25 year old Essex rapper, Nick Brewer recently released his lyrically brilliant 3rd EP ‘Warning Light’ . He modestly describes this piece of work as “different than anything he has ever done. This EP is more of where I started, I included a lot of my earliest influences.  It’s a bit more grimy and upbeat than my previous EP ‘Four Miles Further’.”

Nick, you started at ‘Flat 10’ then to ‘Four Miles Further’  Where are you as an artist with ‘Warning Light’? 

I’m still developing as an artist. In ‘Four Miles Further’ I showed a more laid back introspective side of myself. That is a very big part of who I am, but I don’t want to be known for just that. With ‘Warning Light’ it is more upbeat and grittier. I purposely caught people off guard. I wanted to showcase the whole picture of who I am as a artist. It’s important to develop all aspects of my character musically.

The first released single  “Jet Li” is telling of the rappers transition, it doesn’t sound like anything he has done before. Nonetheless, over the more contemporary beat Nick still has an underlying message.

The hook is a catchy phrase “They say they get me but they don’t get me though” what does that sentiment mean here? 

I was kind of taking a nic at myself in a lighthearted way. I think people don’t know how to take me at first because I don’t fit easily in any box. People are like, ‘Is he just another white rapper?  Is he a poet?  Do I want to like him?’  Naturally people like to familiarize and compare, people don’t know what category they want to put me in. The vibe on the track came from more of my earlier influences in hip-hop.

Who are some of your early influences?

Nas. He was the first rapper I really got into. I feel like with ‘Illmatic’ he was able to paint such vivid pictures in such a poetic way. The way he writes and the images always stuck with me and challenges me. Also, Common and Eminem.

Although ‘Warning Light’ sounds different, you still charge the listeners to think. Most of your music delivers a message lyrically, does this come naturally? 

Thank you. It took me awhile to get to this point. As I’ve matured I’ve taken note on how lyrics have impacted my life, especially when I was younger. I still remember lyrics I memorized as a child. When I began rapping seriously, I understood  it could be such a powerful tool. People are literally listening to the lyrics and what we say. It’s not just a melody.

You have the intimate track “Me and My Pen” with Tink and several other collaborations on this project. How did the collaboration with Tink come about?

She is crazy talented. You never know when you reach out to an artist how its going to come out. She sent it back and she added so much to a track that I already liked. On this EP I also have a guy  MC Stormzy on the track “Warming Light”.  All the collaborations I do are organic, that’s really important to me.

The EP features include Barney Artist, Ruby Maze and Jarreau Vandal. Be on the look out for Nick Brewer’s debut album in 2015. He is also in the midst of planning his first headline tour. Check out his new EP HERE https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/warning-light-ep/id930848604

The post Interview : Nick Brewer Talks Lyrics and New EP “Warning Light” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

 Wall in Saarbrucken in Germany – August 2012

Amose  is a French street artist known for is signature tribal creatures. His studies began in 1996, in Belgium, even though Amose was born and raised in France. “First I spent four years studying illustration at the Institut St Luc in Tournai in South Belgium close to the Fraco-Belg border. Later, I entered the Beaux Art so study graphic design. Yet, A large part of my leanings come from my own studies. I look a lot what is going on around me, on the internet, magazines, books and comics. I found it very important to cultivate the skill of inquisitivity. It is important to constantly question what is in art, especially when you start and even until today.”

 Wood assembly with acrylic paint 1.20 m x 2.30 m – april 2012

In 2003 Amose started to work with tribal characters. It began when he discovered artists from South America who inspired him. South America is a culturally wealthy culture. “I can not quite tell [what drew me to this culture in particular]. I always loved tribal art, its simple shapes and graphic lines are appealing to me. You can often find this style in Brazilian graffitis. At the time, North American street art with large lettering and the b.boys did not interest me. I was attracted to South American Street Art where you saw many flat figures with different motives and much more. It had a  mystical vibe,” he said.

Wall in Koln in Germany -August 2011

The consistency in Amoses’  style would indicate a running theme. However, he does not have one in particular. “I like working with the body, and working figures by un-shapping them. I exaggerate postures and the volume of their limbs. I like for my characters not to look like people, they do not look like they belong to a particular nationality, they are nor man nor woman and live in a timeless era without any setting. My characters are travelers with no strings attached. I like to see their faces neutral–I don’t want them to look happy or sad as if they were wearing masks,” he explains.

Wall in Dunkerque in France – October 2011

 Amose is not just a street artist. He also works on paper and on his computer. ” I don’t have a favorite environment to work in,” he says,”  I need to work at home on paper and on my computer. I also love screen printing  at my workshop and exploring large walls on the streets. These are all different mediums that allow me to express myself in different ways.”

Amose was influenced by a variety of different artists. “Throughout my childhood Cobra from Buichi Terasawa, Ulysse 31 from Shōji Kawamori but also Enki Bilal, Cyril Perdosa, the overall Brazilian street art but also  mais  Gustave Klimt, Egon Shiele, many artist from the Futurism movement and many others.”

His characters have a mask-like face creating a odd ora around them.  “I like to create a mysterious vibe. I like the neutrality of there faces that contrasts with their bodies that portray a strong movement. There is a disproportionality in the shapes of their body. I love that contrast. I  love that difference.”

 Wall in Istanbul, Turkey – September 2012  (one of his favorite works)

Amose is currently  working on a screen print show in Geneva, Switzerland with friends. And solo exhibition for 2013 in different gallery in Paris, Vienna and Antwerp. He hopes one day to work in America.

The post EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: AMOSEs’ Tribal Travelers appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Let’s set the scene: brick walls crumbing, tossed cigarettes burning and broken fire hydrants spraying. Facing a building that resembles a slum appears one narrow metallic door on a large red building with the fading number 144. No windows and no light, but a lively figure appears. Federico Massa, aka Cruz welcomes us into his studio. Wearing a black polo and dark blue jeans, the 31-year-old Milano looks ten years younger.

Federico moved to New York less than a decade ago, where he “discovered the mexican culture, food and music,” he says as some traditional Mexican music emanates from his laptop.

New York is his muse. “Mother Fucker Rose“ (the above picture) was created for an exhibition. “We are in New York so it is full of rats,” he says. “If you look at it his skulls — it looks fun and the roses gives the piece a different light – its so red, it looks like the rat is going to give you something nice but in the end it’s not – it’s poisonous.” This sums up a lot about Federiccos’ work: he pays  meticulous attention to details and symbolism.

In collaboration with  Fabio “Berse” Roncato

Cruz’s logo is a small iena. Animals are an important component of his pieces. He explains, “the iena is a self portrait, my logo, I started eight years ago and I was really focused on these. I did t-shirts and more, I used it like my logo, my symbol, my character. People who know me see part of me in the iena.” After spending a few hours with the artist, you can see it too. He is a very calm man, but extremely passionate and enthusiastic. In his eyes emanates a touch of crazy, of fun. One of his favorite artists is Greg “Craola” Simkins.

His influence is striking in Federicos’ work. Simkins plays with the similar theme of animals, he depicts them as robotic shifting creatures in a fantasy world.

Cruz is known for enjoying experiments with different media. He has sculptures, rat skulls, printed posters, photographs and even large scale plexi-glass lamps in his studio. “I love to switch to a different kind of support. It’s more fun!” he says jubilantly. This is what his art is about: having fun, something he did not always have in Milan.

Federiccos’ experience with the art world in Milan seem disappointing. “The people did not know anything about street art. You would have to work for an art curator and they did not know anything about street art either,” he says moving his hands in the air. “It was only for the business cause at the time street art was in style. But the response I received did not satisfy me as an artist. That was why I left for New York. Once I got here, I did not know anybody, I had to start all over again. You have to be driven, you need to know what you want to do.”

The artist always knows where he’s going, all of his pieces collide together as one unified theme appears. “I have a kind of aggressive thematic, many angry monsters but it really depends on how I feel when I do something. I do crazy, I do angry.”

Currently, Cruz plays a lot with tentacles. It started while he was doing one of his signature portraits. “I love to switch supports and I love to do collaboration”  Stefano Ortega, a photographer, and him have been working together on creating breath taking pieces where Cruz plays around with animals.  “I love the shape of octopus and how I can work with it – it can be so freeing and at the same time very restrictive.” He even refers to it as his “octopus mood.”

Cruz uses many crosses in his pieces not for religious innuendos though. “The crosses in [my work]  are related to my name so I like to add crosses. I am not really into religion, I don’t like blasphemy either. I respect religion. The cruz in my portraits are a good connection between the Mexican culture, the Italian one and my name.” It all ties in together.

Their is a lot more to expect from Federico Massa. His talent and ability to surprise his viewer is never ending. So lets wait and see what is coming up next.

The post Exclusive Interview with Federico Massa, the Man Behind Cruz appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Read that interview HERE

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