Posted at 14:53h
in
Art+Design,
Lit
Jay-Z and Versetti holding first Decoded page
The marketing campaign for
Decoded has been just as (if not more so) interesting and captivating to me as the release of the book itself.
Bing and
Jay-Z teamed up to create a multi-layered, interactive experience which married the virtual world with real life. Audiences had to go on a treasure hunt to find pages of the book, and then decode them. SoulCulture's creative director Versetti
found the first pages in Brooklyn, but pages have been found in random locations, from Gucci jackets, to snooker balls, to dinner tables in key cities around the world. Here are some of my favourite.
M.I.A. has always been known not only for her musical abilities but for also being super creative, and has been one of very few people to push artistic boundaries with all her visuals whether it be with her clothing style or videos - so it comes as a no-brainer that she would put her thoughts and visions down on paper for a new book.
The two-time Grammy nominated London born artist has now put together collages, photos and prints dating from her more recent inspirations whilst touring and all the way back to her time as a student at Central Saint Martin's art and design college in London; including artwork and also assorted lyrics along with portions of an exclusive interview from the normally private M.I.A., who candidly discusses personal events and themes that have influenced her art and music throughout her journey.
Available in hardcover with a foreword by Steve Loveridge, M.I.A's artschool friend and creative collaborator, you can now purchase her self-titled book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
Watch an accompanying video below.
Before there was Hype Williams, Little X and Benny Boom, there was Lionel C. Martin.
From 1987 to present, Martin’s videography reads like a scroll of all of the great talents of the past 25 years in urban and popular music. Martin is responsible for giving urban music videos life and authenticity at a time where Hip Hop and R&B desperately needed a pioneer to deliver a quality product for the world to see. Martin has produced videos for TLC, Stevie Wonder, R. Kelly, Public Enemy, Bell Biv Devoe, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, Keith Sweat, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, SWV, En Vogue, MC Shan, Jodeci, Mariah Carey, Jill Scott, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Notorious B.I.G., Father MC, Hi-Five, Tupac, N’Sync, Backstreet Boys and many more.
Martin, a native of Queens, NY, was a trailblazing force in the 1980s when he helped launch the Video Music Box channel with his childhood friend, Ralph McDaniels in 1984. The Video Music Box channel was only seen in the Tri-State area at the time. The Tri-State area consists of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Martin was one of the first hosts on the show and his moniker was (The VidKid). The channel would play every Hip Hop video from the popular artists of the time period.
After its inaugural year, Martin devised an idea to expand the channel’s brand and this move helped to make the channel achieve legendary status. Martin alongside McDaniels made the decision to travel extensively through the emerging hip-hop scene to cover parties and shows to illustrate the influence that Hip Hop culture was having on New York City and the surrounding areas. It would prove to be pivotal in shaping the career path of Martin.
During this time, the Video Music Box channel was the only Hip Hop program in syndication on public television in the United States. It gave a voice and face to a culture that would begin to dominate the mainstream in the forthcoming years. Whilst working on the Video Music Box channel, Martin would see the types of videos that would come in from the artists and thought that the Hip Hop culture needed to have better representation for the art form. This is where his voyage of directing music videos begins.
Recently, SoulCulture sat down to talk with Martin about his contributions to urban music videos, behind the scene stories and the importance of maintaining pride in urban culture.
