Common 33Hi Sneakers Designed By The Busy Bodies (Marc Davis & Pritt Kalsi)

Today, we have the honor of giving one of Chicago’s own his flowers, hailing from the south side of Chicago, Common formerly known as Common Sense is a legend in the game. From Unsigned Hype (Source Magazine) to being one Tony award away from achieving EGOT status is no easy feat and as it stands no other rapper has ever won an Emmy, Grammy and Oscar—he’s the first to ever do it and it puts him in rarified air but he’s often overlooked when the greatest of all-time rappers are discussed. His debut album is considered a classic today but that wasn’t the case when it first released in 1992 produced by NO ID, Twilite Tone and the Beatnuts it had no big name features, he was almost the first rapper to go platinum without a feature word to Cole. It’s safe to say that at 31 years old, Can I Borrow A Dollar? has aged beautifully, now an industry veteran, Common is as relevant today as he was when he first burst unto the scene and that is why we have partnered with him to release a Can I Borrow A Dollar? Inspired 33 HI. We chose this album specifically not only because it was his debut but because the 33 HI also appears on the album cover. The 33 HI features a black leather upper with royal blue accenting and sits atop a gum sole but what really sets this shoe apart is that it features a colorful stitched pattern all throughout the shoe to represent the road map of the United States featured on the album cover. As Common explained to us the reason he had a road map of the United States on the album cover was because “I had cats from the East Coast on here and cats from the West Coast, that’s what Hip Hop just was at that time and as a Chicago artist I wanted to say hey, can I get a piece of this? So thats what Can I Borrow a Dollar? Was”. In a full circle moment, the Can I Borrow A Dollar? 33 HI was designed with the help of Marc Davis (a childhood friend of Common) who’s also on the album cover and Pritt Kalsi aka Busy Bodies. The Can I Borrow A Dollar? 33 HI is now available in limited quantities in sizes 5-16 exclusively on ewingathletics.com so borrow as many dollars as you need because once these sell out they’re gone for good.

New Unreleased Don Black Man 7 inch edited by Marc Davis & Tone B. Nimble

A. Say You'll Be Mine / B. Your Love Makes Me Crazy Don Blackman is a truly iconic, cult artist. A pianist, songwriter, producer, and vocalist from New York he is a mystical figure for record collectors, one of those artists where if you found an old dusty record with Don's name on it, you'd buy it on sight. Hip-hop heads, jazz, funk, disco, rare groove, and soul fans all share a love for his music, it seems to possess a quality that resonates with a wide spectrum of music lovers. Don is best known for his 1982 magnum-opus, the eponymous album released on Arista GRP. It featured the all-time classics 'Heart's Desire' and 'Holding You, Loving You', and is consistently remarkable throughout. He also collaborated with other greats such as Bernard Wright, Weldon Irvine, Roy Ayers, and Lenny White. We couldn't quite believe it when Chicago DJ/digger/producer, Marc Davis (Black Pegasus), told us he had heard of a vault of unreleased Don Blackman material. Marc had reached out to Don Blackman's children, Irene and Kyle, in 2019, building a relationship with Kyle with whom he shared a musical affinity. To Marc's delight, Kyle confirmed that there was a treasure trove of Don’s music that had never seen the light of day. As Kyle described it, “In 2013, shortly after my dad’s passing, my sister and I collected all of his possessions and put them in a storage unit. After 2 years I finally got back into the groove of things and went through the unit. I came across forty years’ worth of music history. Hundreds of cassettes, CDs, Disks, reel-to-reels, paperwork, photos and VHS tapes. It took about ten years to organise and digitise everything. All of this magic was almost thrown away in the trash, never to be seen, never to be heard forever.” Two tracks were selected, 'Your Love Makes Me Crazy' and 'Say You'll Be Mine'. 'Your Love Makes Me Crazy' is as funky as it gets, with infectiously catchy vocal hooks, and a serious jam, whereas ‘Say You’ll Be Mine’ is a classy, soulful boogie, instrumental number, that shows off Don’s masterful piano playing. Both tracks warrant full attention and capture a genius at work. He was also a one-man show when it came to production. He played all of the instruments and emulated the sounds of different instruments through patches on his keyboard. He recorded these tunes in his home studio in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City. On first hearing the tracks, Marc knew he wanted to extend the songs and enlisted fellow Chicago legend, Tone B. Nimble, to work on the project with him. Their extension/edit of the songs was conducted in a way that was respectful and true to how the tracks were originally recorded by Don. They extended and re-sequenced the groovy parts of the songs organically for the DJs and dancers. In Marc's words, "Don Blackman was a true musician and an awesome songwriter. The beauty in it is many people are just now discovering him and his music which helps keep his legacy alive." A huge thank you to Kyle, Irene, Marc, and Tone for allowing us the honour to release these raw-soulful nuggets from a true master of his craft. The final words on this release are best coming from Kyle… “We are very excited and thrilled to continue to share all of this unreleased magic with the world. We hope that this music will help, heal, and inspire a new generation of artists to never give up, and to strive for what their hearts desire.” RIP Don Blackman, your light shines on. 7" Vinyl includes lyric sheet insert. Artwork design by Raimund Wong.

Sadar Bahar and Marc Davis Disco Beat Down EP Fatty Fatty Records

Ireland's Fatty Fatty Records latest release incorporates Chicago All Star Crate diggers Sadar Bahar and Marc Davis as they join forces with long time friend Rahaan who handles the enginering of two fine tweaks of suitably obscure tracks. A-side 'Disco' is a groovy, funky, horn-heavy affair; a sumptuously string-laden, orchestrated blend of righteous gospel-soul, Philadelphia International style proto-disco and grooves reminiscent of those frequently employed on Steely Dan's most up-beat moments. 'Beat Down' meanwhile is a jaunty, percussive and sun-soaked slab of dancefloor-ready Latin jazz that speeds up as it goes along. The jazz dancers will love it!

Sadar Bahar & Marc Davis Gospel Disco

It is a huge honour to present the Disco Gospel 12”, curated and edited by Chicago's Marc Davis and Sadar Bahar. Featuring two under-the-radar disco / gospel fusion tracks that have been given a new lease of life courtesy of these masters of their craft. We first came to know Marc through his always on-point Black Pegasus record label, which he’s been running since 2006. As a renowned international DJ, record collector, and an integral part of Chicago's underground music scene, we knew anything he sent our way was going to be serious and he didn’t disappoint. Joining forces with Sadar Bahar (Soul in the Hole), who is himself a gospel and disco legend and a DJ's DJ favourite across the globe, they dug deep and put us onto two absolute gems from their beloved collections. As DJs who play a wide range of genres, their ability to spot the real heat within any sound has placed them at the top of their game. As Sadar puts it, "We are always digging for records and these fit the criteria of disco and happen to be gospel”. First up is the feel-good joint 'I'm So Happy' by Fountain of Life Joy Choir Under The Direction of Kevin Yancy. Originally released in 1978 on a subsidiary label of T.K. Productions entitled Gospel Roots, the clue is in the title with this one. It's an unadulterated, uplifting, joyous dancer. Marc and Sadar’s fizzing edit brings out the best elements of the song and extends them. Working the addictive vocal hooks and building the funky instrumental grooves produces a spirit-lifting mood that is bursting with enough energy to light a fire under any dancefloor. 'Optical Illusion' on the flip, takes the tempo down, but doesn’t let up on the vigour. It’s a driving, stomping anthem that features another lung-busting vocal performance. Working with a live recording of Rev. Charles H. Nicks and The Baptist Assembly Of Free Spirit Churches Mass Choir, this one proves to be the perfect accompaniment to the ecstatic vibe of the A-side. The duo has condensed and heightened the drama of the song and added some light-touch production elements to clean up and enhance the sound. We guarantee this will be filtering its way into the sets of discerning DJs worldwide. Marc described the selections best when he succinctly put it like this, “We both knew these were two heaters on our first listen”. We completely agree, and with recording and engineering contributions from Tone B. Nimble (Soul Is My Salvation) and Rahaan, here we have Chicago royalty creating an unmissable release that celebrates the crossover of dance music with the musical tra ditions of the church.