The Golden State Warriors hold a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals. Photo Credit: The Huffington Post

The Cleveland Cavaliers avoided a sweep in the NBA Finals Friday night, beating the Golden State Warriors 137 -116. The Cavs handed the Golden State Warriors their first loss of the postseason and the Warriors still hold a 3-1 lead in the series.

With the NBA Finals prolongoing to a game 5 after the heroics of the Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving’s 40 points and LeBron James’ triple double in game 4, the scene shifts back to Oakland, where the Warriors won the first two games of the series.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, his dad, Drederick Irving & sports and entertainment journalist Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Credit: Will Robertson

Earlier this week, I checked in with DJ Tarzan and Cliff Po on the Henny & Redbull Podcast, to talk about the NBA Finals, LeBron James’ Michael Jordan comparisons and more.

Check Out The Conversation With RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson and The Henny & Redbull Podcast.

The NBA Finals resumes Monday with Game 5 in Oakland.

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The post Scoop B: NBA Finals, Kevin Durant & LeBron James On Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan’s Henny & Redbull Podcast appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

For thousands, New York City is called “home” by creatives who have flocked to the unofficial capital of the world just to get a chance at fulfilling their dreams. For Mexican-born, California-bred photographer Alejandro Garcia, this pilgrimage holds true. After completing his BA in Photography at the San Francisco Academy of Art University, Garcia made his way to the Big Apple to fulfill his “want for more.” For the past four years, the 29-year-old photographer has been honing in his craft as a freelancer in the concrete jungle while exploring his creativity to accomplish his goals. Possibly even that one aspiration of his that includes breaking into Gwen Stefani’s house to get the perfect shot.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to get a shot?

 Well, it’s not really crazy; it was just that I had to wait a really long time, pretty much all day, to get a shot. After I got the shot, it was all worth it. It was when Miley Cyrus and Mike Will Made It were shooting a music video and I was the behind-the-scenes photographer. At the video shoot, there were just so many people around her and my job was to get shots of her. It was so hard. Later on in the day, I was hanging out in Mike Will’s dressing room and I guess he saw I was trying to get a photo of her and he was like, “Just hang out here and I’ll get Miley to come in.” It was just crazy because I had to wait all day.

Most memorable shoot?

 Every shoot that I’ve done has always been good. I’ve never had a bad shoot. You know, there will be things that stick out like little details. Like, oh the clothing was really cool, the models and stylists were so much fun to work with, or there was crazy music, but it’s just little things that make everything stand out to me. I don’t really have a top favorite.

Where have we seen your work?

Fashion blogs, online magazines, Inked magazine, The Source. If you’re a fan of my work and you’re keeping up to date with what I’m doing, you can follow my work on Instagram (@thec00l) and see what I’m up to and see where my work is headed towards.

Who are some photographers that you admire?

 David LaChapelle. I love his work. Much more his older stuff, not so much what he’s doing now. I love Cindy Sherman. She’s amazing at just taking pictures of her and making a career out of it. It’s like she’s the queen of selfies. Michael Thompson is amazing, as well. Richard Avedon. I feel like they are so good at creating a world and that world they’re going to capture though a photo…among all this chaos that they’ve created just to get this particular shot is amazing because you get so many different emotions and feelings. People look at art in so many different ways, but in their world, they’re creating something that they themselves came up with. For other people to interpret it as something else is pretty cool because…they wanted to create chaos within this space. So, thinking like that has helped me, in a sense, kind of create my own atmosphere, my own world in the space that I was able to work with.

What’s your ideal soundtrack for a shoot (to keep you moving)?

 It would definitely have to be something upbeat. I feel like for any photo shoot, the music keeps the vibe going. It keeps you in the zone. Sometimes when I’m shooting, I love to listen to The Weekend because I just feel like his music is the same throughout the whole album. The mood doesn’t really change so you can work at a pace where you know you’re good. I want the make-up artist to do her thing, I want the stylist to take his time and do a good job, and when I’m shooting, I want to do a good job so I don’t want to rush anybody.

Top 5 dead, alive, or fictional: Who do you want to shoot?

 Gwen Stefani is my number one. I love Gwen Stefani. James Dean. I love me some James Dean. And then, Cleo from Set It Off, Clint Eastwood, and Quentin Tarintino.

What would make you turn down a million dollar shoot?

I don’t want to turn down a million dollars! (Laughs) I guess, if I had a vision that I wanted to do with a huge publication and everything was great; we have a date, we have makeup, we have the whole crew. If the day of the shoot we have everything and something happens with the art director and he comes up to me saying, “Oh, so-and-so doesn’t like the idea. We want to change the whole thing.” If they tried to make it their own, I feel like I would feel some type of way because I would feel like I was being molded into what they want me to be. It’s like, I was supposedly hired because you guys liked my vision.

If it was guaranteed you would get it, which shot would you be willing to go to jail for?

Probably sneaking into Gwen Stefani’s mansion and photographing her while she’s sleeping. I just feel like if I’m going to sneak into her house, she would have to be sleeping so she doesn’t know I’m there and doesn’t call the cops. And then that photo could end up in Vanity Fair. It will be high fashion. But I’ll probably end up in jail and won’t get credit for the photo.

What do you want people to take away from your work?

 The rawness of my work. It’s not make-believe. If I see somebody walking down the street and I take a photo of them, when I show it to people, I want them to be like, “Wow! You took this? You made them look so good!” Yeah, because that’s how they look. I’m not emphasizing anything. This is just me capturing a simple photo. Everyone is walking by this person, but nobody stops and focuses on just one subject. Everyone is so busy going to Point A and Point B. I feel like with my photos, I want people to take away the simplicity, but at the same time, the beauty of it.

The post RESPECT. Photographer of the Month: March Edition appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

This week in the international-street-art-sphere portraiture was the method of choice. Just for you, we’ve compiled the portraits that we found to be most striking. View them below.

Aryz (above) worked on a collaboration with David Choe in L.A. You can clearly distinguish the American’s artist surrealistic style colliding with the Aryz‘s creepy world.

Invader

Last time we heard from Invader he was pasting a mosaic of Spider-man onto the Parisian landscape. The French artist now dropped a new work in London depicting another hero, Luke Skywalker, chilling out with his father, Darth Vader.

Ben Slow & Mear One

Ben Slow and Mear One worked on a politically charged collaboration for the streets of San Francisco. The two street artists portrayed Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in a light that acknowledges their shadier dealings.

Jack TML

The incredible Israeli artist Jack TML was recently in Germany to paint an indoor piece somewhere in Munich. His figurative work is charged with feelings of distance and proximity.

Aryz, prior to his collaboration with David Choe, worked on a gigantic mural in San Francisco. The Barcelona-based artist worked on merging the insides and outsides of his female character using his signature color pallet.

Stik is currently honoring the Chichester Street Art Festival  alongside Run & Phlegm. Working with his minimalistic stick figures, the British artist produces a piece that creates movement through subtlety.

The post STREET ART: BEST OF THE WEEK – The Art Of Portraiture appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

If your ever in San Francisco, then you might want a tour from native rapper DaVinci. His new single “In My City” takes you on a lyrical tour of his city which includes smoking, getting money and enjoying a good meal at Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles. The single is the first single off his new album The MOEna Lisa which is an ode to the Fillmore District he grew up in. Al Jieh of Drums and Ammo laced the track giving it that merry go round feel. Digging this one.

The post New Music: DaVinci — “In My City” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.