We’ve always heard hip-hop artists referencing high-end culture, NBA players, expensive alcoholic bottles and the list goes on. But recently the late Jean-Michel Basquiat has been name dropped by hip-hop luminaries like Jay-Z, Kanye West and Rick Ross in the last two years, bringing attention to the 27-year-old’s story and work to a new generation.

The New York Times has uncovered the story behind Basquiat’s connection with hip-hop, working with Fab 5 Freddy, toying with the process of “Beat-Bop” and coming into the public eye with Swizz Beatz’s admiration of his SAMO tags. An interesting bit of history is the rumor behind “Beat-Bop,” a track supposedly made after a rift between Basquiat and rapper Rammellzee, which proved to be more about experimentation as stated by Fab 5 Freddy.

Read the article here, and see if you can catch Jay-Z’s bars about Basquiat in “Most Kingz” featuring Chris Martin of Coldplay and produced by Green Lantern.

The post The New York Times on Hip-Hop & Basquiat appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.