Houston, We Have Liftoff…

It’s official like a referee with a whistle—The Launch is here and the brand new Frank151.com is up and running. To celebrate this historic event, Frank has teamed up with the Village Voice Media’s new social search site LikeMe.Net to giveaway 151 prizes, including 15 grand prizes in select cities. We kicked things off in Houston, Texas last weekend and awarded the first winner an all expenses paid girls’ night out with couturier/singer Shina Rae as she produced her weekly fashion show at Deans Credit Clothing and performed with Designer Drugs in The Backroom at The Mink.

Shina Rae has been Frank Fam and a major player in the FDL’s Houston Grills for a while now, so it was only fitting to have her host the first grand prize of The Launch. Shina Rae’s EP B.W.A. is available on iTunes and DJs have been dropping remixes of her single “Touch” on dance floors around the world. Opening up for artists like Katy Perry, The Ting Tings, Flosstradamus, The Rapture, and RJD2 (to name a few), it’s just a matter of time before she blows. On top of making music she also designs her own clothing lines—Bad Is The New Good, and Chopped and Sewn—clearly a girl on the grind. And it was new LikeMe user TajaMzBlaqueBarbie who won a night to party with Shina and Frank151 just by creating a profile on LikeMe.Net and recommending some of her favorite things.

On Friday night, LikeMe Marketing Manager Anya Strauss and I touched down at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and were greeting by a giant space cow holding a flag from the Lone Star State. Bush, Cows, NASA… yup, we were definitely in Texas.

The first stop was Beyonce’s House of Deréon Media Center where Nick Catchdubs was playing a bananas set including his Fool’s Gold Records partner A-Trak’s new club banger, “aNYway”. This is the Destiny’s Child gated compound that includes a two-level club, recording and dance studios and cribs-worthy house on site.

Of course he threw on some UGK for all the H-Town heads while Shina and I kept it trill.

Anya had no idea what we were talking about at first, but she learned pretty quickly.

FDL Houston Grills Captain Dayta.

Scion dealership representing out front.

Houston’s own The Bamaz and Squincey Jones chillin’ out front on the patio. The Bamaz are very familiar with the studio’s surroundings, as they have written songs for Beyonce in the past with another about to drop. You can check out cuts from their latest album Socially Awkward on their myspace page.

The place was adorn with all kinds of platinum records and awards from Destiny’s long career. It was all very Houston, and a great place to start the weekend.

After last call at the House, we were off to Bar Rio to catch a 3:00 am set from Beatport buddy and DJ Mag’s 2008 #1 DJ in the World Armin Van Buuren. If you’re into house/trance/techno or whatever the fuck they call this music now, Armin’s the man. He had the whole place in an uproar.

It seems weird to me that they call these guys DJs, as there are no actual turntables being used, but who am I to judge? People go absolutely apeshit when he mixes beats from a computer with little knobs or whatever then throws his hands in the air like he just won a marathon or something

Shina and I enduring it backstage.

Anya and opening DJ/producer Glenn Morrison.

These groupie girls were a mess. Anyway, a crazy mob scene ensued as we tried to leave the club followed by an afterparty at the Houston’s posh Hotel Zaza, which meant we finally wrapped things up around 6 am… not a bad way to kick things off.

Our home base for the weekend was downtown’s Alden Houston. The Alden Houston is one of downtown’s finest boutique hotels, conveniently located just steps from Main Street and many of the cool bars and restaurants. The lobby features a one-of-a-kind backlight wall, illuminating the room and cycling through 72-hour-long color scheme of soothing purple, pink, blue, and orange. Comfy leather couches adorn the historic building, which has been tastefully remodeled throughout while keeping the space’s classic architecture intact. The rooms are modern and cozy, with custom stone showers, feather-soft down bedding, spacious sofas and ample desk and workspace. Free internet, town car service, on-site bar and restaurant, and 24-hour (affordable) room service complete the amenities.

Right around the corner is Dean’s Credit Clothing, home of Shina’s weekly fashion shows and all around chill spot to hang out.

The models getting ready in the bar’s old store front windows.

Here we met up with Houston Press’ Marketing peeps Allisen Picos and Krissy Majewski, who were along for the ride. Check out their HP Street Team’s twitter to stay on top of all the events in the H.

We also greeted our big winner Taja MzBlaqueBarbie and her friends, who were ready to get it on, drinking a little something called Water Moccasins (I never tried one but I it has Crown in it so it can’t be all bad). One of the girls, Sonja, signs her texts with “Jesus Baby !$#”, which I interpreted as “Pow, Money, Pound”. This would be the slogan for the rest of the night.

Soon the fashion show began and a bevy of beauties walked the floor showing off the creative designs.

Very nice.

No shortage of legs here.

Tutu for you.

The show was awesome and everyone had a great time checking out all the cool clothes and sexy models.

A quick wardrobe change and 10 ladies piled into the town car, off to the Mink to see Shina Rae perform.

Some of Shina’s Chopped and Sewn T-shirts.

When Shina hit the stage, everyone went crazy and turned the dance floor into the real model mayhem.

“Baile puto!”

A mime showed up out of nowhere! That’s what I call black and white, which was the theme of the party that night.

“That dude was crazy!”

Shina and her DJ.

Sonja like whut.

Anya in the mix.

Shina did her thing on stage, we all had a blast on the dance floor, and then things started to become of bit of a blurrrr.

Black and White indeed.

Uh, I think the girls had fun.

Will do.

Is it nap time yet?

A little room in the back turned into a full blown photo shoot by the end of the night.

This guy was stoked.

Okay, you get the idea…

I wonder if Shina ever had to tell that guy to, “Shut the hell up!”?

Houston, we don’t have a problem. After this weekend, there’s no doubt that H-Town has some serious !$# going on. It was a great way to kick off The Launch contest, and just a preview of much more to come. For a chance to win your very own Launch experience, just go to The Launch Landing Page and FOLLOW the sign-up instructions. Remember, we’re giving away 151 prizes, so even if you don’t live near one of the Grand Prize cities, you can still win tons of other stuff like Vans sneakers and snowboard boots, 686 Outerwear, Clothing from Rogue Status and Akomplice, a signed photograph from Ricky Powell, signed copies of CDs from Redman, Santigold, Trouble Andrew, UGOD and Grand Puba, FDL New Era™ hats, a Frank’s Chop Shop skate deck, a $100 shopping spree on Frank151.com, a lifetime subscription to Frank151 Magazine, a VIP Chop Shop spa treatment and much more. So go ahead, what are you waiting for…?!?