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

The post BROOKLYN’S FINEST: LEGENDS IN FOCUS! Feb. 4th – Brooklyn, NY appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

By: Bink Badd

Rapper, mother and entrepreneur Bink Badd is creating her own path toward infinite success. Being the owner of a thriving resume company called @more4lessresumes, this New York creative is showing people a different way to hustle and survive. Through her music she empowers women and pushes the lines of sexy and confidence in ways like never before. As a mother, she is fighting everyday to make sure her daughter can be successful at whatever she decided to do.

I had the pleasure of catching up with this superstar for a candid interview. As she openly discusses being plus-sized in the industry, rapping and and being an entrepreneur, it is clear of her raw confidence and talent.  Check it out below.

Bink Badd Interview

Respect: What made you want to become an entrepreneur and for how long have you been in business?

Bink Badd: I have been in business for about five years. I had just had a baby, and I was in college nearing graduation, and start anticipating all of the money I would have to pay back because of student loan debt. I had been doing resumes and helping people get jobs for free for years when a friend suggested that I start charging for them. So I started doing resumes as a side hustle, to save money for my daughter’s college fund, so she would not have to experience the stress that I did.

By the time my daughter was three, I had drained a lot of the money on expensive therapies. We suspected she had Autism but because she was not diagnosed until age four, my insurance only covered some of the therapies.

In March of this year, I decided to take my business seriously.  I left my corporate job, working in human resources and recruiting for five years. I was fed up, I got tired of seeing our people get overlooked for opportunities because they did not know how to represent themselves on paper or in an interview. I realized that my business was more than a side hustle, that there was a bigger need, and that I had the means to help make a big impact.

So I quit my job, stepped out on faith, and within months it grew bigger than I could have imagined. I had the opportunity to focus more on my music and do something big for the culture, and I just went all-in with it.

Respect: What does it mean to you being a plus size rapper?

Bink Badd: I am not a plus-size rapper. I am a rapper that happens to be plus-sized. I don’t think that I should be defined by my size or my physical appearance. I am a human being.  I have been through a lot of trauma in my life, and I am an emotional eater.

If I coped with cigarettes or drugs would I be a nicotine rapper? Or crackhead rapper? No Id just be a rapper. I think that we need to stop being so critical of people in the industry, how they look and the standards we place on each other. This is something I feel strongly about and as a rapper that is plus sized I plan to break down these barriers.

Respect: What is one misconception about plus size women?

Bink Badd: One misconception is that we have low self-esteem. People think that we are desperate for men. Like the way that we are approached by men and by women who think they are better than us because they are smaller, reflects a sort of prejudice. When in actuality a lot of men like bigger women, and a lot of smaller women are jealous of our confidence.

Respect: When creating music, where do you draw inspiration from?

Bink Badd: I find inspiration from my life, and past experiences. Music is art and it is a form of expression. I reflect a lot on things I have seen, witnessed, and experienced in my music. I also find creative inspiration from some of the greats: Biggie Smalls, Jay Z, Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj and Nas.

Respect: What are you currently working on?

Bink Badd: I am currently working on my EP. I am also creating opportunities for the world to get to know me better and understand what me and my movement are all about.

Press play below to checkout some of Bink Badd’s music.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6hmrKYnTWv8pgzGIqizr8m?nd=1

The post Bink Badd Talks Balancing Being A Mother, Rapper, & Boss appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

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As previously reported, Nicki Minaj dropped her highly anticipated album Queen and decided to spill some tea with the release. After previewing the song “Barbie Dreams” on her latest venture with Apple Music, Queen Radio, fans couldn’t wait to rewind and assess the victims of the verbal dragging on the Lil’ Kim inspired track.

“Reading the reactions to Barbie Dreams is fucking hilarious,” Nicki said as soon as the song was released. “Everyone is saying how disrespectful ‘Barbie Dreams’ is, and that’s why I fucking love it.”

The track which samples the Notorious B.I.G‘s original song “Dreams”, jokingly takes aim at the rappers who have tried to sleep with the “Bed” emcee. Tapping into her mixtape days, Nicki Minaj calls out a slew of rappers including Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Eminem, and Young Money labelmate Drake, who Nicki claims all wanted a piece of the Barbie cakes.

“Drake worth a hundred milli, always buying me shit/ But I don’t know if the pussy wet or if he’s crying and shit/ Em copped a Barbie dream house and you can play the part/ I ain’t tryin’ to bust it open in a trailer park/Used to fuck with Young Thug, I ain’t addressing this shit/ I caught him in my dressing rooms stealing dresses and shit”

Nicki even threw a few shots at her ex-boyfriend Meek Mill, claiming that the “Dreams and Nightmares” emcee has still been creeping in her DMs on the low shooting his shot.

“Meek still be in my DMs, I be having to dump him/ ‘I used to pray for times like this,’ Face ass when I fuck him”

With the release of the album, of course, the BARBZ went in on Twitter, adding hilarious reactions to the track.

Nicki wasn’t letting up on these rappers with Barbie Dreams #Queen #QueenRadio pic.twitter.com/BJuEUDK1Rc

— Bri (@LovelyOTPs) August 10, 2018

https://twitter.com/marie_brownsuga/status/1027958991895154688

https://twitter.com/sentravin/status/1027958006888194048

https://twitter.com/r3al__AJ/status/1027968023888637952

Although Nicki came with it on “Barbie Dreams”, many Hip-Hop fans were unimpressed at her shout out to Biggie, but ignoring of Lil Kim who came up with the original concept of the “Dreams” flip for her 1996 debut Hard Core.

You know Nicki Minaj spittin over Notorious B.I.G.’s “Dreams” has Lil Kim feeling a ways. You just know.

— A Phizer A (@Aqua174) August 10, 2018

https://twitter.com/MarkChang_/status/1027329219666305026

https://twitter.com/Sincerely_Tanya/status/1027960752425066496

Despite the seemingly purposeful jabs and clear influence she’s had on Nicki’s career, Lil Kim said she’s over the Nicki drama. During an interview with 92.3 The Real in Los Angeles, Lil Kim let her frustrations be heard with constantly being asked about Minaj while she’s promoting her own projects.

“Oh God. Let me ask you this. Do you f*ck with me for real?” Kim said. “Okay, so if you f*ck with me, right? Why isn’t this about Kim? Yeah, see if we’re gonna mention one female we’re gonna mention them all. We need to mention them all. We need to bring everybody in and we need to give everybody love. God bless her. What she did she did. But you know what? I wish her the best. I’m past that and over that. At the end of the day, stop asking me about that chick – she did what she did – y’all don’t do that to her. I don’t think you would [ask her about me?]”

Check out “Barbie Dreams” below.

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The post Nicki Minaj Channels B.I.G. & Lil Kim with “Barbie Dreams,” Takes Aim at Rappers appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Image credit: eOne

UPDATE: Lil Kim delivers a new visual for the track (below).

If you’re interested, Lil Kim continues to release new singles following her recent drop “Spicy” (featuring Fabolous). Below lies the new cut “Nasty One,” said to be a precursor to her forthcoming album.

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Image credit: eOne

The New York Hip-Hop queens (the older ones, not a diss to Nicki Minaj or Cardi B) are back. Remy Ma is already making waves with new singles “Melanin Magic” and “Wake Me Up“; now, Lil Kim (her collaborator from the latter track) is back with a new single of her own.

Titled “Spicy,” the cut sees an appearance from fellow Brooklynite Fabolous and keeps things mainly for the clubs:

Pull up in the dawn, spicy
250 on the arm, spicy
They hate me, I see why, I’m so icy
When Kim come through, they get spicy
You know my n***as be, spicy
And all my b***hes be, spicy
Red Birkin, red bottoms so spicy
The team lit, everythin’ we do spicy

Leave it to Loso to drop a bar about a current news story.

Check out “Spicy” below.

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The post Lil Kim Gets “Spicy” with Fabolous on New Single appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Image credit: Reminisce/Columbia

Remy Ma and Lil’ Kim’s anxiously-awaited collaboration “Wake Me Up” has arrived.

Rapping over a sample of Roberta Flack’s 1969 song “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” and heavy drums, Remy shows off her gritty style throughout the record.

“If Peter Piper pecked ’em, I bet you Remy ducked ’em/I told you not to touch ’em/It’s not up for discussion.”, she raps. Although Kim doesn’t deliver a verse, she handles a solid hook.

The excitement surrounding the song had a lot to do with whether Remy would take another jab at Nicki Minaj. While she doesn’t mention Nicki’s name, there are a few bars throughout that can be interpreted as shots. “I heard he lay that d*ck, you let him filet that fish/ You just met him, how he bae that quick?”

Again, no names mentioned but by the tension between the two, it’s easy to assume that it was a shot at Nicki.

On the flipside, Lil Kim assures us that the record isn’t about Nicki in a Hot 97 interview. “My mind ain’t on ol’ girl or anything else. I don’t care about that,” she said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbN_iWcH_Br/

With the release of “Wake Me Up,” it looks like we’ll finally receive a new album from Remy Ma soon. Check out the latest cut below and let us know your thoughts.

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The post Remy Ma & Lil Kim Join Forces On “Wake Me Up” [Watch] appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.