77three Magazine

-Mouna . 17′

By Yagazie Emezi

instagram.com/yagazieemezi

Last year, documentary photographer Yagazie Emezi left Nigeria and moved to Liberia, exchanging the chaos of Lagos for the persistent grey of Monrovia. “It’s the wettest capital in the world,” she told me, and videos taken from her rooftop showed just that; a dull sky stretched over the ocean, rain as a constant soundtrack, water spitting down on water. It was unsurprising then that her first visit to West Point, a township ten minutes away from her house by tricycle taxi, would be accompanied by a light drizzle. West Point is also the largest slum in Monrovia, susceptible to significant coastal erosion. During the visit, Yagazie was shown around by a West Point resident. They walked through a part of the township that the ocean had reclaimed—where houses had been lost, eaten up by the water.

“I saw this woman who was sitting down in a half knocked down shack,” Yagazie recalled. “She was wearing a pink spaghetti tube top with blue braids, and had all these colors. Green lipstick, red eyeshadow. I wanted to photograph her but I couldn’t because it wasn’t my space; I didn’t know people there.” Her description was striking; easy to imagine. The woman sitting behind a veil of slight water, the rain pattering down, her body adorned in powder and oil-based pigment, stitched fabric and synthetic extensions. “That visual was what drew me into West Point,” Yagazie added.

She spent the next several months working with women and girls in Liberia, and from these interactions, it became clear that the standards of beauty these women were using were not ones she was familiar with. “They see a gold dress and think, that is a gold dress and it’s going to be on my body,” Yagazie explained. “We see a gold dress and we think, how will it look on my body? It’s the same thing with makeup. You’re not putting on pink because it matches, but because you like it, so you’re going to put it on you.”

Written by Akwaeke Emezi for Vogue

instagram.com/azemezi

-Ajak Deng . 17′

Lee Litumbe of Spirited Pursuit in Zanzibar.

They released the Insecure soundtrack last week. Every song played throughout the entire season, season one as well, is on a Spotify playlist and if you happen to be the one in every billion who doesn’t use Spotify, like me, the soundtrack is also on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes etc. But fuck it, writing these recaps are fun af get it AF, ok, I’m sorry, anyway, here we go.

This week Insecure put me on to Pyramid Ron and DejaNay who is featured on “Down”, the track playing while Aparna and Lawrence are in the car -Yo I hate missing the previews too! Just another way I personally relate to these beautiful characters.  I digress, you can find pHeiroglyphics, the EP from which the song “Down” originates, on iTunes. I was also put on to Childish Major, a producer whose song “Supply Luh” was produced by J.Cole. Childish Major has also worked with SZA one my favorite Alt&B artist who released “Quicksand” exclusively for the Insecure soundtrack. Another contemporary favorite Daniel Caesar got a moment in with his song “Blessed”, but I recommend going further back and checking out Death & Taxes, one of my moody times go to tracks for well over a year. The song you probably can’t get out of your head based on how much it was repeated in last nights episode is “Boredom” by Tyler The Creator. Jorja Smith is back on the scene with Fine Line and its always good to hear from Dawn Richard who keeps finding ways to keep her feet firmly planted on the music scene, her song “Sands” played when Issa was heading to the Dunes for the final apartment inspection.

The collection of songs from the super sad yet hard eye rolling and simultaneously headshake inducing season finale I have to say make up my favorite playlist for a single episode. For an R&B girl it’s a seamless contemporary Alt&B blend.

For real though Molly is going to make me shake her, I know Frank Oceans song Biking was playing but I swear she was listening to SZA’s Quicksand while she was trying on lingerie, I love SZA but her music can be the hype man for all Molly’s bad decisions and Issa, I only have sad head shakes for her -GIRL?!?

 Jakina | Monday 09 11 17

Tyler The Creator –Boredom

Vince Staples feat. Juicy J –Big Fish

Pyramid Ron feat DejaNay –Down

Childish Major –Supply Luh

SZA –Quicksand

Daniel Caesar -Blessed

Jorja Smith –Fine Line

Dawn Richard –Sands

Frank Ocean -Biking

JUSTIN VAN HOY 1981 - 2012

Justin was one of my closest friends and this is the not so quick story of the last 10 years of my love for him and his wife Holly. I met Justin in 2003, he’d been doing work for Shep (who made a nice post about his passing) and was going to be making a move from LA to ATL with his future wife, Holly. We hung out and ate, talked about design, screen printed posters.. art stuff. They moved out east, we talked everyday on iChat and when he moved back to LA a year later things were awesome. Then Justin got sick. Leukemia. Fuck. And he beat it! Then a year+ goes by. We’re chatting on iChat like always and he has a routine follow up visit, be back in an hour. 3 days go by and no Justin. Won’t answer the phone, not online.. nothing. Holly won’t answer her phone either. Cancer’s back. FUCK. The spring wedding in South Carolina we had all been waiting for is happening in their house in LA in 48 hours. Far from their dream scenario, but so much love was in their house. But Justin needs a marrow donor and fast. Homie Roger Gastman hosts an event at his office for people to get tested. And people do the same in Seattle, New York etc. They found him a donor and get him into chemo & radiation. The next 6 months Will & I take turns spending days with him and feeding him, helping him go to the bathroom, basically everything. He could barely move or speak. The radiation fucked him up beyond anything I had ever seen. We had to scrub up to get in the house because his immune system was nonexistent. He was in agony. Holly was amazing. The absolute perfect relationship I have ever seen. I have never seen a couple more in love. After months of a very slow recovery and several hospital emergency runs and scares.. he pulled through. Not before whipping his dick out in front of me at the hospital and even though he was in agony said “fuck it, you’re getting an eyeful ‘cause when you gotta go you gotta go.” Through all of it he was still ridiculously awesome. Now after 6 months he’s walking and talking, finally. Will and I put together a benefit called “Fuck Cancer We <3 Justin” for him and I ask my friends at Poketo if they could host the silent auction in their space. They never even met Justin and were so overly willing to help out it was amazing. In the one night we raised like $12k to help out with medical bills. Justin was so hyped. He couldn’t believe it. So many people contributed artwork and time, it was unreal. I can’t thank everyone enough for that night and what we were able to raise for him and Holly. And then 3+ years of relatively smooth sailing. Some minor hospitalizations here and there, massive nerve damage in his legs.. but Justin was Justin again. He beat Cancer again. My homie was back. We talked and hung out almost everyday. Literally. I was at the house with our squad every holiday getting in Holly’s way, ganging up on her as she was always the lone girl. It was our little LA family. I’m an only child and hate most people.. Justin was my brother. When I started having health problems he was all over it. Supporting, helping out, looking shit up, checking in non stop. He was an amazing person. Everyone that met him, loved him. His death comes as a surprise and shock to all of us. 

We spoke 14 hours before his death for almost 2 hours about some projects in January and had planned for him to come crash at my place in SF in January. We talked about getting a house in Palm Springs for a mellow New Year’s. I’ll never hear that slight southern drawl again. He hooked me up with RVCA for my installation, put me in his book along with all of our friends, I had shows at his gallery.  I log into my computer and our last iChat conversation from the day before is the first thing that pops up. His phone number is the 2nd one listed on my phone right under my mom. This is so fucked. I can’t delete any of it. I won’t delete any of it. I can’t imagine what Holly is feeling.

Now, this isn’t just a sad story of me losing one of my closest friends, this is a story of all of you losing an amazing artist & designer. You may not know it but you’ve seen his work. He worked for Shepard Fairey, Mark the Cobrasnake, he curated things for RVCA, he was the Art Director of Swindle Magazine, he designed books for Juxtapoz, he designed Jim Houser’s books, he worked with Roger Gastman on a bunch of books including the History of American Graffiti, a book about the Crips, Saber’s book, he rebranded our favorite burger spot The Oinkster, he opened an amazing gallery in Highland Park called This with homies Jeremy/Claire Weiss and Aaron Farley, he curated the art installations in the restrooms at Gagosian Gallery, made a guest appearance with Roger in Exit Through The Gift Shop, and recently published a book (that you should buy) with Ammo Books called Milk & Honey Contemporary Art in California. All this and more in 32 short years. 

One morning, when JR awoke, an image lingered from his dreams: The wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and above it a young kid peering curiously over.

A child just 1 year old, who has “no idea that’s a wall that divides people — he has no idea of the political context,” JR imagined. “What is he thinking?”

He had no answers to his question, but the question stayed with him — and eventually, the French street artist decided to give it form. This week, within days of the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program protecting 800,000 immigrants, JR erected a massive artwork towering dozens of feet above the existing wall.

As Boy Peers Curiously Over Border Wall, His Artist Asks: ‘What Is He Thinking?’

One of my favorite things about the hit HBO series Insecure is the music. The mix of indie and mainstream, ratchet and classics (hood classics, underground, deep cut, and a few contemporary classics) along with the addition of Raphael Saddiq haven’t gone unnoticed.

Since I love the show and try to post about music every Monday it just occurred to me that instead of relying on throwbacks when I forgot to schedule something fresh, why don’t I just do a quick little Insecure –the music- recap for the remainder of the season?

Picking up with last nights episode Hella Blows (S. 2 Ep. 6) I’ll start with the very last song played during the last scene and through the credits. Real Love, No Shade by Roman GianArthur. While neither the song or artist where immediately recognizable, GianArthur is part of the Wondaland Arts Society (Janelle Monae label) Wondaland is one of those collectives with a solid and long time fan base so I can imagine I’m sure the excitement surrounding his shine on Insecure.

Now going all the way back to the very beginning of the episode was Kali Uchis feat Jorja Smith with Tyrant. I’ve been a fan Uchis for a few years and she’s been popping up everywhere but still hasn’t quiet bubbled over just yet. Jorja Smith is pretty dope too, this song isn’t her usual sound but she sounds amazing on it. Of all the music played on this episode Miguel was the most popular artist and it was his recent single Sky Walker  a feel chill feel good good track that played during the episode.  That timing was amazing, I’m curious how all that worked, like did Miguel release the song and that visual when he did because he knew it was going to be on the episode? Anyway then there’s J.I.D with Never. The first half of that song, which is what was played, I fucks with, I’m not even a fan of the squeaky voice or much of that style of rap but the beat goes and his voice works well over it. If I’m being completely honest this song was the definite put on moment. Though I know now J.I.D is part of J. Cole’s Dreamville, I had never heard of him before Shazaming the song.

 I listed more of the songs from the episode below and will try to do the same thing next week. Until next episode, feel free to let me know what you thought of the music and the episode. Issa definitely got that hoe moment she was looking for didn’t she!

Jakina Ado Monday August 28, 2017