F*ck b*tches, get money

I KNOW everyone can feel me on this song. Back when hip hop gave you that chill feeling, and the shit in daily rotation was something that we could all relate to.

So here's my question, why is NY full of crazy women!?! You meet someone who you think is maybe a little crazy, but in a good way. The next thing you know they turn into America's next psycho and all your bills are up to date but you once again have to screen all your calls. You are afraid to go out to any clubs because the whole lot of them may be there, or even worse, you'll attract more. And as I post this, I'm probably going to get a flood of text messages asking why I'm so cruel.

I guess this is a question with no real answer. What defines crazy? What's good crazy and bad crazy? And is it all perspective? I guess I'm not really sure anymore. But for all of those who ask me why they rarely see me out, this is one response to the question. Apart from working on my own personal projects, why would I want to waste my precious time on people who will only drive my head crazy?

So hats off to you, Junior Mafia and mid/late 90's hip hop. F*ck bitches, get money and prosper!

E

"where do we go from here"

Oh my god.. I'm officially in love with Alicia Keys. I loved her before, but this song completely did it for me. I've been listening to a few cuts on her album on repeat, which is what I always do when I get an album. I find a couple of songs I love and don't listen to the rest.. I'm guilty. So I listened to the rest of the album and the intro to the song caught my attention...

Then I realized it sounded familiar.. "After laughter" by Wendy Rene.. Also sampled by Wu Tang. The melody in this song is so dope.. Thank you miss Keys!

E

Artist Focus: Emmanuelle Tricoire

I know, I know.. I've been slacking. But I know at least some of you can feel me on being too busy for myself. Or not having my own space, working too much, etc. Please check out Emma's work, if you haven't seen it already. This is a name that we will definitely be hearing more of.

How has 2008 treating you so far? Any upcoming projects you have been working on?

So far so good, Im working on editing my photos of nyc, Im going to a lot of exhibitions, galleries, looking at books, to see what's going on nowadays and to stay in a artistic state of mind. I don't take a lot of pictures tho.

Many of us believe that we can see one's full story in just a photograph of them; do you see this in people as your working with them?

That's true, photographs are taken to tell stories, some are made up, some are just the truth. But photographers are in control, they can say whatever they want to say. As for me, I just "feel" people, I don't know about their lives, I meet them and I capture what I feel, I don't "scan" them, I'm so bad at doing it, but I take what they want to give me and what I feel it is true. Their faces are talking for them.

What is it like photographing people in different cities around the world?

The more I meet all kind of people, the more I realize that they all have the same "issues". Even if they don't have the same way of life, they are like me and at the same time so much different, this is my food. I just love taking pictures of people from different cities.

A lot of your work seems to be inspired by street cultures like hip hop, fashion, skating, etc. Are these passions of yours besides photography?

Yes, when I arrived in Paris in 1992 I grew up in a skate neighborhood in Paris called Bastille. My friends were listening to hiphop, but I was grunge. I also loved graffiti (so much that when I was 10 my art teacher asked us to decorate a drawing of a subway car and I did tags on it and got suspended, I was wondering why I never did it in real life...) , skating and hanging out in the streets. I used to buy female magazines instead of candies as well, and when I was 9, I said to my parents that I wanted to be a fashion photographer. I took hip hop dance classes for 6 years after playing guitar bass...So yes, music, dance, hiphop, skating, graffiti are my real passions.

Who would you really like to work with and have not had the chance to yet?

Well, there are a lot of artists I would love to photograph, I would love to meet Mos Def since my nickname comes after his song, music artists as such Beth Gibson, Tori Amos , Bjork or Nas... But also fashion designers and models as such Jean-Paul Gaultier, Omahyra or Agyness Deyn. Directors and photographers like Tarantino, Larry Clark, Spike Lee...I have a never-ending list.

You definetely make networking look easy. Do you think linking with so many different people is crutial to the career of an artist?

really?! I don't really notice it if people don't make me think about it. Sometime they are like "are you sure you are 24?", or when somebody is telling me about someone else, I'm like "ah yes I know him, met him...blahblah" which could be annoying! I don't know, I guess it is natural and hopefully! As a photographer, you have to be permanently in contact with others. And you must know that in this kind of career, you have to meet the good person at the right moment...

Thanks again for taking the time to chat. Do you have any last words for aspiring photographers or artists?

Thank you! I would say...learn the bases, learn photography history and art history, look what's going on, watch movies and documentaries, and don't be narrow-minded. But this is my only advice I would give, the rest is up to you.

www.emmanuelletricoire.com
www.myspace.com/mfb4life
newyorkfuckincity.blogspot.com
mfb4life.blogspot.com

Forgotten hip hop

Ahh.. The golden age of hip hop. All of us remember it and live through that time with our old vinyl, cds, and tapes. But just like today, there were artists that people slept on. Here's volume one of underground hip hop from the golden age. Real emceeing.. miss this shit.

The Nonce- "Mixtapes"