Guest Post: Friday Music Inspiration - Target Demo by Tes-One

Most Fridays I like to post about music videos, artwork or new albums to download in a section I call Friday Music Inspiration.  Music literally moves me and recently it's been a big inspiration on my work.  Today I wanted to share a series of portraits of hip-hop legends Tupac and Biggie by Leon "Tes-One" Bedore.

About The Work -- Target Demo: Portraits of the late Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace

“Biggie and 2pac will always be examples of how powerful music can be as a medium. Their ability to translate the often grim, inner-city struggles to the masses had them both praised and vilified. Played in the streets and targeted in the media - a marketing plan of rivalry set sights on their friendship, fans and the entire hip-hop community. A senseless tragedy over extraordinary talent, “Target Demo” is my tribute to both men.“

For more info or to buy the limited edition prints, visit the www.rareink.com.

Judge A Mixtape By Its Cover

With The Smoov’ II,  graphic designer turned mixmaster  Darien Victor Birks delivers yet another soulful & upbeat mixtape. An awesome soundtrack that will surely spark your creativity.
Download it here.

Excursions

It's Saturday, the sun is shining and the weather is sweet. It's Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Jarobi White.
Enjoy this ATCQ mix courtesy of Mick Boogie here.

Judge a book by its cover

Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs - TASCHEN, 2011 - 264 pages

When she met Paul, Linda Eastman was already a well established photographer whose camera had captured some of the biggest rock stars of her time.

Created in collaboration with Paul McCartney and their  children, 'Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs' is an oustanding visual biography of the life and work of the photographer. Featuring images of  The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa (and many more) as well as personal photographs, the book is beautiful and touching.
PS: Props to TASCHEN for releasing a smaller and cheaper edition of this limited edition book that you can cope here.

Great Songs, Great Design

Love the cover art by designer Sachico Asano's for this Verve Music of Stan Getz's music.

Asano's minimalist approach is definitely in tune with the mood of this compilation, a collection of some of of Getz's most memorable performances.

The album has been on repeat for the past few days and will probably make it through the summer too. We urge you to add it to  your playlist and, you'll thank us later.

Throwback

 Rhythm Nation | Janet Jackson

Gobstopper

Some say I have a sweet tooth just because I crave cupcakes for breakfast, ingest candies as snacks and eat dessert first. Whatever, I'm workinonit with the 2006 instrumental hip hop album aptly titled, Donut by producer J Dilla. As always he hits the spot.

For those who have a sweet tooth and a musical ear -- put your records on. ♫

Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Limited-edition line of scarves created by Kanye West and M/M's designers Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag to promote his new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Undoubtedly, the collection will be sold at Colette boutique in Paris and mmparis.com later this spring. Love it or hate it?

The Fantastic 4

 

If you think good music is dead, this four artists will make you think again...

1. Selah Sue loves Nneka, Lauryn Hill and Miss Badu. She opened for Prince, did a track with Ceelo. And 'RaggaMuffin' her first full length album is hip-hop, reggea, and soul.
Not too bad for a young girl who grew up in a small town in Belgium

2. Paris, Amber, and Anita from LA based trio KING created a huge buzz on their world wide web last week with 'THE STORY' their first EP. The lead single 'The story' is already a T+S favorite

3. Andy Allo: With Cameroonian, German & Welsh roots this Sacramento resident Andy Allo is not your average songstress. She calls her music Alter.Hip.Soul a subtle melange of alternative, hip hop and soul.

4. 22 years old Irma is a beautiful and refreshing talent. Discovered on YouTube with acoustic covers of The Jackson 5, Macy Gray, Ben Harper (...)  she's just released 'Letter to the Lord,' a beautifully crafted debut album.

Judge an album by its cover

The Fela Kuti compilation Curated by none other than The Roots’ Questlove and The Knitting Factory Records.

This box set, the first of a series of a reissues Fela Kuti's records, was released  on February 1st.

It includes albums: Everything Scatter, Expensive Shit, Fear Not for Man, Sorrow Tears and Blood, Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense and Beasts of No Nation.

The vintage-looking design for Questlove's “Decation letter to Fela” was created by Emeka Alams of GOLD COAST TRADING

The SpeciaLIST

Visual artist Joe Buck is the  winner of the “So Far To Go” Art Contest organized by The J Dilla Foundation a few months ago. Some of you may remember Joe Buck's amazing 'De La Soul' cover for Frank 151 and we really love 'The SpeciaLIST' his homage to Mr Yancey.

Grab a signed poster and or tee here.

All proceeds go towards The J Dilla Foundation - a non profit 501(c)3.

The Small Stakes

Oakland-based graphic designer, Jason Munn launched his studio 'The Small Stakes' back in 2003 . Via 'The Small Stakes' Munn produces original promotional material for musicians - and other artists (screen-printed posters, tees, album & book covers). We love his minimalist approach of poster design. 

Get a poster for as low as $ US 25.00 here.

Christmas List: Part 1

Ion’s Profile LP ($87.95) it is prefect for all those vinyls we got. A plus: it has a USB adapter to digitize content for both Mac + PC. 

CoverBoys

Our fave French duo is on the cover of this 3D issue of Dazed & Confused to promote the upcoming release of the Tron Legacy soundtrack..

On His list

We asked blogger and style connoisseur Ken Ace to share some of his season's favourites.

Wings + Horns - Fall / Winter 2010

I'm proud to say that this Canadian brand has made it to the top of my list because it reflects my hunger for this upcoming season perfectly. It's simple, well-made & good quality for the right price. With their famous “Tiger Fleece”, Wings+Horns  Fall / Winter collection will definitely keep me in check this season.

The Varsity jacket

Here’s another one of my obsession for the fall:Varsity jackets are back. Streetwear fashion gets  the thumbs up on this one. With wool-Melton body and leather sleeves, this jacket from Heritage Research would be a sweet addition to my wardrobe.

Undefeated x New Balance Sonic 574

This is one of the most comfortable pair shoes I’ve ever worn in my life, and trust me, I’ve worn a couple, lol! This 574 model is made out of sweater material & suede. Apparently, New Balances are a  key component to that whole Scandinavian look so I guess I’m on point!

My IPhone 4

 

I never thought that a phone could have the best of me. I’m obsessed with it. It’s always in my hands, even at work while I’m helping customers out (My boss hates it, ☺).You have to understand that   before that, I had a puny Nokia 2730 so cut me some slack.  Though I’m still new to the tech game, I’d say I’m adjusting just fine.

 J.Cole

For those who know me, you know that I’m a big music fanatic whether it’s jazz, pop, reggae, rap, etc… Now, we've all heard that hip-hop was dead well and it was almost true until I discovered J.Cole. This kid, to me, is the future of “great” hip-hop. Not only does he have mad skills, he actually makes me want to hear more and these days, that’s rare.

Listen to “Who Dat”, his first official single under the  RocNation label here.

Dancehall Gear

We recently discovered Ranks London, a new t-shirt line that pays homage to some of dancehall's most iconic rude boys, namely Shaba Ranks, Buju, Ninjaman.
We're especially fond of the Shaba Ranks' one which one is your favourite?

Judge an Album by its Cover

Minimal album covers by Ty Lettau whispers, less is more.

Source: Fubiz