Presenting Ricky Shabazz and the Boom Bap Boys.

Sitting between two clowns on a wet bench, a man with an umbrella drinks a cup of coffee. He stands, and when the men in makeup follow him, he turns, throwing his coffee at one, and punching the other in the face. Soul Khan starts rapping. Shirt bloody, he’s running through a park fending off crazed clowns with his bare hands and a crow bar. Capturing it all, safely behind the lens, is Nick Heller, director and CEO of the production company responsible for some of the most provocative new music videos on the ‘net. But don’t mistake the young video producer for his wily guise; Ricky Shabazz and the Boom Bap Boys is just the brand name.

“A general misconception is that I am Ricky Shabazz. I am not. Ricky Shabazz is a character I made up, and I am just one of his Boom Bap Boys. I consider anyone who has ever worked on one of my projects to be a Boom Bap Boy (or Gal) as well.”

Ricky Shabazz productions began during Heller’s junior year at Emerson College when he bought a Canon 7D video camera and started making no-budget video shorts. Shooting his early videos in the Boston neighborhoods in which he lived, Heller turned toward music videos after graduating in the Spring of 2011, and has since moved to Brooklyn, New York. Initially unsure how to approach music artists, Heller caught a break when C-Rayz Walz, a legendary freestyle rapper from the Bronx, looked past his lack of music video experience and collaborated on a video for Walz’s song “Destroy.”

Since then, Ricky Shabazz and the Boom Bap Boys has become a household name in the underground hip hop scene. Aside from dropping a mixtape titled Free Shabazz (presented by Fameless Fam and UGHH.com), Heller has worked with an assortment of rap acts in the past two years including Apathy, Juan Deuce, Falside, Fresh Daily, Ceschi, The Doppelgangaz, Reks, Soul Kahn, R.A. the Rugged Man, Homeboy Sandman, and Moe Pope.

“I started to fall back from doing short films because rather than paying to make my own video, I was now getting paid to do other people’s videos that would get far more views with [the artists’] popularity. I don’t think I could have gotten my name out otherwise.”

Aside from being Heller’s favorite type of music, hip-hop is a genre well represented in the cyber world. The wide variety of websites and blogs act as promotional forums for his often-shocking visuals, allowing Ricky Shabazz videos to go viral. Be it a half-naked girl chained up by Moe Pope and his band of droog-esque zombies (“Grateful Dead of Night”) or bloody images of open-heart surgery looming above the car Juan Deuce drives around in “Guts”; Heller likes to “push the boundaries of appropriateness,” he tells me. Taking full advantage of the censor-free nature of the Internet, Heller shows off his creative latitude, steadily creating the edgy, artistic videos for which he’s known.

The video for “Stop What Ya Doin” by Apathy featuring Celth Titled begins with a striking black and white shot of the song’s producer, DJ Premier, introducing the track while casually smoking a cigarette. Later in the video, Heller cuts to another black and white shot in which periodic backward footage seems to show Premier inhaling and exhaling smoke to the rhythm of the vinyl scratch. Backward shots, bizarre color filtration, and drastic cuts and camera movements are common to many Ricky Shabazz productions.

“The best is when I hear a song and I can visualize a treatment within seconds after,” he explains. “I don’t necessarily even need to be a fan of the song to be inspired immediately. When an idea doesn’t come to me miraculously, I like to sit down with the artist and hear more about the deeper meaning of the song. Hearing their interpretation will normally prompt me to take it in my own direction.”

Artists who have worked with Heller say he’s a brilliant young talent and very easy to work with. Homeboy Sandman, who has collaborated with Heller on a few projects including videos for his songs “The Essence” and “Strange Planet”, says Heller thinks outside of the box and has a knack for telling a story with visuals in unexpected ways.

“Shooting a music video with Nick Heller feels a lot more like shooting a short film than it does like shooting a music video,” Boy Sand told me about the experience. “Making the ‘Strange Planet’ vid was a ball. It was Heller who came up with the idea of using the wolves looking for the egg as symbolism of Nazi Germany. And Nazi Germany being representative of the type of madness happening on this planet.”

Through his keen sense of visual narrative, fans of film and music alike have come to love and identify with Ricky Shabazz productions. With a quickly-growing Twitter following and video views reaching toward the millions, Heller no longer depends on artist popularity to promote his company. In fact, the notoriety of Ricky Shabazz and the Boom Bap Boys has inverted Heller’s role in the hip-hop community.

“I get a lot more satisfaction out of doing a video that really helps an unknown talent than doing a video for a bigger act that is destined to get a shit ton of views no matter what,” he says about the role reversal. “If the video is dope, people will see it.”

http://rickyshabazz.com/

http://nicolasheller.com/.

Record Store Day celebrates the heritage of local music communities surrounding over 700 independent record stores in the U.S. and thousands worldwide. The event started in 2007 with the original idea devised by Chris Brown (an independent record store employee), and officially founded by Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton, among others. Throughout the years, the event has evolved to be marked by superstar performances, special album releases, and meet and greets with artists.

While the star-studded nature of these big-name promotions draw crowds to the all-but-abandoned brick-and-mortar businesses, the buzz seems to fall on the side of gimmick rather than grandeur. What’s meant as a way to promote the day that was created for the purpose of re-engaging the youth culture with physical record stores has been buried under the weight of its own promotion. Something is lost in the translation.

It’s as if record stores are a ghost town where people arrive en masse once a year for a special performance, only to vaporize into dust as the clock strikes midnight.

The central intent is to promote the local music shops in lieu of the digitized and commercialized 21st century music era that’s dominated by downloads, iTunes, and YouTube. Unfotunately, in a lot of ways, appearances by the likes of Metallica, Bob Dylan, Erykah Badu and a slew of others seem to overshadow that meaning. While these artists may candidly support the prospect of independent record stores, the truth is that they represent cogs in the same system that mauled these stores in the first place.

Of course, it’s not every day that you walk into your local shop and catch a performance from Jerry Lee Lewis or have a run in with Chuck D, but building a single serving of celebrity-fueled hype negates the intent of creating a lasting connection with these customers – many fans seem to miss the point.

Record stores are cultural staples that represent more than simply an outdated technology. Instead, they represent the tangible connection between music and fans – something that’s all but lost in this digital era. And in local communities, they serve as platforms for local talent. Record Store Day is about what these shops have done for music as a culture, as the mainline for new and old music before radio and music television dictated our tastes. Indie shops offer an opportunity for discovery without filters, a place for local and national acts to reach fans on the street level.

The most important part of the day is the relationship between store and consumer, and that intimate feeling of the hands-on search for albums exclusive to a singular setting. Nowhere else can consumers connect with their music on such a visceral level. Not over the internet, nor at one of the corporate giants that buries a single copy of Dr Dre’s The Chronic under a mountain of Drake’s latest offering. It’s times you walk into a record shop searching for one particular album and you walk out with five others that define this magic. There are times you hear about live performances on random nights that are standing room only to see an indie artist that you may not be able to catch elsewhere. For an industry that is known to mould artists for mainstream appeal, the independent artists use these places — or once did — as outlets to display their content without compromise. It was the original safehouse for underground integrity.

The essence of RSD can be found at shops in small towns or big cities where they open their doors out of a love for music. A sense of trust is established between the shop and community because they are ran by fellow music junkies. These people act as the wisemen of our respective music communities, whom we depend on for something new or classic. From the southern shops with the bluesy rock vibes, to the west coast shops that cater to the indie crowd (i.e. hipsters), they each offer up an unexplored scene for some, and a sense of nostalgia for others that cannot be romanticized.

To celebrate Record Store Day is to champion the spread of music as an organic art, rather than a commercialized commodity. A single day shouldn’t be the only time that we look around and recognize the importance of independent music shops in our community. It’s something that’s easy to forget in the era of digital music, where music runs rampant and MP3s are strewn about like litter on the sidewalk. But, preserving these cornerstones of music is important because it represents what’s important about music. It represents the literal, physical bond between music maker and music listener. It represents passion.

And that’s something we can’t afford to lose.

Unfortunately, Record Store Day just reeks of desperation. Most shop owners would probably tell you that — it’s just about all they can do to revive their business for a single weekend, and it’s all they can muster to stay afloat financially. But, let’s not let this pivotal portion of music culture fall by the wayside. Do your part to help preserve independent record stores around the globe.

Use this April 21 not as a singular day of observance, but rather, as the start to a tradition of buying locally and supporting music shops that enable the flow of new music when other routes remain — or remained — obstructed.

Happy digging.

Besides displaying his art alongside some of the best artists in the scene, such as Barry McGee, Neck Face, and even Ozzy Osbourne, Peyote is affiliated with brands like Blood is the New Black and artists like Mr. Dibbs and Nobuddy. With a distinct style that will make you stop and stare for hours, Peyote is an artist to take note of. Although he mixes it up between paintings, drawings, stickers, wheatpaste posters and more, his style is always recognizable and unmistakably unique. Each piece has infinite detail that looks like it was spewed from a nightmarish mescaline trip deep within the grimy heart of the Tijuana underworld. Somehow the gritty insanity that makes up his artwork comes together to make a flawless ghoulish image. We caught up with Peyote to see what’s behind the artwork and what’s going down in the graffiti underworld.

Peyote is an interesting name; does it number amongst one of your influences?

As far as influences, yeah I’ve done mescaline, and other hallucinogens; I hold peyote higher than others simply because it is a life changing experience and should be viewed as such, I’m not a fuckin’ hippy though and don’t get it twisted.

Do you have any early memories of hip hop or street art that stick out in your memory?

Yeah I guess when I was in 6th grade I got thrown in the back of a squad car for stealing a Busta Rhymes CD, does that count? Nothing really came out of it they just kind of taught me how not to get caught, I suppose that’s the earliest memory of anything hip hop…

You’ve worked artistically with some rappers, like Nobuddy and Mr.Dibbs of Rhymesayers and Machina Muerte, how does hip hop influence your artwork?

I don’t know if it directly influences my work but I will say without music we would be nowhere whether anyone wants to admit it, well that’s another thing entirely.

What other aspects of life influence your work?

Probably people I meet all the time, I have always lived or surrounded myself with people who aren’t afraid of the seedy underbelly of life, I think that has always been an inspiration for me to draw the way I do, mostly people who just come in and out of my life or hang out in my area i.e. prostitutes, drug dealers, drug addicts, heavy metal kids, small time rappers, graffiti people who can pretty much fit any of the latter.

How has moving around influenced your art, how have the different regions contributed?

I would say that each place had a different effect on me, as far as the way I draw things I definitely owe it to Mexico for the patterning and the way I draw. I’ve heard a lot of people say it also reminds them of Oaxacan folk art which I like a lot and also Huichol Indian art or the peyoteros. I think that Southwestern American Indian art has also contributed to some of my style so it’s a pretty mixed bag at this point.

With such intricate works, can you describe the process behind one of your pieces?

Difficult question, really there is a starting point and I continue from that point outwards, I don’t usually plan the finished product to look a certain way unless it’s a paid illustration and there is a certain goal, you have to make money somewhere, but in my personal art it just works itself out, basically not much of a process.

What mediums do you typically work with?

Preferably above all, I would have to just say black ink on white paper or white ink on black paper, I see the world that way I think I have always been a person of extremes so this seems the best way to interpret the world, frankly I have a very hard time with color.

You do both street art and studio art; do you prefer one over the other?

They’re both good, both can get you places, it’s really how hard do you want to work at either one, what would you like to risk; I like both the same to answer your question. I’ve never been a person to say, “oh this dude is more legit, look how much he has bombed.” So what, who cares? If you are good you’re good I don’t care how you do it, just what it looks like, this world doesn’t need more trash so please don’t add to it.

What is the Minneapolis street art scene like? How does it compare to the art scene in other cities you’ve been to?

First and foremost, I would say Minneapolis street art scene is pretty crippled, you can owe that to a heavy buff, tough law enforcement on graffiti/street art and just the winter. All of it contributes negatively to what people are doing. Also as far as better cities top three: NEW YORK, MELBOURNE AND BARCELONA.

How do you think art and hip hop coincide, and how are they important to each other?

Same thing, different medium maybe. I guess I listened to a lot more hip-hop growing up now it seems like I almost reverted to shittier music for the lack of a better term…

Have you had any run-ins with law enforcement concerning your art?

Actually just the other day I was chased but luckily didn’t get caught, I consider myself a lucky person although I’m sure there is just something much worse than getting arrested awaiting me.

Do you think there’s something that musicians can learn from the street artist ethic?

I guess be prolific? Should get somewhere eventually. That’s a pretty big law.

What do you want people to take away from your artwork?

Whatever they like, I don’t want people to make assumptions about the person who made it more than anything. I would rather they just take away something personal that they can relate to, if they can at all.

What do you have in the works right now?

Yeah I have a show in NYC December 15th at Pandemic Gallery in Crooklyn. Come see it if you can, lots of great people on the roster including but not exclusive to, FARO, 27, DR.CRAB, OZE 108, GEN 2 the list goes on…

Any last thoughts or shout outs?

Yeah shout out to Steakmob, Palmetto Family, RIP CHARLIE MARKS, my good friend Elberto Mueller who just put out a book titled “The Autopsy of 2009″, awesome read cop it on Amazon.com, and my biological family of course as well as anybody who is behind me, you all know who you are.

The company seeks out artists the create original, modern and striking urban art that inspires our generation, prints their artwork at their headquarters in Montreal, and ships it out all over the word at prices surprisingly low for the art world, bringing affordable beauty to a whole new generation of art buyers.  Eyes On Walls is home to ten inspiring artists whose work ranges from oil painting to design to digital art, including notable artists such as Camilla d’Ericco, Charmaine Olivia, and HR-FM, and has hundreds of pieces available for as low as ten dollars per print.  We talked with the founder of Eyes On Walls, Tom Rowlandson, as well as a couple of incredible artists featured by the company, Alex Cherry and Lora Zombie, to find out some more information on this intriguing new collective.

Tom Rowlandson

Founder of Eyes On Walls.

AGM: What were your goals when you originally founded the company?

I started my career in the art business working for a mainstream poster publisher of artists like Andy Warhol and licensing properties like Disney. Eyes On Walls was founded to publish and promote a new generation of artists and make their work available, affordable and accessible to a new generation of art fans.

How do you choose artists to publish through Eyes On Walls?

Our target audience are true appreciators of art, they’re not looking to fill a space with something that matches their sofa. They’re also generally younger than the typical art buying audience, and are looking for something different and interesting. So we select artists to publish with that in mind. We receive submissions through our site and also actively seek out and solicit the right kind of artists to add to the line, usually adding only one or two artists at a time.

What are you doing differently than other companies out there providing similar services?

Most companies in our space are concentrated on building a massive digital catalogue of artwork for sale. Our approach is different in that we focus on a small number of artists and invest heavily in promoting them.

How do you think art fits into modern popular culture?

I think art is more popular now that it has ever been. I’d attribute that to how accessible the Internet has made artists, and the recent worldwide surge in popularity of street art. It’s everywhere you look really.

Do you have any plans to expand the company?

Yes – we are growing steadily and our next move in terms of expanding the operations of the company is to establish a creative, sales and product development office in Toronto separate from our manufacturing and fulfillment in Montreal

Alex Cherry

A Los Angeles-based digital artist heavily involved in Eyes On Walls, with dozens of striking, distinct, urban-style pieces available on the website. http://www.eyesonwalls.com/collections/alex-cherry

Do you have any early encounters with art that stick out in your memory?

Marvel Comics by Jim Lee, Star Wars conceptual work by John Berkey and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was at one time obsessed with all of those and they’ve had a big impact on my work as an artist/designer. Especially Ninja Turtles.

Where does your artistic inspiration come from?

90% of my inspiration is from music, the other 10% comes from the rest of my life.

How does music influence your art?

Music is the boilerplate for my art. I start with a concept defined in a song and work off of that by any means necessary for me to “complete” my vision. Music is my storyboard.

What does your artwork mean to you personally?

It means a lot. It is an extension of myself, like a separate person I’m sharing my life with. My work goes out with other people, it has relationships with them, and sometimes it introduces me to them. I’m very lucky to have such a partner. My work makes friends with people, and sometimes introduces me to them.

What do you want viewers to take away from your artwork?

Anything people take away from it is enough. Though angry at times, my work has no enemies or prejudice. And like all people, I think it just wants to be loved.

Lora Zombie

A young artist from Russia, with a diverse, self-taught, unique style.  She has built a significant presence online, and is now branching into the gallery world. http://www.eyesonwalls.com/collections/lora-zombie

Tell us about your background on art. How did you get started?

I started from early-early childhood. I used to draw Looney Tunes cartoon characters all day long when i was a very little girl. When I grew up a little I started my self-education with books about how to draw, paint, etc…

At what age did you get involved with urban art? When did you first realize that art was going to be a major part of your life?

When I was around 15-16 years old I was drawing a lot of GORILLAZ fan art, and at the same time I had some access to internet, which helped me to see what was happening around art and music then. It was such an inspiring background for me so I had a lot of enthusiasm to be a part of this movement.

What is your inspiration?

Currently I am most inspired by music.

Who is/are your favorite artist/s?

Banksy. Ian Francis. Ashley Wood. Jamie Hewlett. Tex Avery.

For more art from independent and underground artists, check out http://www.eyesonwalls.com.

May 22 marked a life-changing day for many residents of one of the Midwest’s most-lauded hip hop scenes. Minneapolis, Minnesota was struck by a storm of epic proportions; a devastating tornado tore through Minneapolis’ North Side, killing two and injuring 31 while leaving hundreds displaced. It ripped through the neighborhood destroying over a hundred homes, tearing out nearly all of the trees and outing power for 80,000 people. The neighborhood has been chronically neglected for decades, and is home to a lower economic class, only exasperating the devastating nature of the destruction caused to the community.

Although the Minneapolis hip hop scene is often focused around the South Side of the city, the North Side is often cited as the birthplace of local hip hop in the Twin Cities, with house parties during the mid-nineties, and playing home to area rappers such as Toki Wright, Truthmaze and Unknown Prophets.

Although the event was undoubtedly a tragic occurrence, it has offered an opportunity or the local and national hip hop community to truly shine. Since the events that devastated this region of the burgeoning Midwestern hip hop Mecca, many artists have used the unfortunate time as a rallying cry to unite in an effort to help those that were affected. The enormous support of artists from around the country — which has truly been unparalleled — serves as a colossal reminder of the power of hip hop and its origins rooted in art and community.

The devastation that this community has faced has given rise to some of the cities most-successful artists to step up and represent their roots and a call to action for the rest of the hip hop world, with inspiring results.

Though there have been many efforts to aid the victims of the tornado, the most notable have been the efforts of the Minnesota hip hop community. There have been several fundraiser events to benefit the North Side, headlined by some of the best MCs from the region as well as notable performers from across the nation. On July 12, over 200 artists –  including many non-hip-hop acts such as Soul Asylum and Sounds of Blackness,  as well as hometown heroes and Rhymesayers artists like Brother Ali and Toki Wright — all performed for at a benefit that raised over $100,000 for North Side community organizations.

On July 19 was the first of an undetermined number of shows in the Moja –  a term meaning “one” in Swahili — concert series to benefit tornado victims, and featured out-of-town guests like the Bronx legend KRS-One, Detroit’s Slum Village, and North Side natives Toki Wright and Truthmaze. There are sure to be more fundraising efforts in the future, as the recovery is far from over and the door for hip hop working in the community is wide open.

The hip hop community has rallied around these tornado victims in an unprecedented way, and has made enormous strides in not only raising funds to assist them, but also empowering them and showing them that they have a voice. Despite red tape and bureaucracy in between the victims and the aid in place for them, community organizations have done an impressive job of helping them to accessing these funds and other resources available to them. As legendary hip hop pioneer KRS-One said at a community address at North High on the day of his benefit concert, “a community only exists in theory; it’s made up of the people.” The way that the community of the North Side and of Minnesota hip hop as a whole reacted to the devastation demonstrated the extent to which they can draw together and help out those in need amongst them. Although the effects of the tornado were devastating, the tragedy drew attention to a region in dire need, and strengthened the community, proving that there is hope for the future of the North Side.

Photo: Tony Webster (Minnesota Public Radio)

For information on how you can help tornado victims in Minneapolis, please visit this relief site.

Taking to his blog to make all of the snarky comments we all want to say (but never mention) about those that are disgracing hip hop culture and rap music, Big Ghostfase is about as subtle as Rihanna’s forehead. Having been forced to change sites and refer to differentiate himself from the Wu-Tang’s MC was not enough to make Big Ghostfase refrain from slaying rappers, actors who play a paraplegic teenager or Clear Channel’s favorite female MC/fembot, as he does on a basis more regular than a fiber-dieting man. Here are 10 of our favorite quotes that give you insight into the pure, uncensored comedy that is Big Ghostfase.

Or, in other words: Ayo, I’m about to hit you wit some of da best quotes from the man P-Tone over at BigGhostfacenahmean.blogspot.com. This one of the best sites to be gettin a laugh at nahmean.

Editor’s note: Once again, these quotes were not written by Ghostface Killah, but rather, a writer who has mastered the art of mimicking his writing/speaking style. We do not condone impersonating celebrities or rappers. We do, however, condone poking fun at ol’ uni-brow whenever possible. Enjoy.

10. “This niggas moms n pops basically got Rick Rolled when the doctor said ‘Its a boy!’”

-About Drake

9. “The shit look like it gon give you a pound n shake ya hand namsayin. It be lookin like a bear wit its eyes closed n shit. The shit look like a candy bar that got left in a car wit the windows up on a hot day n shit. … The shit look like ya hand when you be doin a shadow puppet for a duck n shit nahmean.”

-About Lil Kim’s Beaver Shot

8. “That shit was wack as fuck ma. But it was all good nahmean. But yo word is bond if other broads start rockin this Bride of Frankenstein meets the Jetsons look Imma hold you accountable for that shit ma.”

-On Nicki Minaj

7. “Ayo I aint got nothin against Wayne like that but his crew is some garbage niggas namsayin. That aint a dynasty or nothin nahmean. Thats a crew wit like 10 Memphis Bleeks namsayin. When Jae Millz is one of the more talented members in ya crew you jus losin nahmean.”

-On Lil Wayne and Young Money

6. “We aint grown up wit the crayola boxes wit the sharpeners n shit. Niggas aint had privileges n shit. Niggas was eatin razors n drinkin yoo-hoos.”

-On the new generation

The Roots, a group widely-known for their strong political stances both in and out of their music, were tapped last night to help launch a new political campaign called Rebuild The Dream.

“We are being lied to,” began Van Jones at the launch event for the movement, calling on attendees to recognize these untruths. He went on to chronicle talking points that are often used by conservative politicians and pundits, calling each of them lies.

Black Thought, Questlove and the crew took then took to the stage to show their support for the movement, playing a live performance that was streamed online from the political organization’s official website.

Rebuild The Dream, founded by Van Jones — the former Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation under President Obama — is a collaboration between Jones and MoveOn.org, a website that promotes liberal political activism. The campaign is being touted by many as a rebuttal to the right-wing preachings of the Tea Party, who promote lowering taxes and less spending on social welfare programs.

In contrast, Rebuild The Dream’s message is focused on redacting tax cuts that are currently in-place for the wealthiest Americans and combating what the site calls, “right-wing attacks on the middle class.”

The full video for the campaign launch can now be streamed from the site at RebuildTheDream.com. In addition, supporters can sign up to host local gatherings fashioned after the Tea Party protests that have occurred recently across the country.

Watch the full launch video below.

The men and women of the U.S. armed forces have been engaged in the War in Iraq for eight full years, as of March 20, 2011. In that time, we’ve lost nearly 5,000 U.S. soldiers and thousands more have been injured, forced into multiple tours and redeployed after promises of troop withdrawal.

As we, as civilians, go about our daily lives, dealing with the struggles of a faltering economy, poor housing market and shuttered financial sector, it becomes all too easy to forget that the war has raged on in Iraq 24-hours-a-day for the last 96 consecutive months. It becomes all too easy to lose track of the time that our troops have selflessly abandoned for the sake of serving our country.

For our part, we hope to add some perspective to the time that’s been dedicated to the war to this point with the construction of this timeline, drawing from what we know best: Hip hop. From the release of the first Little Brother record, all the way up until Pharoahe Monch’s W.A.R., many classic and iconic records have come to fruition since the start of the war, and it seems likely that many more will continue to be released before the war’s end.

Check out the timeline below by scrolling left-to-right, click to “+” signs to view additional events and album releases.

What started out as a simple way to compensate for a lack of beat among hip hop’s early pioneers has reached the mainsteam — at least to some degree. Each day, hundreds of people volunteer their mugs and their beat boxing “abilities” to the world, hoping to grab onto some chunk of the hundreds of millions of views that beat boxing videos net as a group each year.

To be sure, the majority of the videos uploaded each day are amateurish (to be kind) and aren’t all that impressive. But, with a little digging, there are certainly some gems among the rubble. Some beat boxers — both professional and amateur — are so incredibly talented that it’s not clear if they’re actually recording the beat box, or if it’s simply being dubbed in over a video of them moving their mouth.

All forgeries aside, there is some incredible footage of some incredible beat boxers to be had across the ‘net. In this list, we compiled the 10 best beat box videos that we could find. For your viewing amazement.

10.

While this isn’t the most impressive beat box ever, it is the founder of the craft speaking on the history and showing off his skills. Either way, this video is a dope little history lesson and fun to listen to.

9.

This Belgian John Lennon lookalike, named Roxorloops, has some of the most realistic sounding drums we’ve ever heard. From the snares up to the hi hats and cymbal crashes, this guy just nails every sound. When he mixes in his own little twist, things get incredibly dope.

8.

Rahzel, AKA The Godfather of Noise tells MTV about his introduction to beat boxing. Although it’s not the longest or most-involved beat box session, it is another legend telling his tale and showcasing his talents. Dope.

It’s important to celebrate and appreciate all aspects of the hip-hop culture, so let’s take a minute to highlight the art of graffiti and the tools of the trade. Nothing compares to the thrill of clambering down under a bridge with a rattling backpack full of fresh paint, but running through the basics might just scratch the surface for those of you who have never picked up a can.

Before we get started, I’d like to emphasize the fact that graffiti is dangerous. Be careful out there, many great street artists have been hurt or arrested trying to paint — you’re not an exception. Graffiti is also difficult, don’t expect to go out there right away and be the best; it takes work. Also, we are not advocating illegal vandalism; know the difference between art and vandalism and be respectful with your graffiti. And finally, graffiti is definitely an art — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Paint

It’s undeniably the most important part of the ensemble; whether it’s 77-cent cans of black and white paint from the local hardware store or premium, ten-dollar cans of neon acrylic Montana Gold. The paint is how you spot a graff-writer on the subway, by the loud rattling from his backpack or by the paint clinging to his pointer and middle fingers. At the risk of stating the obvious, paint is what covers the wall, what disguises the heavy gray concrete that entombs the inner-city as a canvas for vigilante art, and transforms manmade concrete leviathans into intricate murals. The paint is what people see, what blends and overlaps to form an image that will be seen by everyone walking by. This is how you communicate a message that wouldn’t be heard otherwise, or make a name for yourself and showcase your talent.

The paint in a graff writer’s bag can vary as greatly as the artist; it might just be one can of black paint for quick tagging, or it might be a dozen different colors for large-scale murals. In any case, the paint is the keystone of the art. Aerosol paint is the perfect medium for the art of graffiti, it’s easily transported and is the quickest and most-efficient way to cover a large area in striking color.

Brands to look for: Krylon, Molotow (Belton), Montana, MTN 94

Markers

When paint is too messy, too large or too conspicuous for your environment, markers come in handy. Markers fit easily in your pocket, don’t make too much noise and allow artists to scribble out a quick tag in a matter of seconds with minimal mess. These are useful any time; many graffiti artists will carry one at all times, especially if they are in the process of bombing a city. If a tagger notices they are alone on a park bench or in a skyway, they will quickly scrawl their tag for the next person looking closely to see. Anyone who has ever been in the bathroom of a music venue is familiar with the hundreds of tags tattooed on its walls, and there are few subway car windows free of a tag or two scratched into their surface. Markers are also useful for signing a larger piece with your tag, or adding fine detail. Varying in more ways than you would think possible, they can range from Sharpies to paint markers to refillable ink mops. Easily the most-portable graffiti medium, markers are incredibly versatile and convenient for quick and easy tagging.

Brands to look for: Sakura, Markal, Krink, Molotow