Original Star Wars Posters Remixed
Dope re-designs from my man Olly Moss from the UK
Album Artwork: Michael
An album of newly completed recordings from Michael Jackson. Includes the songs he most recently created along with tracks that Michael had a desire to bring to fruition. The album cover of MICHAEL was created by painter Kadir Nelson; the oil painting, created in 2009, takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life.
Releasing December 14, 2010
The Making of Thriller in Pictures
This pic is interesting for a few reasons
The iconic shot Andy Warhol used to immortalize MJ
It’s been 17 years since Douglas Kirkland had exclusive access as the sole photojournalist at Michael Jackson’s landmark “Thriller” video. It wasn’t until Jackson’s death in June, 2009 that the photographer decided to finally share the wealth of material he originally shot for Life magazine in book form, due out this month as Michael Jackson: The Making of Thriller/4 Days/1983.
Also, a big-screen version of “Thriller,” is rumored to have been green-lighted.
Save The Planet, Cop Cardboard Kicks
Sculptor Mike Leavitt has recognized the artistic merits of sneakers and fashions cardboard sculptures out of some of our favorite kicks. On top of that they’re pretty damn good. Buying one of these will set you back $500.
Flyer: Cory “Mr. VIP LIFE Moore’s Birthday Weekend
A flyer I did for my boy Cory Mr. VIP LIFE Moore. CEO of Final Kauz Entertainment. That party on Sat looks official!!
Concrete Jungle Inception x Maal The Visualist
The Artwork of Jamaal Clark. Artist.Photographer.Painter.Designer.Philly Native. Visualist. DOPE. Check out more of his work here.
Cover Art x JKabel-Just A Sample
This is an album cover I did for my friend, recording artist JKabel for his upcoming EP entitled “Just A Sample” He wanted to depict himself walking alone into the “wilderness of life” amongst a dark ominous backdrop. Minimal but powerful. I think it came out pretty DOPE.
Album Covers-Illmatic
While we are on the topic of iconic album covers…here are some interesting facts behind the conception and influence of the album cover of arguably the greatest hip hop album of all time.
The cover for hip hop classic Illmatic was originally going to have a picture of Nas holding Jesus Christ in a headlock. I’m not sure why that didn’t go ahead (although you would think the label might have had some concerns) but the ultimate cover is a far more reflective and subtle effort.
Illmatic was released in 1994 and today it regularly tops lists of the best rap albums ever released. The cover features a picture of Nas as a 7 year old that was taken after his father, musician Olu Dara, returned home from an overseas tour. Obviously no one told him to say cheese. Art Director Aimee Macauley superimposed the picture over a New York city block, which represents the ghetto.
According to Nas, age 7 “was the year I started to acknowledge everything [around me]. That’s the year everything set off. That’s the year I started seeing the future for myself and doing what was right. The ghetto makes you think. The world is ours. I used to think I couldn’t leave my projects. I used to think if I left, if anything happened to me, I thought it would be no justice or I would be just a dead slave or something. The projects used to be my world until I educated myself to see there’s more out there.”
Speaking to XXL only this year, he expands: “Really the record had to represent everything Nasir Jones is about from beginning to end, from my album cover to my videos… That’s what it was all about for me, being that kid from the projects, being a poster child for that, that didn’t exist back then.”
It’s a moving image that feels quite cinematic – the young child amid the ghetto, looking forward into an uncertain future. It also inspired an apt cover for the follow up, 1996’s It Was Written.
Whether Illmatic has inspired other covers is the source of much controversy. A scant five months after its release, The Notorious B.I.G came out with the album Ready to Die. The cover art does seem fitting for an album that opens with the birth of a baby and goes on to spin a narrative based on Biggie’s life.
In 1995, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah addressed this on the song “Shark Niggas (Biters)”
YaknowhatI’msayin? Niggaz niggaz niggaz niggaz is bitin off your
album cover and shit
Yeah!
Whoa bad enough they biting lines like niggaz killed me
Yeah
When they came with some Nas, niggaz bit offa Nas shit!
KnowhatI’msayin?
(What he’s saying is that Biggie copied Nas)
The biggest selling hip hop album of 2008 was The Carter III by Lil Wayne. The cover for the Carter III has naturally attracted comparison to Illmatic, given that it features a photo of the artist as a child.
Artists of Ground Zero.
“Reclaiming Vistas: Post 9/11 Urban Perspectives,” is a showcase of 5 artists with studios that were either in the World Trade Center in very close proximity to ground zero.
Original Flyer:Wale
Figured I’d start posting some of my own artwork. Really happy with the way this one came out.
Bicycles Obelisk
Hey kids, here’s a good way to recycle old bikes! Created by artists Mark Grieve and Ilana Spector, the 65-foot-tall and 10,000-pound obelisk is made out of 340 bicycles.
