It’s about time I post about one of my favorite (if not already my favorite) digital artists, Sam Spratt. I first came across his work over at Gizmodo and was hooked. He has a brilliantly artistic mind and is just twisted and demented as I enjoy. I have been following his work for a long time and enjoy just about everything he has put out.
The image displayed above is the beginning of a Breaking Bad piece he is currently working on. I will be posting the finished image once released. Please check out a small selection of his work, older and newer, below. You can also follow the artist’s work via his: Tumblr Facebook Portfolio @SamSpratt
The Dilla Donuts image is from a stencil created back in 2005 leading up to the release of J Dilla’s album Donuts. They ran low on these shirts long ago and are finally back with two new colors: a discharge print (no ink) on black, and black print on white. Each with a 2-inch Stones Throw logo on back. Click on images for more info.
The Overthrow is back this year for Art Basel 2011 as one of the biggest parties this weekend. This year the stage will be blessed by Yelawolf, Penguin Prison, and Bastard Lovechild of Rock n’ Roll (AKA Blorr) as well as DJ sets by the Rapture, Tamara Sky, Heroes x Villains, Damaged Goods, and Troy Kurtz.
Saturday, December 3, 5 p.m
Overthrow Castle, 41 NW 20th St., Miami.
Free before 9 p.m. with RSVP or $10 at the door. Ages 18 and up.
Click here to RSVP
Hip-hop collective Doomtree, out of Minneapolis, MN, released No Kings Nov 22. For the last several years, individual members have been working on solo material but to our excitement, they got together to create a new collaboration record.
Expect the true sound of collaboration from No Kings. The group consists of P.O.S., Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter, Mike Mictlan, Lazerbeak, and Paper Tiger. This creates the sound of seven musicians from distinct backgrounds and interests coming together to create a product diverse in sound.
Here is the first single “Bolt Cutter” from the album.
Now that you’ve stuffed your faces, nearly lost your life in the early Black Friday madness, enjoy yourself this weekend as Serum & Manifesto present South Florida’s own Lawtown transplant, REKS (Yeah, I know that sounds strange.) at The Stage in Miami! DJ Heron will be providing the vibes on the turntables, and fun will be had by all.
“Holes in the Ozone” is Ras Kass’ new single from the upcoming album F.I.L.A (Fuck It Loseit All), available early 2012. More details on the album will be available soon.
I think it’s about time I post this free download brought to you by the mother that gave her life to give birth to RETINADRUM; Save the Culture!, Sound Council. For those of you who followed the old website, you should be familiar with DeFakto by now, either as a solo artist or with his group, Box & Won. If you’re not familiar with the guest artists and producers, get familiar. This is hip-hop, people. 20 tracks of it! Download it by clicking HERE. It’s free, and it’s for everyone!
Basel is approaching and artists have already begun to work on walls for Primary Flight and other installations. There are only two moments of the year that I go nuts and run around Miami like a kid in a carnival with unlimited rides and no parental supervision. Those two times are WMC and of course Art Basel.
This piece is the work of Andrew Schoultz and the shot was taken a few days ago. It is possible the piece is done as of this posting but you’re going to have to go run around Wynwood and the Design District to find out.
Deadfix recently posted some dope flicks of Above getting up and putting in work. You all should be familiar with his piece on Wall St. bankers off of 95. If you’re not familiar with any of his other work, do yourself a favor and check out his site.
As soon as I smell paint in the air my eyes begin to light up. This is Christmas for me. As always, I’m looking forward to take in the offerings this year.
I promise I will not make this a common occurrence, and these views do not reflect those of the rest of the crew of RETINADRUM, but I thought I would take this time to use this medium to express my feelings as a fan of almost 20 years; someone who has at one point or another owned every Busta Rhymes album, from L.O.N.S. to solo to Flipmode Squad, at one point or another, owned several singles, including vinyl singles…and when I say own, I don’t mean on my hard drive, I mean an actual cassette, CD or vinyl. That being said, I would like to make known that this will not be yet another expression of opinion about Busta’s signing with Cash Money Records. That has already been done to death. I instead would like to start with an expression of my feelings toward his new single “Why Stop Now” featuring “Mr. I think I’m a man because I can bruise and bloody a woman”, Chris Brown. This is basically what has become of a legend, yes, a legend! Busta Rhymes is a fucking legend in this industry, like him or not. He is one of the few artists in hip-hop that has consistently remained relevant without having to become a movie star (Although he has been in several movies, that does not make him a “movie star”.) or a singer, or reality show personality (Which wouldn’t surprise me if he did.). Back to my point, what he has become, sadly, is a gimmick. Don’t get me wrong, he’s had a pretty good year for a rapper who is almost 40, but the dude has become a gimmick. This entire year has just been him going “Biddy-biddy-biddy” on a track, and yes, I realize rapping fast takes skill, and I’m not expecting him to put much substance in lyrics that are done that fast; that’s near-impossible to do consistently, but the fact is, it is starting to lack the innovation that I always respected him for. He has become predictable, and it’s almost like he feels like this is what he has to do in order to grab your attention now. Granted, he has probably gained new listeners because of this, but it’s starting to take away from his soul and his creativity. The new single is a true example of this point; I guess it has production value, even though the beat is kinda dime-a-dozen sounding in 2011, Chris Brown’s hook is awful (I guess he’s a rapper now.); he sounds like he’s trying to imitate someone like Shawty Lo, which is weird because who is Shawty Lo in 2011? The actual mix and sound quality are great, and that’s about all that’s great about it. This is by far, the worst single of Busta Rhymes’ 20 year…yes, 20 year career!!!
I will commend him for one thing; he did his fans, his true fans a great service in releasing both the “Dillagence” mixtape, with Mick Boogie, and “I Bullshit You Not”, with long-time collaborator, DJ Scratch, but my favorite rapper has hit a new low. He has gone from Leader to follower. In closing, I don’t expect Busta to read this; I honestly don’t care whether he does or not, I do however expect, you, the fans to read this, and if you have an opinion, positive or negative, please let me know. As a matter of fact, drop a comment right here. Blessings.
For those of you who would like to know what has me feeling this way, I guess the video below is a good start.
