“The art of hiphop: Two exhibitions at Winston-Salem State University's Diggs Gallery celebrate rap music and hip-hop culture - Winston-Salem Journal” plus 1 more |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2019 01:30 PM PDT  Hip-hop culture is most widely known in its musical form, but in fact it's a broader phenomenon, encompassing dance, theater, fashion, visual art and politics. The music that gave birth to hip-hop — often known as rap — has been with us for more than 40 years, and has gone international. In this country, it remains one of the most popular musical genres — if not the most popular — among teenagers and young adults. In that respect, hip-hop is an ideal subject for consideration in the context of a university art gallery. Winston-Salem State University's Diggs Gallery is currently featuring two exhibitions directly informed by rap and hip-hop culture. "Uncategorized" is a solo show by photographer Chi Modu, whose informal portraits of hip-hop artists were featured during the 1990s in The Source, a leading rap periodical. The exhibition brings together a number of his color and black-and-white images in large and small formats. Most, if not all, of them were included in his eponymous book published in 2016. Some of these photographs are professionally lighted studio portraits that tend to glamorize or otherwise idealize their subjects. Examples include two portraits of Tupac Shakur, the iconic West Coast rap artist who died tragically in the aftermath of a drive-by shooting in 1996, when he was only 25. In Modu's black-and-white portrait, Shakur's eyes are closed as he exhales cigarette smoke, and his bare torso shows off a tattoo and the glittering gold Christian cross on a chain around his neck. In that photograph as well as a much larger color image set off against a black ground Shakur also wears his signature bandana tied around his head in a "do-rag." Other images in Modu's show are more straightforwardly documentary, placing their subjects in settings that reflect the gritty urban context from which hip-hop culture originally emerged. Among these is a photo of Method Man — aka Clifford M. Smith Jr., a member of the East Coast rap group known as the Wu Tang Clan — looking relatively anonymous as he sits on a plastic crate outside the entrance of a Staten Island convenience store. In a related vein is Modu's informal portrait of the rap artist known simply as Nas, wearing ordinary street clothes (jeans, a striped polo shirt and running shoes) and looking conspicuously stoned as he reclines on a bed next to an old analog TV set and a teddy bear atop a wooden chest of drawers. The accompanying label identifies the setting as Queensboro public housing. Although many of Modu's photographs are modestly scaled, black-and-white images suitable for print reproduction, some of the color images — including the previously discussed color portrait of Tupac Shakur — have been specially formatted for presentation in gallery and museum settings. These large color images have been subdivided into multiple 7-inch squares — as many as 165 per image — individually push-pinned to the gallery walls in billboard-scale grids. Among the latter are a close-up portrait of Method Man with his hair twisted into short braids and his face contorted into an exaggerated grimace, and an early photo of a poker-faced Snoop Dogg standing alongside a California highway sign. Among their other characteristics, Modu's photographs reflect rap music's domination by male artists. Only one of his subjects — Lady of Rage, aka Robyn Yvette Allen — is female. She appears in a single black-and-white photo, informally posed on a Los Angeles street corner wearing large earrings, a protruding tongue tattooed on her chest and a silver, self-portrait amulet that emphasizes her signature "Afro-puff" hairstyle. Speaking of female artists, the other half of the Diggs Gallery is given over to "UKNOWHOWWEDU," a group exhibition that borrows its title from a track on "Kollage," the 1996 debut album by Bahamadia, aka Antonia D. Reed. Paying homage to "strong, intelligent black women," as an accompanying wall text has it, the show brings together conceptually interrelated works by four "women of color." Stephanie J. Woods doesn't show the faces of the women in the color photos at the center of her mixed-media wall pieces. Instead she photographed their heads and shoulders from behind, in each case with their hair piled high and wrapped in cloth turbans emblazoned with empowering slogans such as "Strong Black Girl" and "My Black is Beautiful." In lieu of conventional frames, she presents these photos surrounded by shimmering, gold-hued fabric and ornamental, ersatz-wood cabinet doors. Woods is also represented by "Adultification," a video installation in which images of children's teddy bears are juxtaposed with dialog excerpted from "Set If Off," a 1996 film about four black women bank robbers. Sample: "We are the ones who learn to sacrifice before learning to fight, … who make more with less, ... who make struggle look like a silk dress." Imprinted upside down in large capital letters on the wall behind the video monitor is the phrase "BORN WITH CROWN AND RUSTED SPOON." LaKela Brown's contribution to the show consists of seven white plaster panels embedded with relief images of hip-hop fashion accessories — bamboo hoops, door-knocker earrings and rope chains — as well as chicken heads (a derogatory hip-hop slang term for women). Among the show's most visually striking works are two paintings by Iona Rozeal Brown, which juxtapose traditional Japanese geisha imagery with references to hip-hop (including a turntable) and black American culture, and a commissioned mural by Georgie Nakima, a WSSU alumna. Nakima's mural combines portraits of two sly-looking, young black women with boldly colored, fluid, geometric-abstract motifs and the exhibition title, for a decidedly celebratory effect. |
| Leaving a Legacy: Nicki Minaj - PopWrapped Posted: 06 Sep 2019 07:58 PM PDT  The last few days haven't been easy to accept if you are apart of Nicki Minaj's fanbase. Unfortunately, Nicki took to social media (in a now-deleted post) to announce that she would be retiring to start a family. The rap legend who has been in the game for 11+ years is taking some time off to start a family and has social media in an uproar.  With this came a huge social media reaction. Here at PopWrapped, we would like to take a look back on some of the amazing things that Nicki Minaj achieved in her career. Though music is what she is known for, the rap icon has landed several roles in major movies including "The Other Woman", "Ice Age: Continental Drift", "Barbershop: The Last Cut", and many more including the just recently released, "Angry Birds Movie 2". Whether you are a fan of Nicki, you can't deny that she has had such a huge impact on the music industry. After releasing a long list of mixtapes in the early 2000's, the mogul to be was signed to Young Money Entertainment and released her debut album, "Pink Friday" in 2010. Throughout her career, Minaj has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards and received 5 MTV Video Music Awards, and had many epic collaborations with some of music's most notable names, including Ariana Grande, Eminem, Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Nick Jonas, and so many more. The list doesn't stop there! Taylor Swift also joined Nicki Minaj on stage at the Video Music Awards in 2015, where they performed "The Night is Still Young" and Taylor's "Bad Blood". In 2015 & 2018, she won the awards for Best Hip-Hop Video for "Anaconda" and "Chun-Li". She also won the BET Awards for Best Female Hip Hop Artist from 2010 to 2016 (7 awards). Additionally, she has picked up awards for Rookie of The Year, Hustler of The Year, Verizon People's Champ Award, and more at the BET Awards over the years. Adding to the long list of accomplishments, Nicki Minaj has also put out a wide variety of fragrances including Minajesty, Pink Friday, The Pinkprint, Onika, and so many more, giving her fans additives to an extensive amount of merch items during her career. Lastly, we want to look at the charity work that Minaj has provided with her fame and fortune. Nicki is known for changing the lives of her fans, and through her fame and fortune, Nicki provided huge donations to many fans on social media. Minaj provided over 30 students with donations to help fund schooling, housing, food, as well as supplies to make sure they had successful college experiences. The completly unexpected tweets towards the superstar lead to a full-on initiative to help others. Fans were asked to send screenshots of money they owed, as well as their grades and current GPA's. From there, Minaj and her assistant, Hilary, went through submissions and selected students to supply assistance to. With that being said, Minaj has also started the "Student of The Game" initiative, which will help many students to come. Nicki has done many things to give back to the people. This past Thanksgiving she also gave out turkeys to those in need back home in New York. Continuing her Student of The Game initiative, she also went on The Ellen Show to provide some financial support in partnership with Ellen and Walmart. Though she has obviously made a lifetime of impact on the music industry as a whole, her fans are the core of what she does and for them, Nicki is more than just a superstar in their eyes. Nicki is an artist that we have built a genuine connection with throughout the years. We look to her with our doubts, our successes, and everything in between. We look at her as more of a family figure than someone who just makes music. We tend to place these big emotions on artists that have made impacts on our lives. We look at them as symbols of hope, faith, and strength. When all is going wrong in the world, we lean on these superstars to help us cope and help us through some of our darkest days, and Nicki Minaj has done just that for so many of her fans. "I was about 16 years old when I first heard of Nicki. I remember having the pink hair, the bamboo earrings, the makeup exactly like her. She changed my life in so many ways, for that I thank her, love, respect, & adore. 11 years & I will not stop supporting. I love you forever Onika Maraj." Thiala tells us. "The first time I ever heard of Nicki was at the end of my Junior Yr of HS, a really good friend of mine was telling me you have to listen to this NEW girl named Nicki, the first time I listened to her she had me hooked, in my head I knew this was gonna be more than just liking her music! Looking back at these 11yrs this woman has helped make me who I am today! From loving hard and working hard, to never give up on yourself and dreams, to help me push threw my mother's passing last yr!!! From the bottom of my heart Nic 'Thank You'" Devin explained. Whether you found her before streaming services or you found a love for her with her most recent projects, fans are expressing their feelings and letting us in on a look at her impact to them, personally. "For me, it was back in 09 when I found Nicki Minaj on Limewire. As a teen starting to accept my sexuality, her cute pink persona mixed with her clever, no bullshit lyricism captivated me. It wasn't until years later that I fully appreciated Nicki as a voice I needed most at that time. She made me realize that it's okay to demand respect for the person you are, while still learning through the lessons life affords you." Vinnie told us. "I discovered Nicki when I was in 7th grade in September/October of 2010 right before Pink Friday's release when someone was listening to Sweet Dreams remix in the library and I ran home after school and did all the research on her I could. I was always a very anxious kid, especially socially and never really fit in because no one understood me and Nicki really boosted my confidence through her words and music.I always knew I had a home in Nicki and friendships here on Twitter. Even though I am straight, It was never about sexuality, race, etc. to me. It's all about how she made me feel and how insanely great she is. I will cherish her forever and always. Jake also expressed. "I discovered Nicki Minaj when I was in Primary School Grade 7 with her hit Single Super Bass. Her ability to change alter egos made me fall in love with her more… then I started following her and her music and became a fan! I learned to discover that Nicki isn't just a Rapper but a Singer too and this was when Starships was released. She became a pop star as well and Wow! I was Astonished on how she is evolving! I have been a fan for more than 5 years and growing !! I remember going to her first concert when she came to South Africa I was mind blown I respect this woman so much and I am proud of the women she has become and the path she has paved for the new female rappers to come." Lasizwe noted. "I discovered Nicki at the age of 12 when I heard slumber party. Nicki has a huge impact on my life & plays a huge role in who I am today. I'll never be able to fully explain how thankful & grateful I am to have her, or the importance she has in my heart. There will never be another artist who can compare." Ebony told us. "I discovered Nicki in 2011 with Super Bass, and I remember that my first thought was that she was completely crazy and I tried to figure out how she could have that much hair colors in only one video (I didn't know about the Wigs ahah). Then, step by step, I started liking her and stanning her completely at one point! Nicki was the artist who helped me going through so much when I was younger, and still is the case today, and her style made me wants to rap and I started recording songs, and now my goal is to make it, and I want to make it for her legacy! I love this woman, you can't imagine how… By the way, I met her, she smells so good! one fan explained. We also talked to Xander who has had his graphics used for freestyles from Nicki. "I discovered Nicki when I was in elementary school but I didn't really become a hardcore fan until a year or so ago. I was inspired to make twitter banners with her different looks, and from there I continued to design graphics for her. Through that, I really found my intense passion for graphic design, and after she used two of my designs as covers for freestyles, I had clients lining up. Without her, I wouldn't have found this craft, my calling in life, and a deeper understanding (and appreciation) of myself". Though we hope and pray that Nicki comes back soon, we are excited to watch her family grow and we wish her nothing but the very best as she goes through these new adjustments in her personal life. Her legacy can never be undone, and we really feel the love that is for Nicki. |
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