Controversial Critic ARMOND WHITE’s New Essay Offers List Of Seminal Hip-Hop Milestones In New Book On The Art and Design of Hip-Hop

 

Monday, October 27, 2008  — by Wow Jones

 

Definition: The Art And Design Of Hip-Hop

 

The new coffee-table styled photo book, “DEFINITION: The Art And Design Of Hip-Hop” by Cey Adams and Bill Adler offers…

a number of photos and essays for those interested in the subject.   The book includes an essay by NY Press Film Critic ARMOND WHITE and is quite a read. 

The essay is entitled “CAMERA READY: Hip-Hop And The Moving Image” and in it Armond White offers a chronological list that’s

 

“my personal collection of the seminal milestones in video, film, and television that have helped define the look of hip-hop, from its early days in the 1980s to the 2000s.”

‘ 

Care to know what’s on that list?  Well it includes…

• Intro

 

• singer BLONDIE and her “Rapture” music video and how the music video was a “perfect pop-culture hybrid that proved hip-hop was firmly on the map.”

 

Singer Blondie in Rapture Music Video

 

 

Singer Blondie in Rapture Music Video

 

 

• Filmmaker CHARLIE AHEARN and his “Wildstyle” film and how it cast hip-hop’s “real-life movers and shakers to define and celebrate themselves in a theatrical drama”

 

Wild Style Movie Poster A

 

Wild Style DVD Cover

 

 

Filmmaker Charlie Ahearn Directing WILDSTYLE

 

 

 

Charlie Ahearn and Fab Five Freddy

 

 

 

Charlie Ahearn

 

 

• Mars Blackmon (character from SPIKE LEE film “She’s Gotta Have It”) and how that character became a pitchman (along with Basketball Legend Michael Jordan) for the NIKE sneaker company.

 

Michael Jordan and Mars Blackmon 1

 

Mars Blackmon and Michael Jordan in Background With Woman

 

Michael Jordan and Mars Blackmon 2

 

 

• Filmmaker Lionel Martin and his music video for PUBLIC ENEMY “Night Of The Living Baseheads” and writes about how the music video “broke the boundaries of music video” in its time.

 

PUBLIC ENEMY Night Of The Living Baseheads Music Video Still 1

 

 

PUBLIC ENEMY Night Of The Living Baseheads Music Video Still 2

 

Filmmaker Lionel C Martin and Comedian Actor Bill Bellamy on set of movie HOW TO BE A PLAYER

 

• RUN-DMC and the Rick Rubin-directed film “Tougher Than Leather” and how the movie is “a fascinating demonstration of how resilient RUN-DMC’s individual styles–and the codes of hip-hop culture–could be.”

 

Rap Group RUN-DMC

 

• The IN LIVING COLOR Television show and how it “gave recognizable faces to the comic sensibility of hip-hop culture.”

 

TV Show

 

 

In Living Color Season 2

 

IN LIVING COLOR TV Show Season 3 DVD

 

IN LIVING COLOR TV Show Season 4

 

 

• Actress ROSIE PEREZ in SPIKE LEE’s film, ”Do The Right Thing” and how in that film she was “the embodiment of hip-hop energy, sass and physicalized intelligence.”

 

Actress Rosie Perez in Spike Lee film

 

• John Singleton’s BOYZ N THE HOOD movie and how it was an example of  ”the soulful side of hip-hop made visual.”

 

 

• ICE CUBE’s Film Career and “Dead Homiez” music video and it being an example of “the images of black males being surprisingly heartfelt.”

 

ICE CUBE in music video

 

ICE CUBE in Dead Homiez music video

 

• Drag Performer RuPaul and the “Back To My Roots” Music Video and how it showcased “cosmetic culture”.

 

RUPAUL Back To My Roots Single Cover

 

 

• Filmmaker Hype Williams and how his music videos often expressed “the observable reality of black experience.”

 

Filmmaker Hype Williams 1

 

Filmmaker Hype Williams 2

 

Cinematographer John Perez Filmmaker Hype Williams and Rapper Kanye West

 

 

 

 “Flava In Your Ear (Remix)” by CRAIG MACK and Friends  — Directed by Hype Williams

 

 

 

 

“Hit ‘Em High”  by THE MONSTARS – B-Real, Coolio, Method Man, LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes — From The SPACE JAM Soundtrack   – Directed By Hype Williams

 

 

• Rapper MC HAMMER and how “Dance, an important part of hip-hop, achieved its greatest expression in the music videos by MC Hammer“.

 

Rap/Dance Legend MC HAMMER 1

 

Rap/Dance Legend MC HAMMER 2

 

Rap/Dance Legend MC HAMMER 3

 

Rap/Dance Legend MC HAMMER on cover of Rolling Stone Magazine

 

 

 

 

“You Can’t Touch This” — by MC HAMMER    Director: Rupert Wainwright

 

 

• Filmmaker Charles Stone III and how his Budweiser “Whassup?” TV commerical ”went beyond product to highlight a lifestyle.” 

 

Budweiser Whasssup TV Commercial Still 1

 

Budweiser Whasssup TV Commercial Still 2

 

Budweiser Whasssup TV Commercial Still 3

 

 

 

Original BUDWEISER Whasssup TV Commercial  – Director: Charles Stone III

 

 

 

• Filmmaker Bryan Barber and his music videos for BIG BOI “The Way You Move” and ANDRE 3000 “Hey Ya” took the medium to a new level.

 

BIG BOI Still from The Way You Move Music Video 1

 

BIG BOI Still from THE WAY YOU MOVE Music Video 2

 

BIG BOI Still From THE WAY YOU MOVE Music Video 3

 

BIG BOI Still From THE WAY YOU MOVE Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still from HEY YA Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still from the HEY YA Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still from the HEY YA Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still from the HEY YA Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still From the HEY YA Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still from the HEY YA Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still from the HEY YA Music Video

 

ANDRE 3000 Still from the HEY YA Music Video

 

Filmmaker Bryan Barber 1

 

Filmmaker Bryan Barber 2

 

• Filmmaker Mark Romanek and how his music video for JAY-Z’s “99 Problems“, “transcended the form of music video.”

 

 

Filmmaker Mark Romanek

 

 

99 Problems Music Video

 

Jay-Z 99 Problems Music Video

 

 

• Beastie Boys concert movie “Awesome: I Fuckin’s Shot That” and how it was the “most radical music film experiment of 2006.”

 

Beastie Boys Concert Movie Poster

 

Now mind you, the quotes included are only a HINT of the insight and revelatory information provided in the essay.  Read it if you are intrigued.

 

The Book also includes the following essays:

INTRO: “Hip-Hop From The Jump: Peace, Love, Unity, Having Fun…And Making Money” — by Bill Adler

1) “Getting Up and Getting Over: Hip-Hop And Street Art”  PART ONE: New York Underground, 1969 To 1980 by Sacha Jenkins.   PART TWO: Out Of The Subways and Into The World; 1980 To The Present by Franklin Sirmans,

2) “Rhymin’ and Designin’ : Hip-Hop And The Art Of The Album Cover” — by Carlo McCormick

3) “From Tags To Riches: Hip-Hop And Advertising” — by Tamara Warren

4) “Camera Ready: Hip-Hop And The Moving Image” — by ARMOND WHITE

5) “The Beating Drum: Hip-Hop And Cars”  — by Cheo Hodari Coker

6) “Kicks: Hip-Hop And Sneakers”  — by Michael A. Gonzales

7) “So Fresh and So Clean: Hip-Hop And Fashion” — by Raquel Cepeda

 

Also, if you are interested in a website that offers observations and analysis on attaining celebrity and stardom, check out the Self-Stardom Blueprint when you have a moment.

 

– The Wow Jones Report