Before the release of 'Black Messiah', singer-songwriter D'Angelo resurfaced with a tremendous tour that reestablished his status as a singular soul man while expanding his musicianship from keys to guitar. I caught up to him in a New Jersey hotel for a walk through his musical inspirations. He even blessed us with a song from the Parliament-Funkadelic catalog. Word is new music is on the way!

'The disconnect between skate brands and the games spotlights what happens when a subculture becomes mainstream. At the Olympics, the laissez-faire attitude of skateboarding must abide by complicated rules for Olympic kits, skate around larger country-team sponsorships by major brands and consider the audience that Olympic skating is even for. That may not be the same audience these brands try to serve. “As far as our demographic, I think most of our fans probably lean into the Olympics as something over here that they’ll probably pay a little bit of attention to, but it’s not their main focus,” says Damon Thorley, a brand manager for Spitfire and Thunder Trucks at the heritage skateboard company Deluxe Distribution. “What they’re into is smaller, local scenes, and what’s going in Thrasher magazine on Monday is maybe more important to them or more interesting."

'This cowgirl's saddles are beautiful. Nancy Martiny’s ornate pieces, which sell for $5,000 and up, are meant to be ridden by working cowboys and cowgirls like herself.'