Issue 9, Spring 2007

Nerds

We head to Comic Con and chat with pop’s beatmaker, N.E.R.D.’s Chad Hugo. We dive into the minds of three young successful RGB masters: YouTube’s Steve Chen, Gothamist’s Jen Chung, and gaming’s new wunderkind, Jenova Chen. And we quiz comic artist R. Kikuo Johnson to see if he’s really a nerd. —Sold Out

Articles Available Online

The New's Misaki Kawai

In Kawai’s art, a voluptuous woman rides a bicycle, and a spider takes the opportunity to bite her in the ass.
The New's Jin

Cantonese rap? If anyone can pull that off, it’s Jin, seven time winner of BET’s infamous MC battle “106th and Park.”
The New's Alexi Tan

Photographer-turned-filmmaker Tan works on his first feature film, a Chinese Western produced by John Woo.
The New's SSBA

It’s not surprising that SSBA literally means “shit” in Korean—founder Jang likes to stir shit up, figuratively.
The New's Fruition

In a city filled with knock-offs (This casino looks like Paris!), something original is taking place at Fruition, a vintage streetwear boutique.
The Netherlands Amsterdam, Jet-setting Style

Andreas Mueller, editor of Superfuture show us where to go in his hometown, Amsterdam.
United States Los Angeles

Peter James Lee, founder and creative director of LA-based fashion label House of Cassette takes us through his haunts in Los Angeles.
Theme Chad Hugo and the Planet of Producers

Chad Hugo of The Neptunes tells us about this one time, in band camp…
Theme R. Kikuo Johnson and The Strip Life

The widely heralded comic book artist explains the differences between a nerd, geek, dork, and spaz.
Theme Steve Chen’s Mass Appeal

In Feb. 2005 Chen co-created YouTube. A year later, Google snapped it up for US$1.65 billion. He talks to Theme about the next big thing.
Theme Aya T. Kanai is Pulling Strings

Kanai used to be a puppet master. Now she’s fashion director of Nylon magazine. See any parallels?
Theme There’s Something About Mary Ping

Thoughtfulness isn’t synonymous with fashion, but Mary Ping has made her success out of it.
Top 10 Albums Kiiiiiii’s Top 10

Two-girl hip-hop-punk-pop unit from Japan share their top 10 albums with Theme.
Portraits Comic Con NY

Javits Center, Feb 24, 2007. Theme scoured 160,000 sq. ft. of comics mayhem, meeting cosplaying, manga-reading, trenchcoat-wearing artists, publishers, and fans. Here are a few.
Portraits Ping Pong Fever

Ping pong is experiencing a comeback as an urban sport. Theme heads to New York Table Tennis Foundation in Chinatown and photographs some of the players.