Music
The Art Of Rap – A CALL TO ARTISTS (Illustrators)
Art Inspired by You Made It A Hot Line: The Most Influential Lines in Hip Hop
As part of the highly anticipated launch and book tour for You Made It A Hot Line by Alfred Obiesie, “The Art of Rap” is a traveling art exhibition. It will showcase original art inspired by hip hop lines explored in the book.
While hip hop inspired art is prevalent through album packaging and photography books highlighting purveyors of the culture and graffiti artists, little has been created to honor particular lines that are pervasive in popular culture. This exhibit is an opportunity to sell artwork and exhibit in an acclaimed museum.
Submission Deadline
Friday, April 15, 2016
Eligibility
This exhibition is open to artists 18 years and older living in the U.S. Artwork must be original, completed within the last 5 years and should fall within the following mediums: sketches, graphic illustrations, stencils, collage, paintings, mixed media or photography.
How to Submit
Artists may submit up to three images of their work to be considered. Jurying will be from digital images only. Images should be submitted to [email protected] with subject line: The Art of Rap Submission. Digital images should be 300dpi JPEGs, maximum 600 pixels in any direction. File name should appear with the artist’s last name and title of the artwork (example: VincentVanGogh-StarryNight.jpg).
Winning submissions will be sent a digital copy of the book for inspiration to create the work to be included in the exhibition. All works created for The Art of Rap must be for sale. One Track Mine will not take any commission on sales. Sale price is determined by artist. Artists will be responsible for shipping and return their own work if selected. Please be conscious of size, weight, and fragile artwork while shipping. One Track Mine will return artwork that is not sold by July 6, 2017.
All submitted artwork will be considered for forthcoming second volume for You Made It A Hot Line. One Track Mine reserves the right to reproduce accepted artwork for publicity purposes only, with an acknowledgment of the artist.
Display Requirements
All wall hanging art must be properly framed and wired, ready to hang. Canvases that do not show staples or tacks on the side with painted or finished edges will be accepted unframed. If the edges are not finished or hardware appears, then the canvassed work must be framed. No artwork may weigh over 60 pounds or measure more than 3 feet in any direction. All artwork accepted must be labeled with title, artist’s name, media and price. One Track Mine reserves the right to reject any artwork that is deemed unsuitable, including but not exclusive of work not ready to hang or unprofessionally presented.
Jurors
The Art of Rap jury committee includes respected buyers, curators and creative professionals from a diverse list of cultural institutions including The New Museum, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, and the Brooklyn Museum.
Calendar
| Fri, April 15 | Submission deadline |
| Wed, April 20 | Artist acceptance notifications (delivered via email) |
| Wed, May 4 | The Art of Rap Submission deadline |
| Fri, April 29 | Jury Selection |
| Varies | Exhibitions: Gallery Bar, Brooklyn, NY; Rapacon, Philadelphia, PA* |
| Wed, July 6 | Artwork picked up or shipped |
*Note: Additional exhibition dates to be added between April 29 and July 6.
You Made It A Hot Line highlights the social significance of each line and its impact on our culture through savvy commentary and dope illustrations. Alfred (Alf), better known as Crazed Afrykan, is our friendly neighborhood hip hop aficionado, whose wry wit and penchant for biting social commentary is legendary. As a hip hop producer (Nas, Damien Marley, DV Alias Khryst, King Prince) and super-fan for over 30 years, he’s intimate with the motivations, rhymes and reasons for one of the most revered genres in modern music.
One Track Mine (OTM Media Group LLC) is an online lifestyle publication with a central focus on popular music, television, film and culture. OTM’s partners have over 20 years of multimedia experience. Previous clientele include Def Jam Recordings, Rawkus Records, PlanIt Brooklyn, Carter Mag, and Essence.com.
Janita’s newest album Here Be Dragons is another in a progression of finely crafted hymns for the empowered. Whether by love, as in the silky “I Do,” or by subverting expectations, in the Beatlesesque “Not What You’re Used To,” Janita draws on lessons learned during a positively unique career that spans decades and continents. We caught up with Janita on the heels of her latest single “When It’s All Up To You” to find out three songs she’d love to have written.
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Elliott Smith — “L.A.”
This is one of my favorite songs by Elliott Smith. I listened to the full album Figure 8 a lot while I was writing the songs on my new album, and it was a huge influence on me both melodically and lyrically. This song in particular has also informed some of the production choices we made later, like the heavier guitars you hear on my song “Not What You’re Used To.”
“L.A.” is incredibly melodic, but there’s an elusive, haunting quality to it. It feels like you’re always trying to reach it, catch up to it somehow. The backing vocals accentuate that feeling. In my mind, the song paints such a vivid picture of the ephemeral, fickle nature of L.A., and the similarly transient nature of the main character. Elliott Smith himself? I don’t know exactly how he does (did) it, but I’m certainly in awe of it.
Radiohead — “There There”
So hypnotic. So badass. Could the production possibly be any cooler? The melody is intricate and beautiful, and I can relate to the lyric from every which angle: as the singer, as the one being sung to, and whether in love relationships, friendships, or with total strangers. The subject matter simply comes up in life in so many ways all the time… I recently tried to express similar notions as I was writing a song, only to remember that it was already done here perfectly. Goddammit.
Punch Brothers — “Julep”
This song is simply magical to me. It’s made me bawl my eyes out at a Punch Brothers concert two separate times. It’s like that viral video that was circulating some years ago of a baby moved to tears when her mom sings a sad tune. I’m that baby when it comes to this song. It simply hits some sort of primal button in me and keeps pressing it until the very end.
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While you’re at it, check out Janita’s video for “Digging in the Dirt,” a funky and faithful rendition of the Peter Gabriel classic.
Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner join forces as Bachelor – a musical powerhouse whose new record Doomin’ Sun drops May 28th on Polyvinyl.
Kemper and Duterter recorded the album during two weeks of mutual appreciation in California. Three visceral singles have been released in the lead-up, including the Pixies-flavored “Stay in the Car” and the sprawling “Anything At All.”
Bachelor has also announced the Doomin’ Sun Fest, a one-day livestream featuring Tegan & Sara, Courtney Barnett, Adrianne Lenker, Jeff Tweedy, Japanese Breakfast, Julien Baker, and more.
Two men that look suspiciously alike meet outside a fictitious Brooklyn hot-spot – six feet apart.
MC Krispy E: Very nice to meet you. (squints) Have we met before?
Electronic Device: Maybe?
MC Krispy E: Is the rest of the band joining us?
Electronic Device: (pause) I am the rest of the band.
MC Krispy E: You are Electronic Device? What’s that about?
Electronic Device: Uhm, yeah, it’s like a pen name. You know what that is, right?
MC Krispy E: I have some idea.
Electronic Device: It was actually the name of one of my dad’s companies back in the day before…
MC Krispy E: (looking at his watch) Wonderful. So… it says here you have a new single called “All Things Come to an End” inspired by the death of your brother.
Electronic Device: Yeah, after my brother died I recorded songs as a form of therapy in his old bedroom in Staten Island.
MC Krispy E: And now I read that you have cancer. Am I supposed to feel extra sorry for you?
Electronic Device: Uhm…
MC Krispy E: It sounds like this album is going to be super depressing.
Electronic Device: It’s not, I swear. I was looking for some happiness while recording these songs, there’s not much of an agenda beyond that.
MC Krispy E: What kind of music is it?
Electronic Device: I wasn’t really thinking about influences while recording, but listening back I hear some Concrete Blonde, some Cracker.
MC Krispy: So bands no one is interested in?
Electronic Device: What the hell, man?
MC Krispy: Sorry, it’s almost like I can’t help it. What’s the single about?
Electronic Device: I hate saying what a song is about because everything is up for interpretation.
MC Krispy E: Humor us.
Electronic Device: I can say that “All Things Come to an End” has multiple narrators, some of which are unreliable.
MC Krispy E: (stares)
Electronic Device: And that one day I was at my Dad’s house and when I turned the corner into the hallway my Dad thought I was my brother for a moment, which was super sad because of course I couldn’t be.
MC Krispy E: And then you wrote a whole song about that.
Electronic Device: I guess so. When you put it that way…
MC Krispy E: (yawning) Tell us when the single come out.
Electronic Device: The single is out now. The album comes out in 2021.
MC Krispy E: Well, good for you. And good luck with that cancer thing.
Electronic Device: Yeah, you too.
MC Krispy E: Thanks. What?