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When it comes to musical knowledge and skills, B.o.B and Ty Dolla $ign belong to a very exclusive club in hip-hop. Although the hit makers would prefer to not to be boxed in to any one genre, good music is a category they are more than willing to accept.

The post RESPECT. THROW BACK! B.o.B & Ty Dolla $ign Feature appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

To be associate editor of SLAM magazine at age 23 was one thing — an incredible thrill and a job I felt lucky to have (thank you, DP and Tony G.!), but one that I also felt I’d worked toward, having treated basketball fandom as a part-time job since I was 10 years old and having been paid to cover the sport for several years already. I’d also read SLAM since its very first issue dropped in 1994. But to inherit the same title at XXL — a rising hip-hop publication suddenly led by a gifted leader in the space, Sheena Lester — felt like a true gift. I was a basketball journalist but still very much a hip-hop fan. In a way, though, one prepared me for the other. As the XXL staff prepared for the Great Day and began to track who was going to show up on 126th Street, excitement mounted. Slick Rick is going to be there? Scarface?! Tribe?! The freakin’ Wu-Tang Clan?! I was going to be in the presence of artists I’d bumped in dorm rooms and cars, seen in concerts but never been, you know, face to face with. But I had my SLAM experience to lean on. SLAM had already sent me to numerous games to do countless interviews — I had even been in the Chicago Bulls’ locker room during the ’98 NBA Finals a couple months earlier. So I had learned … no autographs. No geeking out. Keep it professional! So when September 29 rolled around, and interacting with these amazing rappers face to face was my job — literally, Datwon Thomas and I were tasked with shooting Polaroids and getting signed releases from every single artist who came through — I was able to keep my cool. Except when Rakim showed up..

—Ben Osborne

Photos by Ben Osborne © iD8 Studios

More From Ben Osborne:

“I found these negatives of these photos years after taking them and barely remember just how vibrant the colors were that afternoon. Of course I remember the day, and I know I played a big role — that day and especially producing the issue — but to see this personal photo I took when my work was done, years after the fact, is an incredibly strong reminder that I was right there. Gives me goosebumps, to be honest.” 

–Ben Osborne

The post Hip-Hop’s Greatest Day — In Living Color by Ben Osborne appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Photo Copyright Jorge Peniche

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THE LENS CRAFTER

Phil Knott Cuts Through The Smoke with Killa’ Cam

Celebrated RESPECT. photographer, Phil Knott, has been in the game for almost two decades. The Brit has captured pioneering images of the culture in a style that is distinctively his own. Color, light, depth, fucking around with digital experimentation of the image … and a one-on-one nature that is truly one-of-a-kind. His mark documenting Hip-Hop is undeniable.

Looking within the RESPECT. archive we dug up this gem from our premiere issue. Take note to this photo that won’t get you contact high, but is “on a higher level.”

Cam’Ron Photo Copyright Phil Knott

 

“He just smokes. You have no choice––it’s either that or you go home. This was a no–choicer, really.”

 

– Phil Knott

The post CAM’RON Classic! Veteran Rap Culture Photographer PHIL KNOTT Made it Go Up In Smoke! appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.