The original artwork for the cover of the Beastie Boys' album Licensed to Ill, by artist David Gambale, is among the items for purchase in Christie's first major auction on punk and new wave memorabilia. The auction will take place in New York on November 24, 2008.
The catalog description for the artwork states:
The iconic image was created by assembling a photographic collage of a plane crash, then meticulously drawing over the components and hand-coloring them with water soluble crayon. Inscribed, Beastie Boys I David Gambale 1986 on the lower border. Framed, 43½x26in.Christie's values the artwork at $20,000 to $30,000.
Beastie Boys in the 'Middle' of New Album
By John Benson
As the Beastie Boys prepare to begin their barnstorming Get Out and Vote tour, the group is also at work on the follow-up to the 2007 instrumental album "The Mix-Up."
"We're actually in the middle of recording it right now," group member Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz tells Billboard. "We hope to have it out sometime next year. It's a lot of vocals, a lot of words -- very wordy. And it's political, depending on what you call political. You know, if toilet talk and fart jokes are political, which they can be, in that sense yeah, very."
Any chance of new material getting played on the "Get Out and Vote 08" tour? "I don't think so," Horovitz laughs. "It's always weird when you play the new songs that people don't know. Anytime we play new songs, it always seems like a brick."
Horovitz says the decision to stage Get Out and Vote came down to the simple fact that in the last presidential election, 70 million registered voters didn't make to the polls.
"70 million people is a lot of people to not vote," Horovitz says. "So this all happened really quick, like a month or so ago and within the past few weeks, literally. We were just stressing on what to do and then we were like, 'We're a band and we play shows, so let's go to these swing states.' We thought it would be a good idea to get people to vote.
"Basically, we just called a bunch of people and asked them if they wanted to play," he says. "It's literally like, whoever called us back (is on the tour)."
The seven-date trek begins Oct. in Charlotte, N.C., and runs through Nov. 2 in Denver. Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Crosby & Nash, Santogold and Tenacious D will play in different incarnations throughout. Horovitz says the Beasties also reached out to De La Soul, Nas, Nine Inch Nails and Moby, but those acts were unable to participate for scheduling reasons.
Sometimes it is necessary to cross-post items between Mic to Mic and Oscope Archive [DEFUNCT SITE] — for example, the following quote:
O-Scope President Adam Yauch says: "Before seeing the film I had no idea Bigfoot could levitate."
Read about Oscilloscope Laboratories new acquisition, Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie, at Oscope Archive [DEAD LINK].
If you're planning to go to Adam Yauch's Virgin Megastore appearance on October 21 at Union Square, listen up! We've got the 411.
Yauch will be at the store to promote the release of his film Gunnin' for That #1 Spot on dvd. He will sign dvds for the first 400 people who purchase the dvd that day from Virgin. You must go to the store sometime before 6 p.m. (the store opens at 9 a.m.) and pre-purchase the dvd. When you pay for the dvd, you will be given a wristband to wear for the signing. Before 6:30 p.m., return to the store and queue at the Virgin Cafe, where the signing will take place, to get your signed dvd and meet Yauch.
Only one wristband per person is allowed.
Update (10/21): Virgin Megastore is not distributing wristbands. You simply have to purchase the dvd today from the store and have a receipt proving purchase when the signing takes place in the evening. Also, you may get more than one dvd signed as long as you have individual receipts for each dvd to be signed.
If our review of DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop by Cey Adams and Bill Adler didn't convince you that the book should be in your book collection, check out the DEFinitionVIDEO channel on YouTube. Here you will find videos of the authors talking about hip-hop art and design, as well as videos of friends and colleagues providing testimonials of Adams' being expertly qualified to compile such a book. Among the friends who appear on video are Steve Carr, Adams' partner at the Drawing Board; Harry Allen, hip-hop cultural authority; and Adam Yauch, Boss Beastie Boy.
Over the Beastie Boys three-decades musical career, no visual artist has been associated with the band more closely and longer than Cey Adams. Adams has continually contributed to the band's visual image and maintained a close friendship with them. His longevity as a professional to whom they turn for graphic needs and as a friend whom they want near when recording and touring is testament of his being an extraordinary artist and a nice guy.
Among Beastie Boys fans, Adams is a legend. It is no exaggeration to say that he is as well known and admired in the Beastie Boys fan community as MCA, Adrock, and Mike D are. (Some fans argue that Adams is the fourth Beastie.) Like his goofball musician friends, Adams exudes an ineffable charm and humor that appeals to everyone who meets him.
As a visual artist, Adams has designed album art, logos, tour merchandise, and promotional material for the Beastie Boys and countless of other hip-hop musicians. If you're a huge Beastie Boys fan, you're probably familiar with Adams' story because it intertwines with the band's story.
Adams started out working for Russell Simmons at Def Jam Recordings, where he co-founded a visual design firm and handled the graphic needs of the bands signed to Def Jam. Designing material for artists like Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, De La Soul, LL Cool J, and Public Enemy earned Adams' respect not only from the hip-hop music community, but also from the visual world (i.e., fine art community) and corporate America. His work in hip-hop music lead him to be sought after by companies like Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Nike to design their advertising campaigns.
[Click to enlarge.]
Beastie Boys logo design by Cey Adams
Adams spent almost two years compiling DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop. In November 2007, he gave hip-hop fans a preview of what DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop was about when he spoke to Format magazine [DEFUNCT SITE]. Some time after he conducted the interview, Adams discarded his idea about having some of the musicians with whom he has worked, including the Beastie Boys, contribute essays to the book.
"The musicians already get too much attention and credit," Adams explained. "I wanted the book to be about the artists and their work."
And, indeed, that's exactly what Adams' book is about: art. With DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop, Adams and his co-author, Bill Adler, have created a serious book about hip-hop art and design that proves it deserves to be respected and appreciated as much as any other art genre or form.
[Click to enlarge.]
Billboard graf design by Faust
"Graffiti artist Faust really crushed this little campaign, which was limited to the neighborhood in Brooklyn where Chris Rock grew up. They hired Faust to spray paint right on the billboard. That's the cool thing about graffiti; it's a one-shot deal with no room for fuck-ups. It's guerrilla marketing for real!"
—Cey Adams in DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop
Adler, who was the director of publicity for Def Jam Recordings and Rush Artist Management in the eighties, introduces DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop with a description of what the book aims to achieve. He writes:
"...hip-hop has been every bit as important to the visual world as it has been to the music world. Self-identified hip-hoppers have had significant success in virtually every aspect of the visual media. The sum of their work has changed the way the world looks. This book is an attempt to see the world anew, through a hip-hop lense, and identify these changes."
Adler currently runs Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery in New York City. His role with the book was cheerleader and editor, helping Adams to chose the artwork as well as find fitting contributors to write the text.
Artists whose work is featured in DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop are from the old school and new school — artists like Dalek, Nika Sarabi, Mare 139, Haze, Shepard Fairey, Morning Breath, Lee Quiñones, Revolt, Lady Pink, Angela Boatright, and Gregory Bojorquez — just to name a few. Something all of the artists featured in the book have in common, other than being highly regarded by Adams, is they all work in a variety of media. This fact is something Adams feels is important to emphasize because it gives these artists credibility in the visual world. They have both street cred and gallery cred.
Artists featured in the book whom Beastie Boys fans will recognize are Sunny Bak, Glen E. Friedman, Bill McMullen, Ricky Powell, and, of course, Cey Adams.
The artwork alone in the book is enough to impress anyone who would thumb through its pages; however, it's the artwork plus the accompanying text that makes the book essential. Seven essays — one each about street art, album art, art in advertising, video and film, cars, sneakers, and fashion — provide a concise story and history of how art and design have played a role in developing and popularizing hip-hop culture. Among those who contribute essays are Sacha Jenkins, the editorial director of Mass Appeal and co-founder of Ego Trip magazine, and Michael Gonzales, urban journalist and fiction author.
DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop is a beautiful book, filled with page after page of visually stunning art. Although the book will beautifully dress any coffee table, it's much more than a cool art book. It is so informative and educational in the history of hip-hop art and design that it presents, it could easily be used as a primer for art school students and a reference book for art critics now and in the future.
DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop is available on bookstore shelves now.
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Cey Adams and Bill Adler will be signing their book, DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop, at Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem on Tuesday, October 14, beginning at 7 pm. On Thursday, October 16, they will be signing their book at Barnes & Noble in Brooklyn, beginning at 7 pm.
If you would like to purchase a signed copy of DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop but can't travel to Harlem or Brooklyn for the in-store book signings, send an email to bill [at] eyejammie.com and request a signed copy. Adams and Adler will be offering only a limited number of signed books at Eyejammie.com, so don't delay with your request if you want one. Payment will be accepted via PayPal.
Three more Get Out and Vote '08 shows have been announced:
October 27 - Charlotte, North Carolina
October 29 - Youngstown, Ohio [ticket pre-sale begins on Thursday, Oct. 16]
October 30 - Dayton, Ohio [ticket pre-sale begins on Thursday, Oct. 16]
Come meet Adam!!You can pre-order the 2-disc set at Amazon.
On Tuesday, October 21 at 6:30pm, Yauch will be at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square (52 E. 14th St, NYC) to support the DVD release of "Gunnin' For That #1 Spot".
Beastie Boys have announced that they will be doing several shows for Rock the Vote in the coming weeks. Rock the Vote is an organization that focuses on getting young people involved in the voting process to achieve progressive change in the United States (i.e., kick some ass).
In their official e-newsletter, Beastie Boys explain their involvement in these shows:
this election is too important, too much is at stake to stay at home. we hope that you can come out, have a nice night, dance, sing, get your freak on, and then wake up the next morning and get everyone that you possibly can to get out and vote.
Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Crosby & Nash, Santogold, and Tenacious D will also be performing at these shows. (Check specific shows for exact line-up; it will vary by city.)
So far, Beastie Boys have announced their involvement in three shows, with more to follow.
October 28 - Richmond Coliseum - Richmond, Virginia [Tickets on sale October 11]
November 1 - Roy Wilkins Auditorium - St. Paul, Minnesota [Ticket info to follow]
November 2 - US Cellular Arena - Milwaukee, Wisconsin [Tickets on sale October 11]
Please note that the ticket links above have changed. Also, the shows are being billed as "Get Out and Vote '08," not "Rock the Vote" — so use that search criteria at Ticketmaster.com.
Tune into Forty Deuce Radio today from 6 to 8 p.m. EDT to hear Cey Adams and Bill Adler talk about their new book DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop. The radio show is podcasted and archived on Eastvillageradio.com, so if you can't tune in during the show, you may download and listen to the show later.
Click the orange "Podcast XML" button on the Forty Deuce Radio page to listen. The file will automatically play in iTunes. If you have problems listening to the file, check back here for an easy-to-download mp3.
Update: The show is now archived HERE [DEAD LINK]. The interview begins around 58:00.
We'll have more information on DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop in the coming days.
"That was the first time Mike D ever got drunk in his life, and he threw up."
A smiling Horovitz saw a lot of girls on rollerskates at Hunter College in the last part of September. The event he attended was Gotham Girls Roller Derby.
Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz were among the hip-hop luminaries who attended a book launch party for Cey Adams' and Bill Adler's DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop (Collins Design) last Tuesday in New York City. The book "examines the evolution of hip-hop as a visual phenomenon" and contains "more than 200 stunning photographs and illustrations as well as compelling essays by some of hip-hop's most seasoned voices." The book, which will be on sale beginning October 14, is available for pre-order through the publisher's web site, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble.
The latest episode of the Tamra Davis Cooking Show features footage from the Beastie Boys performance at the Roskilde Festival in 2007.
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