The Illuminated Manuscripts of the Notorious B.I.G.

I don't want to offend anyone or their religion. I know it is a touchy subject, and many people may be angry with a piece I am going to begin working on. It is a little tongue in cheek, and I hope to many people aren't pissed off, but at the same time, if you get pissed off, it means your mind is closed to a different way of looking at things.

Notorious Manuscripts

This project stems from the idea of looking at hip-hop/rap music in the urban community.

The idea is that, especially in the east coast hip-hop scene, The Notorious B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace, has garnered amazing popularity and almost god-like status in his death. This is where you have to keep an open mind for my piece. I am comparing Biggie to Christ, not in a literal sense but in regards to his affect on a specific set of ideals. I am not saying that Biggie is like Christ in the biblical sense but he serves as a Christ like figure in various Hip-Hop circles, in his death his words and image have become more followed than in his lifetime. Christ is known as The Savior of Man, where Biggie has been identified as "the Savior of East Coast Hip-Hop.

I intend to use the idea of the Christian Illuminated Manuscripts of the past and combine them with the words and images of the Notorious B.I.G.. I plan to do this digitally and also in silkscreen and lithographed renditions.

"Why does everything have to be about race with you?"

been a while lots of stuff going on... student gov't forming at mason gross, forming a Minority Artists Organization with my friend Priya. I have found the perfect voice for my work, and it seems to be bookmaking right now. I am going to be starting a series of books based on my poems/writings of the past and present. These poems deal with race, sex, life, and whatever else is going on in my head.

The first book which I recently made a proof of and will be realizing as a hard cover book with silk screen is entitled "Black on Black." The cover will be black with black on black, and the interior pages are white (or clear gloss) text on white pages.

Black on Black

Thugs on the corner
Drugs on the corner
Someone is shouting
What's the deal?
A bad deal, A Snitch?
18, going to visit his mother
Wrong place wrong time
SHOTS!
SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS
Blood splattered asphalt
Tears, drop from eyes
Cries, scrape from throats
My brother is dead
A funeral on sunday
Memorial on the corner
Back on the corner
It all starts on the corner
We need to stop
BLACK ON BLACK