our spezializtz fam just teamed up with germany’s top rapper sido. the brand new video to “kettenreaktion” features sick illustrations, dope raps and some of our newest styles. gbz für imma. check it out by clicking the image below:

be sure to check out their myspace-site as well.

and vote for our boys at trl/mtv today!
www.mtv.de

as you know, russia surprisingly won the european championships in spain 2 weeks ago. and judging by kadour ziani’s recent trip to moscow, there is reason to believe, that there is a lot more to come. young russians love themselves some hoops! kadour “the godfather of dunk” was welcomed like a king and followed like a shadow non-stop. unfortunately, he was not able to participate in the moscow dunk contest due to a nagging knee-injury, but take a look at some of the action by clicking the video below.

this short clip just hit us from poland, and features slash (6’3) and pepa (6’1) throwing down some nasty jams, at the silesia cup bball tournament in katowice, poland. click the image for a mix of windmills, between-the-legs-540′s and more …

if you missed the k1x booth at magic in vegas, you missed witnessing one of the most spectacular dunkers alive: marvin collins aka hi rizer. wonder where the name comes from? check this video-sample of rize’s skills.

and make sure to check him out this winter: www.hustleupstreetball.com

aww man, this is hip hop … k1x joell ortiz hits us with another rap anthem! check his new video “latino” off of “the brick: bodega chronicles” by clicking the image below. directed by ric cordero, the clip manages to squeeze a whole lotta soul and brooklyn vibe into a five minute work of art, kind of reminiscent of spike lee’s legendary “do the right thing”.
nice choice of t-shirt too …

http://www.joellortiz.com
www.myspace.com/joellortiz

amir, recently signed by virgin records (italy) has worked his way up through the italian underground, and is now ready for his major breakthrough. his street cred and underground following have propelled him to national stardom. the first single from his newest album “vita di prestigio” is called “wild style”. see the whole clip featuring an appearance by italy’s leading street-basketball squad “da move” by clicking the image below.

check amir online here: www.myspace.com/amiristhis and www.amirmusic.it

french mc reel carter just shot his newest video in sunny paris, here’s the “making of” of “star systeme” …

click on the picture below for an exclusive look behind the scenes!

jesus christ!
if you who haven’t seen the spezializtz live in concert, you’ve missed out on a cathartic experience. see them rock the living daylights out frenzied crowds at the biggest european hip hop festivals (splash & rheinkultur, 2007) by clicking the images below. dean is holding the camera on stage, so actually hearing anything other than roaring fans is impossible. in this case, seeing is believing.

for all you cats who live behind the moon and have not yet gotten your hands and ears on joell ortiz’ rhymes…wake up! he may just be the savior. we recently hooked up with the ny-native at 5 pointz (www.kingsofnewyork.net), because we just had to meet the guy behind hip hop’s nr. 1 anthem, fittingly titled “hip hop” – see it here:

also make sure to check out his latest bangers (“125 grams” and “brooklyn bullshit”) on joell’s website:
www.joellortiz.com
p.s. the “fight the power” crewneck by k1x will be available in our “big ballin” collection, due for release this fall….

these tv clips feat. sir samuel and the saian supa crew just hit us from france. check em out by clicking the images below and polish up on your french. you never know when it could come in handy…

most of you have seen our boys, the spezializtz (berlin, baby) in some of our k1x ads or catalogues. dean dawson & harris are familiy like cosby, so we are especially proud to present their new video off their third and upcoming album “g.b.z. oholika 3″. here and now. the track is called gbzgbz (= grass, becks, zaertlichkeit, i.e. weed, becks beer and endearment). that’s how they roll. and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
check out the video by clicking the image below…

When Puerto Rican national player Rick Apodaca recently dropped by k1x headquarters, we gladly took the time to interview the spanish harlem native about his flourishing career, beating team usa etc. here’s what he had to say…

check out his bio: www.hoopshype.com/players/rick_apodaca

Where did your career start?

I’m from New York, that’s where I grew up. I moved to New Jersey with my father when I was nine years old.

But you play for the Puerto Rican national team?

Yeah, that’s because my parents and my grandparents are from Puerto Rico.

How did you start playing basketball? Did you play street ball?

Yes, I started out playing street ball. In high school I was the leading scorer in Hudson County History. And later I received a scholarship at Hofstra University.

And after college you went to the Orlando Magic, right?

Yeah, I played for their summer league team. After that I played in the USBL and NBDL. In 2005 I went to Poland to play in the highest Polish league.

2005/06 was a very successful season for you?

Yes, I was the MVP. And I also won Guard of the year and Rookie of the year.

Sounds like you were “Mr. Everything of the year” in Poland?

(laughs) Yes, pretty much.

Where are you playing right now?

I play in Italy. This is my first year there. I play for Legea Scafati. And I average almost 20 points a game.

Not bad.

(smiles) Not bad at all. I’m number three in scoring in the Italian league. And I was the leading vote-getter for this year’s All Star Game in Italy.

What are your plans for the future?

My contract with Legea Scafati expires at the end of this season. After that I will go back to Puerto Rico to play for the national team. And I also have a workout with the Miami Heat scheduled this summer.

That means your plan is to go to the NBA, right?

Either the NBA or a Euroleague team.

I see you want to play on the highest level possible?

Yeah, the Italian league is one of the best in the world. But I wouldn’t mind going to Spain or somewhere else to play for a Euroleague team.

What are your strengths and weaknesses on the court?

Basically I’m a scorer. I know what to do with the basketball, how to score. It doesn’t matter when or where.

And the weaknesses?

(laughs) I don’t think I have any weaknesses.

Do you have a nickname?

Nope, I don’t have any nicknames.

That means, we have to create one?

Yeah, go ahead.

What was the best experience that you’ve had with the national team?

I would say beating the United States at the Olympics. That would be number one. I played in two world championships, too. That’s also important.

So what do you like better, the Olympics or the world championships?

The world championships are almost like the Olympics. But nothing beats being an Olympian, you know?

You also played against LeBron, Carmelo and all these guys?

Yeah, that was with the Puerto Rican team. We play against them pretty much two or three times every summer.
Since 2002 I have played against almost every All Star player from the NBA (when they were with team USA) and I average about 10 points per game against them. Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Vince Carte … All these guys know me on a first-name basis.

How did you end up with K1X?

Basically, I reached out to one of my friends who does sponsorships for a bunch of European players. That’s how we got in contact. I had seen some of the clothes they do and some of their shoes on their website. So I was interested. I was the one who took the first step. If you want things done, you have to do them yourself, right?

k1x fam member patrice patrice.net recently dropped his video to “don’t cry” (feat. laygwan sharkie), a song ispired by the story of a friend, who was abandoned at a bus station by his mother as a child. the video also features team sierra leone forward trevor turner (“black d”). find out more about all team sierra leone players here:

collection.k1x.com/index_sl.html

watch the “don’t cry” video here:

there is only one kadour ziani. and this cat is off the chain. click the image below and understand. it’s 3 a.m. somewhere in the french suburbs and kadour has just one thing on his mind. the 360.

you may have seen the sierra leone chapter in our new “world tour”collection book – a little
wake up call to show the brutal reality of sierra leone’s civil war. the “free world” closed their
eyes on this, but the 14 year old sidibay gives you some insight on what happened only a
couple years ago.
hear his story by clicking the image below.

the busiest week in las vegas history featured chinese new year, the nba all-star weekend and the magic fashion show, plus the usual tourist crowd, all squeezed into 5 crazy days. we’ll start our vegas coverage by telling you what went down at magic – the biggest fashion trade show in the world.

k1x’s magic appearance celabrated the u.s launch of the “k1x-nation of hoop” brand (available at “champs” and other stores in march 2007), and presented the fall/winter ’07 line to buyers, selected media and various hipsters, who somehow managed to get a hold of a pass.
the surprisingly large k1x booth was actually more of a cage, showcasing some of ny’s most high profile ballplayers, going at it in the k1x 2 on 2 invitational.
corey “homicide” williams, “high octane”, bronx shooter “whites”, jersey’s “killa kirb”, “a-money”, and big man corey “the undertaker” underwood battled each other hard, occasionally taking on brave challengers for a breather. hyped by the tunes of vegas hot 97,5 dj g-minor and lyrics of announcer ceevee “the manager”, k1x c.e.o. chris even took on “the most dangerous player in the ebc”, also known as “homicide”. but the exact outcome of this mind-boggling one on one showdown shall forever remain a secret.
visitors of the k1x cage included allan houston, chucky atkins, hip hop legend kool dj herc, industry veterans, media cats, up-and-coming hustlers, a beautiful telemundo vj and her side-kick, various big dudes from the nfl, some “saphire” strippers, an unknown fat kid who just stared, loads of myspace rappers and a whole lotta stylish originators. and did we mentiion the girls?
“what happens in vegas stays in vegas?” not here! check in over the next couple of days to see what else went down in the city of sin…

see high octane doing “the shaq” here:

see spontaneous freestyle battle at the k1x cage here:

germany’s reigning rap champ sido is back with his highly anticipated second album “ich”. the man with the mask has a furious repuation for catching his audience off-guard, and proves it once again with his second single release “ein teil von mir” ( a part of me). launched by notorious independent label aggro berlin (www.aggroberlin.de), the song deals with sido’s new-found relationsip to his son. not an average subject for a different kind of rapper.
see the video and sido flossin’ the kay-one-ex by clicking here…

www.youtube.com

the best hip hop live gig in the world has definately got to be saian supa crew out of paris, france. frontman and k1x warrior sir samuel is about to follow up on his first solo album solo album (“vize pli o”), so m ake sure to check that out. in the meantime, we leave you with the video to his last single “blackadee”. click the image below…

more on saian supa crew: www.wmaker.net
more on sir samuel: www.sirsamuel.net

our friends in spain just passed this freestyle clip along. it features the canary islands “street flavour” crew (most notably tito, kike, dizzy bones, lincoln navigator, tino, gabi and the origin), and was broadcast on “television canaria” recently. ay caramba!
check their online site here: www.streetflavour.net
check the video by clicking the image below…

check out the video to mista blaq’s single “do me dirrty”. it’s not what we we call familiy
enetrtainment – but how much fun would that be?
find out more about the blaq dirrty bastard here : www.mistablaq.de