15/10/2012

JAMES ARTHUR





Alot of people have asked and wondered why james has repped us so hard throughout his xfactor journey and there's been alot of unanswered questions its evident that the NORTH EAST are fully backing him, But alot of people are wondering..
why now for James   
wheres he been hiding all these years? 
And the truth his he's been grinding and hustling from the first day i met him.. Me and james have alot in common and it only really came evident to me when i spent the day chilling a jamming with him.
I first met James in training for a office job he was homeless living sofa to sofa pretty much penniless and i was in a sticky point in life also. I'd heard his music before but i wasn't an avid listener at the time, but within a few hours we deap into conversation and we were writing bars to each other with ripped up pieces of paper HIS WERE SICK BTW. James taught me a trick actually it doesn't work anymore though.. obviously we were both pretty skint and we had to travel to work everyday via the train so James demonstrated expertly  how we can deceive the train drivers on a day to day basis and in effect travel for free. i'll be brief on the old arriva trains Barclay cards weren't accepted and we had to go to work in suits so we'd always ask to pay card and pull out our Barclay card and then explain to driver how we get the train every day and how we'd pay if only you'd update your systems!! THIS WORKED ALWAYS!!! but yeah from then on i new this guy was a G.

i left that job and for the next year or 2 i only really saw James in dribs and drabs. FAST FORWARD TO LAST YEAR. 

So i'd been away from saltburn for a few years but i was back briefly and i bumped into James and we went to the local working mens club and he explained to me how he was caring for a friend of ours.. basically taking him to the footy, cinema pub those types of things and he also explained how he was still grinding with his music. after a few hours i'd agreed to join him at his yard and film a few song.. i dropped the tracks on my Facebook and blogs and the response for james was overwhelming.. and thats when i new i needed to do everything possible to help him make it... 
I ended up leaving saltburn for london to push and further myself and kick off laska and james stayed in saltburn and stay'd on the grind.. FASTFORWARD 6 MONTHS

Laskas finally kicking off and me and chris taylor (laskasak co founder) are ready to dropp our first collection so we decided to have a launch party in middlesbrough where it all started.. originally i asked mayan ransom to perform and he cancelled which was no shock ;) and i'd asked RAFF ( james arthur ) but didn't receive a reply so i didnt think he was onnit.. eventually when he did reply james was like " Oh yeah im well up for it but travelling to london to perform its abit far dont you think " i kept him sweating for a day or 2 then i let him know the performance was taking place in middlesbrough.. LONG STORY short the launch was success and RAFF killed his 20 minute acoustic set playing a mash-up of original songs and some RNB covers.. he didnt actually get the reception he deserved and i always find it funny because the same people who didnt take him seriously on the night are dropping status's like " THIS JAMES ARTHUR WOW WHERE DID HE COME FROM " and obviously when he came off after his set he let me know he wasn't happy and the only reason he stayed on the stage was because he was doing it for me and the brand which i'll never forget regardless how big he gets!! 

FAST FORWARD 2 months later. 
soo now i'll answer the question everyones asking on twitter why is he always in laskasak.. 2 days before his audition in newcastle he msg'd me on facebook letting me know he was through to the peform infront of the judges and that all he wants to do is wear my brand and indirecly PUT IT OUT THERE. and before he'd finished the sentence i rang chris and sent him round with whatever garments we had left. 

obviously seeing my garments on TV and in MAGZINES is amazing but its really all about raff for me.. in the space of a few months hes gone from performing at my event and cutting set short too performing infront of 10 million people week in week out and REPPING mine and chris's BRAND HARD..

IM TEAM JAMES ARTHUR. 

Laska


1 comment:

  1. Such a heartfelt story of your friendship and really cool how you have both managed to help each other out. No doubt your brand will become a worldwide name!! #BigLove to @LadsLSAK and @jamesarthur23

    ReplyDelete