Sedgwick & Cedar

Photo: Tuskegee Airmen

This Memorial Day we pay our respects to all the men and women that have given their lives to preserve our freedoms.

• Posted on: May 31, 2010

During the 80s, the “Just Say No” drug campaign seemed like a great idea in theory and made for some kool t-shirts & buttons, but in practice, many will agree that the effort  failed miserably.  In inner-city America, many joined forces to combat the Crack cocaine epidemic that was systematically ravaging their neighborhoods and ghettos across the nation.  Once such artist, Chico, from New York’s Lower East Side, had been extremely pro-active in loaning his artistic talents to serve as ghetto PSA’s (if you will) to assist in the good fight.  Whether it was an aluminum gate painted to memorialize the brutalization and death of graffiti artist Michael Stewart or a dilapidated concrete wall warning local denizens of the death being peddled in colored vials, Chico’s murals brought home the message, in larger than life color.  His “Crack Kills” wall, circa 1987, and captured here by legendary Brooklyn lensman and S&C contributor, Jamel Shabazz, warned viewers to think “once,” not “twice,” about using Crack and was literally a sign of the times.  Shabazz’s best selling book, A Time Before Crack (Powerhouse Books) captured many young men and women of color, spirited and fresh as ever, before Crack (and Aids) devoured many of their souls.  Graffiti art back in the 80s allowed many young men (and women) in New York a voice; whether on the side of a train or on a wall, guys like Chico could take to the streets and artistically speak to the masses, with greater results than any multi-million dollar drug campaign.

With Crack’s worst behind us, the “Crack Kills” wall, yet another ghetto Picasso by the legendary Chico and memorialized by the incomparable Shabazz, is a grim reminder of the genocide that once was and the thin line between life & death.

-Koe Rodriguez

To see the Jamel Shabazz collection click HERE or visit www.jamelshabazz.com for more info on the legend himself.

• Posted on: May 28, 2010

A really inspiring trailer for Nabil Elderkin’s film “Bouncing Cats”.

From the release: “Bouncing Cats is the inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda using the unlikely tool of hip-hop with a focus on b-boy culture and breakdance.” (via Hypebeast)

• Posted on: May 26, 2010

Grandmaster Caz is an encyclopedia of everything Hip Hop. Continuing with S&C’s preservation of Hip Hop’s roots, we bring you Grandmaster Caz’s Hip Hop Fact of the Week.

Question: Who was the MC group for the Original Brothers Disco and who were the DJ’s?

Answer after the jump!

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• Posted on: May 26, 2010

First single off Mark Ronson’s upcoming LP featuring the Abstract. LP dropping in September. Look out for that heat!

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• Posted on: May 25, 2010

Levi’s got together with some of the dopest artists including NaS, Raphael Saadiq, Passion Pit, The Kills and many others to create Levi’s Pioneer Sessions. They invited these artists to re-create the classic songs that inspired their sound.

First up: NaS “Hey Young World” (yes folks! the Slick Rick classic!)

Behind the scenes footage of NaS in the studio after the jump.

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• Posted on: May 24, 2010

Eames Inspiration brought together some of the most celebrated graffiti and street artists to put their visuals and creativity on Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chairs.  The auction benefits Operation Design, an organization which offers public school children, grades K-12, an opportunity to engage directly with arts-based professionals. The auction runs through June 1, 2010, and the re-imagined chairs are on display in the windows of Barney’s 61st Street NY flagship.

The chairs are up for bidding at Operation Design.

• Posted on: May 24, 2010

Continuing with our weekly tradition, we bring you the story of South Bronx High straight from Joe Conzo…

“I was a student at South Bronx High School in 1980. I was friends with the Cold Crush Brothers so they performed at my prom—which is where this photo is from. It felt like having the Rolling Stones come play a personal show for your entire school.”

Check out the T after the jump and at our online store HERE.

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• Posted on: May 24, 2010

TBWA/Hakuhodo and adidas Japan are bringing the country together on a massive mural/comic book project, adidas Sky Comic, in preparation for the 2010 FIFA Word Cup in South Africa.

More details at Creativity Online.

• Posted on: May 21, 2010

A very dope release for the fall. Nike is pushing hard on these vintage classics!

Available for pre-order at End.

• Posted on: May 20, 2010