Omerta - The Crime Scene

 I have been consulting with Omerta for a little while now. The gents are ready to put the wheels in motion and have me art direct a photo shoot. Hopefully we will do a couple of these a year for new releases and fresh content. I wanted to make sure we had a story to tell so we went with a crime scene rendition. A few friends jumped in to pull it off, actor Lou Lombardi (24/ Sopranos) and Slaine (The Town / Gone Baby Gone) It was all shot on loaction in Los Angeles by the greatest photographer in the land, Estevan Oriol. 

special agent Slaine

Lou Lombardi minding his business

Omerta Crime scene photo

A curious bystander

Don Capria, Omerta, L2M, and Concrete Dream.

Recently I have joined forces with the Gentleman's brand, Omerta Mia. The company started a few years back with the vision of my close friends, celebrity bodyguard, Big Chris, and my dear friend, and tour manager,  Durty Mick. The two launched and all out assault on the mainstream for supporting snitches and government informants who are continuously rewarded for their disloyalty and welcomed by Hollywood as they repeatedly sell their life rights to the big screen. Their shirt "Stop Glorifying Rats" has gained widespread support and is worn by the likes of Lil Jon, Johnny Depp,  and CM Punk. Also in Los Angeles I helped the all girl pop group L2M produce their music video for "Tag Me In." The wong co written by Dawin & Eric Bellinger is an awesome dance tune that highlights the girls vocals and style. The video was directed by West Webb and produced by Riveting Entertainment. The tune is available on all digital outlets. Another major release happened back in NYC when Concrete Dream dropped their debut single, "Catch 22" on E-Train Records. The 4 piece kick it off with a hard hitting and melodic throwback to the days of Rap metal that is woven smoothly into today's sounds with hints of trap and post hardcore slicing through the mix. Be sore to check them out on Spotify.

Lil Jon rocking the "Stop Glorifying Rats" Tee

My west coast desk at Omertà Mia.

With Jenna, Tati, Dawin, Kenzie, and Mari on set in DTLA.

Directing L2M with West Webb. 

Concrete Dream

Don Capria checking out the West Coast views.

This month was spent on the west coast. The Time Flies tour w/ Dawin got canceled so it was time to get with my artist and start to make a firm plan B. Everything happens for a reason so we must move forward with the mindset that the best is yet to come. We took in some good views down in the O.C. during a photoshoot. After that we invited Logan Paul up to the micro mansion in the Hollywood hills to listen to music and hopefully come up with a gameplan to attack a song. I hit DTLA for some Sunday funday drinks and bumped into my big bros friend Aaron who was also my casting director for Westchester. Small world. I brunched in Venice with Andrew Keegan and watched his daughter try a lemon for the first time; kids are so cute. I went to check out the memorial piece for Trigz to light a candle. Its been 3 years since his murder and he is missed dearly. I mainly wrapped up the nights by the beach in Marina Del Rey. Looking at the water and thinking of a master plan.

Dawin in the O.C.

Logan Paul & Dawin

w/ Aaron James in DTLA

Andre Keegan and his daughter in Venice

Trigz Memorial

Sunsets in Marina Del Rey

The Day of and the Night Of

May was a busy month in NYC. I spent time working on a deal for Dawin to record a talented new girl group signed to Warner Brothers called, "L2M." The girls are all actors and I attended their premiered their Disney/ Youtube series "Hyperlinked." I was at the NYC event with my niece, Emily, to test out the new show and meet the girls. While having dinner one night in the lower east side I bumped into Guardian Angels founder and ABC radio host Curtis Sliwa who interviewed me a few months prior for my Joe Colombo biography.  the next night I ran into actor, John Turturro who just finished his amazing limited series on HBO, The Night Of. If you have not seen it you must check it out. Then it was back to LA as work began on the new L2M music. Cant wait to get it out.

L2M "Hyperlinked" billboard

at the L2M premiere with my niece

with Curtis Sliwa

with John Turturro

Dawin in the studio with L2M

Glory Days in BK for Enisa, while Dawin is in Indonesia

May is always one of the busiest months for me. Black Punk front man Black Dave was still out in LA kicking it west coast style and he finished off his trip with an interview on Adam 22's coolest podcast in the world;  No Jumper. Back in BK, Enisa released her 2nd track, Glory Days; an earlier work she did in collaboration with producer Nacey (Misun) The song debut at #152 on the singer/ songwriter charts and will hopefully be doing some more this summer. Dawin began his "BoomShakaLaka" tour in South East Asia, delighting all his fans with a full 1 hour set of originals keeping them smiling and dancing into the next day. He finished off the tour strong in front of twenty thousands fans in Vietnam to close out the Color Me Run Festival. I stayed back in New York getting the day to day work done and also for the annual BNB Bowl weekend. We kicked it off on Friday night at SVA Theaters for a premiere of Drew Stone's NY Hardcore Chronicles film which was a great experience and a well needed film on the N.Y.H.C. culture. Then the weekend finale was seeing Gorilla Biscuits at Webster Hall. A packed house proves Hardcore Still Lives.

Black Dave - No Jumper

Enisa - Glory Days - cover photo by Estevan Oriol

Boomshakalaka Tour

Dawin in Bandung at Sobbers

with the fellas at the NY Hardcore Chronicles film premiere

with Danny Diablo aka Lord Ezec

Gorilla Biscuits at the old Ritz

Black n Blue Bowl 2017

Dawin turns his Errors into a win

Like many of us Dawin  has been making mistakes all his life. Some of them in music with business, sometimes in the studio while producing, sometimes these are just complications from a relationship. What he decided to do for most of 2016 was turn all of those experiences into his full length album, Errors. He still pays of his fan base with bright, catchy and powerful hooks and choruses, but most of these songs are not about empowerment; this batch of audio sings a song of struggle. I went out to LA so we could promote the new LP and got to also spend time with Black Dave who was also in Hollywood making moves after dropping his controversial record, Stop Frisk. The best part of the trip was catching another New Yorker while they were on the west coast for the first time. My mom was in town on vacation with her cousin and my buddy Nolan and I got to take the ladies out for dinner in Venice. Dawin dropped a few cool dance videos to promote the record, check out Pepper Spray below.

Dawin flexing at YouTube with 1 Million Subscriber

Dawin getting fly for pics on the gram

Shazam HQ

Dawin prepping for his Q&A @ Facebook HQ

Brooklyn Dom and Black Dave

L-R Dawin, me, Steve Baldwin, Matt Skiba, Black Dave

Sitting next to my Mon, with Nolan and my cousin Sandy

Anthony Colombo R.I.P. 1945-2017

This month was the saddest of news. I lost a dear friend and a mentor. on Jan 6th, Anthony Colombo passed in his sleep at home in San Diego, CA with his wife of 49 years. I learned so many things from Anthony through discussions and stories, but that story of marriage was one that always made me smile. He found an endless happiness in his relationships with the people he loved and for me it was not only admirable to witness but palpable. I will miss him on my journey to take his story and legacy to the next mediums of art as we venture into the world of film and TV his fathers life story. I watch the videos we made together from time to time hope one day soon we can reach a platform that allows the world to see the difference he and his father made together in 1970 and 71. The NY Times wrote a piece on him right after his passing highlighting a few of the many accomplishments Anthony made with the Italian-American Civil Rights League. His Obituary can be found here.

Anthony to the right of his father Joe Colombo at a rally (1970)

Anthony Speaking with vigor to a 200k plus crowd in Columbus Circle (6/71)

Anthony with Frankie Valli (1971)

Anthony (L) with Nelson Rockefeller at a rally (1970)

Anthony photographed by Estevan Oriol in Central Park. (2013)