Championship Diamonds- Jason Of Beverly Hills

I had a blast writing this and I love the way it’s laid out. I’m also glad I tracked down one of the key players behind NBA Championship jewellery. Jason, as you can tell by his “of Beverly Hills” alias, is such a character. Who else would have two children also named Jason? This guy.

“Jewellery is a form of communication. It says how we feel about ourselves, who we remember and what we believe. A necklace might convey wealth, religion, marital status or pure, unfettered, fresh to death, wipe me down, swag. 

No matter what the jewels proclaim, Jason of Beverly Hills loves the conversation. Drake and ASAP Rocky’s favourite iceman, he adorns A-listers, royalty and the mega-rich. Jason’s lockbox includes diamond-encrusted loafers, a $400k iPhone case and the priciest toy car ever made. Basketball, however, is the soul of the operation.

Around half of all active NBA players wear Jason’s product. His reputation for educating rather than fleecing stars means he’s often introduced right after they’re drafted. LeBron, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green all met the jeweller before their first games.  

Financial wisdom aside, players also depend on JBH’s discretion. He’ll produce a disco-ball chain for a draft pick, help surprise their childhood friend or privately commemorate their loved one. JBH will polish the wedding ring – he’ll also appease the side-chick who didn’t get invited.

Jason’s so ingrained in the NBA; he’s learned to interpret the signs of a long career as well an upcoming blowout. Jewellery purchases say more than you’d think.

When a player examines what they’re buying, to learn what separates the VVS from the cubic zirconia – that attention to detail often translates into their wider career. A rookie who’s savvy with diamonds will likely read a sponsorship deal closely or think twice about leasing that third Mercedes. 

Read the full piece here.

Finding Zen in Mastery: A Conversation with Photographer Adam Marelli

Few know like artistic greatness like Adam Marelli. The New York photographer has documented master craftsman across the globe. I couldn't resist the opportunity to dig further into his brain. On this content elevator, there's a written feature below and an audio interview up-top. I can write a word or two, but this is my first time recording sound. It's not a podcast. It's an experiment. Stay for the wisdom, ignore the rookie presentation. Thanks! - Jimmy

Master Yasuhiro Hirakawa expertly moulds a knife in his Japanese studio.

Adam Marelli has decoded mastery. Through decades of studying craftspeople and notable artists, he's unravelled the mystique of perfecting a skill. 

Shooting maestros in their reclusive workshops enables Marelli to observe vocation honing up-close. From Japanese knife makers sharpening a 400-year-old practice to Venetian carvers chiselling wooden gondolas, Adam has a rare intimacy with excellence. 

Marelli's credentials as a builder and creative participant grant him access to sequestered workrooms. Makers guard their techniques and transfer skills to a select few. Their timeworn knowledge is the product of multiple generations and often passed through oral tradition. 

Documenting elite creators defines Adam's work as a photographer, teacher and artist.

Luckily, he's sharing the learnings for those not invited to the grandmaster's studio. 

Marelli began scrutinizing artists as a juvenile and later at NYU. He probed the biographies of Da Vinci, Michelangelo and other mythic figures for insight into their process. Seeking the key to their brilliance while attempting to hone his own, he unmasked the myth of innate talent. 

Historic maestros weren't immediately capturing the pillars of the Parthenon. They started simple and progressed slowly. 

Leonardo sketched hands a thousand times. Van Gogh drew apples, many apples. Artists weren't slogging through the 10,000-hour rule like scientific research. They enjoyed the creative process. They had fun. 

Yes, they even failed. Lighting master Caravaggio had several works rejected; the Renaissance equivalent of a public scandal. Bands make bad albums. Million-dollar statues get hidden away in cupboards. 

Bow makers at Shibata workshop just outside of Kyoto.

Despite cliched accounts of painters leapfrogging between achievements, Adam's career is closer to reality. He wasn't the born savant of Netflix biopics. As a 10-year-old, Adam was only marginally ahead of his classmates. There was no divine gift. In his own words, he had to "take some time to really suck." 

Adam also admits to a "touch and go" relationship with work. Most artists he knew were of the struggling kind. Marelli also undertook the typical hospitality jobs after college. Unimpressed with his NYU experience, his formative study was entirely unacademic. He spent ten years apprenticing with a master builder and studied under a Zen monk. 

Somehow his unorthodox path made sense. Marelli's now a multi-platform artist; working in sculpture, painting the ocean's surface, designing celestial building installations and of course, taking photos. 

Rather than further mystify the artistic journey, Adam sets the roadmap for others. His photography classes are a bright pearl in the digital sea of lukewarm content. Marelli's lucid curriculum makes the journey from rookie to adept feel less like wizardry and more like the inevitable consequence of making an effort. 

"I can just lay out a few lily-pads to get you where you want to go and then you can expand endlessly," he attests. 

Roberto Tramontin precisely shapes a Venetian gondola. His company D. Co Tramontin E Figli was founded four generation ago in 1884.

Adam removes the pomposity from art. This ensures the formidable topic is not only understandable but enjoyable for those of us who've ever felt silly at the museum. 

He says artisans have laid a roadmap for anyone to learn from, but their expertise is camouflaged by pretension.  

"Most art books, the ones that I read in school, they were crushingly boring. You'd have to be a lunatic to really get into this stuff, they were so dry. Artists lives were anything but dry, but they were passed through this academic filter."

In the above audio , we discuss Adam's beginnings and his humble career path. We also examine what he learned capturing remote tribes in Vanuatu, the similarities between master craftsman across the globe, and his advice for pursuing mastery in our own lives. 

All photos by Adam. Check out his website here: http://www.adammarelli.com/

Educate yourself on his workshops and online tutorials: https://amworkshops.com/

Adam's YouTube tutorials live here. Follow him on Instagram too. 

Audio credits: 

Intro California by Soyb & Amine Maxwell https://soundcloud.com/soybmusic https://soundcloud.com/aminemaxwell Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/syb-amine-california Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/aXCwXsa2T4E

Outro Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

Latest Basketball Article - An Interview with a Jordanian MVP

This piece is the first in an ongoing series I pitched to tell the story of the NBA’s global influence. With help from FIBA Asia, I spoke to Jordanian basketballer Mahmoud Abdeen.

Just like every other kid in the world, Abdeen practiced Allen Iverson’s famous crossover in his backyard and stayed awake far past his bedtime so he could catch NBA games in a Middle Eastern timezone. Mahmoud is a perfect example of the globalization of a formerly American sport and he’s now using his own unique career to change the face of sports locally.

“The bustling metropolis of Amman sits within Jordan’s sun-scorched hillside. Pharaoh Ptolemy II dubbed the region “Philadelphus” after his own alias. A millennium and multiple dynasties later; a stateside settler recycled the title for a Pennsylvanian colony. He christened the future home of The 76ers; “Philadelphia,” due to its translated meaning “brotherly love.” 

Amman’s basketball ruler Mahmoud Abdeen continues the historic exchange. The MVP of Jordan’s premier league, Abdeen forged his gameplay on Philadelphia royalty. His signature crossover into step-back three was defined by hours of mimicking durag don A.I.

“[As a kid] I remember I was watching Allen Iverson,” Abdeen recalls. “I [would] go to my garden and I was trying to make his move. I had a video of him crossing over, stepping back, like repeating the shot again and again.”  

Trained via NBA highlight reel, Mahmoud’s heat-seeking jumper is a crack-shot. A hardwood sniper, the 32-year-old Jordanian meditates to the sound of swishes. He repped Jordan in the FIBA world cup twice and proudly carries the nation on his back.”

Full piece published here.

Jeezy Interview for Brick Mag

Profiled the hustle god Young Jeezy for Brick. Available in UK and US stores, or pre-order here.

Here's a snippet too. 

Tech has Steve Jobs, Buddhists have the Dalai Lama, the streets have Jeezy. Trap’s avowed saint, his voice scolds subwoofers like hot coal. Each rasped ad-lib is a street mantra. Every “aye” or “let’s get it” a firm earworm, sticking to the synapses and energising dopeboys. Harder than mortar, renowned for flipping bricks of another kind, Jeezy’s perpetually consistent. The Snowman has soundtracked more white powder than Frosty. But it’s more than that. Whether flipping rock or real estate, Jay Wayne Jenkins embodies the grind. He’s the street dream, the late shift, the second job on a Sunday, the determination to succeed and the hustle to do it. Who else took a pay cut to pursue music and picked Birdman up in a Porsche before fame, just to stunt? Who else negotiated simultaneous contracts with L.A Reid and Diddy, counted America’s most infamous cartel B.M.F as allies and bought two million of real cash to a cover shoot because he didn’t want any fakery? Only Jeezy.

Now 40, and pursuing a tenth street sermon, the Snowman’s an industry vet. From grams to Grammy nominations, number one albums to false arrests and public beef, he’s seen it all. Jeezy should be satisfied, at peace. But that’s not how the resolute hustler operates, he’s addicted to adversity. Years of pot whipping and pistol gripping will do that. “I just feel like you should never stop challenging yourself, that had a lot to do with my success. Just being put in predicaments that I could figure or navigate myself through, that’s the excitement.” Talking to Jeezy is like attending a prime motivational seminar, minus cheering moms and regrettable instalment fees. A hood Tony Robbins, his conversation makes you want to be better, try harder, do more. We half-joke about starting an advice column. Every other line is quotable. He means it too. “Your next move has got to be your best move, especially if you’re from where we’re from. It’s always about getting to that next level, surrounding yourself with the right things. How can you push yourself to do something you’ve never done before? That’s what it’s always about.”

Dam Funk In Brick Vol #3

While galavanting around LA last year, I was lucky enough to interview Dam Funk. 

Los Angeles is inherently funky. Remnants of the paisley era occupy the city’s 500-mile radius. It’s in the fluorescent sun- set, Dre’s gangsta bounce and sporadic Impalas sweltering on palm lined avenues. As traffic crawls over motorways and humidity distorts the horizon, rare stations transmit bygone grooves. The zenith might be over, but funk is vital to Ca- li’s hub. Pasadena native Damon Riddick understands this. As Dâm-Funk, he’s advanced the genre more than anyone in the last decade. Yet, the modern funkster may never see his deserved recognition.

No fads, no sell-outs, integrity, sincerity, funk-first. Dâm’s unyielding values and uplifting tunes energise masses. Flick through social media and you’ll find someone who re- bukes fame’s façade. Riddick speaks as someone working in the industry, but not of the industry. His feed is stacked with virtuous mantras, every acknowledgement of success pref- aced by “humbly speaking.” Truly uncommon in an attention craving curriculum, Dâm is about his craft above all. In per- son, he exerts a passion for music, often claimed, but rarely possessed. When we convene at his favorite spot, The Cork in humble Ladera Heights, Riddick spends the first 30 minutes curating an afternoon soundtrack. The bar’s NFL commentary is silenced for a groove history lesson, but no one utters a complaint. You can’t fault Dâm for commandeering the juke- box, he’s more than earned it.

For the full piece, you can purchase Brick here. There's tons of great photography and articles better than mine.