[Press-N-Play®] DJibril vs Willis | I Love This Dance All Star Kids 2019 | La Cigale, Paris, France

#ILoveThisDance #AllStarKids2019

Circles of Influence

Back on August 12th, I very happily posted a screenshot from the Facebook feed of cartoonist, animator and painter Bill Wray (Mad Magazine, The Ren & Stimpy Show), who'd shared my article on Vaughn Bode. But what I didn't realize until sometime much, much later (after revisiting his page) was that the second comment down below was from Bob Camp–which had me geekin' out  all over again! 😅 

Bob Camp is a former Marvel Comics comic book artist and a giant in animation with credits on TV shows like ThunderCats, Silverhawks, The Ren & Stimpy Show and many, many others. Camp is also the guy who illustrated the artwork on the 12-inch single of Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force's Renegades of Funk, a piece that was  a big influence on me as a young hip-hop kid. 

The aforementioned is a piece of record cover artwork that was also being included in a listicle that I was actually in the middle of outlining at the time!

Oh, artist Denys Cowan (Black Panther, The Question) had also liked the piece in Wray's feed, but we're actually Facebook friends, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. He's liked pieces that I've shared in my own feed, including this article when I first shared it there. 

In addition to that uber goodness, I realized that my article had also been shared on Facebook by Ron Turner, the founder of underground comics publisher Last Gasp. And the first person to comment there was cartoonist/tattoo artist Mark Bode–the son of Vaughn Bode. 

I'd always wanted Mark to see my piece, so it was super cool to get confirmation that he'd seen it–and read it. Even if he very clearly missed the point a little. 😇

Excelsior!

16 Times Comic Book Artists Absolutely Rocked Hip-Hop Album Cover Art [Hot Linked]

Image Credit: Def Jam, Marvel Comics

"Exhaustively curated here for your viewing pleasure is a senses-shattering listicle showing 16 times comic book artists rocked hip-hop music cover art."

[Press-N-Play®] Prince - Holly Rock (Official Music Video)

'Prince: Alter Ego' Comic Book

Prince: Alter Ego

Publisher: Piranha Press/DC Comics

Date: October 1991

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie

Artists: Denys Cowan and Kent Williams

Cover: Brian Bolland

Synopsis: "A fantasy story in which Prince is locked in mortal combat with a man from his past who can turn music into the greatest destructive force the world has ever seen."

And the Wu Tang Name Generator says...

"From this day forward you will also be known as...
ASSASSIN SINISTER."

[Evil grin]

Yo, QT...you have offended my family & you have offended a Shaolin Temple! (Ya best protect your neck!)

It's taken a couple weeks to get around to this, but I finally had some time to devote to a piece written in reponse to how filmmaker Quentin Tarantino got wayyyy outta pocket this summer with that controversial portrayal of Bruce Lee that he cooked up for Once Upon a Time In Hollywood. 

As you can imagine, a lifelong Bruce Lee fanboy like me ain't having none of it, Jack. That d–ck ridin' Sonny Chiba Stan needs to keep both Bruce Lee's and Muhammad Ali's name out his blasphemous mouth. Straight up. 😅

Anywho, you can check out my piece by clicking here. 

On This Day In History: The Birth of Marvel Comics

80 years ago today, on August 31, 1939, Marvel Comics #1 (cover date October 1939) hit the stands. The book featured stories written by Carl Burgos, Raymond Gill, Bill Everett, Arthur Pinajian, with art by Carl Burgos, Paul Gustavson, Bill Everett, Al Anders and Ben Thompson. Artist Frank Paul provided the cover art.

The rest, as they say, is history.

[Press-N-Play™] Inspectah Deck - Can't Stay Away

See! The Falcon's Dynamic New Wings!

Captain America issue 171 (March 1974)

They were made in Wakanda by the Black Panther, True Believers!

Happy birthday to my 'schoolboy crush' Halle Berry ❤

           Credit: Some lucky MF with a camera & press credentials

This post is a super quick celebratory shout-out to my constant crush Halle Maria Berry. 
(That's right, True Believers. We're using her middle name & everythang!)

And yo, real talk. While my posts on this woman could possibly-maybe border on makin' the kid look like a Halle Berry fiend, the crush of which I speak is a fairly recent development. 

It seems that after publishing a couple of pieces in 2018, including that one where yours truly makes the case for why Halle was the right choice to play Storm, I've somehow felt closer to her –but from a million completely anonymous miles away. 

It's prolly the kind of thing that naturally happens when you look at a gorgeous woman's photos too long. But I know it'll pass eventually. Uh, unless I happen to see Halle's fine caramel self in the flesh at San Diego Comicon or somewhere. 

Anywho, in addition to a very fond birthday wish, I'm also sending out a "special song dedication" to Halle B. on her birthday, b'cuz she and I are old school like dat. 

❤

Bonus track: Eric B. & Rakim - Microphone Fiend

Thor, Superman, X-Men: Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Artwork Reveals Powerful Superhero Influences [Excerpt]

Charles the First, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982. Courtesy of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, New York © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Basquiat’s Charles the First, viewed by many as a work celebrating the jazz icon Charlie Parker (see also: the reference to the Parker song CHEROKEE), actually contains more elements reflecting his love of comics. And though it doesn’t feature any figural drawings of superheroes, it does name drop a few of the medium’s best-known characters. The first of those named is the mighty THOR, whose name is written near the top of the first panel in the Charles the First triptych, and framed with a box. Hovering just above Thor’s name is one of Basquiat’s now iconic graffiti crowns, and above both the sardonic phrase HALOES FIFTY NINE CENT is written. 

The name of Thor’s publisher Marvel actually makes two appearances. The first is further down the aforementioned panel, just under the number “193,” but scribbles mostly render MARVEL COMICS INC illegible. The name, however, is easy to discern at bottom of the third panel, where it appears with a line drawn through it, recalling a practice from graffiti. Also extracted from graffiti culture is the once ubiquitous S symbol that kids across America formerly doodled on endless sheets of notebook paper and on classroom desks. Its stylized form appears in the first panel encased in a strike zone box, like those once drawn with chalk on the sides of buildings where boys gathered to play stickball now ages ago. Next to the stylized S in the strike zone box is the ever-recognizable chest emblem of Superman with an S nested at its center. Directly above Superman’s emblem is where X-MN is written, a somewhat abbreviated reference to Marvel’s merry mutant superheroes, the X-Men. 

A variety of non-comic book related elements also make up Charles the First, which — as a whole — recalls the youth-driven scrawl that covered the doorways, walls, and trains in New York in the 1980s. But none attract more notice than the insightful phrase written across the bottom of the first and second panel: MOST YOUNG KINGS GET THEIR HEAD CUT OFF.

King Charles I of England, though not exactly young at the time, was beheaded for treason at the tender age of 55. Jazz great Charles/Charlie Parker, at the age of 35, died from a bout of pneumonia exacerbated by Parker’s many years of substance abuse. And in 1988, at the young age of 27, Jean-Michel Basquiat died from a heroin overdose.

Excerpt from the 2018 essay 'Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Artwork Reveals Powerful Superhero Influences'.

Ode to Underground Cartoonist Vaughn Bode

"The desire to reinterpret Vaughn Bode’s distinctive cartoon style was hardly limited to the underground realms of graffiti. In 1977, Bode’s work also inspired the production of the animated fantasy film Wizards, directed by Lord of the Rings animator Ralph Bakshi." 

Note: "Ode to Underground Cartoonist Vaughn Bode" was originally published in Kung Fu Grip!#2. The text has recently been reformatted for publication on Medium. To check out the remixed and remastered director's cut, click here. 

Ralph Bakshi’s ‘Street Fight’ Film Revisited

"Three decades have passed since my original viewing of the animated film ‘Street Fight.’ I still hate it almost everything about it." 

Note: "Ralph Bakshi’s ‘Street Fight’ Film Revisited" was originally published in Kung Fu Grip! #1. The text has recently been reformatted for publication on Medium. To check out the remixed and remastered director's cut, click here. 

The Adidas Superstar: Still Funky After All These Years

Credit: Ricky Powell

Credit: Adidas

“Paco Taylor goes in on Ballers, Hip-Hop, and Adidas for the 50th anniversary of the Superstar in The Adidas Superstar: Still Funky After All These Years.” – Liz Gallo, Medium

Halle Berry Refuses to Lose to Spicy Wings on Hot Ones

Oh, man. I loved this. I love her! I only wish that I'd seen this vid (which just came through my Facebook feed) back around the time when John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum came out. I was actually fanning my face at the end of this. Halle Berry FOREVER!!! 😂👏🙌💛 

#HalleBerry #JungleFever #Baps #DieAnotherDay #MonstersBall#Catwoman #XMen #JohnWick3

[Press-N-Play®] Bun B & Statik Selektah - Basquiat (Feat. Fat Joe & Smoke DZA)

Shout out to the homie DJ Darrell D for hookin' your boy up with this jazzy-fat-nasty new track from Bun B & Statik Selektah. 

This one's called "Basquiat," y'all, featurin' Fat Joe & Smoke DZA. Since I clicked on the link D sent me (posted above), this joint has been in heavy rotation. Truly dope...on so many levels.

Horn Players by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Collection of the Broad Art Foundation

Grown Ass Men Podcast, Ep 69: Adstravaganza Pt. 2

Speaking of super cool interviews, fellow writer Doug Bost of the Grown Ass Man podcast found my old article on Count Dante recently and was nice enough to invite me on to the show (via phone) so that we could discuss Chi-town's late martial arts legend. The production value on the podcast is tops, and the host somehow managed to make yours truly sound like an authority on the Count, comics, and the golden age of martial arts in America. I hope you'll give Episode 69 of the GAM podcast a listen!

Ep. 69: Adstravaganza - Part II (with special guests Joseph Dasaro and Paco Taylor) https://apple.co/2TsazvB

A super cool interview with NY graffiti & flyer legend Phase 2 in IGA Eye On Design Magazine #04

IGA Eye On Design Magazine #04

Back in October of 2018, graphic designer and teaching fellow at Maryland Institute College of Art, Jerome Harris, reached out to me after he'd happened across that little 2012 blog post I wrote on the 1980s hip-hop party flyers of legendary New York graffiti artist, designer and art historian Phase 2.

Jerome had had the honor of curating a show in September 2018 exploring the work of black graphic designers for the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Phase 2's hip-hop handbills were a big part of the show and IGA Eye On Design, a handsome print mag devoted to design, asked the curator to work up a long form piece on the influential (and somewhat illusive) Phase 2.

I was kindly asked if I could be interviewed to get my thoughts on the impact of Phase 2 on graphic design, graffiti art and hip-hop culture as a whole. And I, of course, couldn’t be more pleased to get any chance to talk at length about the dude who's always been one of my biggest creative inspirations.

 eyeondesign.aiga.org

Because he'd been largely unable to pin Phase himself down for a Q&A, Jerome had also reached out to half dozen Phase 2 enthusiasts in addition to me, including Charlie Ahearn (director of Wild Style) to flesh out the piece. I was given a fairly lengthy list of questions that allowed me to cover a lot of ground...but ninety percent of it wound up on the proverbial 'cutting room floor’ when Jerome was finally contacted by the illusive subject himself!

Nonetheless, I was flattered to see that Jerome was using my earliest personal recollection of Phase 2’s impact on hip-hop culture in New York and beyond to help frame the intro of his super cool interview with Phase 2 for the March edition of Eye On Design magazine. And I'm glad that I got the chance to be even a small part of this amazing retrospective.

Priced at $19 + shipping & handling, print editions of the gorgeous Eye on Design #04 (the "Worth" issue) are available at premier retail locations in cities across the US, Japan, the UK, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, and several more far flung locales. It'll also be available for digital download for only $9, at some point. But you can order a copy of the print edition today.

Oh, and if you're in Chicago and I like you like that...I may let you borrow mine. LOL

Paco Taylor, Esq.