Bombshells: The Graffiti Art of Miss Van, Kat & Fafi*

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The pulse-pounding post you're probably here looking for has been remixed and remastered with updated history and new pix. You can find the updated version by clicking here.

Enjoy!

MeccaGodZilla - All Love (Rap Music Video x Tokyo x Japan x NYC)

Ghost in the soul

It was the mention of Negadon: The Monster From Mars in an e-mail to a buddy in the UK earlier today that caused me to remember the 2011 teaser for Soul Man. But I had no memory of the film's title. All I could think to Google was "french animated blaxploitation" and -- SHAZAM! -- the main character was there before me in all her afro-haired glory.

"Set in an alternate world built on two levels, 'Soul Man' turns on a former Polish detective entangled in a shady multi-billion-dollar biotech deal -- the key to which is a baby girl the detective is asked to look after."

According to the original 2011 posts, this gorgeous-looking project from French animator Guillaume Ivernel and his Paris-based production house, Blacklight Movies, was originally slated for 2014 release date. Well, it's now 2014 and it will really make my "soul glow" if it does come out this year.

Moonshine Burrito – The sweetest hangover

Remember those old candy commercials where the one klutz snacking on peanut butter always somehow managed to crash into the other klutz munching on a chocolate bar? And remember the happy expressions on their faces when each bit down to discover the new taste that came from the blending of those two very different flavors? Well, now picture a rap song with country music guitar licks mixed with a slow, pimp struttin’ hip-hop beat. On the surface that mixture sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? But, like peanut butter cups, it somehow works! And when laced with rhymes by Moonshine Burrito -- and a funky Kenny Rogers sample -- the end result is a full-fledged sugar rush. The guitar-twanging...banger in question, "Roads Are Rough (Holdin' Up)", is featured on South By Southwest, the new ten-track album from SpaceLAB Recordings label mates Jake Palumbo and Ciphurphace. Together these longtime pals combine to form Moonshine Burrito and, as the name probably suggests, the music made by this dynamic duo is all about unholy unions and unlikely combinations. For a finger-lickin’ taste test of South By Southwest, sample "Roads Are Rough (Holdin' Up)" and "Diesel (Feelin' Lovely)" for free-ninety-nine by clicking on the links below. And be sure to drop by iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay or Bandcamp to get a full serving of South By Southwest. Woo-hah! – SP

Moonshine Burrito – Diesel (Feelin' Lovely)
Moonshine Burrito – Roads Are Rough (Holdin' Up)

Poster Child

 [Click to enlarge]

It's been mentioned that I have fairly cool collection of old school hip-hop paraphernalia. Next to my treasured original copy of Breaking and the New York City Breakers (1984), the poster shown above has probably been the second-most treasured item in the archive. At this late date its difficult to recall what year or from which magazine the poster was removed. But it most likely came from the centerfold of Right On! or Word Up!, as the artists within the poster's borders predate all those who after '87 came to dominate the pages of rap-focused mags--And the Adidas Stockholm jersey worn by DJ Red Alert (#21) kinda' has 1987 written all over it, as far as provenance goes. For such a major assemblage of rappers and deejays, the magazine got major cool points in my book. It also kinda' got the gas face too, though, for not getting MC Shan's (#4) name and actually going to print with a misnomer in the legend. But you gotta' love Run's seemingly irritated expression (#11), the cold weather sportswear -- including Dapper Dan jackets worn by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five -- and the classic fat gold chains.

Beat Fighter II – RUN-DMC vs. SNSD

In the early days of hip-hop parties, before any actual rap records were produced, the ten-second intro of Bob James' jazz-fusion masterpiece "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" was a party starting staple-- not that it ever had to be played at the beginning of a party, per se. But it was likely that at some point during a jam those valued ten seconds would be hyper-extended by a deejay who'd bounce between double copies twirling on parallel turntables. For the many of us who were exposed to hip-hop in the era of actual rap records, the first time the "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" intro was ever heard was most likely by way of "Piper Piper", the smash second single from Run-DMC's 1986 album, Raising Hell. Now three decades later (Four, actually, since its original 1975 incarnation!), the South Korean pop group Girl's Generation, aka SNSD, has breathed sexy new life into James' finely-aged jazz-fusion jam with the late 2013 release of the K-Pop hit, "Lips."

Press play 'n' enjoy.

[Press-N-Play®] Run-DMC – Peter Piper
[Press-N-Play®] Girl's Generation – Lips

The Sweet Taste of KJAMM

There are a few J-Pop podcasts to which I'm currently subscribed. At timely and sometimes not so timely intervals each one will download automatically to my mp3 player to serve up a tasty new batch of East Asian audio treats. The best of these, averaging three episodes per month and thus being the one I enjoy the most often -- as well as simply the most -- is the very affable KJAMM podcast. Devoted to the modern music of Korea and Japan, the show is hosted by the sweet-n-sexy Sam Brown, the diva-licious Jon Black and the willing 'n' able Abe White. With each episode the trio lovingly caters to listeners a very thoughtful mix of contemporary 'jamms' that range from r&b, pop and hip-hop to electro rock, dance and even jazz (apparently just to make sure the show provides all of the essential vitamins and minerals a growing ghost in the shell needs). On top of the musical main courses, each episode also offers various side dishes of pop culture laced opinion and commentary--courtesy of the multiple-personality disorders of the show's insanely quick-witted hosts. The 26th of January brought the hardworking KJAMM crew to the show's 50th episode, a noteworthy notch on the belt of any such labor of love. If you, like I do, often find yourself famished for the newest sounds in K and J-Pop (Yeah, it's filling--but then you're hungry again twenty minutes later, right?), pour yourself a cup of jasmine tea, grab a hot buttered biscuit and spread on a honeyed heap of KJAMM. The show is available at iTunes™, PodOmatic™ and through other fine podcast providers.

St. Paco
Your Kung Fu Sucks

What If Marvel Studios Made Blaxploitation Movies?

By St. Paco

If you were ever a fan of Marvel Comics from, say, 1977 to now, then you've probably run your eyes through an issue or two (or twenty) of Marvel's long-running What If...? title. For those who aren't familiar with the book, the stories in What If...? explore themes that deviate from or alter completely the established norms of Marvel's literary canon. For instance, on the cover of What If...? #1, readers were asked to consider, "What if Spider-Man was a member of the Fantastic Four?" Then, over the course of eighteen pages the writer and artist explored that idea without it actually impacting 'real' comic book continuity.

It was with a similar concept in mind that I made a limited series of "Marvel Blaxploitation" mini movie posters. The process permitted me to do some serious "What if...?" imaginings of my own. The very first of these was, "What if there was a fourth Iron Man movie with Ghostface Killah in the title role?" For those of you who don't listen to much hip-hop, Ghostface Killah is a member of the rap group Wu-Tang Clan. In addition to his main kung-fu movie inspired stage name the rapper also uses the comic book inspired nicknames, Iron Man and Tony Starks (ol' shell head's billionaire alter ego). To illustrate how much of a fan the man is, his first solo album was even titled "Iron Man."

Click to enlarge

In the bestselling book, The Wu-Tang Manual, author and Clan founder, RZA, reports that everyone in the nine-member crew grew up collecting comics. But it was Wu-Tang member Method Man who had, says RZA, "the most extensive collection...boxes and boxes of comic books." Like Ghostface, Method Man (another stage name taken from kung-fu flicks) also uses the additional comic book inspired nicknames of Johnny Blaze and Ghost Rider. In the Marvel universe, for you who don't know, motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze is the true identity of the flame-headed Ghost Rider. And it should probably be said that Meth's well-known love of marijuana 'blazing' has as much to do with these other nicknames as does his love of comics.

"It's my testament to those burned, play my position in the game of life standing firm / On foreign lands, jump the gun out of the frying pan
into the fire, transform into the Ghost Rider"
– Method Man, "Triumph"

Due to my own diehard affinities for hip-hop and comics, and sincere appreciation of Wu-Tang, Method Man and Ghostface Killah were obvious choices for the first pieces in the “Marvel Blaxploitation” mini movie poster series. It was originally only planned as two-parter but after finishing the two, I felt the urge to keep brainstorming to see what else might come out of it. The blaxploitation movie concept seemed like a good concept for at least one more mini-poster, which would give me a triptych/trilogy. But it was actually good for two more.

Although it took a few days to come up with the theme for the third piece, I eventually decided on one that would put Blade on screen (so to speak) with Nick Fury. Much to Marvel's credit, the company was already firmly on the cutting-edge of zombie lovin' pop culture with their Marvel Zombies comics. I even give them credit as trendsetters, since well before the other now-popular vampire franchises had come about, Marvel had three Blade films in theaters.

Mindful of the fact that Blade was also Marvel's first successful film franchise, the third piece permitted me to see him--quite deservedly--linked to the existing film universe of characters for which he paved the way. I also think that seeing Wesley with Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson resurrects his character's image from the muck of those franchise killing "sidekicks" played by Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel in Blade Trinity, the last Blade film.

(That’s right. I said it.)

The last piece in the series is based on a fairly popular "what if" scenario that plays out often in the minds of many comic book fans: "Who would win the fight between Storm of the X-Men and Thor?" Because Thor is the 'god of thunder' and Storm's mutant super-power enables her to control the weather, this one's a natural match-up. Thor is generally thought to have the upper hand in the battle, though, the most frequent reason being because: "He's a god!" But this…basically non-argument has less significance than many seem to realize.

Like virtually every god of ancient lore, Thor isn't immortal. He can be injured and even killed. Thus, with his mortality squarely in mind, I designed my mini movie poster...and then began writing a fan fiction piece in which Storm, who was worshiped by the people of her native Kenya as a goddess, opens up a shocking can of 'whup ass' on the god of thunder. It's a story rooted in religious lore and science-fact that would've made the late Dwayne McDuffie (who tried to tell a similar tale during his run on Fantastic Four, before nay-saying editors shot it down) very proud.

[Twirls mustache]

In addition to being just pure fun, the long process of making this mini-poster series caused me think a lot about power. More specifically, it made me think a lot about about the power of money and the power of images in American popular culture--as well as in traditional human societies. On a smaller and perhaps oversimplified scale, this series also allowed me to ponder what it must feel like to have the power to green light multi-million dollar movie deals, choose scripts, hire actors, directors, composers, musicians, and marketing & design firms.

Frankly, for a film buff like myself (yes, in addition to my many other obsessions), meditations on what it might be like to have movie mogul power was a wee bit intoxicating. But it also depressed the hell outta' me, too, recognizing even more now how very insular Hollywood is and how few have access to that world. Despite the fact that I may never get a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, for a little while at least the simple process of making these faux film promos enabled me to feel as if I had behind-the-scenes access (and front row seats) to some of the best superhero movies never made.

[Video On Demand] Kanye West - POWER

[Mixtape] Shaolin Soul Food

It had been in my head to make a compilation mixtape featuring many (or most) of the Ghostface Killah tracks that have old school soul samples. Then, after finally getting around to going through all of GFK's albums to gather the necessary songs, it occurred to me that there were also similar sounding tracks recorded by "Chef" Raekwon that fit nicely with the desired vibe. As Rae is also Ghost's main partner-in-rhyme, I think that it also works out quite well to have him as the second featured voice on the "Shaolin Soul Food" mixtape.

Come an' git it.

SP

Ghostface Killah - Shaolin Soul Food

01 Intro [feat. Raekwon] - Ghostface Killah
02 Biscuits [feat. Trife Da God] - Ghostface Killah
03 Good Times - Ghostface Killah
04 Wallabee Champ - Ghostface Killah
05 Ms. Sincere - Raekwon
06 My Corner - Raekwon
07 Ason Jones - Raekwon
08 New Wu [feat. Method Man & Ghostface Killah] - Raekwon
10 Walk Around - Ghostface Killah
11 Holla - Ghostface Killah
12 Bathtub (Skit) - Ghostface Killah
13 Save Me Dear - Ghostface Killah
14 Dragon Style - Raekown
15 Shakey Dog - Ghostface Killah
16 Big Girl - Ghostface Killah
17 Let It Be Me (Interlude) - Linda Jones
18 Miranda - Method Man, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon
19 Dangerous - Method Man, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon
20 Wu Banga 101 [feat. GZA, Raekwon, Cappadonna & Masta Killa] - Ghostface Killah

:::Download:::

Crisis in Electric Ladyland Revisited

In the satirical essay "Crisis in Electric Ladyland", I wrote about how in the past three-plus decades, super-hero characters of African heritage have been disproportionately given powers and/or names related to electricity. At the time there were as many as ten such characters in comics and cartoons. Only one, though, was a Marvel Comics creation (Storm), and she was the very first of the  type. The other nine (ten, actually) repetitious character types were all linked to the DC universe.*

So, in light of Marvel's track record, I find myself giving them a pass on Jaime Foxx's Electro in next summer's Amazing Spider-Man 2. This even though it will add yet another of this repetitive character type to an ignoble list. [Grimaces] Sure, it would be great to not be adding a 12th such character to the list at all (The Golden Blaze from the DC Comics-related Warner Bros. Entertainment was the 11th). But in fairness to Marvel, I have to give them the nod.

Even more bothersome, I find myself now interested in seeing Amazing Spider-Man 2. Prior to Foxx's casting, I hadn't a smidgeon of interest in the Spider-Man relaunch--because I love the Maguire Spider-Man movies. (Well, the first two. The last one wuzza' let down.) As for the SM relaunch, I have not seen the first one and won't trouble myself to rent it in the meanwhile. But when its sequel does comes out...on DVD, I'll check it out just to see the villain.

[Kicks rocks]


*The Marvel super-villain Thunderbolt was not included in the list on a technicality: his actual powers aren't related to electricity.

The Secret Origins of Grandmaster Flash

    Joseph Saddler was another teenager from the Caribbean, raised in the Bronx, who shared Herc's obsession with music and electronics. But unlike the muscled Herc, the diminutive Saddler was a perfectionist. Saddler spent hours watching Herc in Cedar Park run his "merry-go-round," and saw that Herc was visually locating the starting point of the breaks, dropping the needle and hoping for the best. When he switched back and forth between the turntables, Herc never really stayed on beat.

    Saddler went home and worked at getting it right. Living in the South Bronx, he didn't know about the downtown DJ innovations that Hollywood had discovered, like "beat matching" (aligning the tempos of records) and "slip-cueing" (using headphones to audition and cue a record before releasing it into play). Saddler had to invent them himself. He came up with this own names for the techniques: the "peek-a-boo system," and "clock theory." In the elaborate setting of his bedroom, Saddler took the science of DJing further than anyone had. Before long, he could "cut" between duplicate copies of a record seamlessly, without dropping a beat. Since most breaks were agonizingly brief, the quicker the cut, the shorter the breaks he could use. Saddler got really fast. His friends called him "Flash," like the comic-book hero who possessed superhuman speed.


Source: The Big Payback, pg. 19

Stardate: Supplemental

Like many other Americans who don't speak Japanese, I still manage to listen to ridiculous amounts of Japanese music. Ridiculous amounts. So I wanted to make a compilation mixtape to share some of that listening experience here. Superflat State of Mind is full of the kinds of selections that I'd play for anyone who's interested in samplin' the sounds of J-Pop, but having absolutely no idea where to start--or who to start with. This mix, however, prolly isn't your stereotypical compilation, meaning one filled with the sugary sweet voices of all-girl pop acts. Most of the tracks are by soulful Japanese (or in some cases half-Japanese) r&b artists. There's also a fair share of hip-hop flavor, as well. And though most of the words are sung in the Japanese tongue, there's a smattering of English that might have you singing right along.

P.S. This mix was in heavy rotation during the production phase of several of my recent art pieces, hence the title and cover art.

Superflat State of Mind, Vol. One
 
01 Red & Blue - Aisha
02 Two As One [feat. Chemistry] - Chrystal Kay
03 Letter In The Sky [feat. The Jacksons] - Ai
04 We Standing Strong [feat. Jay'ed] - Emi Maria
05 Embrace - Boom Boom Satellites
06 Apple - Tam Tam
07 My Endless Love - Pushim
08 Come Back to Me - Chrystal Kay
09 575 - Perfume
10 Love Me After 12AM - m-flo loves Alex (Clazzieque Project)
11 One Way Love [feat. Verbal (m-flo)] - Kana Nishino
12 Shawty [feat. Synergy] - Chemistry
13 Who's Theme - Minmi/Minmi
14 I Wanna Know You - Pushim
15 23:30 - Perfume
16 Fly [DJ Mitsu Beats Remix] - Aisha
17 Road to Riches [ft. Cavalier & MeccaGodzilla] - Kojoe
18 Darkness World [Feat. 般若] - Emi Maria
19 Realize - Jasmine
20 サヨナラは言わなかった [ft.光永亮太] - mihimaru GT

:::Download:::
 

Captain's Log: Stardate 11222013

Lost in Translation (Episode I), St. Paco, 2013 

" It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you without a strong rhyme to step to." – Rakim

YKFS has been all but abandoned over the past few months. It's for good reason, though. In addition to my writing and research for an essay collection I plan to publish, I've made a return to my art/graphic design roots. When I'd decided to do a zine show to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of KFG earlier this year (Time flies, right?), I decided to create other stuff for the show as well: limited edition decorative prints, a painting or two...or three, and even some  t-shirts. So, during this long leave of absence from the blog interwebs, thirty or so pieces have been made. In addition to all that, there are other design projects now in various phases of development. One of them will be blogged about in a couple of days, so check back for it. Oh, and please enjoy the next few posts--cuz it'll prolly be a while before I'm blogging again.

Thanks for reading.

SP

 

Brought to you (Again) by the Number Five, St. Paco, 2013

 

I Saw the Mach 5 in Gold (After Demuth), St. Paco, 2013

[Press-N-Play®] Eric B. & Rakim – I Know You Got Soul

Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley, Circa 1992

Zen-La-Rock – New Jack Your Body ft. BTB

Been lovin' this one for a while, and can't believe that I hadn't posted it to YKFS before now. Pump up the sound and enjoy.

My buddy went all the way to New York City...

...and all I got was this bad ass Jim Kelly t-shirt!!!

Mobile Mondays – DJ Darrell D Live in NYC

Two weeks ago, the homie Darrell D made another summer sojourn to NYC. As usual, he got a chance to rub shoulders with various legends of hip-hop at the park jams and elsewhere. Before breaking back to the Southwest desert, he brought the Arizona heat to the East Village as a guest deejay of Mobile Mondays at The Bowery Electric. Every Monday night, from 10PM to 4AM, Mobile Mondays unites local New York disc jockeys (Just Blaze, Misbehavior, Operatorz EMZ, Natasha Diggs, etc.) with visiting vinyl addicts from across the US and other parts of the groove-lovin' globe -- and they play strictly 45's all night. Now, I'm prolly a lil' biased, since Darrell D is my boy, but I've heard the MP3 of his time on the tables, and I think that he nearly burnt the Bowery down. You can hear (and judge) for yourself, though. Courtesy of The Bowery Electric, YKFS offers your lucky ears forty fiery minutes of funk, soul, hip-hop and Afrobeat grooves direct from Darrell D's Mobile Monday's set (click here)! To learn more about Mobile Mondays in NYC, click here.

DJ Darrell D & Mobile Mondays hostess, Gizmo

Distant Brothers – The Thai Connection

"Words with no apparent meaning, 
a Hindi script graffiti,
sprayed upon temple walls 
that have long ago decayed."
– St. Paco


There are no coincidences.

Really, it was only a few days ago that, while scrolling through the contacts in my phone, I briefly reflected on brutha' Damon when his name quickly passed under my eyes. I hadn't been in touch with my Afro coiffed partner-in-crime for some time, so a mental post-it™ note was made reminding myself to reach out and learn what he's been up to as of late. Three days later, before I'd even had a chance to make good on my intention, an e-mail arrived to let me know that Damon had shared a photo with me on his Flickr feed.

Spotted within the body of that electronic note, placed just above the link that would guide me to the image, was the title of my previously released poetry zine, Distant God Meditation. "What does...this mean?" I wondered, as my finger clicked the mouse to activate the link. Damon, a fantastic photographer and fellow designer, had already sent a snapshot several months back, showing the zine on his coffee table; his creative way of saying that the contents of my unanticipated envelope had arrived in the mail.

My eyelids widened and my jaws separated after his newest photo-telegram had loaded. Framed within its borders was the remarkable sight of my kung-fu-brutha-from-anotha-mutha, sitting in some time-worn temple -- with his now very travel-worn copy of Distant God Meditation in hand. "Didn't he just get back from Hong Kong not too long ago?" I thought through a widening fog of amazement. "How the heck did he wind up in...Thailand?"

After enlarging the photo, my pupils pored over the image, as I was still partly in disbelief that he had actually gone to Southeast Asia -- and that he'd taken the zine along with him. But, as my eyes panned from the bottom of a suede and nylon mesh hiking shoe, seen at the bottom of the shot, to the very point of a stone spire elevated high above his chocolate-colored Afro, it quickly became clear that this was not the work of Photoshop. Someone had been on a airplane.

In the film Amelie, the father of the title character has one of those vintage-looking garden gnomes that stands on the front lawn of his middle-class home. Early on in the film, that white-bearded figure gets gnome-napped and within days, Amelie's father begins to receive mysterious envelopes in the mail. Each one contains a photograph of the ceramic ornament, taken in the various spots around the world to which it had, somehow, journeyed. Studying the photograph sent by Damon, I began to feel a little like Amelie's father must have felt.

Last year, when the making of Distant God Meditation had been finished, I'd also felt something else, something that I really hadn't felt with the other publications I'd produced. The feeling emanated from a recurring daydream that I had about of this particular zine. To me, it just kinda' seemed like something that a reader could take with them as a not-too-heavy distraction on their crosstown bus ride. Or, even better, while aboard a long flight to some far-flung destination.

I'm not completely sure now if that musing of mine had been mentioned to Damon. Whether it was or not, he still managed to do my imagination one better by taking that work into the discolored ruins of a 12th century Buddhist temple in Thailand.

To see the photograph that inspired this post, click here. To see more photos by Damon (aka Super 巧克力 Chocolateur), click here.

[Press-N-Play®] Sizemen – Chao Phraya River

And speaking of Thailand...

[Press-N-Play®] Sizemen – Chao Phraya River
[Press-N-Play®] Sizemen – Intro Shadow Funeral