in Harrison, NJ; a little town right outside of Newark to catch up with fellow Artoholik Aaron Brown. Aaron was in town from Brooklyn to shoot video for a track off his newly released poetry album Under Construction. Our message in this story... spending time with friends is always a beautiful thing, but supporting those friends is even better. That's it for now, we hope you enjoyed Urban Exploring with us.
Urban Exploring: Starter Club House (Special Edition)
Last week we got an opportunity to get a sneak peek into the Starter Clubhouse, which is now open in NYC's Times Square at the Paramount Hotel.
The clubhouse offers Starter NFL, NBA, and MLB Satin Jackets, as well as limited edition collaboration products under the premium Starter Black Label. We were amazed at the merchandising of the space as well as the assortment. Products ranged from Satin Jackets to Snapbacks, Crewneck Sweaters and knit hats. Not to mention they're killing it when it comes to collaborations by teaming up with folks such as Dee & Ricky, Stussy, Slo Bucks, Kith and more. The shop is now open through the end of February to the general public, so be sure to stop in and shop their one-of-a-kind apparel. Shout out to Starter for letting us come through, we definitely enjoyed the tour before the doors opened. Oh yeah, if you choose to swing by, be sure to tell them the Artoholiks sent you! Peace!
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Photos & Video: IquanW & Guru
Urban Exploring: Harpers Ferry
During the Christmas break, my lovely wife and I took a mini vacation to West Virgina to visit family. During the trip, we were suggested to take a vacation from the vacation and visit Harpers Ferry.
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States that's situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers where the U.S. states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. Little did we know that we were walking on US history, we later learned that Harpers Ferry is best known for John Brown's raid on the Armory in 1859 and its role in the American Civil War. Initially, we parked at the north end and were very confused on what we were supposed to see. All we could see were facility buildings, trees, and mountains (which were extremely beautiful and refreshing) and we thought we'd see more. Though we were confused and disappointed we took the opportunity to snap some photos of the scenery.
Luckily, we ran into some facility employees that nicely directed us to the suggested area and my god what a big difference it was! This section was a tiny old school town filled with restaurants, coffee, ice cream, and novelty shops. It was easy to tell that each and every building was well maintained. The type of facades that you see in historical-themed movies.
The highlight of the mini trip was a short walk (0.3) from the Bolivar Heights parking area that provided great views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains, the Potomac River water gap, and the Shenandoah Valley. At this point is where we had the most fun. See below...
Lastly, we decided to stop for a bite at The Coffee Mill, where we had a light snack and some coffee. The fresh baked peach pie was Aleesha's choice, while I enjoyed a warm slice of pumpkin pie. Overall, we really enjoyed our one hour there (it got dark) and look forward to going back with the kids. I wouldn't recommend traveling to this place if it's not on the way to another destination, but if you're into camping, hiking, and researching/documenting history, then this is definitely the place to go. That's it for now, enjoy the photos below!
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