Photo by Tone.

Jersey’s notorious AIDS crew brought their skills indoors for a legal showing of their talents, and they killed it. Simple as that.

The show, which was at Jersey City’s 58 Gallery, was impressive as a whole, rather than on the strength of the individual pieces. It was like one big collaborative installation with solo pieces thrown in for good measure.

Simple graffiti covered the walls, which was then washed over in various spots with different colors of transparent paint. More detailed attention grabbing smaller paintings adorned the walls at different spots on top of the subtle graffiti. Then messy white squares were thrown up, and the paintings were placed within them. This stark border helped emphasize the individual works, allowing the viewer to look at them without being overwhelmed by the paintings around it.

There was so much to look at on the walls that it took me a good twenty minutes to absorb it all.

As for the solo works, Distort’s oil painting of kids playing with guns really burned everybody else. Komar’s electric pole was fire was well. The pole and electric box were painted in the corner, and a wire was stretched from the top of it to the other corner of the gallery. Shoes were then strung over it. Dutch’s stained glass window of Biggie also stood out.

The opening was earlier this month, but it will still be open for viewing for about another week. Unfortunately, somebody took their time sending me photos, or I would have posted this sooner. Check out Photos By Tone for some more shots of the opening. Also peep Distort’s Jokerized City Council member here. 

Photo by Tone.

How texting has become an inseparable part of early dating. (Via Jintrovert.)

Illustration by Ralph Steadman

With scenes of Jim Crow’s rural South fresh in my mind from a recent reading of Richard Wright’s autobiography, Blackboy, I finished up a painting and listened to music. Deep in thought, the music didn’t fully catch me until the lyrics of Dead Prez’s "Animal in Man" played. The rural setting of the song - a black militant hip hop rendition of Orwell’s Animal Farm - made it particularly poignant. It was a moment that brought to clarity this vague opinion that had been forming all these years. Although I’d heard it countless times, it was then that I decided:

It is one of the best hip hop songs of all time.

The first reason this argument needs to be taken seriously is the thoughtfulness of the subject matter. The duo tell their version of Animal Farm; where the animals revolt against their violent slave master only to be once again enslaved by one of their own. The biggest difference in the two forms is that Dead Prez have more faith in the oppressed. When the pigs start to become dictators, Orwell’s farm can’t be sure what’s happening. But in this version they are instantly aware.

The next reason is the quality of the song itself. Rhymes are never sacrificed for the sake of the story. Nor are any unnecessary words added to make a rhyme. The lyrics are uniformly consistent, never veering from their tale. The delivery is good enough to be listened to A capella, while the enunciation is clear at all times. And the beat, although not worthy of the title of the best on it’s own, completes the song’s overall deservedness. With it’s variety of live instruments, it is intricate yet not too busy, allowing the lyrics shine while adding to the dynamism.

Although I have a number of issues with Dead Prez on the whole, I wouldn’t hesitate to include "Animal in Man" on my limited list.