SMOOTH Magazine
Basquiat, Edited by Mark Mayer (Merrell)
For those who don’t know, Jean-Michel Basquiat was one of the superstars of the intensely vibrant New York City art scene of the 1980’s. Drawing his inspiration from graffiti, cartoons, street imagery, mythology, and religious symbolism, Basquiat was also influenced by sources as divergent as Pablo Picasso and the emerging hip-hop culture. His work seemed chaotic yet was actually tightly controlled, often exploring issues of race and identity. A teenage runaway and high school dropout, he died at the age of 27, his fantastic but all-too-brief career regretfully lasting only eight years. If you dig contemporary art, Basquiat is well worth the hefty price tag. It includes an abundance …
…of first-rate reproductions of his most famous work, as well as some highly obscure pieces from private collections. Four superb essays illuminate several important topics, including Basquiat’s meteoric rise to fame, his lasting relevance, and his relationship to contemporary music, especially hip-hop.—Justin Remus
Copyright Star Media Spring 2006
Nasty: A Confession, by Cameron White (Greystone Books)
Cameron White—a.k.a. Mr Nasty—is the author and star of this cautionary tale about the metamorphosis of a small-time London drug dealer into an internationally successful, “Armani-clad narco-deity” who eventually becomes a full-blown smack addict. Fortunately, Mr Nasty was able to clean up his act and give us this fascinating confessional of his rise and fall, complete with a logical and impassioned plea to legalize the production, distribution, and sale of all narcotics. We’ve heard this yarn before, but rarely has it been so skillfully woven and so eloquently conveyed. Mr. White is hyper-articulate, lucid, analytical, and he peppers his harrowing tale with tons of slang, a la A Clockwork Orange. There’s no sentimentality here. It’s brutal, it’s raw, it’s authentic, and it’s relevant to our time. It’s also impossible to put down once you’ve taken a hit. “Grade A kit,” as Mr Nasty would say. It’s time to chase the dragon.—Justin Remus
Copyright Star Media Winter 2004
Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith with David Steele (Temple University Press)
When gold medalist Tommie Smith raised his black-gloved fist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics (the “silent gesture” of the title), it required more courage than we can imagine in our more “enlightened” age. Now, almost 40 years later, Smith reveals why he did what he did and dispels the myths that he was affiliated with the Black Panthers and that his medal was confiscated. With his entire future at stake, Smith’s protest gesture—an iconic image that continues to resonate today—was done in solidarity with all disenfranchised Americans, not just Blacks. After the awards ceremony he paid a terrible price for his defiance: hate mail, ostracization, and unemployment. Still, he has no regrets about doing what had to be done. Smith’s account is told in simple but eloquent fashion, tempered by a healthy dose of irony and humor. He never romanticizes his actions, but rightfully acknowledges their powerful social impact.—Justin Remus
Copyright Star Media Spring 2007
Have You Met Miss Jones?
By Tarsha Jones (One World/Ballantine)
It’s unlikely that the autobiography of controversial New York radio host Miss Jones will win its author any new friends, but it does make for provocative reading. If nothing else, Jones is a survivor, and you can’t help but admire her resiliency. She’s brutally honest and clearly relishes dishing the dirt on celebrities, friends, rivals, and lovers, some of whom cruelly betrayed her. But Jonesy can also be quite complimentary when necessary, and the book provides a nice overview of the 90s hip-hop scene, during which she was a successful singer before transitioning into radio. Her writing style is blunt, but with a special flair for the dramatic, much like her on-air personality. At times, one gets the feeling that Miss Jones biggest fan is, well… Miss Jones. But that’s OK. You’ve got to be tough to make it in the ultra-competitive, sexist world of hip-hop, not to mention the White-male dominated environment of corporate radio.—Justin Remus
Copyright Star Media Summer 2007
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