Ohhhh Janelle

No words..

Artist....Banksy

So Banksy is this Frickin Amazing graffiti/stencil street artist. He creates these sick pieces of work, around the world, and he makes sure to include some meaning behind whatever he creates, whether its politically rooted or just based on current events, Banksy manages to create works of art on everyday street corners that'll make you linger for more than a minute to admire.. Here are some of my favs from him from over the years.

In Awe of..

I Know I've posted Aja already on this blog but damn...shes amazing...and I'm in Awe of her everytime I hear her speak...she deserves a million re-posts!!

"Is That All You Got" by Aja Monet from Black Unicorn on Vimeo.

Quote me On that..

Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it.-Vincent Van Gogh

Voice of a Poet...Queen GodIs

You can't mention poetry without talking about Queen GodIs. Queen GodIs is a poet, mentor, teacher, leader and skillful artist. She has mentored the NY brave New Voices slam team, she's released an album containing her poetry and works, and to put it frankly, her art speaks volumes. And although this video isn't exactly her spitting any slam you still get a glimpse into the amazing gift that this beyond talented poet possesses. Enjoy

Voice of a Poet...Alysia Harris

ok! so in Honor of National Poetry Month i'm going spotlight as many poets that I can onto this blog. They will be poets that I admire and am a fan of and hopefully, my readers will become a fan of theirs too.

To kick it off with the First "Voice of a Poet Spotlight" I'm posting a video of Alysia Harris who is a poet from Philadelphia. She has competed in the Brave New Voices Festival as part of the Philadelphia team she is also a part of Excelano Project which is a Spoken word group within the University of Pennsylvania.

Alysia's words, evoke power, she gracefully projects her poetry in a way that sounds like her heart strings are being played by a full on grammatical philharmonic. (If that makes any sense at all! haha) In any case, shes deep, shes amazing, shes a powerful artist. Enjoy.

NaPoWriMo

Ok so the Month of April is National Poetry Writing Month!! YAY!! So for NaPoWriMo, you pretty much try to write a poem a day..so this is my contribution for today's poem I'm going to TRY my hardest to write a poem a day and also stay on top of this blog, i'm such a slacker in this area it isn't funny..plus y'kno school work and alla that.. but anyways, here's my poem for 9/04/2010 enjoy. and take part in National Poetry Writing Month if your a poet!



The General's Song

I heard the general's song.
Far. Long.
From, a distance I couldn't see without the aid of prescription clarity,
Or without the daily periodicals reminding me of its present reality.
But I still heard it.
I still heard the shattering of bombs, the calling of all arms, the scattered of calm carcass, the whisper of the gone.
I still heard tears, falling, from sorrows leaping out of heavy hearts. The silent cries from those that couldn't utter syllables;
to properly describe in decibels
What has happened to their lives.
I heard the general's song as I flicked the channels and landed on CNN,
I heard the shrill frequencies explode through the camera lens,
The instruments executed each note with precision. As they tip toed their camo-ed toes over the rough terrain’s composition.
Ahhh the sounds of a symphony.
But the melodious tones spread.
I thought I was dreaming when I heard the song on the corner of my home..
Middle of the atlantic, I heard the rhythm become frantic.
Sure the general has relocated his fiddle to a second destination,
But he's never been more accurate with his finger placing.
I mean YoYo Ma couldn't handle a stringed instrument this well, the General wielded it, and its voice screamed hell.
That was the song..
I heard it deafening,
I saw it promote dancing. Never before seen hidden artists were now showing their talent, they were pop n locking with the malice.
I saw young dudes download the song for their ringtones, then remix it and rap over it for their own personal sing alongs.
Before I had heard the general sing in the heart of a metropolis,
thats where the term concrete jungle was coined,
cuz he banged rubble for drums, used a glock for a snare made music from noise.
the brooklyns and the brixtons had siphon him many a time to compose,
they ciphered over the blows and tones they crafted their own shows
In the Generals song
I heard him cry for help, I heard him lace blood in his lyrics so the world
felt.
it. every bit.
every slip and fall.
and wound made by shrapnel.
and the screams fluctuated through each cadence,
the amputations, the hollow tipped faces.
I heard the generals song in my headphones
close. warm.
and I realized that this melodic collection of musicianship
was anything but distance relevant
the song was there, its here,
its everywhere
I heard the general’s song at home and realized that it wasn't specified anymore
that it wasn't geographically placed,
or traced by location
the General’s song... was world known,
now its a general song.
tears are its accompaniment,
bullets never without it..
lets us sing..
because obviously we can’t fight.

The Wheels of Steel...

The art of turntablism, the union of two vinyl playing turns and a mixer combined made hip hops first instrument. Scratching in between breaks of soul records was hip hop's symphony. And years later after its conception, this art form still exists today. Whether its seasoned vets still hopping on the 1's and 2's or eager new young bucks eager to make their mark on vinyl, this art persists, and will always be in a class on its own..

DMC Technics DJ Championships 2009, Birmingham Heat from Chris Bates on Vimeo.

Artist... Taylor Rankin

With the Violin Being my principle instrument a great violinist inspires me beyond understanding. Bermuda born Taylor Rankin has found a way to blend genres with this amazing small wooden fiddle. He is simply amazing, flawlessly wielding insane pitches from the instrument in a way that seems effortless to him. Skill, amazing...talent, amazing.

Change Clothes

Ok So I spent this Saturday very lazily. It was well deserved trust me. After almost 8 straight days of work, i needed this. Today was my Saturday where i flipped endlessly through magazines, caught up on the latest Archie comics, and spent half the day composing a promo single for Shayla Woods. In the midst of this I skimmed though the September Issue of Vogue. Vogue has to be THE ultimate fashion publication, and although I favor jordans and sweatpants over jimmy choos and liquid leggings, i like to think i know a thing or two about fashion. And Vogue definitely IS the epitome of fashion. One thing i like to do is to investigate other ppl's art, and their journey with it, Fashion is really an art form the intrigues me and inspires me. Director R.J. Cutler just released a documentary called "the September Issue" which shows the intensity of crafting Vogue's most important issue of the year.



In addition to that, this week has to be the absolute WORST week for me to NOT be living in New York. First off, we have "Fashion's Night Out" this Thursday, where stores all across the 5 boroughs will be open till 11pm, and there will be pretty much a city wide fashion extravaganza where customers can schmooze with celebs, musicians, designers and models. Things like this make me want to dip into the savings bin and buy an express ticket to NY!
Fashion's Night Out

And then, the most heartbreaking of all...Jay-Z is supposed to be having some killer concert @ Madison Square Garden on Sept. 11, which is coinciding with his Tuesday release of Blueprint 3...I just know that missing this show means I'm going to be missing out on something Epic!..BIGGER SIGHHHHHHH!!!!

In Any Case, its a GREAT week to live in New York!



"Change Clothes" (Grey Album Version)- Jay-Z

iPod Artists

I haven't posted anything really "artistic" in a while...soo lemme revisit that real quick. I love that artists use any medium to create, i think that even more than it being inventive, its inspiring, because it shows you how unconventional art is, even though we've known that for years, but still, its always nice to be reminded of that. Sooo here are some artists that use an ipod as their artistic medium, using the ipod app brushes, they are able to create gallery ready art from using their own fingers. Finger painting on a more artistic scale. lol. i love it. (sidenote...seriously technology is amazing.)

First Artist.. Jorge Columbo.
His art was featured on a cover of the New Yorker.





Matthew Watkins




Mike Miller

What More Can I say?

I'm too much of a Jay-Z fan to NOT appreciate this.



Like seriously who does this??? He visually recreates EVERY album cover..genius.. this is a criss promo, seriously what more can i say? lol. makes me remember earlier Jay-Z albums.. Cannot Wait till Blueprint 3 drops!...anyways Here's the actuals which inspired the promo commercial..

























"What More Can I Say (Grey Album Version)" - Jay-Z

Artist...Aaliyah

Aaliyah was like the pinnacle of my music knowledge when i was like 5. Aaliyah and Hammer. That was all the music I needed. She was one of those artists that you could not help but love, she had the 'sweet but street' quality down to a T, and paired up with Amazing musical minds like Timbaland & Missy, she was the perfect R&B songstress. 8yrs seems like a looong time, but I remember when Aaliyah died clearly, I was broken hearted for like a whole year straight after that, and still don't like getting on planes. In wake of her untimely death, she was something that music needed, she added balance and a touch of class.

Artist... Max Kehrli

Max Kehrli is a photographer whose skills behind a camera are so amazing you would think he's a 20yr veteran. He composes shots that are breathtaking and inspiring. I went to high school with max, and its an absolute honor to me able to know this artistic marvel. His photographs are simply amazing.

Here is just a taste of Max's beautiful photo's.








Keep up with Max and his work.
Max's Website
Max's Flikr Page

Bay Area Slang

Rafael Casal is Ill.....seriously nuff said.

Me and my Sneakers

Artist Daniel Reese is driving sneaker heads everywhere crazy with his custom made dunks! and they are made to order, you can request anything and he'll whip it up in all its footwear glory. I'm already drooling over a few of his creations, I have my own idea of my own perfect sneaker...hmmm maybe i should send my request through :)

808's & heartbreaks dunks...so so soooo criss!


Loving the Pac kicks


These Banksy dunks are insane! I love Banksy's work he's such an amazing artist. so this homage to him, is ill.



LOVINGG THESE!!! Kicks with cudders on them! coolness.



HA HA of course, a nod to youtube with these



To check out some more of Daniel's kicks and to order your own check out his website..Brass Monki


"Me and My Sneakers" - Lupe Fiasco

Artist... Chuck Anderson

Chuck Anderson has some amazing digital prints, very luminous, and awe inspiring. Along with producing some of his own artwork, he does the art for many ads and even a few album covers. 2 of which i own! i love his creativity and his creations, simply amazing. His work is just so beautiful, i think I'm going to purchase one of his prints...soon come









Chuck Anderson's Website

Artists...Metronomy

British Electronic Group Metronomy releases this new music video, very artistic/different/intriguing.

Music Painting by JUL & MAT from JUL & MAT on Vimeo.

Hometown Glory

i think my favorite song from Adele's debut album '19' is Hometown glory. which is steadily climbing up the hip hop charts as the most sampled song for this year by various artists. last year hip hop sampled santogold. this year adele. anyways, i love this song, the keys, the voice, the soul..its all the recipe for good music.


Adele - Hometown Glory (Official Music Video) - Funny video clips are a click away


here's just a taste of a couple of songs with this sample

"Tears of our City" - Charlie Hilton



"Hometown Glory" - Professor Green



"Hometown Glory" - Drekidd




"Intro-Spective" - Novel

Africa

This Acapella Group Perpetuum Jazzile covering Toto's song Africa...mann just the beggining alone is pure genius!

Perpetuum Jazzile - Africa (live, HQ) from rokelvisar on Vimeo.

"Africa" - Toto