What went down at Dazed Maxx in New York, LA and Atlanta

New York’s colder-than-usual spring weather didn’t deter the hundreds of people lined up outside of the iconic LAAMS shop last Friday (April 11), for the launch of Dazed Maxx. Once inside, people took photos with the first-ever US edition and sport-led edition of Dazed, grabbed Dazed Maxx tees, enjoyed music from from DJs Dylan Ali and Sunny Cheebaa and a slice of a Nike Dn8-shaped cake by Yip Studios, tried their hand at a Dazed Maxx claw machine and then stepped outside for an (extremely New York) wheelie show in the street from the biking community And Still We Ride.

New York wasn’t the only city that celebrated the launch of Dazed Maxx. Yesterday, for the first time ever, we hosted three magazine drops in three US cities – Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta. There were plenty of tees, stickers, soft drinks, limited edition posters and (of course) Dazed Maxx issues throughout.

Here’s what happens when you throw three simultaneous magazine drops in one day.

The Dazed Maxx special issue – celebrating the new Nike Air Max Dn8, the brand’s latest iteration of the classic Air Max with bold colourways and a fluid futuristic silhouette – guides us through the sports subcultures bubbling across New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and all of the magazine drop locations could be considered cultural institutions in their own right. Both the New York and Los Angeles events took place at beloved local stores, LAAMS and 194 Los Angeles, and Westside Motor Lounge brought people together on Atlanta’s Westside. All three events were also hosted by local favourites: Dazed Maxx cover star and founder of Crenshaw Skate Club Tobey McIntosh in LA, legendary cultural pioneer Chilly-O in Atlanta and Marz Lovejoy, founder of And Still We Ride, in New York, alongside co-hosts Black Girl Fight Club’s Gabrielle Narcisse and Ariana Simone Duplechain.

The collective Dazed Maxx lineup across the three cities had me wishing I could be in three places at once. The LA event brought out DJs NPC Milo, No Plastic, Quinn Blake and even hip-hop icon Tommy the Clown, and DJs Dylan Ali and Sunny Cheeba were on LAAM’s upstairs DJ booth in New York. Atlanta’s event had music from DJs Tyreek Morrison, Jagu4r and Champagne Trap, with a special live performance by UHLTRALORD.

Just because the Dazed Maxx magazine drops ran simultaneously, it doesn’t mean the offerings weren’t tailored to each separate party in each of the three cities. If you were in LA, you were served the city’s finest elotes and had the chance to get a limited, customised Dazed Maxx skateboard. The event in New York had tees and fresh produce bags from Food with Fam (plus the extremely impressive shoe cake), and those in Atlanta got customised t-shirts by celebrity favourite airbrush artist Icon Will. Needless to say, a time was had as local artists, students and families came out to celebrate the sports subcultures of their cities featuring in Dazed Maxx.

Who says you can’t get some reading done while socialising? The attendees of Dazed Maxx’s magazine drops were ultimately there to grab a limited-edition copy of Dazed Maxx. As I scanned across the room in New York, I saw multiple heads down, reading the issue. After just one hour in Atlanta, all of the magazines were gone. New York and LA ran out shortly after that, but (thankfully) you can still grab an issue of Dazed Maxx at select locations across all three cities.