Rewind to December, 2010. I recall pondering a portrait series, but found I had 99 problems and picking a portrait subject was one. As fate would have it, I decided to paint Jay Z, which lead to a series of hip hop stars nearly identical to Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s Cash Kings.
2011 began true and proper with HOV… a work of art, a Warhol (already). He was both the first of my #KingsOfHipHop, and the first painting of the year.
At first, he went by Dr. J — inspired by his basketball hero, Julius Erving (my Dad played high school ball against him). After receiving a Masters in Mixology, Andre Young became a Doctor.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (aka, Slim Shady, aka, Eminem) tried to kill himself. Surviving, he went on to place second at the 1997 Rap Olympics which lead to a demo request at the hands of Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records. He shared it with DRE. A year later, The Source featured Eminem in its “Unsigned Hype” column.
Anyone who has listened to hip hop since the early 90’s probably has a complex set of feelings about Snoop Dogg, even if they don’t know it. It wasn’t until I threw down the paint that I realized this to be true. From the monster classic Gin and Juice, to the lesser known, dark tracks like my favorite I Can’t Swim, to some Huggy Bear, Old School cameo ish.
Diddy is a businessman, he is a business, man. He’s been Made. Diddy was Puffy. Puff Daddy. P-Diddy (still is in Europe.) Sean Combs. He may change his name more frequently than NYC cops cuff a weed head, but his hip-hop watermark is indelible.
The second portrait in my series following Jay-Z will be Kanye. To prepare, I hung out with some H.A.M.’s last night. The location? Jeremy Penn‘s studio. The event? Four Loko, hip-hop beats and three artists slinging paint. After the jump, a quasi-Kanye study and some atelier shots.
2010 kicked-off with a new title — Time Out New York’s Most Creative New Yorker… and a broken fibula.
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