Blog
HIPHOPOGRAPHY January 27 2009 Art & Los Angeles & Music & Old School
To borrow from one of my favorite movies, Brown Sugar, I fell in love with hiphop when I was about 9. A Tribe Called Quest, The Fat Boys, and LL Cool J pretty much got me hooked. Not long after that, I became increasingly interested in the elements associated with hiphop. Besides the music, there was oversized fashion - jackets, tees, pants, and even laces. There was cardboard box breakdancing, a particular type of language, and graffiti art. But when I got older, I started to neglect the genre that reminded me so much of childhood.Until I became familiar with Martha Cooper. An American photojournalist now in her 60s, Cooper is responsible for photographing the most definitive images of the abovementioned culture. Largely shot in New York decades ago, she portrays the lives of the hustling young and old. Whether they'd be dancing, tagging, or MCing, these subjects wanted to send a message, just as hiphop wanted to.
Lucky for me, Shepard Fairey's gallery, Subliminal Projects, is currently home to some of these photos. The exhibit called "Street Shots" primarily focuses on inner city kids. I don't know their stories, but I felt a sense of imagination as they were photographed in abandoned lots, desolate alleys, and empty subway carts.
If you have time to spare, you should check it out. Studio Number One: 1331 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026
Tweet
FROM THE GROUND UP January 26 2009 Art & Events
Yesterday I drove south to Long Beach for the opening reception of Ground Up Pirates at Beatrock. The Ground Up movement focuses on underground and independent art forms - music, photography, graff, and poetry (to name a few). This show featured work by Jerrell Connor, Kelli Murray, Ozwego, and Pancho Abalos, and ended with a live performance by Hawaii's Humble Soul. Beatrock, as you know, is our first account, a flagship store, and an art space. Props to Ground Up, Dave, and Ven, for providing a Sunday afternoon of positivity, and of course, eggrolls.
Tweet
WDYWT January 24 2009 CA Team
A year ago, the CA crew lost one of its original members, Fedy. Though Filipino tradition had us celebrating his life with a family brunch, Kim and I wanted to do something a little different. I've had two t-shirt concepts in my mind for a long time. One was to put "S Greenwood" across a shirt to represent the street that we all hang at. The second was to put "Forever Young" because, hey, I haven't really grown up. But as Fedy's one year approached, I thought it would be better as a combination. You see, Fedy was like a big kid. If you saw his room, he had tons of collectible toys. From Transformers to Mr Potato Head, from Street Fighter to Star Wars. He was well equipped with every game console known to man. And whenever we were there, we felt like big kids, too. When it was dark, we'd bring out the lightsabers and fight in the front lawn. On some nights, we'd put an entire package of mentos in a 2 liter Diet Coke and watch it explode. So it only made sense to put the ideas together.As a Chicharon Adventures tribute, we made team shirts with a photo of Fedy doing a hand plant in front of the S Greenwood stoop circa 1989. We handed them out earlier this week, and we all wore them this morning.
Ash grey was the standard color but some of us wanted to get an extra one with a color we wanted. Here's how the variation went.
This was a really important project for us and we want to throw a little thank you to Sunday Print Co and gek for understanding just how important it truly was.
Tweet
GETTING TO KNOW YOU January 23 2009 Music
Just a bit of warning before I begin this. I foolishly left my memory card in my office, and my Canon doesn't have internal memory. So for this post, I had to use my Blackberry for the pictures. They aren't great, but I tried...When CA was just months old, we networked with a local hip hop band called Rhythm Natives (RN). If you've been a follower of CA, you should know who they are. Next month, we will be releasing a collaboration t-shirt that features a combination of both our logos. We've been meeting with Matt nearly every week to detail and finalize this project. In between all of our conceptualizing, I told him that I'm on a personal quest to expand CA to include an online magazine. It's my goal to expose readers to independent art in varied mediums. Los Angeles alone has an amazing talent pool, and this is where I'll begin.
Although the web layout is still in development, I acted fast to gather content. You can imagine that my first victim would be from RN - Chez, their keyboard player. For the record, that IS his real name, pronounced exactly as it is spelled. I've always referred to him as the quiet one, so it was exciting to hear him unfold.
Inspired by artists such as Stevie Wonder and Kanye West, he's incredibly passionate about his craft. He's constantly on the keys creating beats. And when asked if there is a method to the madness, he simply answered, "I just play." Simple enough, but he truly is the backbone of the band. I don't want to give too much away, as the interview is part of a bigger venture, but we talked future albums, six degrees of separation, old school R&B, and even musicals. Overall, my first Q and A was a success.