Lauren Greenfield for The New York Times

Kendrick Lamar was recently profiled by Lauren Greenfield for the New York Times during his run on the Yeezus tour. Up top is a photo of him in his hotel suite in Vegas after a performance. You can read the entire piece here, which explores Kendrick dealing with his new fame and a personality that clashes with industry lifestyle. You can check out an excerpt on how the Yeezus tour came about below.

Backstage at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, West personally approached Lamar about joining him on the road. “It’s a different kind of thrill when an actual artist asks you, when Kanye asks you,” Lamar said, pronouncing West’s first name the way he always does, with the emphasis on the last syllable, kahn-YAY. “Now I know he’s really interested in what I do.” Lamar said it was easy to make that happen after the chat, but his team remembered a lot of back and forth. “Believe it or not, we were actually trying not to do the tour,” says Terrence Henderson, better known as Punch, the president of Top Dawg Entertainment, Lamar’s label. “We wanted Kendrick to be recording that whole time.”

It’s tempting to imagine that tour partnerships between an established star and an up-and-comer result in lots of communal bonding. And of course sometimes they do. Bono has become famous for taking young bands out on the road with U2 and dispensing his so-called Bono Talk, a sermon on how to avoid the pitfalls of fame. Lamar knew people wanted to think this was happening between him and West, and he obliged within reason, dutifully explaining to journalists how much he was learning from West or telling an employee of his label who asked if they had been hanging out, “We haven’t really got an off day yet to chill out, but that’s the plan.” But a mentor-mentee relationship wasn’t what was expected or desired, and it certainly was not what was happening.

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Hip-hop was born in the Bronx, but it spent a lot of weekends in Brooklyn. Recognizing the role of Brooklyn in the growth of hip-hop, The New York Times recently decided to tour the borough through the lenses of hip-hop lyrics and photographs. The result is an interesting and unsettling reflection on the borough’s past and its present. Check it out here.

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When you think of Rick Ross, you probably don’t think of critical theory. It’s time for that to change. For this week’s “Sweet Spot,” a weekly video series,  New York Times critics A.O. Scott and Jon Caramanica team up to discuss authenticity and fabulism in hip-hop and in nonfiction. Some very interesting points are made regarding “characters” in hip-hop. Watch and learn.

The post Video: <em>NY Times</em> Critics Discusses Authenticity in Hip-Hop and Writing appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Hidden underneath his mountain of money and pile of platinum records, Pharrell keeps the secret to his longevity in the entertainment business: ambition. The New York Times spent some time catching up with Mr. Williams, reviewing his latest endeavors in the design world.

As he approaches 40, Mr. Williams, artist and superproducer, is having the opposite of a midlife career crisis. In addition to an ever-expanding roster of singers and songwriters with whom he collaborates (recent examples include Justin Bieber, Frank Ocean and Conor Maynard), his services are increasingly sought by corporations to remix their product designs. Since announcing in May that he is restructuring all of his creative endeavors under a single umbrella company, called I Am Other, Mr. Williams might as well have put out a “for hire” sign.

When you watch Mr. Williams work, it is not unreasonable to wonder if he is spreading himself too thin, or even putting the value of the Pharrell brand at risk of overexposure. Riding to the offices of his clothing collections in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, which is basically a luxury van outfitted with an office, a minibar and a rec room, he dismissed such a notion.

“I am overly ambitious, because I realize it can be done,” he said. “I don’t want to end up being a circus act, doing my most famous tricks when I’m 70.”

The post The <em>New York Times</em> Catches Up w/ Pharrell’s Latest Escapades appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Lenyon Whitaker is a Virginia-born, Bronx-bred photographer who’s been behind the lens since 2006. He might be somewhat new to the game, but for the past six years he’s shot everything from musicians to sports teams to political rallies. Just like Gordon Parks, one of his biggest influences, Whitaker aims to “capture ordinary moments in an extraordinary way.” The now 35-year-old freelancer is currently a Harlem resident and continuing to pursue his photography passion.

The Start

In around 2006, I was living in Philly and I started with a local magazine called 215 Magazine. I started shooting parties, like a nightlife photographer. I was always in the party scene and shooting people drinking PBR, all kinds of stuff like that. For someone who wants to get into photography, I feel like that’s an easy way to do it. When you become a nightlife photographer, people get to know you in the party scene and it’s an easy way to make connections. After working with 215 Magazine, I still stayed connected with people and eventually that lead to working with GPTMC (Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation). So I started to shoot events, working with the city of Philadelphia, and I got to shoot a lot of shows.

Shooting Kanye West

That was great. Last year I was working with Essence Magazine in the online department. I was the photo editor and I would also shoot for them. I was able to go to the Essence Music Festival and shoot a lot of the shows that were there. If you see a lot of the bigger names on my site, it was from when I was working that festival. It’s one thing to say you were able to shoot a Freeway show in Philly. I mean that’s great, but when you get a chance to shoot Kanye West — that’s a wow moment. So it was pretty exciting to cover that and actually get some good shots from those shows.

I’ve noticed from a technical standpoint, festivals are usually easier to shoot because there’s more light involved. At the same time, you don’t get a lot of time to shoot each artist. You only get maybe the first two songs and then all the photographers are escorted off. It’s tough, it’s a matter of trying to get creative a little bit but at the same time just shoot the shit out of the show. Make sure you’re technically sound, but take as many shots as you really can. If you’re only able to get two songs, the last thing you want is to go review your images and for every shot the microphone is in focus, but the person isn’t.

On the Field w/ the Philadelphia Eagles

I was working with a friend of mine who was fortunate enough to shoot the Eagles games and calendars. He was able to get me on the field to shoot. I felt that was a great opportunity to try my hand at sports photography, build my portfolio, and just have those shots available to say “here’s what I can do.”

The experience was great, it was my first time actually being on the field as opposed to the stands, especially way up in the bleachers. To be on the field was overwhelming, but there was no time to sit there in awe. You have to almost act like you’ve been there. Following the lead of the other photographer, handing him whatever equipment he needs, and still finding time to get my shots in. One of the challenges would be not having the right equipment. For me, just having nothing too dramatic, or at least specialized to sports. Also, you have to realize that you have to shoot at a faster shutter speed to capture the action. It was a challenge to keep the subject in the center of the frame or anticipating where players would be during certain plays. That’s why a lot of my shots on the site were more from a photojournalist perspective. Players coming out of the tunnel, a cool crowd shot — I can take those types of photos. That’s where my eye is, more of a photojournalist. I think concert photography can be almost as challenging as sports photography, especially if there’s an artist that is moving around a lot. I haven’t shot Busta Rhymes, but I imagine it’d be hard to keep up with him.

Instagram

I read a lot of articles about the debate whether it’s messing up photography or whatever the issue is, but personally I enjoy it. If I’m walking around and I see something cool in Harlem, where I live now, I enjoy sharing my work and getting feedback. It keeps my eye busy, I think that’s what it does for me. It’s not all the time that you want to carry around your big camera. Sometimes you just want instant gratification in terms of making a photo.

I enjoy seeing how other people see the world. You might take someone who’s nowhere near anything creative career-wise, but they may have a creative eye. Everyone likes to be creative,like, ‘oh wow, someone threw away a brides dress and it’s hanging out of the trash can – let me take a picture of it and make it black-and-white.’ Everyone has a vision of how they feel a photo will look like and it’s always cool to see that.

Rallies & Political Work

I feel like a lot of people shoot fashion and that’s great, I love looking at those images, but sometimes as a photographer my interest lies more in covering real life events. Things that may matter to a lot of people, political issues and everything. Just be able to convey a message with images. Ultimately, my goal is to do more of that type of work. Eventually I’m looking at New York Times level photography, that’s my ultimate goal as a photographer.

The post Interview: Photographer Lenyon Whitaker, in His Own Words appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

As print becomes more scarce than ever, artist Lauren DiCiocci has decided to put an emphasis on the beauty of reading physical copies of newspapers. Through her “Sewn News” work, she covers editions of the New York Times in cotton muslin. The image on the paper is sewn with multicolored thread, which then dangles from the page. Take a look at some choice cuts below and read DiCiocci’s full comment on the pieces:

As news-gathering departs from paper form and is conveyed instead through the television and internet, the newspaper becomes a nostalgic and old-fashioned object.  I describe the beauty of the ritual experience of newspaper-reading by describing the paper as a tactile and fragile object in the language of craft.  The pieces in this series are entire issues of The New York Times encased in hand-embroidered cotton muslin.  I select a photograph from the paper; usually a strong image suggestive of power, leadership or communication; and embroider the image onto the fabric, applying colors in a painterly way and layering line and thread.  Portions of the image remain as outline and threads tangle and unravel from the fabric.

You can view more works of DiCiocci at her website here.

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This Sunday The New York Times decided it was again time to comment on the Peter Rosenberg-Nicki Minaj drama that went down at Hot 97‘s Summer Jam about three weeks back. The article mainly highlights Nicki’s crossover appeal and praises her for being one of the first in the game to reach that level of success, but touches on a few other controversial issues along the way. Immediately after reading the story I sent it around to the team of RESPECT.’s online writers for some reactions on the awkwardly late piece. We found that over here at RESPECT., we’ve got a lot of love for Nicki, but it ain’t hip-hop without a million opinions. Check out an uncut version of our thoughts below.

N.L: Great article and I definitely agree with everything he is saying.

N.H: disRESPECT. the two typos in that article.

K.A: I immediately stopped at “the rap video, which has long teetered on the pornographic,” and went to watch the old “Tip Drill” video. I stopped reading all together when Staples referred to her “Monster” verse as “legendary.” Yikes.

N.H: Her “Monster” verse is legendary.

L.S: Interesting point on plural hip-hop cultures. Never really thought about that before. On another note, “Monster” verse– definitely epic. Memorizing those lyrics was one of the best and most productive ways I have ever spent my time.

J.R.M: “Pink wig thick ass give em whiplash.” Classic.

S.F.K: That monster verse changed the game. “First things first, I’ll eat your brains.” Nicki was seasoning verses with bath salts before bath salts were “bath salts.” Legend status.

N.H: http://nightslugs.net/2011/01/09/kingdoms-nicki-centric-edit-of-monster/

And there you have it. Some of the brightest minds in the game share their opinions on a lazy Sunday. You got something better to say?

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