Tis’ once again the season to celebrate Fashion… New York’s ultra select Beatrice Inn is hosting a one of a kind event showcasing Paris’s most infamous party girls! Mrs Busy P. aka Madame Communication for Colette aka HEADBANGIRL,will be spinning all night, her partner in crime Fafi will show us that she’s as agile with a record as she is with her paintbrush. With the Miami born lolita Uffie acting as the host, and a crew of sick female DJs this is a party you don’t wanna to miss! This ultimate ladies’ night is brought to you by Married to the MOB, Jalouse Magazine and Colette bien sur. When? Tuesday February 5th @ 9pm. Where? Beatrice INN, 285 W. 12th St, NYC.

Neck Face is considered by many to be the future prince of graffiti. This 20-something masked Californian skater built up his street credibility when spraying the streets of San Francisco, and later New York. His style is gritty and provocative but yet very playful, fascinating and oh-so-unique. When talking about his works he says, “I like seeing people laugh at my violent pieces, then they look around and wonder if it’s wrong to laugh at it.” The show features a wide variety of works by this multi-disciplinary artist: water colour pieces, acrylic panels and tin masks. Presented in collaboration with Vans, Singha Beer and Vice Magazine “Death Becomes You!” opens today, January 24th, and runs until February 16th at Melbourne’s Don’t Come Gallery.

Until January 20th, Montreal’s mecca of independent cinema, the newly revamped Cinema du Parc, will host an exhibit by Brazilian-born Jorge Camarotti. The show features a series of striking portraits that this gifted photographer took between Sao Paolo and Montreal. Camarotti who started off his career as a graphic designer, moved to Montreal 4 years ago, and has since become an important figure in the city’s art scene. He’s collaborated with artists such as Feist and Seu Jorge, and most recently illustrated Trace’s Citiscape on his beloved Montreal. To see more of his work visit his website, or make sure you get a copy of Trace’s Sporting Life issue.

KRSN started writing on the walls of Paris’s suburbs back in the 80’s when Hip Hop was slowly but surely taking over the streets of France. Subsequently, he spent the following decade literally spinning on his head with spraypaint until 2000, when he decided to forge a new career. On many occasions, he collaborated with French clothing line Six-Pack, and he started doing more illustration work for magazines as well. KRSN’s style is simple but strong. He creates character sketches with a minimal use of color - he says he’d rather use black and white as “you only need one color to express an emotion.” Montreal’s Off the Hook will be hosting the artist’s very first exhibit in its newly renovated store/art space. The artist declined to give us a lot of details about the show, but it promises to be full of surprises! Opening last Friday, (December 14th) the show is poised to make KRSN a familiar name, on and off the streets. For more info click here.

UK sensation Estelle will be performing at SOBs tonight with Hi Tek for one her first appearances in NYC. The 27-year-old who’s made it into Rolling Stone’s “10 Artists to Watch in 2008″ list is the first artist to be signed to John Legend’s Homeschool Records. Estelle, the daughter of a Senegalese mother and a Grenadian father, is a well established artist in the British Hip Hop scene. She produces, writes her own songs and owns a record label called Stellar Ent. Most recently, she opened for Kanye’s while on his British tour. With an album due next February, it seems that 2008 will definitely be a terrific year for this talented sistah. For more on tonight’s show go here. And here’s little treat: 

Party people get ready: Montreal’s nightlife messiahs, Peer Pressure will take Williamsburg by storm this Saturday at Brooklyn’s Glasslands. After a set last month at Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak Tuesday, DL Jones and his posse will show us how to get down Montreal-style with a mix of hip hop, electro, Bmore & much much more. Over the last two years, the posse has proven time and time again that they can bring the hottest acts to the hottest parties. From last year’s NYE Jumpoff with DJ Mehdi, to Lady Sovereign’s after party, to Spankrock, Amanda Blank, Flossatradamus and Miss Pro Nails aka Kid Sister with the Fools Gold crew, Peer Pressure’s reputation keeps growing, and this is just the beginning! Did I mention that the event is ABSOLUTELY free?!? Check out DL Jones in TRACE’s Sporting Life Issue. More info here.

For electro label Ed Banger, there’s no doubt, visuals are equally as important as music. The album covers are always meticulously designed, the t-shirts are to-die-for and the logos are so hot, that Uffie even tattooed hers on her arm! There’s a man behind all the creative gusto, and his name is So-Me. When Ed Banger’s Pedro Winter first saw So-Me’s artwork he knew he had to get him involved, and in less than four years So-Me aka Betrand de Langeron has created a strong visual identity that defines a whole generation. After he designed the album cover for Justice’s anthem We Are Your Friends, Pedro Winter officially promoted him as Ed Banger’s creative director, and the rest is history! From the flyers, 12” sleeve-art, CD covers, t-shirts, posters, photographs, De Langeron is definitely the brain behind all of Ed Banger visuals. His hand-drawn images, use of heavy font and loud colors, along with his humorous approach to pop culture iconic imagery reveals influences from pop-art, graffiti, skateboard culture and so much more.

This year has been a busy one for the graphic designer: he’s won another VMA Award for the now classic, “D.A.N.C.E”, his illustrations and his t-shirts have graced the pages of publications around the world, he’s continued his close collaboration with Japanese brand Revolver, started his DJ career and most notably he co-directed Kanye’s “GoodLife”. For his first solo exhibition, the 28 year old Parisian who dreamed of being a comic book illustrator as a kid, has chosen The Lazy Dog, a trendy art space in the heart of Paris. Blinded By The Light will feature an extensive collection by the young artist, and the show will be running until January 28th. For more info check out The Lazy Dog’s web page.

From November 30th until December 3rd , New York’s Film Forum will honor the tremendous work of Africa’s most important filmmaker, the late Sembène Ousmane. Although he only started making movies when he was in his early 40’s Ousmane, who passed away last June, is considered to be the father of African cinema. The Senegalese, who was already a well-respected novelist in the 1960’s, decided to study filmmaking, as he strongly believed cinema to be the best way to reach out to the masses, “everything can be filmed and transported to the most remote village in Africa”, he said back in 2005. During his career, he adapted most of his novels into films, starting with Black Girl which earned him the prestigious Prix Jean Vigo in 1966, a first for an African filmmaker at the time. The retrospective will feature 10 movies in which the director deals with social issues such as polygamy, religion, the role of women in society, and political corruption. He dissects post-colonial West African society, and show it as it is. Sembène Ousmane highlights the constant struggle between tradition, and newly adopted “western” values. His characters are everyday heroes that sometimes fall victim to their own fate. Sembene had faith that a prosperous future for his continent could not be attained without the full participation of women, and most of films focus on strong females characters. The best examples are Dounia, the tragic heroin of “Black Girl” (1965) and Colle in “Moolaadé” (2005) who fiercely fights female circumcision in her village. “In Africa”, he ironically said, “you don’t make movies to earn a living, but to communicate.” (”En Afrique, on ne fait pas de cinema pour vivre, mais pour communiquer.”) Sembène was well aware of the lasting power of image and sound, and his films rest as a testimony to his love and faith in Africa. For more information about the screenings go here.

For their latest collection, L.A. streetwear company FUCT teamed up with well-respected fashion photographer Shawn Mortensen to give us two limited edition tees featuring the mugs of hip hop icons Snoop and the King of New York himself, the Notorious B.I.G. The photographs, shot in California, show Snoop as a young up-and-comer, pointing a gun at the camera, and a visibly cheery B.I.G, who, according to Mortensen kept telling jokes during the shoot. They are part of Mortensen MCMXC Photo Series and were both shot in Cali between 91′ and 92′. Mortensen, whose celebrity portraits have graced the pages of various publications - remember Trace’s Gwen Stefani cover ?! - was an excellent choice to document this prolific era in rap when the East Coast/West Coast rivalries were at the very core of the creative process. You can order them here.

With a slogan like this, these funky t-shirts will surely catch your attention. Africa Is The Future, is a Paris based line that was born in 2001, when Franco-Congolese Nicolas Premier, on a plane from Brazzaville to Paris, decided to print a set of 30 t-Shirts with the somewhat provocative slogan. The shirts quickly sold out, and Premier decided to put out another collection, this time more diverse, hip and colorful. Over the last five years, Premier and his partners have created more than 10 collections of stickers, t-shirts, tanks and sweaters for men, women and children. They all boast a very simple but efficient design: a black, red or yellow top on which the slogan is written in bright and bold letters. The latest collection “The Children Know” turned out to be the most successful - Premier’s line has now become a real statement and many French artists like the queens of French neo-soul Les Nubians, and Mokobe from the hip hop trio 113 have adopted them. Like Premier, we all long for the day when this message will be more than just a slogan, but in the interim we should all proudly flaunt it on our chests.