B+ – VISUALLY DIGGING

Whether you were there at the very start, were overseas feverishly browsing Subway Art or just stacking dog-eared XXLs, someone has helped define how hip-hop looks to you. George DuBose, Glen E. Friedman, Martha Cooper, Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabaz and Brian Cross among many, many others, have made memorable contributions by amber encasing key cultural moments. Despite his B+ moniker, Limerick-born Brian Cross is far from an underachiever, putting out A-grade output for nearly two decades, from coast to coast, but calling LA home. He gives the City Of Angels a unique contribution aesthetically – appreciating the elements that only a onetime outsider could bring to the surface.

B+

Blog post from February 2009.

Blogging about subjects pertaining to hip-hop is something I swore to keep to the bare minimum, but talk of Brian Cross’s work on the new Dickies book project ‘Working In LA’ for Powerhouse is as fine a time for a digression on his work. Why avoid rap blogging? Because I have no exclusive to upload, and everyone’s at it – look at your hands, you’re probably linking to OnSmash or ripping a Mob Style rarity without even knowing it.