Global Fusion Productions Inc » Art

The Sundance Chronicles: What is A Black Film & Is The Black Label Necessary

Global Fusion — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:14:12 +0000

As more Black films & Black filmmakers converge at Sundance more than ever in a new initiative via Ava Duvernay’s African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement’s efforts for greater focus on the writing, producing, directing & distribution of Black Films, I couldn’t help but to look at the Sundance line up & wonder what exactly is considered a Black film? Two films in particular led me to ask what is a Black film ? Is a Black film based on the criteria that it is about Black people, a film produced and/or directed by Black people or all of the above?

“Family Portrait In Black & White” is a film about the life of bi-racial children in the Ukraine adopted by a Ukrainian woman directed by a Russian director (Julia Ivanova); “The Black Power Mixtape” is based on footage shot by Swedish journalists following Black Panthers, Kwame Toure AKA Stokely Carmichael’s SNCC & Angela Davis, co-produced by Danny Glover & directed by Goran Olsson who is also Swedish & directed “Am I Black Enough For You“. “The Black Power Mixtape” is all the buzz amongst the Black film world & categorically put in the genre of Black film, but I can’t say I’ve seen the same treatment of ”Family Portrait In Black & White”, so I must ask what are Black filmmakers & the film world at large defining as Black films & do we even need the category when world known filmmakers like Spike Lee can direct Jodie Foster, Clive Owen & Denzel Washington in a film like “Inside Man” without it being labeled as neither a Black or White film, just a drama?

I have always thought about the fact that we fight over the idea of constantly being labeled & having our creativity categorized in specific boxes, yet we continue to not look at the bigger picture of what we ourselves as Black people adopt, allow & promote amongst ourselves. This is all food for thought because I witnessed this boxing of Black creativity in the fashion industry where it eventually became a way to separate & deny opportunity for Black fashion designers & fashion labels. The category of “Urban” was created to represent the street style, cosmopolitan, hip-hop culture inspired creations brought to the fashion industry by designers like Karl Kani, Fubu, Enyce, Mecca, Sir Benni Miles and rappers come designers like Fat Joe, P. Diddy & Jay Z. While White/Jewish designers & manufacturers like Tommy Hilfiger & Marc Ecko capitalized on the global cross over popularity of the new “urban” market, they quickly began to distance themselves from the “urban” label which now became code word for “Black” and therefore limited the retailers that would carry designs specifically made by & for Black people without ever having to own up to the discrimination aspect of the labeling outside of saying that they just don’t carry “Urban” labels much like saying one does not carry juniors, plus size, young designer or contemporary, even though urban inspired street style designs could be found in all categories of fashion from contemporary to luxury. A Karl Kani leather clutch with logos all over it could never be found in the same retail store that carried Louise Vuitton or even a Tommy Hilfiger leather clutch with logos all over it just because it was urban & at a particular price point limited by its urban labeling.

While Marc Ecko & Tommy Hilfiger could get floor space in major retailers like Macy’s, Bloomingdales & Nordstrom’s etc., many Black designers could not get this same floor space because these retailers did not carry so called “urban lines” in many or all of their locations after the heyday of Karl Kani as the king of urban fashion. While Tommy Hilfiger saw the limitations of urban as a market & label & started receiving backlash from people like Spike Lee in his film Bamboozled that spoofed him as just another White guy making his fortune of the creativity of Black people, Tommy Hilfiger reinvented himself by moving into the direction of “all American luxury designer” along with Marck Ecko who moved into skateboard, extreme sports & his own all American hip-hop inspired culture with publications & other ventures to add to his empire. Many designers like Karl Kani & Sir Benni Miles ended up losing the rights to their own names & brands as their partners licensed it out to European designers, manufactures & retailers who could still appreciate the cachet of “urban” representing the cosmopolitan street style inspired by hip-hop culture that was created by Black American designers. Now Sir Benni Miles is still going strong in European countries like Germany where they still utilize his image & Brooklyn street credibility with a Wikipedia page fully in German & Karl Kani as a label without its original designer is sold all over Europe, while Karl Kani the man & original designer could never truly reinvent himself back to his heyday as the coveted brand with longevity through the test of time as Tommy Hilfiger has done with several reinventions & restructuring of his brand.

“In 1989, Kani set up a store in Los Angeles. A year later, he hooked up with the black-owned clothing company Cross Colours and launched his creations nationally. Throughout the early 1990s, Karl Kani set the tone for much of urban fashion, especially in the music industry. Rocking Kani clothing became both a symbol of success and a fashion statement. When Cross Colours faded in 1995, Kani didn’t falter. He continued to make moves but one move really helped to define his company. “We’ve had several dynamic situations in my company [but] I think one company that stands out in my mind is Skechers,” he says. “They had a licensing arrangement with me and they wanted to go public and I didn’t want to do it. It got to be a very big court battle situation and I had to really stand my ground. As a black man who started something, I didn’t want to sell my soul per se to the stock market at the time because I wasn’t really controlling the entity. When I decided to make a move like that, it really made me grow up as a man, to stand out there on my own and make a lot of moves. It changed a lot of things in my business and it made me understand that business is warfare and you’ve got to be prepared for battle at any moment to really stand for what you want….”READ MORE

“Tommy Hilfiger should be considered the poster child for marketing innovations. He was the first traditional clothing designer to capitalize on the Hip Hop world. From 1990 to 1993 Tommy Hilfiger was only bringing in $25 million a year. But that all changed in 1994 after a performance by Hilfiger-clad Snoop Doggy Dog performed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. After the performance Tommy’s sales quickly jumped to $67 million. Since then, Hilfiger’s sales have continued to claim nearly $900 million. In 2002 Tommy Hilfiger reported sales of up to $1.9 billion. The company has remained around the billion-dollar mark. In 2006 Apax Partners, a global private equity investment group bought Tommy Hilfiger, Corp. for a reported $1.6 billion along with the agreement that Hilfiger would stay on to run the company. Cross Colors was founded by Carl Jones in the early ’90s. Cross Colors. Upon its arrival on the market, the company was so hot, that they had major problems filling orders. With $130 million in pre-paid orders, they could only ship $89 million. The company grew at an uncontrollable rate. In its first year of business, Cross Colors made $15 million, and by 1992 it made $89 million. These figures are staggering and show the kind of market share that the new, urban market was able to capture easily. Designer Karl Kani started his career with Cross Colors (Threads 4 Life), but left the company in 1994 to start his own label. In its first year the Karl Kani label had $22 million in sales, ranking him No. 38 on the Black Enterprise Industrial/Service 100 list. In the following year, Kani had $59 million in sales-a 37 percent increase over the previous year. The 1995 numbers earned him a leap from No. 38 to No. 25 on the Black Enterprise Industrial/Service 100 list. After such an impressive first two years, the line lost its market share, but Kani managed to reinvent himself and the company. Often called “the godfather of urban fashion,” in 2002, Kani returned with the introduction of “Life” a new clothing line that made $25 million in its first year. Achieving success where Hilfiger failed, Kani partnered directly with Hip Hop artists, rather than just having them wear his product….” Read More

It seems Eastern European nations like Germany, Russia & the borderline East/West nation Sweden have become the new mecca of exporting global Black culture, whereas Western European nations like France once proclaimed to be the European mecca for global Black culture. Much of Black arts culture along with urban fashion labels of old have found new life in Europe with new designers adding their European hip-hop inspired street style to it with their original creators nowhere to be found. This seems to be the blueprint of Black creative demise, yet we constantly seem to fall in place to play that role be it in the music industry à la what was depicted in Cadillac Records, in art à la Basquiat, in fashion à la ”urban” being the new European cool with few to no Black faces attached, so called Black publications whose creative image is controlled by White people, or in film with countless examples in the past & present. As Black history month comes along again this year, I hope we really have this dialogue amongst ourselves & take a look at our own complicity in our limitations & lack of opportunities. Perhaps we should pay special attention to what Morgan Freeman said about the need for a Black history month & the life we create & allow for ourselves as Black people globally because if we take the ride we will eventually pay the price.

We as Black people/global Africans somehow are always the creators that others ride our coattails of creativity to their profitability , while we are told & accept the idea that our personalized creativity can’t sell, it’s not profitable or it’s somehow not in demand on a global scale! We must stop believing the hype & figure out who & what we are & want to be to the global world where we have continuously been the purveyors of its popular culture. If a White person can make a film about Black people & sell it worldwide without it being seen or called a Black film or without the fact that it being about Black people becoming a deterrent or limitation in selling globally, then hot dammit so CAN WE!

Black House Photo credit: Shadow and Act

Stop The Sale of Stolen 16th Century Benin Mask @ Sotheby’s

Global Fusion — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:20:06 +0000

This petition page has been set up in an effort to put a stop to the auction of a 16th century Benin mask stolen during the invasion of the Benin people by the British. It recently resurfaced after going missing for many years and is being put up for sale (according to www.artdaily.org) along with five other Benin objects by the “descendants of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Gallwey ( in 1913 he changed his name to Galway) who was appointed deputy commissioner and vice-consul in the newly established Oil Rivers Protectorate (later the Niger Coast Protectorate) in 1891. He remained in Nigeria until 1902 and participated in the British Government’s “Punitive Expedition” of 1897 against Benin City. The faces of the five known pendant masks have been interpreted widely by scholars of Benin art as that of Idia, the first Queen Mother of Benin.”

STOLEN OUT OF AFRICA: A 16th century ivory mask looted by the British during an invasion of Benin in West Africa (Nigeria) in 1897 is set to go for £ 5 Million at auction at Sotheby’s ( Phone :+44 (0) 20 7293 5000) in London . It was kept by the family of British commissioner Lt Col Henry Galway and recently resurfaced. For several Years the British claimed they do not know about the mask only for the mask to resurface in the family home of Henry Galway and rather than get the mask back they are putting it for sale.

Sotheby’s plans to auction this precious mask and other Benin objects on 17 February 2011. We plan to put a stop to the sale and get the items returned to the Benin people in Nigeria. We urgently require a UK based Nigerian lawyer to get injunction against the sale. Please
email odamisi2000@yahoo.com or BB 21659292 .

Source: KAYODE OGUNDAMISI

SIGN PETITION HERE

FLOOD Sotheby’s with calls, faxes & mail until they see the error of their ways. This continued African injustice at the hands of colonizers must stop. Jews fought to acquire their money, possessions & historical artifacts back from the Nazis -it is time that Global Africans do the same in preserving our history, culture & legacy for future generations. We must reclaim our stolen possessions from our former colonizers because we are just as deserving & in the right to do so as Jews are in demanding their possessions back & attaining reparations from their former murderous enslavers. We owe it to future Africa to right these wrongs!

“The art collection includes work by Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Claude Monet. But, for once, the names on the canvases are less remarkable than the story of the paintings’ ownership. For they are artworks that were stolen from Jews by the Nazis, many of which were never returned to their rightful owners.From today, Holocaust survivors and their relatives can search for the stolen artwork on a new online database cataloguing more than 20,000 pieces. Some of the pieces could be worth many millions of pounds but the website’s creators say the project will grant only a ‘small measure of justice’ to some of the Jews who suffered under Hitler’s regime. The collection includes Swans Reflecting Elephants by Dali and Seated Pierrot by Picasso, as well as a pastel by Monet which is believed to be one of the Impressionist artist’s earliest creations. In May, Christie’s set a new auction record for a Picasso painting of £66.8million while earlier this year a Dali landscape from the same period as Swans Reflecting Elephants fetched £3.6million..” READ MORE

Sotheby’s

Telephone

Phone service available Monday to Friday, 8.30 am – 11 pm GMT (3.30 am – 6 pm EST) and

Saturday 2.00 pm – 11 pm GMT (9.00 am – 6 pm EST).

From the UK:

+44 (0) 20 7293 5000

From the US:

+1 212 606 7000

Fax (from all locations)

+44 (0) 20 7293 6555

By Mail

Sotheby’s

1334 York Avenue

New York, NY 10021

UPDATE:Sotheby’s cancel the sale of a masterpiece African mask after complaints that it was stolen
“A leading British auction house has decided not to sell a precious African mask after complaints that it had been stolen. According to historians, the mask was looted from the Benin empire by a British soldier in 1897. There were many protests against the sale, including some from the Nigerian state government of Edo, which contains the modern city of Benin. It was expected to fetch nearly $7m (£4.5m) at a Sotheby’s auction in London“….READ MORE

We the People Spoke out in Protest & Won! This is a Major Win for Africa’s future , historical preservation & to open the dialogue about reparations! HMM -great way to end the year, now if we can only get our our leaders who are punch drunk with power in order.. Africa may just reach her potential!!

Say Hello To Professor Swizz Beatz- The First Producer In Residence At NYU

Global Fusion — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:37:52 +0000

Some people can’t fathom the idea of why a prestigious artistic institution like NYU would name Swizz Beatz as NYU’s first producer-in-residence of the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at the Tisch School of the Arts, but I say ahhh why not? As an alumni I realize the global “gangsta” of NYU, particularly in recognizing, capturing, spreading & protecting global culture in its world wide Branding. NYU represents New York’s cool factor to the world at its institution of academia. New York, New York so nice they had to name it twice, if you can make it here you can make it anywhere, the big apple, the mecca of the village arts movement, the birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance , the birthplace of Hip-Hop & the capital of the world in its global fusion. There’s a taste of every part of the world infused into New York & there’s a taste of New York infused in every part of the world.

“Swizz will contribute his skills to the university’s esteemed Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music…”I’m excited to be able to take my many years of experience in the music business and use it as an example to instruct students,” Swizz said in a press release. “The invitation from Mr. Davis and professor Rabhan is humbling and I’m honored.”..In the NYU Tisch School of the Arts position, the hip-hop producer-cum-MC will host group lectures, one-on-one sessions and provide students with songwriting critiques while acting as a liaison between the school and music industry insiders…” READ MORE

NYU has opened its doors from Florence, Italy to Ghana, Africa with a core curriculum in the arts. NYU is at the forefront in the circles of academia pushing a global fusion of the arts point of view with professors like Awam Amkpa curating the Africa: See You, See Me photography exhibit, which finally opens the much needed global dialogue on how the world sees Africa/Africans & how Africans see themselves & their nations thru the raw artistic expression of photography.

“In case you were wondering if we really do go to the coolest school on earth, this week Swizz Beatz was named the official “producer in residence of NYU.” He even has his own professor website! Swizz Beatz is scheduled to visit the Recorded Music department at least four times this semester — Nov. 5, 10, 18, & Dec. 3…” READ MORE

It seems hip-hop is returning to its 4th element-ART! From Jay Z, to Kanye to Swizz Beats there seems to be a new obsession with shouting out Basquait & Warhol as a badge of honor for the new era elevation of the Renaissance man.Swizz Beatz just maybe the shot to the head that the art world needs to live & thrive again globally or at the very least to kill the boredom & stuffy demeanor of business as usual. Maybe we should have listened when Swizz let out his warning shot on “Red Dot Special” with Spragga Benz saying, “I don’t want hurt nobody…but I’m a monster…I bang out tracks…made hits & made classics…ghetto kid sitting on stoop…a little bastard..sunflower seeds, quarter waters & all that…now I got Basquaits, Warhols & all that”.

We are in a time destined to be a modern day throw back to that era of Basquiats, Warhols & all their local/global counterparts & cultural revolution creators created through the mash up of artists, academia & corporations coming together to create & produce ART…what ever that art maybe. If it’s thru the influence of Grace Jones at the top of her career creating legacy through her iconic image in collaboration with Keith Herring & Kanye West becoming the modern era reflection of that sentiment by raising the bar of modern day visual artists’ profiles & worth just through collaborations that bring artists to a new audience & platform for creativity, then we should be all for it!

“Kanye West is on a roll. He recently debuted his short-film Runaway, as well as released the intended artwork for his upcoming release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. However, according to his tweets the original art may have been scrapped due to label concerns. But this is ‘Ye. He can’t release just one cover—he is planning on releasing five album covers to support Fantasy, all of which will be available when you buy the album. No details have been released as to who will produce the artwork, but just in case, we assembled a solid list of five artists we would like to see Kanye collaborate with on this project, and in the future. Peep the full list below…”READ MORE

If this type of juxtaposition of music & fine/visual arts will push forth the type of art that this generation should be making & investing in as future legacy, then yes, this is the shot of culture needed to be mixed into the pot of academia to create a moment in time that will leave lasting legacies as “The” moments in time. NYU’s association with Spike Lee sprung up & gave recognition to future great directors from NYU like Seith Mann & Pete Chatmon who will be counted among other acclaimed filmmakers developed at NYU like Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, M. Night Shyamalan along with so many other artists, directors, writers, producers & actors who will be part of this new renaissance generation, reflective of their society in its fusion of creativity.

If there’s one thing you can’t take away from Swizz Beatz is that he is passionate about art. His production work can tell you he’s “a monster” when passion & focus are connected. Say what you will, but a great artistic piece of work like Fela! came to life with the star power of global hip-hop’s most powerful couples Jay Z/Beyonce & Will/Jada in a genuine love & passion in being part of & protecting the culture by reviving it, sharing it and of course making great returns on an investment in something they actually had love for, interest in & believed in. It’s an all around win when great collaborations come together in moving forward, creating, producing, owning & sharing the global fusion of ART! We need more wattage in the shine power of many local movements sprouting their wings into the bigness/business of global movements. We need more Targets where corporations cooperate in funding & allowing culture to be created, while sharing the culture through their branding efforts; we need more MADE where Visions of Visionaries can go from crazy ideas to brilliantly crazy realities. From Swizz Beatz to Kanye West, to Jay Z & Damon Dash, it seems the elders of this generation of hip-hop share a like minded goal of bringing back the element of Art to claim its rightful place within global Hip-Hop’s legacy. We now need to create the places & spaces to allow creativity to happen naturally in order to let our future legacy shine!

To the woman who commented on facebook saying “What can he possibly teach anyone, but how to cheat on his wife?”- all I can say is come on now with the foolishness! Personal opinions & beliefs aside, if Swizz Beatz’s influence can excite a generation to be interested in the Arts, the mechanics of it & wanting to collect or just have knowledge about global shared culture & love for the arts, then more power to him for being more than the sum of his parts & being among the dynasty of native sons of hip-hop that are showing us that “grown men do grown things” even after a fire storm comes thru their home.

Global Hip-Hop is reliving its poetic era, whether it is Toni Morrison being inducted in France’s Legion Of Honor , at a time of a rise of Black civil rights protest against the spoken words of racism by Jean Paul Guerlain while laws are being written,passed & enacted to deny the civil rights of some citizens while ousting difference & globalization; whether it is Maya Angelou giving her papers to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem , passing down a plethora of priceless knowledge to a new generation of researchers , artists & academics; whether it is Chenua Achebe getting the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; or whether it is Jay Z’s new era of revisiting the written word in poetic innovation with “Decoded” making history in sharing art in a new innovative way, after cementing his name in Broadway’s history with Fela! Jay Z & many others before him have shown how academia, corporations & the arts can sometimes have an uncomfortable alliance, which can be turned into pure genius when they find the perfect balance in coming together to create! Now I eagerly await to see the level of creativity that will manifest from Swizz Beatz being part of a globally recognized artist community of academia that is well versed in the branding of its corporation in choosing to shine the spotlight on Mr. Beatz as a “Professor”! As the late great Fela Anikulapo Kuti says “Teacher don’t teach me no nonsense”, so I await a monstrosity of Official Artistic Banga!LOL!

“I want to tell you that you incarnate what’s most beautiful about America … (that) which gives a black child, born during segregation into a modest family in a medium-sized Ohio city an exceptional destiny,” Mitterrand told Morrison, as she listened on from a gilt-covered armchair nearby. “You were the first woman writer to tell the painful history of Afro-Americans.”..”I am very moved because I think it’s very special to be with you, Toni Morrison, and to be able to tell you how much we admire you and we love you…. You’re ‘beloved,’ he said, with a nod to the 1987 novel “Beloved,” which won Morrison international acclaim.…” READ MORE

“Africa’s foremost novelist Chinua Achebe yesterday declared himself a “lucky man.” Achebe, who holds the Mariana Fisher Professorship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, made the statement last night at the Hudson Theatre in New York City where he received the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize….The prize, established under the will of Lillian Gish, is awarded annually to “a man or a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.” Lillian Gish and her sister, Dorothy, were actresses who ruled the big screen in the first half of the 20th century….“Though I did not meet the two sisters,” Chinua said, “I feel that I know them. And that they knew me in my little corner…” READ MORE

There is a a renewal of global culture being created & shared with a need for great collaborations to make them shine! Where would hip-hop be without all of its artistic elements from rapping, to Djing, to break dancing, to graffiti/tagging/painting brought together to create the most prolific movement in global branding within the past 3-4 decades? I say Welcome to NYU Prof. Beatzs, now when can we have that meeting, a tour of your art collection & what made you decide to collect art! Inquiring minds want to know.

“We are in the middle of a revolution because I see the face of things to come…How can you be an artist & not reflect the times”, the great prophetic words of Nina Simone gives me hope that the face of things to come will be Brilliant because these times call for brilliance & innovation to shine through! Having the right balance between academia & the arts is exactly what we need to tell a beautiful well balanced, creative & intelligent story of our times to be lamented in history.

Thanks 4 The Twitter Shout Out Swizzy.. Follow Swizz Beats @TheRealSwizzz ..Follow us @Globalfusionist

Jay Z: DECODED: Grown Men Do Grown Things!

Global Fusion — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 23:06:34 +0000

I have been very critical of Jay Z for awhile now because of what I saw as some shady suspect moves, like the way he totally undercut Damon Dash out of a business that they started together. Most who are really in the know, know for a fact that Dame was the business mind behind Roc-A-Fella’s diamond empire from the jump. Dame was the one that I would see hustling from place to place, event to event sometimes carrying his brown paper bag with his drink in it because he came to network for business, trying to make major moves happen not just there to say he was there in a room with “so & so” to look fashionably cute, which eventually paid off & made him & his artist/homie Jay Z millionaires & the toast of hip-hop. This was all going down long before anyone knew nor cared about Roc-A-Fella or Jay Z. It was real bitch-ass to me when Jay Z went as far as moving into Dame’s hood in Tribeca after the fall out & going as far as undercutting him out of a real estate deal to live in his hood. I mean damn, you can say “if you made Hov then make another Hov” all you want but the story of Jay Z would have been different without Damon Dash, no matter how you look at it & whether for better or for worse will never be known so that point is moot. We can only look at what was built & see where it ends up in the future! Business is business, but one should never use devilish ways & means on anyone that they have ever called family, no matter the circumstances of what really went down, but that’s just my opinion & knowing that “God don’t like Ugly”!

Lately I find myself giving props to Jay Z for making certain progressive grown man moves which exemplify how he is & has found his sense of elevation in adulthood, where he is & will truly leave a mark & legacy to be remembered. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal & owning up to the fact that he cringes at reading some of his lyrics from his past is definitely grown man sexy business in the pure fact that he can even see the difference in youth speak as opposed to grown man elevation & own up to it so reflectively & candidly.

“Getting older and wiser can be a real bitch, mainly because you’re increasingly conscious of what an immature bonehead you used to be…The most recent human to wake up to this fact is megastar rapper Jay-Z, who has revealed just how embarrassed he is by certain 10-year-old lyrics. He tells the Wall Street Times, “Some lyrics become really profound when you see them in writing. Not ‘Big Pimpin’ … I can’t believe I said that. And kept saying it. What kind of animal would say this sort of thing? Reading it is really harsh…” READ MORE

The marketing scheme for his new book “Decoded”, co-written by Dream Hampton is pure genius, whether he came up with the idea or not I can’t be mad at him for being part of something fresh, new & innovative – bringing an elevated sexy swagger to the literary world as Hip-Hop’s native son- tagging the world with shiny reflective gold bars of Most Ashanti Kings, in the poetic verses of Hip-Hop’s Global Griot! Jay Z has strangely given me hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for all of Hip-Hop’s native sons & daughters past, present & future to be elevated in mind, body, soul & business because Grown Folks do Grown Things! HMMM… Most Kings = Checkmate = Chess + Most Kings Get Their Heads Cut Off.. Long live the kings Cuz the Reign Don’t Stop= Believer + When Saw Her/His Face = IN THRU + BEEN THRU ELEVATION!

“Rapper turned mogul Jay-Z has changed the game when it comes to MCs. Now, for the promotion of his new book, Jay-Z Decoded the rapper is attempting to do the same for the book ad industry. Starting today, reproductions of full pages of the book will pop up in the locations that the page references. Meaning a full page of Jay’s book could show up as a billboard size ad on a Brooklyn building that Jay has mentioned in his rhymes. According to David Droga, the creative chairman heading the campaign who is being tight lipped on certain ad locations, “If in certain pages Jay-Z is talking about something related to Times Square, then those pages might be on billboards in Times Square.”..Along with placing ads in traditional locales like bus stops and billboards, according to Drog, “on the bottom of a hotel swimming pool, in another on the lining of jackets in a store display window, and in another on the felt of pool tables in a pool hall,” are all location where these Decoded excerpt ads could surface…We can’t knock the hustle…” READ MORE

“Jay-Z’s long-talked about book, “Decoded,” is set to hit bookstore shelves on Nov. 16 through publisher Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. The book is a narrative of the famous lyrics and overall life of the multi-platinum rapper…”When I first started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things. The first was to make the case that hip-hop lyrics-not just my lyrics, but those of every great MC-are poetry if you look at them closely enough. The second was I wanted the book to tell a little bit of the story of my generation, to show the context for the choices we made at a violent and chaotic crossroads in recent history. And the third piece was that I wanted the book to show how hip-hop created a way to take a very specific and powerful experience and turn it into a story that everyone in the world could feel and relate to….” READ MORE

Most Kingz Get Their Head Cut Off…Basquiat…Radiant Child..Chess…Inspired..

“I’m inspired by life & all sorts of things…inspired by Basquiat my chariots on fire…everybody took shots at my body up…I’m tired…they build me up to break me down…they build me up again…Hov we need you back so we can kill ur ass again…there’s this love/hate thing that the world has with success period…It deals for the most part with success.. It deals with people who you started your life off with & what success does to them…people look at u strange saying u changed…like you worked that hard to stay the same…Like ur doing all this for a reason?…U R changing…U don’t change who U are…the core of who U R…the things you belive…the things U love & the things U die for…& UR principles…U don’t change that…but U R going to change who U R…U cant’t do the same things…U can’t hang on the corner….Some people may not be comfortable with that…Hov got flow tho he’s no Big & Pac..How I’m ‘posed to win when they got me fighting ghosts…with the same sword they knight you…they gon’ good night you…every step you take…they remind U you ghetto…To be Bobby then, you gotta be Bobby now…Now the question is, Is to have had and lost…Better than not having at all? Because Dawg… most kingz get their heads cut off.. Long live the king…no the reign don’t stop…“ Damnnnn! You can’t Knock the crazy flow on this one –YUP, I’M A BELIEVER ! Now Imagine Pres.Obama walking into his White House press conference after election day with Most Kingz playing in the background…Just Sayin’..,LOL-HMM-guess we’ll never know! This is his Upgrade you from Dirt off your shoulders because serious times call for serious reflection & serious moves!

“Oprah was a big reason I wrote this book,” he said. “We had conversations about language and the N word, and while we didn’t agree, we left that conversation with a better understanding.”..So why did he write his memoir now?…”I want to encourage young artists to not be afraid to use their voices,” he told an adoring crowd. “I’m trying to expand the genre of hip hop and keep it truthful….You have to question everything about life,” says the rapper. “I believe in God and for me different religions are all praying to the same God…My song ‘Big Pimpin’ isn’t profound,” he said. “But it’s fun..” READ MORE

From Roc-A-Fella to building an innovative & incomparable Roc Nation, Jay Z has proven himself to be an inspiration to the hip-hop nation’s aspirations as well as Extremely Praise Worthy! “Long live the king cuz the reign don’t stop” !

“11 # 1 ALBUMS ..ERIC..NOT SINGLES! I MEAN THERE’S A DIFFERENCE” …OWNING YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS & MAKING SURE OTHERS KNOW THE DIFFERENCE IS GROWN MAN SEXY BUSINESS! CHECKMATE!

I am imaging a day when Jay Z just says “my bad Dame, but You’re a prep school negro… I’m a street hustler who realized that I’m a BUSINESS man…not a businessman…So I had to let it do what it do”…they Give each other shrugs…hug it out & start building a new solid Roc Foundation…In my Marcy Project Jay Z, I gotta crack on my homie like we used to do voice…“I ‘m feeling your DD172 Gallery..mini prep school negro roc nation you got up in our Tribeca neighborhood. See you still making Ronson prep school negro moves… oh snap is shouted out & laughter had all around.. “So now that my business has made me into a businessman & I ‘m rolling with Oprah & Gail & yeah Warren too..Buffet that is..not warren from Marcy…I’m sure they may want to roll through & buy some art…I can appreciate your whole books, bookstores & libraries, art galleries, art shows & building legacy thing…So let’s build the new Roc..”

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This is my Rebuilding the Roc: Dame Dash Reunites with Jay Z lyrical verbal mash up supporting the Arts through Africa:See You, See Me project …In my Jay Z Can’t Knock the hustle to Most Kings evolution voice”

Dame Dashing Harlemite..Renaissance..Global Fusing Tribeca…Rebuilding the Roc..from Marcy to Africa…let the King Dome Come..now the street hustler…gonna build the prep school negro up…ha,ha,..from Marcy…Harlem…Tribeca…then built Africa Up..1…Yup! Now the Kings claimed the Rightful Thrown…Protecting our culture…From the Root to the Fruit…mining our own mines…throwing natural diamonds up….whoo hoo…Letting Africa:See you,See me..Global Fusing the world…Leaving Legacy…Building the Culture Up! Chuuch…Creating..Owning our image…Can’t Knock the Hustle…Out…Nanas…Yup! Building Black Diamonds In Thru The RUFF…Original Man…Kingdoms with Free Domes…Embracing Our Sons…building the family thru the Trinity..setting the foundation…maintaining the base…holding the Diamonds UP! Blap! Making deals with Kofi Annan…taking it global…uniting nations & bringing it back to Africa…Gonna be a father now…reflecting on past lyrics…never had the type of a daddy to lead me…teach me… right from wrong…so will do the best I can… Gonna give it my all.. Protect my seed…nurture him in rich soil…Surrounded by concrete..cultured in the elements of a global hip-hop style…give him the culture…showing him everything I Used to Wish I had…Created a dream…gonna leave you a legacy…knowing you are born a king…son of the Trinity…connecting 2 peace signs…diamond links…forming our dynasty…the global trinity…so everyone shine your diamonds up…there are black diamonds inna ruff from Lisboa..Salvador de Bahia To Angola…See It.. Always taking it all Back to Africa: See You, See Me… Reflecting..Starting the global dialogue…connecting the dots…Remembering the future like Blitz the Ambassador...collecting piece signs globally…so a black diamond can shine…out of the ruff…not having to deal with the 99 problems I Did…Just to Realize that The World Was Mine Cuz I was Born A KING… Cut From The Cloth Of Royalty!AAS copyright ..hmm Or Right 2 B Copied?!

Photo: Mamadou M’Baye

GO GLOBAL BROOKLYN- Be Concerned With Making Things 4 the Soul Rather Than Making Things Just 4 Money. WHEN U CREATE FOR LOVE BEFORE MONEY CRAZY WILD IDEAS CAN COME TO REALITY. .SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL/GLOBAL ARTIST..How Abot Ebon Heath Making Jay Z’s words dance…? SHOUT OUT!

“ROC STAR..BLACK STAR NATION:EVERY DAY A STAR IS BORN..WHAT MAKES OSWALD SPECIAL..DIVINELY POWERFUL?”

My Global Fusion, My Africa, ,My America, MY New York:See U, See Me: What Part of U, Ur nation, Ur world, Ur Life R U Most Proud Of?..In The Empire State “what feeds U R the people! …I Define My Own Dream It’s A Beautiful Thing” 1 Global Nation Under a Groove! “STAY ORIGINAL..PEACE!”

Yinka Shonibare:British-Nigerian Artist’s New Commissioned Artwork at Trafalgar Square Opens Up The Debate of Multiculturalism in England

Global Fusion — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:49:19 +0000

Yinka Shonibare is a British-Nigerian artist who calls himself a “post-colonial hybrid”. This is reflected in his new exhibit, the latest in a rolling program of contemporary art commissions for the plinth in London’s famed Trafalgar Square. Shonibare reproduces Horatio Nelon’s ship, HMS Victory encased in a bottle that sends a message of multiculturalism & diversity in England. Shonibare meshes his African roots with his British roots by utilizing African batik fabrics to create the sails of the ship that marked what is known as the most decisive British naval victory of the war led by Lord Horatio Nelson, the historical Battle of Trafalgar.

As England battles with its own anti-immigration issues, this exhibit could not have come at a better time. England is by far one of the most diverse nations in the world with immigrants from all over the world coming to its shores in search of the British equivalent to the ideal of the American Dream. The exhibit has served as a catalyst in sparking up new debate on multiculturalism in England & how a nation of immigrants can move forward with a new conservative government empowered by the rise of anti-immigration sentiments.

QUEEN ELIZABETH ON IMMIGRATION:

“My Government will limit the number of non-European Union economic migrants entering the United Kingdom, and end the detention of children for immigration purposes.”

“Shonibare’s works are a powerful reminder that cultures are almost never “pure”, but rather made from a messy entanglement of influences. Diversity enables this kind of cultural mixing to take place, for people to hear new ideas and acquire the best of what they see, eat, enjoy and learn. London (along with other international cities such as New York, Singapore, and Berlin) has become a place for people around the world to live, visit, consume and make culture – and, of course, do business. And while we are inevitably drawn to the culture of our upbringing, the migrant experience shows we can also be inspired by new places. Derek Walcott, Caribbean poet and Nobel laureate, famously said: “Something prickles in me when I see the word ‘Ashanti’, as with the word ‘Warwickshire’.” Read More Here

Hey England, take a sad song & make it better, remember to let diversity/multiculturalism into your heart then you can start to make it better.

Premiere Photographer Malick Sidibé -The Eye of Bamako- A Look at African Art Beyond Wood Carvings

Global Fusion — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:33:41 +0000

Africa continues to WOW the world in a new renaissance that dips into the past to taste the future! African art is finding its global voice & redefining the genre with modern & futuristic elements juxtaposed with the glories of Africa’s intricate past renaissance that influenced all aspects of world culture as we know it.

“In the West people have to have all this stuff to be happy, but we don’t have this system. But physical poverty doesn’t mean moral poverty. In Africa we have moral riches and happiness in our hearts.”

The eye of Bamako AKA Malick Sidibé is one of those rare photographers who chooses to stay in the past while being relevant in & for the future. Malick Sidibé was announced as the 2010 first prize winner in arts and entertainment singles, for his fashion layout in the New York Times, entitled “Prints and the Revolution“ at the 53rd annual World Press Photo Contest. Sidibé works strictly in black & white & film, no color or digital in this world renown photographer’s repertoire.

“I stick with black and white, and film,” he says. “It’s what I know. And I can do my own developing and printing. A good photographer should always do that.”

Sidibé brings the vibrant youth culture of Mali in the 1950’s, 1960’s & 1970’s to the global stage as art/photography lovers, global African cultural connoisseurs & even New York Times readers devour the breath taking passion & love of life of an Africa that few get to see in a world that often focuses on the darkness of poverty, disease, corruption & war in Africa, labeling it the dark continent without ever seeing its true light. Sidibé showcases what we, Africans, call the “Real Africa”, the everyday Africa where joy & love of life trumps any obstacle, hardship or man made & man delivered darkness of evil. Sidibé features the youth culture of fashion, music and dance influenced by the rock n roll, bebop, funk, jazz, zoot suits, voluminous dresses, bell bottoms, beatnik style, Harlem renaissance, say it loud I am Black & I am proud era of the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s western culture that was heavily pro-Africa, as the exotic playground for wealthy White westerners or as the ancestral heart & soul for Black people all over the world, which found the same love & influence reciprocated in Africa by Africans. Sidibé shows that even in black & white, the colors of Africa, the black gold of the sun, still shines.

Malick Sidibé will showcasing some never seen before prints amongst many other African & non-African photographers featured in the global traveling exhibit Africa: See You, See Me .

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To be a good photographer, Sidibé says, you need to have “a talent to observe, and to know what you want. You have to choose the shapes and the movements that please you, that look beautiful.” Equally, you need “to be friendly, sympathique. It’s very important to be able to put people at their ease. It’s a world, someone’s face. When I capture it, I see the future of the world. I believe with my heart and soul in the power of the image, but you also have to be sociable. I’m lucky. It’s in my nature.”

African football: It’s More Than Just A Game: Kehinde Wiley Puts Football on Canvas with Puma!

Global Fusion — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:03:36 +0000

Puma,the trend setting athletic footwear brand, continues to think out of the box while setting the trends for all to follow. In celebration of the upcoming World Cup, to be held on African soil for the first time in world cup history, Puma has commissioned world renown contemporary portraitist, Kehinde Wiley, to create four portraits of three Puma sponsored & world football’s finest athletes: John Mensah of Ghana, Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon and Emmanuel Eboué of Ivory Coast. Kehinde Wiley balances the world of traditional & contemporary with a focus on showcasing the strength, power, beauty & ancestral regalness of men of African decent in their natural contemporary environments mixed into portraits juxtaposing traditional & historic elements.

The exhibition entitled, “Of The Same Earth”, consists of three individual portraits & one unity portrait showcasing all three footballers in symbolism of African unity.The exhibit was unveiled in Berlin,Germany in January 2010 and will embark on a haute global tour starting in February, with stops in Paris, London, New York, Beijing & Milan with a final stop in South Africa in June, right in time for the World Cup! Puma currently sponsors twelve African football teams (Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia), four of which will be at this year’s World Cup in South Africa. Puma has had a long standing relationship with African football & supporting creative arts projects in Africa. A portion of the proceeds from Puma’s Africa Unity Kit will support biodiversity in Africa, in partnership with UNEP’s Year of Biodiversity 2010.

“Looking back I just can’t help but to be amazed at how one ball can create a sense of solidarity & bring together over 1 billion people in Africa. I can see clearly that no matter where you’re from, we are all of the same earth” Kehinde Wiley

Frolab- Jewell Green

globalfusion-online — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:13:26 +0000

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G Fuser Profiles! Stats

Name: Jewell Green
Current Global Location: Los Angeles
I rep for: DC/NC/ATL/MIA/(& SO.CAL- LA!)
My Global Fusion: graphics / photos / screenprinting / the frolaboration of them all
Personal stats: favorite color is green, just turned 30, only child, 1 dimple is in fact deeper than the other
Down with: co-founder of Frolab.com – Pick Fros Not Fights!™