exhaust

safeway ingredients

'tis the season

today's special

cream of beat

some 15 years ago, there was a monthly party called Cream of Beat in san fran that was the bay area's best kept secret. millions of residents here in the bay area, only a few hundred knew of this real-hip-hop mecca. the dopest hip hop, late 80's-early 90's, was spun on these nights by a hungry crew of underground djs called The Pirate DJs.

as time went on and things changed, so did cream of beat. the monthly parties have stopped. now, it's once a year. this year was, tonight, thanks giving night with Camp Lo head lining. i heard about it last minute and assured myself i wasn't going to miss this. and i didn't.

i was taken back to my favorite era of hip hop. all the dj's that spun, spun all my favorites. however, a non pirate dj by the name of Apollo pretty much killed it, just before Camp Lo came on. he spun nothing but classics during his entire set. it was bliss.

as you can see with the photos above, it was very very very dark in there and i was quite shocked that Mighty "the best new club in america: URB magazine" didn't have proper lighting for the dj's NOR any other performer on their stage. as a photographer, i'm not a big fan of flash photography, not at events like this and since someone has stolen my flash, i barely got the shot above. forget Camp Lo, even with my better than average eye-sight, i could barely make out their faces with my very own eyes and i was standing about 8' away. they might as well have just spun their music.

oh well. the beat goes on and the shutter keeps clickin'.

jneiro jarel

View on ExposureRoom

crash

$23

pink is for breast cancer awareness

running through j-town

amel larrieux @ 330 ritch

maneeventsalon.com

tonight, i had the pleasure of shooting a friends' salon she is managing. my 1st paid gig ^_^.

if you live in the southbay and are looking for a good salon, give them a shot.

oakland tech

seabright beach from watani on Vimeo.

1 evening during the labor day holiday weekend with friends at seabright beach in santa cruz, california. fun times.

photographer: me - shot with a sprained thumb until i couldn't stand the pain and...you see the results. apologies for the severe unsteady hand.
music: "loch raven" by animal collective.

?uestlove

on wednesday, the 26th day of august, 2009, ?uestlove, drummer of The Roots, came to san jose to spin dopeness. i've seen him spin many times here in the bay area, but this time, he was noticeably in a zone and you felt his energy. spinnin' lots of hard-to-find original samples that many rap artists have used, then backed up said originals with the artist that used the sample. much love that night.

ash tray

spare change

j-town

moms

she is the greatest mom that any son could ever have. has loved me unconditionally since birth, despite the hard times of the 70's, civil rights new era. racism was still large back then and growing up as a bi-racial was a challenge in itself. however, nothing more challenging than my mother raising my sister and i, receiving flack from her very own mother and siblings for marrying and having kids from a black man.

she did a great job and although i've had my challenges, they won't ever compare to the challenges she had raising my sister and i...by herself.

i love you ma!

thatgirl

she's a dj. yeah, that girl right there.she just so happens to go by "thatgirl" too. and if you ever see her on the bill, rest assure she will have your yearn for good music satisfied. she spins throughout the bay area, so, if you get a chance to dance, find her gig. her web site is coming soon!

san jose underground

this tunnel is symbolic to san jose's underground scene and when i speak of underground, i speak of hip hop. in most metropolitan cities of our size in population (1+ million), this hidden gem would be a graffiti artists' wet dream and underground hip hop would be alive and prospering. this is a perfect place for them to call home and create some dope pieces. an underground art gallery if you will.

this location is perfect, simply because it's not visible to the public, whom most hate and don't understand graffiti art and fight hard to keep it out of public view. i've been dieing to go in there, with protection of course, to see what could be a really dope art walk or, disappointing ambitions.

it was neither, leaning towards disappointment. i'd say about 1/3 of the tunnel has graff and the graff that's in it is mediocre. on this day, there were only 2 good pieces up and the rest were, lets say, elementary. i've been in here a couple of times since this photo and only noticed 1 new piece and it was really good. maybe i will do a series of it and perhaps one day run into the artist who is putting up the dope shit. too early to tell at this point if it's the same person or a small battle going on where one artist paints over the others' piece.

perhaps shedding more light on this place will encourage more colorful, creative activity here.

perhaps...

NY

master

wood

levels

reagal

jesus te ama

kissy and henboogie