Saturday, May 12, 2012

What is Tightly Laced Kicks???



Info Sheet
Tightly Laced Kicks
(September 8th, 2012)
Primary Goal of the Tightly Laced Kicks event
People from all economic, cultural and worldwide backgrounds have contributed to Hip Hop Culture for more than 30 years.  Hip Hop has positively shaped lives and created life long friendships between people who otherwise would not have connected. The Tightly Laced Kicks event is a yearly celebration of Hip Hop Culture and a celebration of our art forms.

Tightly Laced Kicks (TLK) Overview
The vision for TLK is to continue to unite the Hip Hop community by organizing a yearly event that highlight the individual, and collective, talents of graffiti artists, MC’s, DJ’s, B-Boys and the fashion that has become a staple in our culture. This spectacular combination brings together amazing sights and sounds that always create a memorable experience for all the participants and patrons involved.  In addition, the TLK Apparel brand was created and styled from a east coast graffiti/hip hop culture background.  The first tee shirt series was appropriately named the “Graffiti Legends” series.  Each series is designed by a legendary graffiti artist with a release of only 75 shirts that are sold in individual boxes and wrapped in tissue paper.  The apparel line is a creative way of keeping the TLK name fresh on every ones radar and releasing amazing sneaker/graffiti inspired clothing.

Event Overview
Every Tightly Laced Kicks event (2004, 2010 2011) has included a sneaker collector’s exhibit, graffiti art showcase and Hip Hop jam.  As we go into our fourth Tightly Laced Kicks event (taking place on September 8th, 2012), we continue to look for ways to be innovative in bringing the city of Boston and surrounding neighborhoods, towns and cities a yearly quality hip hop event. To that end, this year we have added:
  • The use of “La Galleria” and a revamped art exhibit by making all of the art displayed affordable to purchase via a silent auction with a starting bid of $100.00 for each piece of art.  This is a great opportunity to purchase original art work from some of the best graffiti/street culture inspired artist in the state.  
  • Expanding the the capacity of the venue from 445 to 525 people by using La Galleria.
  • We will highlight the b-boy/girls scene with performances by some of the best crews in the state.
  • We will be partnering up with “SoulKore” just as we did for the first ever TLK back in 2004.  SoulKore Productions organizes, promotes, manages artists, & "Provides quality cultural entertainment" for the Boston area & beyond. SoulKore has been creating shows & events on an on-going basis since 2001.  This partnership will ensure a solid line-up of artists and DJ’s with a better structured performance schedule.  
Who Benefits from the Event
A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to IBA, a non-profit organization serving the residents of Villa Victoria in the South End of Boston.  The silent art auction will serve as a fund raiser for “La Galleria” as well as the artists involved by instituting a 70/30 revenue split with the artist receiving the bigger portion.