Cosmopolitan Boys Sunday Snippets #005
Cover photo by Gabriel Moses.
05/19/2024, Sunday, 1:51 PM @ Centro, São Paulo.
I was out of touch last week due to personal matters, work, and planning some big things for the Cosmopolitan Boys. I realized that the CB project is only 2 months old and that left me quite contemplative. I feel that, even in a short time, I am managing to create a community and in the end, that is all that matters. This year, I set out to step on the gas and be more immediate with my ideas, making everything happen as quickly as possible and without overthinking it. What seems right might just be right. If my instincts brought me here, there’s no reason to start questioning them now.
Today is another important day for the project, the debut of an ‘interview segment’ that I intend to do with people I like and who have a lifestyle aligned with what I envision for the Cosmopolitan Boys; I think you will enjoy it. That said, we always continue to seek the next step. I hope you like this week's curation and find something relevant for you that makes a difference this week.
*Each topic is dissected a little more. Click on the arrows and/or the links.
THINGS I AM READING
The first time I read the name “Gabriel Moses” was in this video from 4 years ago, a mini-doc about the player Origi, who was a forward for Liverpool at the time. It was the first of MANY; he has been on a streak for 4 years that seems never-ending. He is definitely one of the most prodigious (24 years old) and prolific creatives from London, from the world, and of this generation, in addition to having one of the most enviable resumes in history. I think that in just the last 2 months he collaborated with Travis, Kanye, Nike, and Adidas (it seems impossible, but yes), published a book, opened exhibitions, etc.
At the end of this link from the agency that represents him, there’s a series of interviews and publications about him. I advise you to take a day and read them all.
I selected and translated some of the quotes that I liked the most:
The way I work is: I have an idea, I make it happen and then I put it on the internet. I don't follow the traditional path of publishing it or anything like that. If five people see it, or if 500 people see it, that is my audience, you know? I don't overthink the process, I'm just like "let's do it." I don't put pressure on myself because I feel like I have nothing to lose. Every day I wake up is a blessing, and every day that I get to do what I do to live is already a victory for me.
What advice would you give to young creatives starting today? Trust in your ability to learn. Anyone who is doing something at a high level is human like you and they learned a skill from scratch.
My taste comes from my memories - I didn’t study any of this in school. I have trouble watching movies; I have a really short attention span. It’s the same with photography. Only recently have I started studying other photographers and fashion images from the past. Many of my interests come from memories of being around my sister growing up when she was studying fashion. She had reference images scattered around her room, but at the time I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was junk. But then, the second I picked up a camera, it was like I knew what a beautiful image was. I love beautiful things, and my mom definitely understood that about me. She arranged flowers in the house and ran art and craft workshops at Sunday school. She was all about fostering creativity. By 17, I was very confident in my taste and in my ability to trust what I see as beautiful. You are self-taught, how has that influenced your photography style and how you create films? I work like a kid. We all have imaginations, but I feel we lose a lot of that with age. I keep having ideas constantly and believing in them.
Zack Bia, Burgeoning Music Mogul, Wants To Set the Record Straight
An article from GQ about Zack Bia. DJ, owner of the label Field Trip, and many things in between (close friend of Virgil). He is a great inspiration, managing to carve out his niche in the industry as a low-profile guy and gaining the trust of all the important people; he only started giving interviews recently. He talks a lot about being in the right places at the right times and how to build genuine connections. I selected and translated the excerpts I liked most:
He was a rising DJ and socialite who had worked hard to enter Drake's inner circle after mastering the art of connecting and building in the LA nightlife scene. "He is adjacent to celebrity," says the doyenne of DeuxMoi, "which is actually the new celebrity.”
Bia tried to shed his promoter image. Before the pandemic, he had already "committed to not being the guy who was always out throwing parties every night," he says. Instead, he embarked on a career as a self-taught music mogul. For anyone who doesn't understand how Zack Bia navigates the closed circles he moves in: implanting the type of discreet charm and party promoter vibe that puts the ultra-famous at ease - a generational talent for small talk that the camera simply cannot capture.
Bia claims he doesn't pay much attention to the constantly changing online discourse. “My life is so offline,” he tells me. He rarely posts on Instagram, where he has several hundred thousand followers. “There’s an excess of information and content stimuli. It’s just about controlling what you can control. Can I make good music? Can I work with artists I care about? Can I find time for my mother and my brother? That’s pretty much where I’m at.”
“When I met him, he was already fully formed,” says Bia. “All the ideas are his. I just execute them. I’m like, let’s make these moves.” - About being the manager of trapper YEAT
But Bia is still a bit too young to have developed the thick skin of someone like his friend and almost-boss. “I learned a lot from Drake,” he says. An important piece of advice: “Whenever someone outside of your direct friend group knows about you, there will be haters.”
It’s a little obvious, but I highlight that Bia feels more comfortable moving between the spotlight and the sidelines rather than being directly in the spotlight.
Part of Bia's mystery is how much ground he seems to cover - the range of creative projects he seems to have a hand in at any moment. "He makes a lot of plays, be it in music or parties, and he’s in the loop, but he’s not out there promoting himself and being at the forefront of everything. He’s really good at keeping a balance between professionalism and creativity," says Jack Byrne from the short documentary team Sidetalk NYC, who threw a party with Bia after one of Drake’s shows. The venue was the street outside MSG, and Bia secured a convertible school bus with a DJ booth for the occasion.
"Anything Zack Bia is doing, people think will be really cool." In other words, where Bia goes, a crowd follows.
“My path is not like, let me be an internet figure and that will translate into real life,” says Bia. “Mine is the opposite, which is a much slower path, but much more personally impactful because mine is like, let me go perform at parties in real life. Let me shake hands in real life. Let me be friends with someone. And then that will reflect online.”
After the show, I ask Bia about transitioning from a more low-key guy to arena DJ. To my surprise, he seems relieved to finally step into the center of the picture. “I feel that being backstage and being someone who has the privilege of being close to artists and creative people and being allowed into the inner sanctuary, you never want to expose that,” he says about the beginnings of his once nebulous career. “You’re there to provide ideas and references and to provide a vibe and to be a part of that. And then the next step is when you make music with those people, you show that you’re truly bringing ideas together and giving life to ideas. And tonight's show is a reflection of how real that is. Who’s in the project? Yachty, Montell Fish. Who’s with me at the Garden? Yachty, Montell Fish.”
Meet The Man Who has Your Favorite Artists On Speed Dial
Article about Brock Korsan (@brockymarciano), another one from the category “cool people no one really knows what they do.” In summary, he is an A&R for a record label, partner of Tremaine Emory at No Vacancy Inn and Bon Vivant. Some excerpts from the interview:
Korsan is a jack-of-all-trades - "The Winston Wolfe of music," as Complex calls him - splitting his time between artist management, producer management, consulting, being a managing partner for No Vacancy Inn, and working A&R (artists and repertoire; also known as artist development and talent scouting) for Interscope Records.
One thing you’ll learn about extremely successful people is that they always like to take time for themselves. Korsan is no different. "When I wake up, I check Surfline on my phone, then I go out and check the waves. The first thing I do from there is go get coffee," he tells us. "I generally drink four shots of espresso over ice. I’m an extremist, you know? I’m in the studio until three or four in the morning, so for me to still be able to wake up at seven, I need that turbo boost [laughs]."
"After surfing, I stay home for an hour, going through all the emails I missed in the morning," he continues. "Then I go to the [Interscope] office, or I run to No Vacancy Inn meetings, for Interscope, for my management things." No Vacancy Inn is the creative group that Korsan is part of, alongside Tremaine Emory and Acyde Odunlami - they do everything from radio shows to parties, clothing, and fundraising, but scour the internet, and you’ll have trouble finding an exact definition of what the group is. "It's this ever-changing entity that no one can really define. You can’t box us in," Korsan explains. "We really don’t know what it’s going to end up being, which is cool. We all have our crafts, so being able to do something on the side that is more of an outlet for expression is cool.”
But how did someone who is self-taught within the industry go from being a kid playing sports to running around managing producers and artists? “I didn’t do it in a conventional way,” he tells us. “I jumped in knowing I had good taste - I was never insecure about that part, but just being thrown into the fire. You have to ask a lot of questions, read a lot of books, and go through a lot of moments of insecurity because you’re constantly among people who have been doing this for a long time and who were trained to do it.”
The fact that I can have creative conversations and deal with these people and be the one who connects people - to me, that's the best thing ever. I love seeing people push boundaries, and being involved in that is even cooler because it’s like later in life, I’ll be able to tell my grandkids or something, 'I was there. I helped on that. I did that.'
SONGS I AM LISTENING TO
Larry June again, I’m a simple guy...
Bradock Dan & Victor Henry - Part of the Ascent
This tweet summed up perfectly what Dan's songs are about. Great debut EP. “Journey” and “Let Them Think” are my favorites (I really like the B-sides of projects).
https://twitter.com/partyneext/status/1791828544667947414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1791828544667947414%7Ctwgr%5Ec27fca90200fe023bd831034bb595c8de1a9347a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaiodosreis.notion.site%2FCB-Sunday-Snippets-005-3cd7035ac5dd43acb51aee07cf0ef22e
I don’t know why I hadn’t mentioned this album here yet, but there are always various songs on Radio Cosmopolita. I’m a declared fan of Alee, can’t wait to have a collab between him and Vino. Highlight to Panther, Surf, and Long Comb.
I followed this project internally because I work at the record label and listened to various guides, but I was as surprised as everyone else after hearing it finished. Duq is inevitable. I really like Big D pt 2, the one with Dex, the one with the twins, and the one with Urias.
A$ap Rocky - AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP
I have great affection for this record, it reminds me of a good time as a dreaming teenager; I thought of it the other day and have been listening to it again. Highlights include Holy Ghost, Fine Whine, Electric Body, and M'$.
THINGS I AM WATCHING
I am very happy and proud to present another project to you. The Cosmopolitan Boys ‘Profile’ aims to conduct a kind of interview (our way) with creative and culturally important people who might not speak anywhere else. There wasn’t a person who fits this description better than Lucas. He is a longtime friend and very important in my life. It’s very cool to be able to ‘encapsulate’ this exact moment/era with such material; I think this will hold great importance in the future. It’s not content designed to go viral, in social media metrics or anything like that; it’s just about cultural relevance and community, that is my metric.
I went to the cinema to see this and quite enjoyed it; at first, I didn’t realize it revolved around photography, and that made it more interesting for me. Wagner Moura is really cool. It’s pretty crazy to think of documentary photography as a risky profession as much as others.
Cool channel of DJ sets and performances literally taking place inside an elevator. This one in particular is from Zack Fox; he’s a laid-back guy, sometimes too crazy for my taste, but overall it’s cool. He makes music too; I really like this one and always spin it in my sets.
How to Create More & Consume Less in 2024
Once again, somewhat nerdy content, but there’s a concept that caught my attention in this video. It talks about the difference of viewing things from a ‘curator’ perspective rather than a ‘consumer’ one, and that really flipped a switch in my head. Curating with more caution and calmness the content we consume is much healthier than relentless consumption.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
https://twitter.com/JVickors/status/1790763312705057129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1790763312705057129%7Ctwgr%5E243127707e3ba0b2db63b3034dad92a16b79316a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaiodosreis.notion.site%2FCB-Sunday-Snippets-005-3cd7035ac5dd43acb51aee07cf0ef22e https://twitter.com/Dtrill_/status/1789825141548962017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1789825141548962017%7Ctwgr%5E243127707e3ba0b2db63b3034dad92a16b79316a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaiodosreis.notion.site%2FCB-Sunday-Snippets-005-3cd7035ac5dd43acb51aee07cf0ef22e https://twitter.com/ASAPYams/status/543961937709899776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E543961937709899776%7Ctwgr%5E243127707e3ba0b2db63b3034dad92a16b79316a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaiodosreis.notion.site%2FCB-Sunday-Snippets-005-3cd7035ac5dd43acb51aee07cf0ef22e https://twitter.com/v1naum/status/1788580073919918152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1788580073919918152%7Ctwgr%5E243127707e3ba0b2db63b3034dad92a16b79316a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaiodosreis.notion.site%2FCB-Sunday-Snippets-005-3cd7035ac5dd43acb51aee07cf0ef22e https://twitter.com/3UpMac/status/1789376455534690552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1789376455534690552%7Ctwgr%5E243127707e3ba0b2db63b3034dad92a16b79316a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaiodosreis.notion.site%2FCB-Sunday-Snippets-005-3cd7035ac5dd43acb51aee07cf0ef22e
I need to hurry to post the new segment. I really prefer to write this on Saturday and send it out early Sunday, but it doesn’t always work out. Consider it the reading to head back to work on Monday. Have a great week you all, and continue to pay attention to the situation in Rio Grande do Sul, helping as you can; it’s far from over. Link with centralized help information.
OTHER EDITIONS:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Nl1EW19QTm3t5QMA6eLtM?si=e27ce7fa2725474ehttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Nl1EW19QTm3t5QMA6eLtM?si=e27ce7fa2725474e
©2024, We wake up and do things, Cosmopolitan Boys.
my portfolio http://caiodosreis.com my experiences http://intagram.com/reisceo my research http://culturalmidfielder.tumblr.com my dj sets, beats, and remixes http://soundcloud.com/reisceo things I save http://pinterest.com/reisceo short notes https://twitter.com/reisceo
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