Medium

Earlier this year, Austin based artists, Poise and 20/20, contacted me about an upcoming promotional mixtape entitled “Bullets”. I had worked with both artist in the past, but when they contacted me about this project I was pretty busy with other things and wasn’t sure about working with a “Bullets” theme. I try not to do too many stereotypical “rap music” projects, because most of them tend to ask for pretty standard and formulaic artwork, so when I first heard the name for this project I was thinking that it would be more of the same. However, after a few conversations with them and after hearing the songs, I realized that that the “Bullets” theme they were going for was a bit different and I was going to have a little bit of freedom interpreting the subject.

Front Cover Artwork For 20/20 and Poise – Bullets

It might have been easier to go with a stereotypical idea of ultraviolent imagery, but instead I took an approach of necessary violence, whether good or bad. The front cover ends up being pretty standard, but the photography, by Dallas’s D.Brown, really helped it out a lot and to introduce a “bullets” theme I incorporated some steel/metal textures into the “logo” along with some smoke, dirt and broken glass towards the lower right hand side.

Back Cover Artwork For 20/20 and Poise – Bullets

The back of the packaging and the disc keep the “necessary violence” theme, with imagery from the American Revolution, the Cuban Revolution, the Vietnam War and World War II. Early drafts included an image of a child soldier from the Mexican Revolution, but the idea was shot down because, despite not being a typical rap mixtape, the content was not a political statement and an image of a child soldier may have been misinterpreted and the music’s actual message lost.

CD Artwork For 20/20 and Poise – Bullets

The disc itself had to be two colors only, so to stay with a metallic/metal “bullets” theme, I chose PMS 871 M (metallic gold) and pantone black. For the disc I brought back some of the war/revolution imagery and the name of the mixtape along with some of the smoke/dirt from the cover. For the first printing of the mixtape I think they had to go with a simple text on disc variation of the artwork, so hopefully there’s a second printing so I can see how the black and gold  printed.

I have’t seen a printed copy yet, so hopefully it came out well. Everone can pick up a free copy on April 17th and the Eclectic Styles of Summer Fashion Show. 20/20 and Poise will be releasing the mixtape there and I’ll be posting up some tracks from the mixtape and web exclusives leading up to the release.

The 20/20 and Poise MySpace page, designed by Sons of Nero is now up as well, make sure you check it out and add them as your friends to stay connected and hear about new songs, downloads and shows.

Tracklisting
1. Intro
2. Reppin Time
3. Interlude – Bullets
4. Never Know
5. Cold As Ice
6. Next
7. Guess Who’s Back
8. Words Are Weapons
9. V.I.P.
10. Interlude – 20/20
11. Ready
12. We Gonna Make It
13. Say Yes
14. Real Hip Hopper
15. Stay Fly
16. Interlude – Poise
17. Dreams
18. Dear Summer
19. Interlude – ATX
20. ATX
21. Outro

Links
2020 and Poise on MySpace
Dj Diamond Tip

Cayan and Pro’Verb “Friend or Foe”

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Cayan and Pro’Verb – Friend or Foe 09

Seems like the release party for Inner Loops Records Resonable Doubt Project release was a success and now some of the tracks are seeing the light of day. Cayan and Pro’Verb take on Jay’s Friend or Foe and from the sounds of this you’re definitely have to keep an eye out for the full project which featured contributions from  X.O., Asheru, Lyriciss and production from Judah, Best Kept Secret, J-Scrilla and Kokayi.

Cover art by The Honest Ape for BigBadMedium.com

Crew54 ft. Bavu Blakes and Beaute – Good Day Produced by Keelay and Zaire

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Crew54 always stay busy and it’s great to see collaborations like this happen. Produced by Keelay and Zaire and featuring Bavu and Beaute, this is just a great, soulful track. Looking forward to their SXSW release, and if you’re in Austin, catch official showcasing artist Crew54, Friday March 20 at the Back Alley Social Club.

Bavu will probably be all over Austin as well, but his official showcase will be at the Mohawk patio on March 18 at 11pm. Keelay and Zaire will also be out in Austin for SXSW, performing the afternoon of March 19th at the Firehouse Lounge, then at the Bay Area official showcase at the Marq alongside Zion-I, the Grouch, and Mistah FAB. On March 21 they will also be at the Okayplayer showcase alongside all sorts of crazy acts:

Okayplayer continues to celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary, alongside Frank 151, as we hit South By South West this month, in Austin, TX! Make sure to hit up our afternoon-evening showcase Saturday the 21st at Speakeasy (412 Congress Ave #D), presented by Pacsun and featuring Blu & Exile, Res, 88-Keys, U-N-I, Izza Kizza, U-God, Charles Hamilton, Keelay & Zaire, Killa Kela and Verbs. DJ sets by The RUB, Illo, Platurn, Mike Nice, Excel, JayCeeOh, The Philadelphyanz, Keelay, Nana Chill, and Squincy. The showcase is 12-6pm, and The Rub is 7-10pm. Make sure to RSVP to events@frank151.com. Follow me after the jump for the full flyer (front/back) and more details. See y’all in Teeexas!

Wow! All sorts of crazy things going down in Austin for SXSW, don’t miss out.

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Crew54 ft. Bavu Blakes and Beaute – Good Day (Produced by Keelay and Zaire)

Ernest Gonzales-”Upon the 49th Day”

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San Antonio based electronic label, Exponential Records has released their SXSW sampler. The artwork is by France’s Elroy of Incog Designbüro (who have ridiculous motion graphics on their site) and features 17 original tracks from Texas based producers. The sampler is free for download on the Exponential Records site.

Links
Exponential Records SXSW 2009 Sampler.
Incog Designbüro

I created some swatches on Adobe Kuler last year when I was working on a project for a non-profit clinic. When I heard about the project the first thing I thought about was Alexander Girard‘s artwork, so I found a few of his pieces and used some of the colors to build up a set of swatches. They are not perfect, but I do think that they provide a good starting point for anyone looking for a set of folk art swatches.

Honest Girardian One

Honest Girardian Two

Honest Girardian Three

Girardian Verde

Honest Girardian Purple

Austin hip-hop artist, Poise will be premiering the video for Heavyweight Champion. I wrote about it earlier this week and posted up the promo video that I did for the event. I also have did a set of posters and flyers for the single. Peep them below and if you’re in Austin, don’t miss the event. Peace!

Friday January 30
E. 3rd at Chicon
301 Chicon Suite F

Free drinks
Hosted by Metric Liquor, Infynit Media Group and The Art Project

Yo! So I just finished up this promotional video for Poise’s Heavyweight Champion video release party. Essentially a 30 second spot to promote the event, check out a low quality version on youtube and if you’re curious enough, I can post up a high resolution quicktime movie later. Peace!

Friday January 30
E. 3rd at Chicon
301 Chicon Suite F

Free drinks
Hosted by Metric Liqour, Infynit Media Group and The Art Project

Poise will be premiering his new video, “Heavyweight Champion” 

Download
iPod/iPhone Version of the Promo Video

The DC metro is regularly full of the ugliest advertising you will ever see, but if you’re going to be traveling in and around the city, make sure you stop by Metro Center sometime and check out the new print ads that went up for the Reality Campaign. DC advertising landscape is full of defense companies, non-profits, lobbying groups or something else but this campaign is a bit different…its actually good. No surprise really though, its being done by Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Great choice, being that they also are in charge of the anti-tobacco Truth campaign.

I bumped into the TV spot a few days ago and today I bumped into a Sasquatch, an alien and a mermaid – all holding a chunk of coal. Some of the ads include the logo along with a message, ie “Burning coal is the dirtiest way we produce electricity.” The best ones have no copy or logo, just photos of the creatures. I noticed at least three people stood in front the Sasquatch one, wondering what the hell was going on. Again the beauty of it is that they bought out all of metro center so even if you don’t know what the hell is going on in the no-copy ads, eventually you get the message. Either way, good stuff. It’s definitely a message that people need to hear and worst case scenario metro center is full of Sasquatches for the coming weeks. I couldn’t find any pictures online but if I do I’ll post them up later.

Links
thisisreality.org
Print Ad (pdf)
Television Ad, “Smudge”
Television Ad, “Clean Coal”

OG’s shot of David Banner will be featured in Photo District News in December.

Congratulations to OG of Luxury Mindz! OG has been announced as a winner in Billboard magazine’s Ultimate Photo Contest. Billboard and Photo District News (PDN) selected OG’s photo of David Banner to be featured in PDN’s December issue. OG’s work can be seen at www.OGPhotographer.com and if you missed it, check out the feature we did on him back in October called Photos and Platinum Plaques.

Links
OGPhotographer.com
OGPhotographer on Flickr

I’ve seen quite a few lists of “worst album covers”, but the recent one that I saw from the Chicago Tribune is just something else, take for instance, “Country Church” above. Awfully nice get up for simple country folk. There’s also much to be said about quite a few of these, some of my favorites are:

What the hell is this about? Is that chain mail?

This classy gentleman looks like he may try to cop a feel before you even let him borrow it.

Well…looks better than some pen & pixel covers I’ve seen.

Miracle of God indeed. She’s handless…I’m speechless.

Check out the rest at their online gallery.