MAGAZINE: Nas x Complex (June/July 2012)
Nas was on Complex’s first issue cover back in 2002, so this is a special reunion the two had. Nas is back in the game with a new album called Life Is Good and landing another cover for one of the hottest magazine’s is definitely a good look. Check out the excerpts from the interview along with the photos from the spread below:
“The Don” actually came from hanging around Rastas. That’s how we would greet each other when I was with the Marleys. That’s just big boss business. When people put on images—like being a gangster or a street guy—then you’re your own worst enemy. I’m an artist. I like to make the music that I like to make. If not, then you’ll be stuck trying to be a character. I’ve seen that happen to a lot of artists.
MAGAZINE: Justin Bieber & Nicki Minaj x Complex (10th Anniversary Issue)
Justin Bieber along with Nicki Minaj help Complex magazine celebrate their 10th anniversary by double covering this issue. For Bieber’s cover he’s “getting physical” and his cover story is called “Second Round KO” which touches on his known bashing and hate that he often gets. He’s only 18 but seems to have gone through a lot since being in the star light. Check out the full cover story here. Take a look at his full spread below and Nicki Minaj’s cover and spread inside…
MAGAZINE: KiD CuDi & Dot Da Genius x Special WZRD Week
With WZRD coming out today, Complex is producing online content for the whole week. Check out this animated gif cover of Cudi and Dot above. Check out more photos from their California desert shoot below and more after the jump…
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MAGAZINE: Kendrick Lamar x FADER (Issue #78)
TDE’s very own Kendrick Lamar shares one side of the double cover of FADER magazine’s issue #78 of Feb/March 2012. His article was titled ‘Black Hippy: A View From the Center’ which in itself demands attention as it’s prone to be an interesting article. The spread captures TDE in their everyday life and is very personable which is something all fans love to experience in the artists they love. Take a look at the spread as well as a few excerpts from the article. 
“I was one of those young cats and knuckleheads that was hard headed, that didn’t listen, [Top Dawg] locked me up in the studio and I’ve been there ever since.”
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MAGAZINE: Nicki Minaj x PAPER (Spring 2012)
Nicki Minaj pulled out her pastel wigs for her cover and spread in PAPER magazine’s Spring 2012 issue. Take a look at her spread below along with some excerpts from her cover story interview:
On being a reality TV fan:
“I love [Mob Wives'] Big Ang – what is that? And I love the way those girls talk to each other: ‘Don’t YOU be coming at ME!!!’ I love every freakin’ moment. And I watch The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Beverly Hills.”
MAGAZINE: Jeremy Scott & A$AP Rocky x Complex (Feb/March 2012)
A$AP Rocky is really making moves in the game. Jeremy Scott joins him on the cover of this months issue of Complex. Also Check out the interview with both of them talking about their individual styles, and fashion all together. For those that don’t know, A$AP can be seem wearing countless Jeremy Scott x Adidas pieces in all his videos, inspiring the cover collab.
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MAGAZINE: Big Sean & Rick Ross x The Source (Jan. 2012)
The Source magazine announced Big Sean as the Rookie of the Year and Rick Ross as the Man of the Year which landed them both on the cover their 250th collector’s edition issue. Check out both covers individually inside…
MAGAZINE: Frank Ocean x L’Uomo Vogue (Dec. 2011)
Frank Ocean has been making big moves and landing a feature with L’Uomo Vogue is just another added to the list. Take a look at his spread below:
MAGAZINE: 50 Cent – XXL
The December 2011/ January 2012 issue of XXL features no other than 50 Cent. This year culminates 50′s 10 years in the game and throughout it all, he has become really successful in several realms of business. From music to clothes to drinks, the man has a hand in pretty much everything. He is an inspiration to graduates of business schools who would like to diversify what they do. To recognize him, they are producing 5 covers for him, with one featuring his long-time friend Floyd Mayweather. More info and the fifth cover after the break!
MAGAZINE: Drake x Complex (Dec 2011/Jan 2012)
Drake is at the top of his game with the recent release of his sophomore album Take Care and now Complex is honoring the Toronto native for their December 2011/Januar 2012 issue. Check out the photos from his cover story “Long Way Home” as well as excerpts from his in depth interview below:
“They nitpick at everything, I can’t do anything. All they want me to do is dress so they can make fun of me. Otherwise, it’s hard for them. I don’t give people many reasons to dislike me. They have to find shit. They’re like, ‘Aw man, sweaters! He wears sweaters too much.’ Like, what?”
MAGAZINE: The 100 Best 2Pac Songs | Complex
Complex Magazine gives us their list for the best 100 2Pac Songs ever. Pretty interesting right? Well we definitely thought so too and figured you’d all enjoy taking it back and debating their opinions as well. Who doesn’t love a good hip hop debate? Especially when it involves one of the greats with numerous classic albums like Makaveli, Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z. and All Eyez On Me. Well let’s get into the list now…
100. Runnin’ (Dyin’ To Live) [Feat. Notorious B.I.G.] (2003)
99. When We Ride (Feat. Outlaw Immortalz) (1996)
98. 16 on Deathrow (1997)
97. Military Minds (Feat. Cocoa Brovaz & Buckshot) (2002)
96. We Do This – Too $hort (Feat. 2Pac, MC Breed & Father Dom) (1995)
95. Thugs Get Lonely Too (Feat. Nate Dogg) (2004)
94. Check Out Time (Feat. Big Skye, Kurupt & Natasha Walker) (1996)
93. Out On Bail (2004)
92. Bury Me A G (Feat. Natasha Walker) (1994)
91. Ghetto Gospel (2004)
MAGAZINE: Lil’ Wayne x VIBE (Oct./Nov. 2011)
Check out VIBE Magazine, as Lil’ Wayne graces the cover for the October/November issue.
MAGAZINE: Kreayshawn x COMPLEX (Oct./Nov. 2011)
Complex has a double cover for their October/November 2011 issue. We recently posted the Cudi cover story, now we bring you Kreayshawn’s side of the issue. Check out the same old…photo spread, excerpts from her cover story and behind the scenes footage of the cover shoot inside…
“Everyone thinks I’m Vanessa [V-Nasty] and I have to answer [for her actions] every day in every fucking interview,” vents the frustrated 22-year-old. Apparently Kreayshawn has tried to intervene, to no avail. “I’ve sat down and had talks with her, like, ‘Please, if you took this word out of your vocabulary, it would help your career. It would really help mine.’ She’s just been like, ‘This is who I am. This is how I was raised. I’m not gonna change for anybody,’ and I respect that. She doesn’t have to listen to me. It’s just hard if we’re all mobbing together and everyone thinks I use it, too. That’s when you have to step away or find a way to work around it.”
MAGAZINE: KiD CuDi x COMPLEX (Oct./Nov. 2011)
Kid Cudi covers yet another Complex magazine…this third time is for their latest October/November 2011 issue. After a lot of changes Cudi has been making, this is definitely a cover story that his fans will want to check out. There are excerpts from the interview and photos from the spread, along with a behind the scenes video from his covers shoot…
Is that drug hangover why you disappeared after you released your second album?
I wanted to clear my head, besides detox. I had to look at the root of the whole problem, and that was work and the business./I wasn’t trying to hear it from nobody. I’m not even going to attack the people in my life that didn’t step in and try to stop it, ’cause I was just so bullheaded. There’s no way to slow somebody when they’re speeding down a path of destruction. I thought I was dealing with it in the proper way. I was in the moment. And when you’re that young, with that opportunity, all that money, and all that respect and power, sometimes you run with it. ’Cause I was like, “Man, you don’t know if this shit’s gon’ be here tomorrow.
MAGAZINE: Nicki MInaj x GLAMOUR (Oct. 2011)
Nicki Minaj is featured in GLAMOUR magazine’s October 2011 issue, going for a Marylin Monroe inspired look. Take a look at the spread and some excerpts we have from her feature below:
“In my downtime, I’m the most low-key person in the world. We all have insecurities, but you have to know you’re beautiful. I’m comfortable in my skin and I don’t feel the need to change for anyone.”
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MAGAZINE: Frank Ocean x FADER (Aug/Sept. 2011)
Frank Ocean lands his first magazine cover with FADER magazine for their August/September 2011 issue. His latest success has been his feature on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne album, on the “No Church In The Wild” and “Made In America” tracks. Check out the remaining cover story spread below:
When he was nine, Frank Ocean’s godfather subscribed him to Robb Report, a magazine for the ultra-rich. Less interested in fiduciary smarts, it’s a catalog of conspicuous consumption, highlighting tropical vacations, invaluable antiques and, as Ocean came to know, really expensive cars. Though he comes from a middle class family, he obsessively read the magazine’s classified ads, fixating on exorbitantly priced used Bentleys and Maybachs. “I would just fall in love with all their cars. That was the start.” Ocean, whowas born Christopher Breaux (and goes by Lonny to friends), downscaled his material desires, and when he was 13, began going door-to-door, detailing cars for cash. “I would bring all my supplies. Literally, it was like a movie, I had a wagon, those long red wagons, like a Radio Flyer-type wagon, and I used to buy my own soaps.”
MAGAZINE: Lil B x Acclaim (Issue 24)
Lil B is covering Australian based magazine Acclaim‘s issue 24. Based God is expanding to print media…congrats.
MAGAZINE: Aziz Ansari x Complex (Aug/Sept 2011)
The Persian comedian and actor Aziz Ansari is covering Complex magazine’s August/September 2011 issue as he is his new movie 30 Minutes or Less is set to be released in theaters soon. Check out some excerpts from his cover story as well as the rest of his comical photo spread. We also have the behind the scenes video of the cover story inside…
When you were growing up, what posters did you have hanging on your bedroom wall?
In high school I had a big Metallica Master of Puppets poster. I was really into playing guitar.
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MAGAZINE: Beyoncé x Complex (Aug/Sept 2011)
Beyoncé is covering Complex Magazine’s latest August/September 2011 issue and is speaking on a lot of different things involving her comeback after her year long break from the music scene. Check out her official spread, excerpts from her cover story and a video of her behind the scenes video of her cover shoot:
On Frank Ocean:
“I noticed his tone, his arrangements, and his storytelling. I immediately reached out to him—literally the next morning. I asked him to fly to New York and work on my record.”
MAGAZINE: Cassie x BLANK (July 2011)
Cassie is covering BLANK magazine’s latest issue. As always, she delivers amazing photos. Check out her dope spread and a behind the scenes video of the photoshoot which features a new song off her upcoming album featuring Jadakiss called “Make You A Believer”:
MAGAZINE: Mila Kunis x GQ
Mila Kunis is covering the August 2011 GQ magazine issue. Check out more photos from her spread, which were taken by Terry Richardson, and excerpts from her interview:
GQ: Your new movie is called Friends with Benefits. Ever been in one of those relationships?
Mila Kunis: Oy. I haven’t, but I can give you my stance on it: It’s like communism—good in theory, in execution it fails. Friends of mine have done it, and it never ends well. Why do people put themselves through that torture?
GQ: It’s because they enjoy sex.
Mila Kunis: But friends with benefits isn’t a purely sexual relationship—it’s two people who like each other having sex, not a random hookup. And when two people who like each other have sex, eventually someone catches feelings and everything is fucked. You might be able to treat our relationship as killing time. I might not. I may be in love with you.
MAGAZINE: Santigold x PAPER
Santigold is just one out of three people (the other two are Swizz Beats & Joe Jonas) who are covering PAPER magazine Summer 2011 issue which is available on newsstands Wednesday. Check out the rest of her spread below:
MAGAZINE: Eminem & Royce Da 5’9″ x COMPLEX
Also known as Bad Meets Evil, Eminem and Royce Da 5’9″ are covering this alternative Complex cover. They have this extensive cover story called “The Oral History of Bad Meets Evil” that can be read in it’s entirety at Complex’s website. Take a look at a few excerpts from their cover story below:
So how does you partnership work, creatively? What’s your process?
E: It changes. Like, he’ll pick a beat sometimes like, “Yo, I think we should rap on this.” So he’d lay a verse and then I’d hear where it’s going and lay a verse. Or I may pick a beat. Or, on a lot of the shit where we’re going back and forth, we have to be in the studio together. He might go in there and lay a rhyme, and just stop and see what I come up with playing off his. And that was the funnest part about making the record. We both have, for the lack of a better term, chemistry, where if I stop here, I know he’s going to be able to pick it up and say something crazy. It’s also the type of relationship where one of us isn’t afraid to say “Yo what if you said this? What if I said this?” and then it doesn’t work and it’s, “Okay, scrap that idea. I might have a better one, hold on.” It’s not about time. It’s not about ego. It’s just fun.
R: We didn’t care about song structure.
E: Yeah. That was another really fun part about this. We weren’t in there necessarily trying to make hits. “Let’s try to make big radio records.” No. It was like, “Let’s get in there and just fucking rap, and make it fun again.”
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