The Red Bulletin April 2024

If you’re a longtime reader of The Red Bulletin, then surely you’ve noticed that the issue you’re holding has undergone a complete makeover—with a bigger format and an elevated design aesthetic and a more visual approach to storytelling. Our team has been grinding for months to upgrade every component of the magazine. But one big priority has not changed: our defining mission to illuminate and celebrate the soul of Red Bull. This is a brand fully committed to giving wings to certain things—inspiring people to take chances in pursuit of a more extraordinary life; to be curious and whimsical and strategically rebellious; to go hard with the things you care about and love life in a big way. The issue you’re holding is full of stories that reflect those values.…

@DEADLYMIKE ILLUSTRATOR MIKE DEL MUNDO Better known as Deadly Mike in some circles, Del Mundo made his name in the Canadian breaking scene before becoming a comic artist. “I still remember battling in those hot, smoky clubs, where B-Boys be slipping on the linoleum,” says the Toronto-based artist, who often works with Marvel and created artwork for our Red Bull Lords Of The Floor zine. “When Red Bull hit me up to do these illustrations, I caught that feeling again. B-Boying is as pure as it gets.” @GREGNOIRE PHOTOGRAPHER GREG NOIRE “There’s no greater feeling for me, both as a creative and a massive fan of music, than being able to capture moments of raw, unfiltered emotion and shifting the perspective into something that is distinctly my own,” says the…

There were songs and features and production credits and a mixtape and wild-ass club dates and delusional goals and brutal mistakes (and lessons) and big wins—but Blxst only well and truly blew up at the end of 2020. It had been a death march of a year, and in Southern California, where Matthew “Blxst” Burdette was born and raised, shit was still pretty much shut down. Kids who should have been getting up to hood hijinks or heading to (canceled) Coachella were caregiving, or grieving, or unmasking at mansion parties. DJ D-Nice smoothed over some of our mangiest midnights with his Instagram Club Quarantine, but there was little outside of liquor (or whatever) to douse the parallel thirsts for community, and also silence, and a license, really, to kill anyone…

A powerhouse vocalist with a buttery-smooth tone, James Vickery is one of R&B’s most exciting prospects. But the 29-year-old British soul singer, who recently signed with Red Bull Records, has had to over-come a lot to get here. As a child he was diagnosed with an abnormal growth of skin cells behind his left ear; the surgery was a success but required the removal of his eardrum, leaving him deaf in one ear and unable to distinguish the volume and pitch of his voice. With help from a vocal coach, Vickery found his voice. Here, he discusses his journey. 7 QUESTIONS 1 What made you to want to become a singer? I remember watching the film Sister Act 2 on VHS back in the day. I wore out the tape…

“When I’m shooting, I want the viewer to know exactly what went into this moment—how much emotion, pain, love, blood, sweat and tears that went into each song,” says Noire. “It could be years leading up to this artist getting onto the stage to perform.” Previous spread: “This was the first stop on Drake’s Summer Sixteen tour. I didn’t get paid a dime, but I just love making art.” Noire selects this shot as a favorite, capturing Metro Boomin in a unique role fronting an orchestra for his historic Red Bull Symphonic performance at L.A.’s Dolby Theater in 2023: “You can’t see the expression on his face because it’s in shadow, but you know it’s there. I think that enhances the emotion.” How Greg Noire captured this iconic image of…

Samuel “Hooliboy” Kyei furrows his brow as he stands on an outdoor basketball court near Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. It’s a sunny but cold afternoon in the middle of January, and Kyei is dancing to the same 32-count beat on repeat—a fusion of Amapiano, a South African subgenre of house music—while a crew member records his movements on an iPhone. To his side, his longtime friend, supporter and stylist, Toya Mendez, encourages him after every take. Step by step, his motions fall into place, as if he’s working through a delicate puzzle on the blacktop. His moves combine uptown swagger and West African street-dance flair with the patented fluidity of Michael Jackson. As Kyei’s dance takes shape, it’s like bearing witness to a magical feat of expression. The athleticism, art and imagination…