-Hip-Hop on the Patio-

During my last visit to TX my homie and fellow writer, SkewTip, invited me to paint live with him at an event entitled, “Hip-Hop on the Patio.”  This was gonna take place at a local haunt but outside in the nice weather and was supposed to be a tribute to DJ Premier.  When we arrived the music was bumpin’ and the atmosphere was was vibin’ — what more do you need to get up properly?

Since we’re both down for DJ Premier we decided to go with a production that would immortalize him while paying respects to our crews/fam.  Peep the makings of right here:

The most daunting thing of all… a blank canvas.

Layin’ that first stroke / Doin’ that WORK side-by-side

                 

Serv on the character / Skew on the lettering

Break!

All dunny!

Up-close and personal

it’S ALiVE!!!

ooooooooowwweeeeeee, with Friday the 13th & Tax Day just behind us, this past weekend should have gone down in history as the scariest weekend of all time!!!  terrible bad luck and giving money to the man in just the span of a few days?! yiKES.

to celebrate all these straight-up shivers, here’s a lil’ aerosol piece i just did out in TX:

An old friend whom I haven’t seen in ages reconnected when I was in the Lone Star state and invited me to go painting.  He had a wall AND rack?! Say no more, we were off and the fumes were oN.

!!!Congrats to Cyphers!!!

For receiving a nomination for this years Phoenix New Times BiG BRAiN AWARDS!!!  For a business that has only had their doors open for 2 months, you already KNOW this place is packin’ the heat and movin’ + shakin’ the landscape up.

!!!PROPS to my FAM!!!

“…The name, Magana says, is the term in hip-hop culture for the circle b-boy dancers, emcees, slam poets, and musicians often naturally form. “The cypher is where the energy is — it’s as much the feeling as it is the formation … Dancers and performers spend a lot of time competing and performing on stages and for crowds, but it’s in the cypher that they truly earn the respect of each other.”

Read the full article here.

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Aside from seeing my brethren get recognized for the work they do everyday for our community, it warms my heart to see my own help and support.  Being a busy person myself with my own business, it isn’t always easy to give back and volunteer/do work as much as I’d like to, but I always try to do what I can when I can.  And when I take a look at that collage of 5 photos, it makes my chest proud to see 4 out of those 5 squares contain my art, my expressions and my person that I gave in hopes of helping the community with.  It’s more than fitting that I file this post under ‘Dezine AD9′ and ‘Community Movement’.

PROPS TO CYPHERS!!!  Hope you got that acceptance speech ready!

HaT ATTaCK!

*whewwwwwwwwww*
been up to my eyeballs in snapbacks and paint recently. peep out some sweet goods that have made their way across the country and around the globe:

wanna get in on the custom painted action??

look no further: go HERE.

Tagged Up

this well-worn tag is on one of my oldest homies.  we’ve had great times gettin’ up and painting the town red (and lime green and dodger blue and gun metal gray etc) and this little tag is a tribute to that.  this piece is well over 10 years old and he asked if i could re-fresh it it a bit and breath some new life into it.  here’s what i came up with:

nothin’ more fitting than making it a tribute to graFF life!

GRAFFiLTHY!!!

What went down @ the grand opening of CYPHERS:

Such & Champ Styles x Brez

Skew x Malo

Durock x SerV1

Tone x Dopa

Dopa x Closer

The whole thing with my honey in the middle!

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the next day…

Graffiti 101 Workshop

GRAFFiTi WORKSHOP!!!

I am very proud to announce that Phoenix’s first Center for Urban Arts will be opening to the public this weekend!!!  Bring the whole family out for a real hip-hop affair.  For Sat there will be live painting, music, dance performances, and great vibes.  For Sun, there will be several dance workshops available (including one taught by a JABBAWOCKEE!!) and a special GRAFFiTi WORKSHOP held by yours truly.  Throw your whole neighborhood in the car and come down for a taste of the real thing.

a quickie slideshow…

here’s a compilation of some of my canvas art:

check out the available pieces here.

 

custom made

for a very special kid on the east coast.

get yours here.

take me home pt.13

“Butterfly Kisses”

She’ll keep you focused.

Available Here.