#old school rappers

[cantcatchmeee]

Nas photographed by Kwaku Alston in Queens, 1999

[transboytism]

part 3 !!!

[canmking]

E a z y - E

x

Q u e e n L a t i f a h

[hiphophardware]

D'Angelo

[empireoftheblackpanther]

Who remembers the old days of hip hop? Especially when it was Afrocentric. A lot of pride in the music.

[indeedgoodman]

[possible-streetwear]

EPMD

[kyyylerz]

[cantcatchmeee]

[blackstar1887]

[thatrickmcginnis]

ICE-T, Toronto 1989

Around the turn of the '90s I ended up photographing quite a few major names in hip hop, starting with Eric B & Rakim and Chuck D. I was assigned to do a portrait of Ice-T by NOW magazine - one of my earliest jobs for the paper, which took me to a hotel way out in the suburbs of Toronto. Born Tracy Lauren Marrow in Newark, NJ, he lived out a "real life, non-primetime version of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (as I wrote about him on my old blog) when his parents died and he was sent to live with an aunt in Los Angeles. He lived on the fringe of the Bloods, one of the two biggest gangs in the city, and sold weed and stole car stereos before his girlfriend got pregnant and he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He returned to crime after being discharged but stayed away from the gangs and started a career in music, appearing on a series of 12" records before being signed to Sire Records. He was 31 when I photographed him, hardly a kid, and quite professional to deal with, saving the attitude for the pictures.

I remember spending a while trying to find a decent backdrop in the suburban hotel where I did my portrait session with Ice-T, and settled on two locations - below a big round chandelier in the lobby and by a big window covered in rouched curtains. Ice-T was in Toronto for a show at the Concert Hall, one of Ron Nelson's shows, with Maestro Fresh Wes (called "Mystro" on the poster) opening. He had released his album Power the previous year and would put out The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech later that fall, but he'd already been in three movies by then - Breakin' and its sequel Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo and appearing as himself in Rappin', apparently the third film in the trilogy. But it was his fourth film, New Jack City, that would establish him as an actor, most notably playing police detective "Fin" Tutuola across the Law & Order franchise. As I wrote about him on my old blog, he's played to many police officers that "it might be possible that he's made more money playing cops than singing 'Cop Killer'."

Ice-T was a very cooperative subject for our portrait session back in the summer of 1989, and going over these negatives again I discovered quite a few really decent shots that I've never published before. Using the chandelier as a backdrop meant getting down on the hotel carpet to shoot, using my new Nikon F3 and a wide angle lens. He knew that this put him in an intimidating position and he played that up for the camera. The big window with its sheer curtains presented a technical challenge, and while I'm fairly certain that I brought my own light to the shoot, it still wasn't enough to stop the daylight from making my negative flare and blow out. The slightly more pensive look I was able to get from Ice-T for this half of the shoot suited this light, and I think my Photoshop skills have finally helped me pull out the potential of these portraits after over thirty years.

[hiphophardware]

Shout Out: @ 𝖎𝖆𝖓𝖑𝖚𝖆𝖆𝖎𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖙𝖘

[baddiec0re]

RBL POSSE AKA RUTHLESS BY LAW

RBL Posse, straight out of San Francisco, is a legendary rap group that put the Bay Area on the hip-hop map in the early '90s. Known for their raw lyrics and hard-hitting beats, they captured the struggles and stories of the streets. With tracks like "Don't Give Me No Bammer Weed" and "Blue Bird," RBL Posse's influence is still felt in the West Coast rap scene today. Their sound and legacy continue to resonate, keeping the spirit of Bay Area hip-hop alive.

DYK that 2 of the 3 members were murdered 🪦RiP Hitman RiP Mr Cee 🪦 but Black C still alive and dropping music

[thejuicydrop]