In 1987, when I was just ten years old, I had three things on my mind: Music, Movies, and Comics. Growing up as a little boy in the 80s was a special thing, being exposed to several different movements in different areas of popular culture that would later be known as "classic". The birth and explosion of hip hop as a whole. The arrival of anime in america in the form of several Saturday morning cartoons. Reaganomics. The Cold War. The maturation of television advertising. But for me things were a little different. My father served in the US Army, and in 1987 I was living in Livorno Italy. Keeping up with what was current and hot was kind of a job in itself for a kid who was out of the country for three years or so at a time.

You may wonder what I'm trying to get at here, and it's really simple. Having been around long enough to see the mediums I came up with mature and expand (for better or worse) is an amazing thing. It gives one the ability to discern what to draw inspiration/enjoyment from, and what to avoid like the plague. I lived through the inception of Def Jam Records, which they call "old school" now. The hip hop dominance of 1988, and Rakim, KRS ONE, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, and a whole slew of others who are now legends in the game. Frank Miller's legendary run at Marvel Comics on "Daredevil". The birth of the Michael Jordan phenomenon, and those amazing Nike commercials directed by Spike Lee, who would become one of my heroes later in life. Do The Right Thing and Boyz in the Hood. New Jack City. The Source Magazine. The beautiful rise and tragic fall of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace. It's what we call having a cultural filter.

That's what I intend to do here at Arize Magazine: let you into my world. It's a world of music of all kinds, fresh sneakers (mostly Adidas I must admit), a whole lot of films, video games, political commentary, fashion, comic book writers and ill graffiti artists. It's also the world of Precise Minds Inc., the film production company I co-founded in 2005 and run from Chicago. It's a little bit of everything, because I think that's what Arize is about as well: CULTURE. I want to give Steve "Pyro" a shout for allowing me to find a literary home here. So, stay tuned people. In the illustrious words of Raekwon, "Blow a fuse you lose/half ass crews get demolished and bruised". Welcome to My World...