ISSUE #47 - FRANCE ISSUE (AUG 17, 2008)
ISSUE #46 - VINYL ISSUE (JULY 27, 2008)
ISSUE #45 - CANADA ISSUE (JULY 13, 2008)
ISSUE #44 - DESIGN ISSUE (JUN 29, 2008)
Money Bags
Bags full of money? Not quite, but almost as good. Money Bags is a new streetwear brand which aims to deconstruct the global dominance of corporate fascismo fashionistas, whilst also bringing sweatpants back in a major way…..that’s right, a pair of red sweatpants, in the club, you heard it here first.
Info.Image: SlamXHype
Rocksmith Tokyo
Yeah, all that stuff you heard about a massive global revolution was true. This is actually the official hoody of the 21st century earthling who lusts for all that is good and righteous in this strange world of ours; birthdays, girlfriends, footrubs, houseparties, videogames, primetimes and casual drinks with lovely peeps.
Info.Image: SlamXHype
Reebok Glow in the Dark Pumps
Reebok goes futuristic with these ultra-technotronic pumps from beyond the moon. Tron never looked so fresh, the new best reason to keep your shoes on when you’re knockin’ boots, these kicks are basically kryptonite for player haters so keep ‘em handy for the wahlburgs!
Info.Image: Hypebeast
And the Winner Is…
After much deliberation, Format has chosen a winner for the Fridge Rapper Drawing Contest.
Congratulations to Ian O’Phelan for his drawing of Grandmaster Flash.
And many thanks to everyone else who submitted:
Tom Ford for drawing Chris Brown:
Joel Colley for drawing The Beatnuts:
Jaime Honkawa for drawing Warren G:
Braden Darkins for drawing Mos Def:
Aud Brum for drawing Grandmaster Flash:
Christopher Miller for drawing KRS-ONE, Rakim, and MF Doom:
A. Smith for drawing Lady Sovereign:
Mark Bernard for drawing Big Daddy Kane:
Atmos NYC x Art-Force-One
Art-Force-One eez zee sneaker designer zee most cool from Paris. See his purple dunk-hi basket-shoes he made in collab with Atmos NYC! Waow, j’adore! (trans: Art-Force-One is a sick sneaker designer from Paris that deserves much respect and attention. Check out his latest kicks, a modified purple and black dunk-hi made for Atmos NYC)
Info.Image: SlamXHype
Ricky Powell
If Lyor Cohen is the white godfather of hip-hop, Ricky Powell is hip-hop’s grumpy old man. For the past 20 years, Ricky Powell has watched hip-hop grow from a New York niche culture to a worldwide phenomenon. He has been and continues to be in hip-hop’s presence, armed with his Pentax and acerbic wit to document hip-hop every step of the way.
Ricky Powell’s presence is in galleries, books, bootleg iron on T-shirts and most recently, ESPN 2’s, It’s The Shoes. Ricky Powell is hip-hop’s self-proclaimed resident curmudgeon. Format is lucky enough to catch a phoner with the Rickster, which says a lot for a man that doesn’t even own a computer. From kicks to the current state of hip-hop, Ricky Powell adds value to everything he says and says something about nearly everything!
“I am hoping things click this year. I am also a gigolo for older women on a moderate income. Whatever I got to do.”
Format: What was your first professional encounter with hip-hop?
Ricky Powell: Beasties was probably my first professional encounter. In 1986, in the spring of `86, the Beasties took me on some club dates to Boston and DC. That summer, I was selling Frozade on the streets. One day it was sweltering hot and I saw the Beasties in USA Today, and saw they were on tour with Run DMC on Raising Hell, and was like ‘Damn, this shit is big!’ I rolled my cart in, bought a ticket to Tampa, rolled up to the Tampa Dome, knocked on the back door and the guards let me in. The Beasties saw me and were like ‘What are you doing here?’ I was like, ‘You know whatevs. I was in the neighborhood.’ So they took me into the arena where Run DMC was playing and they were doing “Peter Piper,” and the crowd was going nuts. I remember thinking, wow, this is big time. So they ended up giving me a bunk on the tour bus and I went on tour with them for a week in the southeast. Then I went on some spot dates on the Dope Jam Tour, Def Jam Tour, Run’s House tour – just me and my little Auto Jammy. Actually, I was using my Pentax 1000. And I had my bag with my one-hitter and it all worked out.
“A lot of this shit [street-wear] is made by kids. I wouldn’t wear a lot of this stuff. I still dress like a kid though.”
Format: In careers, successes can that appear pivotal, at the time, are overwhelming and almost surreal, did you experience any moments like that?
Ricky Powell: It was probably a little like that in Tampa, but in 1987 on the License To Ill tour – that was the real age of Aquarius. They, [the Beastie Boys], brought me along as the unofficial, official photographer. I got to see that whole lifestyle with traveling, tour buses, hotels, freakazoids. Later that year, Run DMC joined for the Together Forever tour and it was great. All the artists felt comfortable with me. I liked the gig. I don’t really like regular jobs.
Format: When was the last time you went on tour with someone?
Ricky Powell: Probably in 1995 for Beastie’s Intergalactic [and] I went on a little tour of my own in Japan a few years ago. I also get to go on little dates, too, doing my world famous slide show. I like the little gigs where I do a few nights in a city and stay in a nice hotel.
Format: When you were doing some of you earlier work, did you think people would be studying it, referencing it or making T-shirts out of it 20 years later?
Ricky Powell: Hell no. I did it for the love and it just gave me something to do while I was figuring out what I was doing with my life. In late `85, early-`86, shit kind of clicked. Hip-hop, around then, was so fun. I was friends with the Beasties and they were doing cool shit. Through them I met Run DMC and then over at Rush Productions I met a lot of artists who would come through – Stetsasonic, Eric B and Rakim, Public Enemy. I then got down with a photo agency and it took off from there.
Format: Your photography seems to be very organic. Today, images in pop culture are tainted by labels, politics, stylists and image consultants – the images people see are what media gatekeepers want people to see. How can someone make an impact while still conforming to the media gatekeepers?
Ricky Powell: I’d like to start out by saying that I think everything today is fucking wack!. I have my inner convictions, but I have my Oscar Madison style; sophisticated but sloppy or vice-versa. Today, all artists are about fucking flash and the substance is not there. I am not trying to be an old fogey, but I really wish it was good. I really like this new singer Lily Allen. I am more attracted to understated than overstated. I am so amazed as to how the music industry functions. It’s none of my business, but it makes no sense. I don’t even listen to the radio. I listen to Jazz88 and KCR which is Columbia’s radio station. WBAI plays some good hippie shit and on the weekends they have a good hip-hop show called Underground Railroad. I have a little radio show on eastvillageradio.com called Forty Deuce. We get a lot of good feedback. I also do a show on public access called Rappin’ With The Rickster – off that, It’s The Shoes [and] I had the BBC approach me on some grumpy old man shit. I have some younger friends who take me out and try to show me there is still cool shit out there. Canada TV has also expressed interest in Rappin’ With The Rickster. ESPN – fingers crossed –has shown interest, too. It’s The Shoes has given me a lot of great exposure. I was in FedEx the other day and these random Japanese dudes recognized me. It was very rewarding.
But being an artist is a struggle, because I stick strictly to street photography. I am hoping things click this year. I am also a gigolo for older women on a moderate income. Whatever I got to do. I woke up yesterday owing two months’ rent and by the afternoon I had two gigs that paid the rent. I was reading Wax Poetics, yesterday, and there was this interview with Minnie Riperton’s husband and he was talking about how he met her. He said, ‘It was all accidental. The way life normally is.’ I was like wow. A lot of shit I work on just blows up and falls apart and then I have these miracles that come out of the blue. I can’t explain it.
“K-Swiss – I hate those commercials, I want to fucking shoot those people.”
Format: Concerning the current state of street-wear and the explosion of sneaker culture on a widespread scale – is 2007 the new 1992?
Ricky Powell: 1992, was that benchmark year? I mean, the shit these days is so overloaded with the sneakers and the shirts. It’s so much, I don’t really pay attention. I was talking to this girl, Clara, last night. I gave her a late night call. I told her, ‘I like you `cause you are understated. I am really attracted to understated.’ I dabbled in and out of the clothing thing, but I don’t really like that industry. Any industry you go to is going to be crowded with agendas and that’s one of the reasons I am a lone wolf. I just do my street photography and I don’t have to answer to anybody. I call my own shots. This clothing shit, though, is hard. You might have some good ideas and your shit looks good, but you need luck and you need the economy to be good. I’m 45, now. A lot of this shit is made by kids. I wouldn’t wear a lot of this stuff. I still dress like a kid though.
Format: The breakdown of skippies on It’s The Shoes is classic, memorable, even. What are your top five skippies and top five sneakers?
Ricky Powell: They let me smoke weed before each shoot. OK, so my top five: Puma Clydes; Pistol Pete Pro Keds, both low and hi; .these high top suede, Pumas they did custom for me; and Chuck Taylors – I have my own Converse coming out made from hemp with some photos on the bottom, that star on the inner angle visually stimulated me so much as a kid; and Nike Blazers in the late `70s and early `80s. I am wearing some high top leather Pumas right now. Worst: LA Gear; Troop; K-Swiss – I hate those commercials, I want to fucking shoot those people; Skechers – those are real skips; [and] modern Nikes – they are so wack. I would never wear that shit. They look like irregular astronaut shoes. The taste of these people, including the NBA players, what are they thinking!? Bill Bradley looked like such a doofus in his uniform, but he came off wearing the Chucks and was a great finisher on the fast break. I wish someone would wear canvas Chucks today. I got to give Stephon Marbury props for wearing sneakers that are affordable for kids. They are ugly, but I give him props. They are still skips, though.
“License To Ill tour – that was the real age of Aquarius.”
Format: What is your take on the boom in sneaker culture, are companies ruining it for sneaker connoisseurs or is their participation for the greater good?
Ricky Powell: They had this Sneaker Pimps thing in NYC a few months ago and I thought about going, but then I was like no. It’s just a convention of people checking out other people’s sneakers and checking out each other’s feet. I can’t stand the dudes who tuck their jeans into their sneakers. I can’t stand dudes like that. They look so toy. I think it’s better when it’s understated. If you catch someone’s feet and they are wearing some dope shoes with jeans over, that’s dope.
Format: You will never stop rocking sneakers, but given sneaker developments’ current state, would you move on to not wearing sneakers?
Ricky Powell: I often wonder how I will be dressing as an old man. I think I will be wearing hoodies and sneakers. I have a pair of dress shoes I bought in Italy like 10 years ago that I never wear. I will stick with Cons and Pumas as long as I can.
“So they took me into the arena where Run DMC was playing and they were doing “Peter Piper,” and the crowd was going nuts.”
Format: Many photographers have made the leap into videos and motion pictures. Have you done any videos, is that something you want to do?
Ricky Powell: A couple of people have asked me to do videos. I like to take my pictures and keep moving. I don’t have patience to sit around on a set all day. Russell Simins from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion asked me, but I said no. I am a lazy bum and I only work when I feel like it. If you came to my house, you will see what I mean. My house is a mess and I’ve been meaning to clean it for years. I am lying in the midst of newspapers, food videotapes, books, records, magazines. Seriously, I have just enough space on my bed to lay down. When I do do things, I do them in little bursts. I will go out and shoot stuff for my show and then not shoot again for a while.
Format: As someone who has historically been ahead of the curve, what’s next?
Ricky Powell: I’d like to get paid. I would like to paid.
Format: Is that paid with all caps and an exclamation point?
Ricky Powell: Exactly! Yo man, you are on my team. I just wrote an e-mail to this gallery owner who owns this hip-hop photo gallery. I was saying to him thank you for buying my pictures. And then I put a P.S. – I am trying to get PAID!
More Info: http://www.rickypowell.com/
Parish Nation Clothing
During hip-hop’s infant years, Cazals and doorknockers were key accessories, and shell toes finished off the signature look. Parish Nation embraces the style and flare of the `80s and early `90s, revising New York and early hip-hop fashion. They’re new, different and surely will spark life through originality into fashion industry where everyone and their mothers own a T-shirt line. With years of experience at Enyce, Chaka Wilson and his partners take their knowledge and thirst for a culture they love and apply it to an industry they’ve mastered.
“With Parish we wanted the direction to come from us instead of go back to the way things were when we first started Enyce, which was just a small group of us enjoying what we’re doing which was designing.”
Format: Parish Nation is an interesting name, any particular meaning?
Parish: Well it literally means community. A group of individuals coming off of Enyce that represented NYC, which was kind of the little old translation for Enyce, and starting off from scratch with this new brand with just a small group of us sort of collectively conceptualizing everything from the direction of the brand, to design, to marketing, to most of what we do its done as a collective. Parish was sort of a representation of where we are right now as a company.
Format: How did the concept for Parish Nation come about?
Parish: I think when my partners all decided to leave Enyce we wanted to do something that represented our vision, as opposed to a corporate structure, you know a corporate dictate to what we do, what design, the type of stores we sell – overall with Enyce, it was a huge corporate oversight, which gave us direction. With Parish we wanted the direction to come from us instead of go back to the way things were when we first started Enyce, which was just a small group of us enjoying what we’re doing which was designing.
Format: What distinguishes Parish Nation from Enyce?
Parish: I think the design. What we came up with is just a really modern art driven early hip-hop influenced collection. So I think that’s present throughout the collection. That was one of the things that was important for us to establish ourselves in a different direction. When you see the collection you’ll immediately notice the bold colors and a lot of the cool references; everything from Warhol to Gene Herring to Grandmaster Flash. You have all of those cool references in there and most of the collection is actually hand drawn! That’s one of the things you will see even though there’s similarities with us and not only Enyce, but other companies in terms of all-over prints and things of that nature which happens to be the current trend, but I think we sort of took that trend. And what with the different direction with most of it being hand drawn, I think one of the key components to our design team is that we have artists as opposed to designers. They approach each part of the collection as a canvas so you notice that each part of the collection is sort of one of a kind.
“When you see the collection you’ll immediately notice the bold colors and a lot of the cool references; everything from Warhol to Gene Herring to Grandmaster Flash.”
Format: Has the success of Enyce paved the way for Parish?
Parish: Absolutely, I mean Enyce established us in this business. What we did with Enyce gives us much creditability with this line even though it’s a great collection there’s a business end to any company. I think that’s one of things that gave us a leg up over any other up-start company that’s just coming into the game with no experience. I think the 10 years with Enyce is a pretty good track record so therefore buyers, manufacturers and venders – we sort of have the respect of a lot of people which in turn open a lot of doors for us.
Format: How has your experience been at the MAGIC Trade Show?
Parish: It’s been pretty good. We debuted the line a few months back. A lot of the buyers hadn’t even seen it or heard about it so the cool thing for us is that we have a tremendous buzz going into MAGIC. It’s not, again, like we’re a start up company that people are for the first time on the floor. The fact that we already have goods on the floor that are selling extremely well are giving the buyers a lot of confidence. The fact that they’re actually seeing some of the product out there on the street and on different individuals they really get to experience what we were explaining earlier on. The last MAGIC we were here right after leaving Enyce so we were really just observers, but we were trying to give a lot of the buyers an indication of what it was that we were coming up with. They support us which is a really good thing, because you know if we do well they do well in their stores so overall it’s been a very good experience and a positive experience this is the way MAGIC was for us in the beginning. It’s really cool to get back to that.
Format: How does it feel to go from founding established brands to creating a brand new line?
Parish: It’s great. There was a struggle but it was the only course of action. You know Enyce was great. We still love the brand. That’s kind of like our baby. We still have a lot of great friends over there, but it was time for us to sort of branch out and try something new. I think the market place needed something new, so it was cool that it would be us to do it as individuals recognized in the fashion community as innovative and well respected within the design community, and in turn get support from the other brands. I think that’s one of the things that’s made it less scary for us. We’ve got nothing but positive feedback from the fashion community so that’s given us some confidence.
Format: Lately, the fashion industry has been taking on an `80s trend. Why did you chose to use the `80s and early-`90s era as a theme for the line?
Parish: That’s the era that influenced us, especially those of us who are a little bit older. We definitely came of age, if you will, in the `80s as young teenagers so we definitely experienced the trends that are out there. When we started the collection we naturally wanted to use New York as a backdrop. We’ve always wanted a cool tie in into New York, it was important to show a lot of influences, pay homage to that.
Format: What are Parish Nation’s signature items or looks?
Parish: For spring, I would definitely say our Warhol influenced pieces. You have a cool reference point. You know pop art. I think that’s a strong part of our collection. And then we also have like the early hip-hop influential pieces which show the four elements of hip-hop. We have a piece that sort of shows respect to the DJ; we have one that represents the graffiti; we have one that represents breaking; [and] we have one that represents the emcee.
Format: What can we expect in the future from Parish Nation?
Parish: Just great artwork. Even if the reference may change, because we won’t be stuck in the `80s forever, but I think the artwork will remain consistent. The artwork is primary and whatever theme or reference sort of compliments artwork so that’s one of the things that remain consistent, that and quality clothing.
Prodigy
For nearly 15 years, since Mobb Deep’s debut in ’93, Juvenile Hell, to their latest release in 2006, Blood Money, Prodigy, arguably the more lyrically gifted half of the duo has been making musc. The Queens native plans to release solo work to showcase his lyrical ability to masses of fans with his upcoming mixtape and album. Prodigy collaborates with Koch Records producer, Alchemist, on his mixtape, Return of the Mac, in lieu of his upcoming LP, H.N.I.C. II, set for release in March.
Despite Nas’ allegations of hip-hop’s death, Prodigy feels not only that hip-hop is alive, hip-hop is “Kickin you in the ass” and only the foolish would neglect to recognize him as one of the “biggest artists in the game.”
“To me, whoever made up hip-hop is dead is a motherfuckin fool, period. Because you’re just a fool for making that statement.”
Format: Please explain your mixtape Return of The Mac.
Prodigy: Return of The Mac is something that me and Alchemist put together, special collaboration. You talking about the Return of the M-A-C. We ain’t talking about pimpin’ you know what I mean. All the beats are crazy. It came out so good so we like fuck it, we treat this shit like an album. It’s like a pre-album for H.N.I.C. II. Really we made it as a mixtape, H.N.I.C. II, but it’s almost like a pre-album.
Format: What are your relationships like with your label and Alchemist?
Prodigy: Basically, you know what I mean, the label Infamous Records was just – you know that’s the label right there that’s what it is. Our relationship with Alchemist goes back to Murda Muzik album. We just been working together ever since, Mobb Deep and Alchemist.
Format: What’s your situation with G-Unit, why didn’t you drop the mixtape under them?
Prodigy: I mean basically, you know dealing with 50, he let us do our own thing, get our bread with our solo career. He was like basically, ‘I’m not trying to hold y’all back, do what y’all wanna do, get ya shit.’ We told him what we had planned and he was like, ‘Man get ya bread!’ Basically that’s what it is. Mobb Deep is still on G-Unit and we able to get our money elsewhere, too, at the same time.
“Basically that’s what it is. Mobb Deep is still on G-Unit and we able to get our money elsewhere, too, at the same time.”
Format: What is your favorite track off the mixtape and why?
Prodigy: One of my favorite joints is the first one, “Stuck to You,” saying, because it’s just ill. Nah mean, it’s a crazy, crazy song. Another one of my favorites is “Seventh Heaven. There’s a lot of joints on there.
Format: Your video for “Mac 10 Handle” was received a lot of acclaim, why make a video for a mixtape single?
Prodigy: I mean just cause I’m just being myself. Do what I wanna do, that’s how you can tell. I just do whatever I wanna do. I’m like, ‘Aight, I’m a shoot a video for this tomorrow. Let’s do it!’ Put it out on YouTube so everybody can see it. You ain’t gotta wait for some program director, somebody like, ‘I like it’ or ‘I don’t like it’ to put it on they channel. It’s going out anyway on the Internet. That’s what we focusing on, right. Just focusing on the ground work, nah mean, dealing with our fans at the ground level.
Format: There is speculation as to who is in the reflection in the mirror in the “Mac 10 Handle” video, is that supposed to be Nas?
Prodigy: Nah. That’s foolishness. If you look at it you can see that, that’s not Nas.
“You ain’t gotta wait for some program director, somebody like, ‘I like it’ or ‘I don’t like it’ to put it on they channel. It’s going out anyway on the Internet.”
Format: Who is that supposed to represent then?
Prodigy: Just a extra in the video. Just like everybody else that was in this video that you saw. Extras playing the film. I shot all these people on the TV then next thing you know there’s the devil in my room. When I look in the mirror, somebody that I just killed if you watch the video.
Format: Do you feel artists going independent through mixtapes will spark a takeover of the rap game form its commercialized state?
Prodigy: Nah, I just feel like when you do what you want to do, just be yourself. People [are] going to feel you. It’s just having your shit out there, they going to feel you and your shit on take off whether you’re independent or major, however it is. It’s all about the music first, it don’t matter what route you go, if you ain’t got the music you ain’t got nothing!
Format: A lot of rappers have voiced their opinions on Nas’ statement that hip-hop is dead. Do you feel offended by that statement?
Prodigy: Nah, I don’t feel offended by that statement, but I think it’s a dumbass statement though, cause how can you say hip-hop is dead when you got a lot people that’s brand new to them, you got people that’s poppin’ off at this shit you know. Whoever says hip-hop is dead is making themselves sound like you got some kind of qualities that you don’t like about yourself. To me, whoever made up hip-hop is dead is a motherfuckin fool, period. Because you’re just a fool for making that statement. That’s a foolish statement. You need to just shut up, man.
Format: So what do you think of music today and hip-hop culture if it’s not dead?
Prodigy: It’s alive and kickin’ you in the ass. I’m alive, hip-hop is alive and kickin you in the ass.
Format: How do you feel about the newer artists and the southern domination of the radio?
Prodigy: They kickin you in the ass! Basically, they kickin’ niggas in the ass, because they poppin’ off right now. So, hip-hop is alive and kickin’, baby.
Format: Do you feel your mixtape and other New York artists are going to bring the focus back to New York?
Prodigy: Nah, you can’t bring nothing back that ain’t went no where. The biggest artist in the rap game is from Queens, NY. It ain’t go no where.
Format: Well, when you look at the Billboard charts the majority happen to be from south.
Prodigy: They makin hot shit.
Format: Do you feel that’s going to change, because some people feel that New York isn’t putting out anything hot anymore, therefore the south is taking over?
Prodigy: How can you say that when the biggest artist in music, in rap music is from Queens, NY. That’s just another foolish statement like hip-hop is dead. That’s foolish statement number two, whoever made that one up is an asshole.
“…that was something that Interscope did. They didn’t like something I said so they decided to tell me to change it or the album wasn’t going to come out. I’m like wow OK. Fuck my freedom of speech, like that don’t exist.”
Format: You have been in the game for a long time, how do you feel the music industry has changed in terms of content and skill, as well as artist and label relations?
Prodigy: I don’t know nothing `bout none of that. I just know how to make good music. Relations, we ain’t in for none of that. Our music makes good business for us, makes good money.
Format: In a press release you were quoted as saying you were being censored by major labels. Do you feel you were being censored the entire time or was it more something that became a current issue?
Prodigy: Nah, that was something that Interscope did. They didn’t like something I said so they decided to tell me to change it or the album wasn’t going to come out. I’m like wow OK. Fuck my freedom of speech, like that don’t exist. But I changed it and the album coming out now. I’d rather just say what I want to say. I got a lot to say, because you can’t hide what I got to say, because it’s real.
Format: What other kinds of things have you been working on do you have any other outside business ventures or hobbies?
Prodigy: I like writing movies – I love [movies]. There’s going to be a lot of that type of shit coming out the camp. Production for other people, Alchemist is doing production for mad people. Havoc does production for crazy people. Writing, songwriting. You going see a lot of shit. There’s a lot of different things happening. A lot of things you can’t talk about no more, because people take ideas just blatantly. We don’t talk about a lot of shit no more.
Format: You spoke on your chemistry with Alchemist, if you could collaborate with any other producer or artist who would that be?
Prodigy: Who would it be, probably be like Alicia Keys, Mary J. Like a lot of that soul, R&B.
Format: If you could put any two artists or producers in the studio together who would they be?
Prodigy: I would have to say Alchemist and Hav. That’d be crazy to have them do a whole fuckin’ shit together.
Format: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
Prodigy: Go hard or go home.
TATS Cru
With the explosion of hip-hop over the past ten years has inevitably come the corporate world’s adoption, sponsorship, and straight up pimping of the culture. Rap music is the most prominent example, but artists from all four elements are consistently being commissioned to add a bit of urban flavor to otherwise tasteless ad campaigns and marketing initiatives. Internationally renowned not only in the graffiti community, TATS Cru are arguably the most recognized street muralists painting today. Bombing since the early 70s, and incorporated since the 90s, TATS is the graffiti mural company, from the heart of graffiti, New York City. Now comprised of six members, BG, BIO, HOW, NICER, NOSM, and SEN2, TATS released a DVD in 2006 entitled The Mural Kings. Format had the chance speak with NICER and discuss coming up in NYC, bombing, territory, and why TATS deserve the title of Mural Kings.
“Even once people started having gallery shows and stuff like that, there were a few incidents where we went and took care of train beefs inside of these prestigious galleries or theatres.”
Format: On the DVD, TATS Cru - The Mural Kings, it’s mentioned that your strongest point was in the 1980s when the crew was still TAT. Why is it that the crew was so strong at that point?
NICER: Just because of the amount of stuff that was being painted back then. Everything was do what you want and represent yourself how you want to – that’s what graf has always been about, anyways. In the `80s, not only was there a fun element attached to it, but there was also the whole idea that there was no limitations, it was about what you can get over with. That was our strongest point, because it was just about getting our shit out there. As far as a crew united, we were tightest then just, because of the drive that everyone had. I mean everyone was united, fresh in the crew. It was just like a hunger.
Format: The Mural Kings DVD mentions that TATS once had 25 to 30 members. What happened to the other original members of the crew?
NICER: Again, you got to look at the timeframe. When we were out there painting in the `80s we varied in age from young teenagers, like 13, 14-years-old, which I was probably the youngest, to like 18-year-olds. Just like anything else, you grow up and you move on. Some guys have children at an early age, some guys get caught up into drugs, some guys go to school. Everyone takes their own route. The only three that really kept at it, constantly, have always been me, BIO and BG, because we grew up around each other and we knew each other for so long that we couldn’t get away from each other. Trust me, I tried, I tried more than one time, they always caught me.
“You know how some guys have the bowling nights out, or some guys get together with their friends to play softball on Sundays? This was our softball games, but we were painting walls.”
Format: What is it about the core members who remain that kept you together?
NICER: Don’t get me wrong there were plenty of times where we found ourselves like, ‘Oh shit, did we make the right decision,’ or should we have listened to everyone when they said, ‘There’s no future in this,’ or ‘There’s no way you’re gonna make a living off of this!’ It’s been hard and it’s not something like, ‘I’m going to stick to my guns and I know it’s gonna pay off.’ I guess determination or stubbornness, I don’t know which one is stronger, but I know those are the two reasons we’re still doing what we’re doing.
Format: TATS was one of the most hated crews in NYC in the `80s. What was that all about?
NICER: Well, here’s the mindset of what a true graffiti artist or graffiti crew is all about. Not only do you designate an area where you constantly paint, but once you claim a spot it’s sort of like you have to create a reputation where if another crew was to come through, you had to do anything in your means to keep everyone out. There was that element to it, plus on top of it you had to keep in mind it’s a street art form, so you could get robbed, or you’re going to rob somebody for their spray paint and beat them down, and chase them out of the yard, and they’re not going to go running to a cop, and tell them, ‘Oh those guys over there just jumped me and took my spray paint, can you do something?’ `Cause most likely if you got robbed it’s `cause you was doing something illegal, also.
Even if you ask a lot of the old school heads from the `80s who’s the most hated, TATS crew definitely gets mentioned up there. A lot of it had not only do to with the beatings that we threw a lot of people, but I guess the majority of it was us being such a close tight unit that we didn’t really fuck with too many outsiders or let other writers come hang or paint in the spots that we were painting in. For us, it was a big part of keeping respect. Even once people started having gallery shows and stuff like that, there were a few incidents where we went and took care of train beefs inside of these prestigious galleries or theaters.
“Then the harsh realties hit, like it’s not just sitting around on the corner waiting for someone to come say, ‘Hey you the guys that pain?’ Really we had to do street hustling, we had to go door to door, knocking on every business gate.”
Format: Talk a bit about how you linked up with Fat Joe and TS. How did that change your movement?
NICER: Actually, BRIM was one of the first people to meet him and we always just knew him as like a bum. We did a little bit of everything. Some of the guys just liked doing street bombing, other guys just liked doing the insides of trains and then you had guys who just liked to do throw-ups on the outside. The majority of the crew only liked to do pieces or productions on trains. Everyone got down with that. BRIM was one, who in the early `90s, was doing a lot of street bombing, so he hooked up with Joe, `cause Joe was bombing and he used to write CRACK – I mean we knew him as CRACK from TS. We didn’t know him as Fat Joe or Joe Tha Gangsta. One time we was out bombing and he’s like, “Yeah I’m gonna go to the studio, yeah I’m gonna go paint,” and we were like, “Studio, get the fuck outta here, yeah right nigga, you ain’t doing no record,” and low and behold, like a year later there was Joe dropping an album.
That’s when he came at us and was like, “Yo, there’s money that’s given to the artists to do promotions, and so instead me doing like an ad in the Source, I’d rather spend the money and buy mad stickers.” We just bombed the city with the stickers. We looked at it as instead of bombing and putting your own name up, we were still bombing, but we were putting the stickers for the album up. Then it turned into like little competitions to see who could get the best spot. So I guess in a way, we sort of started all that album promoting and street promotion shit `cause no one was out there doing it. Realistically, no lie, no one was doing any album promoting through stickers that large and it was Joe who was the first one to do it. After him everyone else followed – Jay-Z, Nas, because it made sense. `Cause really, whoever was getting caught out of the crew, back then, putting stickers was considered graffiti and it was a misdemeanor, you wouldn’t even do anytime in jail. It was just like you get arrested, you get a ticket and get sent right home. And nine times out of ten, you came outside the precinct, beeped one of the guys on their beepers and we’d come by and pick you up and keep bombing.
So that’s how we knew Joe, we always knew him through graffiti as an ink bum. We were all considered ink bums, that’s what you called other graffiti writers that went bombing. We called each other ink bums, because you can always tell a graffiti writer who likes to tag, because he’ll always have ink on his hands or some article of clothing will have drops of ink on it. It wasn’t like the fly fresh b-boy who was always super clean, you could tell a graffiti b-boy, because he’d always have dots of ink somewhere.
“One time we was out bombing and he’s like ‘Yeah I’m gonna go to the studio, yeah I’m gonna go paint’ and we were like, ‘Studio, get the fuck outta here, yeah right nigga, you ain’t doing no record,’ and low and behold like a year later there was Joe dropping an album.”
Format: How did you make the transition from bombing to painting murals?
NICER: Shit that was something that wasn’t even planned out, it was just something that evolved by itself. We found ourselves in the early `90s painting little things here and there just keep hold of each other and our youth. When we were painting trains in the `80s we were teenagers, now in the `90s we were young adults so we had to get jobs and stuff like that, so we’d still get together on the weekends to do stuff in our local neighborhoods, just to make sure we still had it or just to hang out with the boys, or get away from the wives. You know how some guys have the bowling nights out, or some guys get together with their friends to play softball on Sundays – this was our softball games, but we were painting walls.
Being underground, all of sudden we’re painting in the street where people are actually able to walk up to you and talk to you, you didn’t have to hide in obscurity, so now that we were accessible to people, people were walking up to us and asking us, “Can you paint my store, or can you guys do this on my wall?’ They keep writing on my wall, I’d like to do a sign on my wall. Even though we all had jobs we’d still get together and do these little jobs on the side. We weren’t really doing it for the cash so much; we were just doing it to have an excuse to paint something. One job led to another and that one led to another, and that one led to another and we got to the point where we were scheduling weeks in advance. We had the idea, imagine if we could do this full-time, because we were just doing it on Saturdays and we were making pretty good dough on the side. I was the first one to leave my job `cause you ain’t have to push me twice, then BIO came along second and BG still stood with his nine-to-five, 40 hour week job. I was adventurous, I was like, fuck it I’ll give it a try and then the harsh realties hit, like it’s not just sitting around on the corner waiting for someone to come say, ‘Hey, you the guys that paint?’ Really we had to do street hustling, we had to go door to door, knocking on every business gate, talking to people, offering stuff, bargaining with them and then we’d hookup with BG when he got out of work, and be like all right this is what happened today, ‘We got this potential, this is a potential, these guys want sketches before they commit, these guys wanna do it but they wanna do it for real cheap.” And that’s how we started.
We started working out of our little cars. And I guess one of the first investments we had was, BG found in some yard near where he used to work at, an old beat up `87, `88, Ford Bronco like the one OJ Simpson was getting away in. It was fucked up! It had like two broken tires, and it wouldn’t start, it needed a battery, so the guy sold it to BG for $400. And that was it, we paid for it from the first two jobs we got, we fixed it up, we got tires, got batteries, did a tune-up, did all the electrical – we spent probably a grand getting it going just rolling. Then we insured it and that’s it. That was our rolling office. We did everything out of that fucking jeep. And that’s kind of like how the company first started.
Format: How did TATS go from a start-up company to getting larger companies, to commission work and make that next little jump?
NICER: Being introduced from people to people and like early on in the `80s there was a lot of memorial walls we were doing here in New York City, and a friend of ours who did that book Subway Art, Martha Cooper, she was putting a book together entitled R.I.P. New York City, so we were one of the featured artists in that book. We did the book cover, we did a lot of stuff that was in the book. So it was at her book release party that we met CHICO from the Lower East Side and CHICO was doing some stuff for Coca Cola at the time. It was an art contest Coca Cola was doing here in New York City called Paint the Town Red. The project went like this: it was an art contest for high school students, the high schools would pick three winners and each of the winners would get their work replicated on a wall, aside from all the other stuff they would win as far as like the money that would go towards the scholarship and whatever different prizes were that year.
So CHICO was being hired to go replicate the kids artwork in different neighborhoods, but CHICO being CHICO, he wouldn’t want to leave the Lower East Side, so when we met him he was like, ‘Yo, you guys paint all over,” and we were like, ‘We go anywhere and everywhere,’ and he was like, ‘Yo I gotta hook you up with these people, they wanna do some murals for this art contest but they wanna do it in other boroughs and I don’t really got walls in other boroughs.’ So he kind of set up the first initial meeting with the ad agency that was in charge of the art project and that was kind of like the introduction to the first big business that we started doing with these larger companies through these ad companies. And that’s when we had the life lesson that you’re gonna get checks under your name and at the end of the year you’re gonna have to pay taxes on it. So that’s how we learnt that lesson, we were like ‘Oh shit I gotta pay taxes!’
The following year we were like, ‘Yo instead of doing a check in your name and a check in your name, and a check in your name, let’s do something where we can protect ourselves legally.’ So we started looking into what were our options. Around that time we were always beefing about these ad agencies using graffiti to sell products, but they wouldn’t use real graffiti artists, and so instead of complaining all the time like they don’t use real writers, why don’t they use real writers – we came to the realization that they don’t use real writers, because they can’t find real writers. So let’s create a company where if you want the legitimate graffiti from a legitimate graffiti artist, let’s create a source where they can go to and they can find one easily. We incorporated TATS Cru and that was the beginning of it. One of the first things I was open on doing was getting a listing in the phone book to make sure you can pickup 411 information here in New York and say our name and they’ll give you a phone number. Our focus was not to be obscure anymore, but to be out in the open.
“And I guess one of the first investments we had was, BG found in some yard near where he used to work at, an old beat up `87, `88, Ford Bronco like the one OJ Simpson was getting away in.”
Format: TATS has been commissioned to do lots of memorial walls. How did that begin and how is it different than painting other murals?
NICER: Yeah, there’s a whole different mindset to that. Like when you do a memorial wall, it’s a delicate situation first of all – you’re dealing with the death of a loved one. If you look at the walls, we used to get a lot of flack at the beginning where they’d say every memorial wall was for a drug dealer or a gangster and that wasn’t the facts. We did walls for kids that were three-year-olds and we did walls for women that were 60-years-old. How much gang banging were they really doing?
We would do lectures in different colleges showing slideshows and explaining where we’re from and what the mentality of the urban youth in our community was like, and why there was a need for these memorial walls, and what was the origins. Whether your from Haiti, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, whatever, Caribbean – when someone would die in the family they would set out by the roadside these makeshift memorials of like flowers or crosses just indicating to the neighbors that someone had passed within the household so other neighbors would come and give their condolences or bring food, you know depending on the culture, depending on where it is, there were different folklores that would go along with it.
What ended up happening was, a lot of that stuff was brought over with these families when they came to the United States. When they got here, me being from a Puerto Rican ancestry, whenever someone would die in my building or in my family they would put out flowers in front of the building, like over the doorway just to mark that there was a passing, that a loved one passed away in the building. So for a lot of the kids that were born here in the United States and grew up watching that as children and knowing about graffiti, and knowing about artists and what was going on in the neighborhood. These were the people who were reaching out to us to do memorials on their blocks commemorating some of the people who had passed away that they loved, whether it was family members or friends. So we always say these aren’t movie stars, they aren’t rock stars, they aren’t famous rappers, these are just regular everyday normal people who just had enough people loving them and wanting to remember them that they would commission guys like us to do memorial walls. It was kind of an ill movement back then.
“And when he let it out of the hat, the shit dropped down like a mop and then Pun started turning his head like a helicopter back and forth, that shit was the funniest thing there was. BRIM goes, ‘Look it’s a blimp helicopter.’”
Format: TATS were arrested after painting one of the Big Pun memorial walls. What was that experience like?
NICER: Well first of all, that was one of my many times being arrested, none of them were fun, but it was kind of strange to be part of. First of all, we knew Pun through Joe, and the minute we met Pun it was just open arms because we knew him before any money. First of all, to know us you have to put up with a lot of snapping, being that we work in the streets, we learn to deal with the different people in every community. And every community has the same kinds of characters. Every community has like the nosy old lady, the group of guys that come over and like to snap, so we’re constantly dealing with all types of personalities. But Pun was the type of guy that loved to joke around. When we met him he was this real big fat guy that was wearing this hat. Fat Joe had a clothing store on Melrose Avenue so we walked in and there was Pun. He was snapping with BRIM and BRIM was snapping back. We went in and started laughing at what they were saying to each other. So BRIM tells Pun, ‘Yo take your hat off, show these niggas your hair,’ and underneath this Yankee baseball hat, when he removed his hat, was the world’s biggest mop of hair. If you look from his eyebrow level going all the way around, like if it was a fade, it was completely shaved, but from his eyebrows up, like going around his head was this huge long fucking mane of hair. And when he let it out of the hat, the shit dropped down like a mop and then Pun started turning his head like a helicopter back and forth, that shit was the funniest thing there was. BRIM goes, ‘Look it’s a blimp helicopter’ and it started us snapping, so that’s how we knew him. He was just a fun loving guy who loved to snap and enjoy life. You couldn’t run into him without having a good laugh.
We were in the middle of doing a campaign for him and what ended up happening was we got a call from someone saying, ‘Yo is it true that he passed away?’ and we were like, ‘Nah I don’t know what you’re talking about.” So then we got a few calls. We called Joe and we got through to his wife, and she said that Pun died that afternoon. So we hung up and we were already dressed and ready to go out that evening and go do one of the walls for his second album, so we were like you know what, we’re known as the guys who do memorial walls for people in the community, if anyone deserves a wall, let’s do it for Pun.
“We used to get a lot of flack at the beginning where they’d say every memorial wall was for a drug dealer or a gangster and that wasn’t the facts. We did walls for kids that were three-year-olds and we did walls for women that were 60-years-old. How much gang banging were they really doing?”
Format: What entitles TATS to the rank Mural Kings?
NICER: One of the reasons why we call ourselves the Mural Kings and are still animate about it is, because so many crews have come and gone through the `80s, and if you look at their track record or time frame of how long they’ve painted you got to keep in mind we’ve been doing this 26 years straight and never stopped painting. We may have done one wall a week or one wall every two weeks. We’ve done a lot of stuff that people don’t know we’re actually the ones that are behind it. We’ve done murals in hospitals and children’s aid. We’ve done anti-war stuff, to orphan children, to aids and it goes on and on and on. There’s almost nothing we won’t paint. It’s just because of the body of the work, everything from the smallest to the biggest. For us it isn’t the size, it’s more how many.
More Info: http://www.tatscru.com/
Darkhorse Lunchboxes
Remember how proud you were of your Transformers and He-Man lunch boxes back in grade school? Well now you can bring those feelings back in style with a trip down memory lane thanks to Kii Arens of the “La-La Land” Gallery in LA, and Dark Horse Comics.
The concept initially started as a fun project for Kii and a few of his designer friends but it quickly spiralled out. Before he knew it, 25 artists were on board to share their love of lunches in a full scale gallery exhibit. The project was dedicated to Kii’s affinity for the warm colours and escapist ideals embodied by the 70’s. Featured artists include Joe Ledbetter, Shag, and Gary Baseman. Soon to be launched are 100 signed and numbered lunch boxes from each of the artists with seven collectible trading cards, including matching thermoses.
Kii’s gallery is well known for its campy retro decor, complete with plastic green, orange and white furniture and orange coloured flooring, so the lunch boxes were a natural extension of what already exists. Kii is famous for holding his openings on understated holidays such as Groundhog Day or April Fool’s day. The gallery’s opening night was no exception, held on the US election night 2004, with the “Happy War” exhibit, a satirical take on the war in Iraq. Other La La Land Gallery exhibits have included “Art in the Dark” a collection of glow in the dark / blacklight paintings and “You Lightbox My Life,” a collection of alien-themed light boxes.
Dark Horse is of course known as one of the first comic labels to push the graphic novel, making a name for themselves with dark fantasy and horror series such as The Mask, Hellboy, and Aliens vs. Predator.
More Info: http://www.darkhorse.com/search/search.php?sstring=Lunch+box