Quote by Dj Khaled

"In life everyone has a choice. The key is: make the right choice."

Lorde – The musical phenomenon of 2014

If you’ve switched on the radio at all during the past few months, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard Lorde’s hit single “Royals”, which has some poetic and memorable lyrics which has seen her now being compared to poet Sylvia Plath. From her fascination and love for things of royalty and aristocracy, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor thus became Lorde.

At first, she wanted her stage name to be “Lord”, but added the “e” at the end for a more feminine look. Born on the 7^th of November in 1996, the New Zealand singer-songwriter is just 17 years old. She was born in Takapuna and raised in Devonport, Auckland and performed in a range of singing and drama classes as a child, and later went on to be signed with Universal Records at the age of 13.

Lorde is being praised for her deep lyrics and insight as well as her genuine demeanour in the music industry. Her musical debut entitled “The Love Club”, was released in November 2012 and her first single, "Royals", debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40, and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013 in the U.S. “Royals” has made Lorde’s musical career already, with her winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance in 2013.

Lorde’s voice has been described as being “beyond her years”, which is rather accurate. Because apart from her voice, it’s her general behaviour that is so unlike her young contemporaries in the music industry; think Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, etc. Her age has been a hot topic since Lorde has entered the scene and all we can hope now is that she remains true to the love of music and sincere lyrics that she has shown so far, as most pop stars begin poignant and real but frazzle to become annoying and fake.

Lorde is a breath of fresh air on our airwaves because she’s not the average pop princess. She’s tweeted unedited photos of herself declaring that “flaws are okay” and she’s not ashamed of proclaiming that she’s a feminist. Any female songstress today who has the guts to admit these things definitely deserves a round of applause.

Julian Lennon pays tribute to his father through pictures

Julian Lennon has had quite a name to live up to being the only child of the late John Lennon and the now 74-year-old Cynthia Powell, John's first wife. Yet he has always viewed life differently despite, or perhaps because of, his journey being so unique and remarkable. Although he is mostly known as a singer-songwriter, musician and producer, Julian actually has many other talents and interests, including that of being a documentary film producer, philanthropist, and a fine art photographer.

As a tribute to his father and The Beatles, Julian has become the curator of an exhibit commemorating The Beatles’ 50^th anniversary of their first U.S. tour. Julian’s eye for photocomposition and aestheticism brings a unique Beatles collection to the public at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York displayed from February 7^th to the 28^th. What sets this exhibit apart from others featuring The Beatles goes without saying; the personal relation between Julian and John Lennon has made this exhibit something that does not occur too often.

The idea stemmed from a guy named Timothy White, a photographer and partner at the Morrison Hotel Gallery, when he came to Julian with the task of looking through a few hundred photographs of his father with The Beatles and choosing 25, or 50 because it was the 50^th anniversary. And so 25 shots are being exhibited at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in the SoHo district until the end of February and another 25 at a gallery in Los Angeles, at which Timothy White is also a partner.

Having curated and chosen the images to be displayed himself, Julian must have had quite a poignant and cathartic experience, especially with photography being his main focus recently. He chose the photographs that evoked emotion and speaks more of the back-story of what the boys of The Beatles were feeling when they were becoming legends in the music industry – and in history. Julian has also said that some of the images display the look of anxiety and fear, an element of numbness, and the reality of the popularity of The Beatles really hitting them. But if there’s one thing that the exhibition will portray clearly, it’s the hell of a ride that the members of The Beatles had.

Instagram : October 2013

Instagram highlights for the month of October.

My instagram username is: @leefolkard

Link: http://www.instagram.com/leefolkard

Venice in Durban  :: Dragonfly

Music :: Rome

Clouds :: Kids

Waffles :: Hotel Life

SAA :: Sasha

Rihanna in SA :: Lemon Tree 

Who are those girls?

I'm pretty sure by now, you've seen Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines music video.

And, since you have, surely you've noticed the three stunning girls prancing in the background in nothing but nude-colored underwear and white sneakers. They are (in no particular order):

Elle Evans

Elle is 23, Texas born and Louisiana bred. She models and acts in NYC, LA and Miami.
She used to date Deadmau5.



Jessi M'Bengue

Twitter: @Jessimbengue
Jessi (Jessika) is a model, an actress and a recording artist. She was born in Southern France to an Ivorian-Senegalese father and an Algerian mother.
She is ageless as far as we can tell...


And my fav: Emily Ratajkowski

Twitter: @realemrata
Emily is 21, a London-born Californian of Polish-Israeli background who's been modeling since the age of 14. Before "Blurred Lines" came out, she appeared in campaigns for Forever 21, Nordstrom, and various swimwear and lingerie lines.

And there you have it! Now you know.

The Concert

Anything that can bring people together, heal wounds, lift spirits, is magic. Music has that magic. It is a universal language; the words might be in a language that you cannot even understand, but you can still feel the music and experience its power. But there is nothing like experiencing live the music you love – where music truly comes alive is at the concert.

In that stadium or arena, all those thousands of fans are united for those few hours and they all feel the same thing – that they are not alone anymore and the music is all that matters. It can be felt in the air; it drifts with the sound and pulses through your body, through your very being. In that moment we are all in love and we all have something to believe in again.

The recent Linkin Park concert in South Africa saw 80 000 fans gather at Soccer City in Johannesburg – 80 000 people all in one place to live in the moment of loving the music together of a band they feel like they’ve grown to know through their music – a band who seems to understand their feelings without ever having met them. Music has that power.

You look around and everyone is mouthing the same lyrics but the words mean something different to everyone; they’ve all heard that song at some point in their own lives and remember it for different reasons, fell in love with it for different reasons, but they all find themselves together in that transcendent moment singing the same song, loving the same thing.

Authenticity is invaluable; Originality is nonexistent.

The history of the world is one of shared spaces, shared food, shared water, shared DNA, shared lives.

The history of art is the same.

It is a history of an evolution of ideas, of appropriation and application.

Therefore, if you’re looking for inspiration, look no further than 1. inside you; and then 2. to other art work that fuels your soul.

Apply your own story to what you see.
Make it relevant, make it yours.
Remix it all and you’re underway.


“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"All of life is a collage."