Letter from RESPECT. Founder

I’m honored to curate along with longtime collaborator, Datwon Thomas, “Brooklyn’s Finest: Legends in Focus” — a civic installation opening February 4 at Brooklyn Borough Hall, presented as part of Black History Month.

This installation brings together a selection of photographs that honor Brooklyn’s sizable impact on hip-hop culture and the photographers who helped document it. Hip-hop is one of New York City’s great cultural gifts to the world, and photography has been essential to how that story has been seen, remembered, and carried forward across generations.

With a limited number of images, it’s impossible to represent every Brooklyn rap artist, era, or neighborhood that helped build the legacy. Instead, this installation focuses on a tightly curated group of works reflecting the spirit, pride, and influence of Brookly —celebrating Hip-Hop icons whose lives and cultural contributions are deeply rooted in the borough.

At the heart of this display is the work of Jamel Shabazz, the legendary Brooklyn-born street photographer whose images have come to define generations of NY life, culture, and self-expression. His photographs are inseparable from Brooklyn’s visual history and from the lived experience of street culture itself.

The installation also features contributions from Matthew Salacuse, Mike Schreiber, Sarah A. Freeman, Justin Jay, and Lisa Leone—documentarians whose work captured BK icons in their respective emerging moments. The display is anchored by one of the most iconic portraits in music history: Baron Claiborne’s timeless image of The Notorious B.I.G., a photograph forever linked to BK’s imprint on the world.

At the center of the installation is a sequence honoring The Greatest Day in Hip-Hop History—a historic moment I helped organize in 1998 that brought together one of the most extraordinary assemblies of artists ever captured in a single image. While Harlem is the Mecca, Brooklyn showed up—and this moment belongs here because the culture has always moved between boroughs. The image featured here was captured by Gordon Parks’ trusted protégé, Johanna Fiore, whose lens preserves that day from a rare and personal vantage point. There also two images by yours truly capturing Busta Rhymes and Rakim on that day in 1998. Being in the right place at the right time is often what makes photography magical.

Additionally, a proclamation will be given to Hip-Hop pioneer, Fab5Freddy.

As a proud Brooklyn native, and as a co-founder of XXL Magazine/xxlmag.com and founder of RESPECT., the photo journal of hip-hop culture, it’s an honor for my firm iD8 Entertainment to underwrite and curate this installation in a civic space where New Yorkers can experience these images together.

Thank you to the Brooklyn Borough Hall President’s Office (Donavan Swanson and Roslyn Campbell) and the Borough Hall team for making space for public cultural storytelling.

— Jonathan A. Rheingold
Curator / Producer / RESPECT. Founder

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According to Artnet News, Yasiin Bey is launching a new Hip-Hop inspired art gallery in the Port Morris neighborhood of the South Bronx, in New York.  Yasiin Bey and advertising executive Free Richardson have announced the opening of an art gallery next month dubbed, The Compound. The idea for the gallery emerged out of another Bronx-based space called The Compound, a studio and workshop facility that Richardson opened in 2008. The move reportedly comes in an attempt to keep Hip-Hop and art of all kinds in an area known for its rich history in the grander art community.

“The gallery will serve as a space for all mediums of art,” Yasiin Bey said. “Free will run day-to-day operations alongside staff and I will bring in curatorial and special projects.”

“For me everything is art. What often happens is that certain artists don’t get a fair chance, and a lot of galleries don’t accept certain artists. The whole blue-chip world isn’t fair because certain artists that are just as good will never be accepted,” Richardson adds.

The first show at The Compound will feature the work of Jonathan Mannion, a career photographer in Hip-Hop who has photographed genre icons including The Notorious B.I.G., Aaliyah, OutKast, Lauryn Hill, and of course Yasiin Bey himself.

Outkast by Jonathan Mannion courtesy of The Compound

There is no doubt that the launch of The Compound is Bey’s attempt to combat the issue of gentrification that many Bronx natives have been combating and stemming from the Brooklyn natives interview on The Ed Lover Podcast last weekend (Jul 13), where he spoke about childhood trips to the Bronx and affirming his love for the culture.

Details for the new gallery’s exhibition schedule are still being finalized.

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“Consciousness [kon-shuh s-nis]: the state of being conscious; awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.”

A seemingly lost element in today’s rap game, consciousness appears to be few and far between. That is not to diminish or take shine away from those emcees who are still releasing a conscious, self-aware message on records. Peace to those who are, and who push for this type of sound in 2015.

Before Mos Def‘s Black On Both Sides and Talib Kweli‘s Train of Thought (Reflection Eternal) came Black Star. It’s tough to find a place to begin as far as explaining this albums potency and lasting relevance. Let’s start with the duo’s title, Black Star. For those unaware, this was inspired by Marcus Garvey‘s birth of The Black Star Line. In the midst of Garvey’s growing UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) he originated this as a means of transportation. To make a long story short, a series of unpleasant events took place involving informants, corrupted management, misconstrued mail fraud charges and the FBI that led to Garvey’s arrest. He would than spend five years behind bars, followed by him being deported back to Jamaica by way of Kingston, in which he still kept things alive and made moves for change.

Now with a little background on Black Star’s reference for the group’s title, you should have a better understanding of why this album is so major, among many other reasons. Let’s get into the LP.

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star was released in ’98, prior to both of the their official debuts. In just over 50 minutes, they covered some serious ground in terms of content. There is no need to break down each record, as most of you reading this either love it, own it, or heard it a chunky amount of times. They covered every sound possible, with joints still relevant today for B-Boys, deep thinkers, graffiti writers, narration fiends, mothers, grandfathers and aunts. And most importantly the youth. This is an album you can play to your inner-city middle schools and use as a tool for education.

With production from Da Beatminerz, J. Rawls, Hi-Tek, 88 Keys and Ge-Ology all bases are covered. Another notable factor is today’s overall production versus this raw mid/late 90’s sound. There’s really no argument that most of us real hip-hop junkies probably miss albums to this level of rawness as far as the sounds are concerned. Also, the amount of features is far from oversaturated, which you often find in today’s scene. It’s generally a hit or miss, but this was beyond a win.

Black Star, as mentioned earlier, is an extremely powerful title for Mos and Talib. Did they stop at the title? No. Many records, like “Astronomy (8th Light)”, “Thieves In The Night” and “K.O.S. (Determination)” took unaware listeners to school, beautifully embracing and shedding a positive light on the culture. Also, the pictures painted of inner-city life are overwhelmingly present when you listen to these records, which is still very much relevant for all of us in and out of the city currently in 2015. They didn’t stop in 1998 either. Albums, shows, features and years later Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Talib Kweli are still shedding this light and keeping a positive, uplifting message. Longevity best describes it.

This article was not meant to be another mediocre, time-passing album review of an LP we all know. That would be exhausting. It was written and conducted with intentions of highlighting one, of many, classic albums that uphold a positive message. Hopefully this will inspire two things: a new-jack is exposed to what a timeless LP is, and for some crazy reason the reader does not own or never heard this album to go buy it, along with both of the emcee’s catalogues. The odds of that last one is almost impossible, we suppose. Also, don’t forget to check out Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Talib Kweli’s recent moves, as they’re very notable. Talib is really fattening up today’s rap game with his recent Javotti Media successes. Stay tuned, trust us.

The post Black Star: Remembering The 1998 Classic And Its Relevance Today appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

“Any time you come out with some fresh shit, artists have a chance to reinvent themselves. We just try to reinvent ourselves every time out and keep rocking.” — Mibbs

It’s been a long road to this point for BeYoung, Like and Mibbs (left to right), but for them the grind is just starting to heat up. With the first anniversary of their debut album, The Div, quickly approaching, it’s on to bigger things for the Cali-based collective. Drawing influences from both the east and west coasts, (Pete Rock, NWA, J Dilla and Wu Tang to name a few) Pac Div has created a sound that is simultaneously reminiscent of hip-hop’s past and indicative of hip-hop’s future. Pac Div’s trio pens heartfelt bars over soulful beats, and the end product is sure to get people out of their seats. Truth be told, the hip-hop world can’t be mad when people keep it real, but more to the point why do it any other way?

I see you guys are scheduled to play Oct. 14^th in Davis, Calif., at Mfalme Fest 2012 with Curren$y, Ryan Leslie, Wale and many others. What’s the vibe like when there are so many artists performing at one venue, on one stage?

Mibbs: It’s dope to have that many notable artists together to rock a crowd. I’m surprised there aren’t more tours like that because it brings out different crowds and different vibes. Also, people who are fans of Stalley or Curren$y get an opportunity to see Pac Div. The energy of everybody on the stage is definitely something you have to match though.

Keeping with the concert scene, the Club Nokia gig with Black Star, Del the Funky Homosapien and Freestyle Fellowship is also coming up soon. What are you looking forward to from that gig?

Like: We’ve never shared a stage with a Freestyle Fellowship, but they’re at the center of west coast hip-hop. They rock and we’re just going to add to it. With the older artists and similar styles, it should just be awesome performing in front of their fans. The west coast is a very unique thing. LA and NY have their own sound, but LA and Oakland have their distinct sounds too. All said and done, it’s still west coast. We love to pay homage to those guys though.

BeYoung: You see a lot of cats collaborating out here, similar to how some people perceive the South. A lot more people just realize you have to deal in other people’s fan bases.

Tell me a bit about your relationship with Pharrell Williams. You guys opened for N.E.R.D. on a tour last year, so what did you notice about his creative tendencies when it comes to making a record?

M: We worked with Pharell and he’s a real cool dude. It was a great experience to see how he works and how he rocks the house. We dug that. We noticed the way he works really fast, he’s just doing everything at once. Chad definitely does his job too though, coming in behind and making things nice and clean. With Pharell, though, you get a complete record with complete sound.

How important is creative control of the music for you guys? I understand sometimes things can get hung up in “politics,” but what’s the situation with RBC like?

M: They let us do with whatever we want, but obviously we can’t sell a song unless we clear a sample. We always bring the ruckus, so it’s good though.

Let’s talk about the upcoming GMB (Gabe, Michael, Bryan) project. “Gimme What You Got” has an old school vibe for sure, but are there any features and/or guest production to look out for?

M:  First off, “Gimme What You Got” isn’t our beat. I wish it was, but it comes from a Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth joint called “Take You There.” As for production on GMB: Like is on there, DJ Dotty, Chuck Inglish, Theolonius Martin and Swiff D of course. Feature-wise Mac Miller is on a track, Blu, Kendrick Lamar and some other people but that’s all I’m going to say.

How have Pacdivdaily.com and social media helped the brand?

L: Social media helps keep everything afloat as far as creating a community and keeping people up to date with what we’ve got. It’s ever changing though. You see a lot more artists taking the independent route and combining everything in one, that’s becoming a new thing too. Word travels around fast, so if you drop something it’s like a wildfire. People can do all these things now and our phones are practically computers too. Get with it or get lost. Itunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, Wikipedia, the food, the groceries, just everything. People don’t need to be slaves to it, but it’s just a new generation. Instagram and Twitter too, both of those are dope.

Who are y’all listening to nowadays?

M: Ab Soul, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Frank Ocean to name a few. You can even play Frank’s music for your parents, and his visuals are pretty dope. I know he’s not a rapper, but he has a rapper’s skill set. There are a lot of people nowadays. We like what Odd Future has done in the past, A$AP doing his thing too. The internet has so much influence on what people are listening to nowadays, but there’s plenty of good stuff out there that nobody has to force you to listen to you.

How was it teaming up with the guys from the NBA for the Phiten “Still Flexin’” video?

L: Those guys were cool as hell. We come from a basketball background as well, but it made us realize how fun and silly atheletes are. We were cracking jokes with them, just having a good time. Melo actually knew about us because he was a fan of ours. He told Mibbs that and it was definitely ill to hear.

M: Carmelo was the one who called us to come up there. He was like, ‘I got your Church League tape,’ so I guess hoopers keep up with their music as well. LeBron also said he had heard a couple joints of ours too, so that was definitely dope.

The post “Get With It Or Get Lost” — Exclusive Interview With Pac Div appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

“If y’all good Black Star will release a free song off our top secret Aretha Franklin mixtape today [too],”

Like gravy on turkey, bonus songs paired with the release of a first always make a great compliment. Off of their upcoming “super secret” Aretha mixtape, Talib and Yasiin treat us to a free download of “You Already Knew” with some help from Mos Def’s ubiquitous producer OhNo.

Catch Black Star’s You Already Knew below

Black Star “You Already Knew” by 3DDistro

and for the side dish check out their first new single, Fix Up, produced by Madlib…

Black Star “Fix Up” by 3DDistro

The post Listen: <em>You Already Knew</em> & <em>Fix Up</em> – Black Star appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Performing presumably one of the most anticipated (extremely long time overdue) sophomore album’s in recent history, Black Star will be premiering their new album in its entirety on December 3rd at the Best Buy Theater in New York City. Hallelujah, RESPECT. is in there like kufi’s in hair *swimwear intonation*. Get your tix and additional info here.

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Black Star, the duo of Mos Def and Talib Kweli, is set to premiere their new track “Fix Up” on tonight’s The Colbert Report. You can go over to Colbertnation.com, which will stream “Fix Up” as well as an exclusive performance of the group’s classic track “Astronomy (8^th Light)” from Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star.

The group also canceled their upcoming tour dates in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. However, rescheduled dates for NYC and LA will be announced soon.

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