S.H.A.R.P. Summer '09 Mixtape@ Ballou

compiled, mixed, produced, and hosted by
students of the Summer Humanities Arts Readiness Program, Ballou HS, Summer '09

Executive Produced by Omar Retnuh, DJ 2Tone Jones, and Slimkat 78 for Guerilla Arts Ink, LLC  
(c) 2009 all rights reserved.

 http://www.sendspace.com/file/i19la2 

Barack endorsement

During the elections I was working on a H.E.L.P. cover for Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech. I was designing the Cover in L.A, watching the Democratic Convention. Asheru got the cover to Barack’s staff during the National Black Caucus. The President to be endorsed the workbook and praised the concept. We had to wait until he won before we could put the book out, but it was worth the wait. Just Knowing that Obama had my illustration in his hands and approved of his depiction means so much to me.

Dj pay mixtape

Dj Pay hosts the “Black Broadway Don” project from Heron Gibran. The Black Broadway Don project features original production from The Next Movement, Omar Retnu, and DJ Khalil. Pay, a well-known radio host for the Internet based radio station Royal Radio (www.royalradio.com) in Amsterdam is involved in the music scene Worldwide. I wanted to take my music to a studio and get my tracks mixed to once again get a cleaner sound. I feel it means everything. I brought my files to Depth Charge and asked Wise to work some magic. I knew I would use that intro from Poetic Justice and couldn’t think of a better project. I wrote that first song in Vancouver chilling watching the mountains. The themes of the newer songs ranged from bravado to reflective and sorrowful. The industry instrumentals were chosen based on their contrast to my producer’s tracks. I wanted to show my ability to write songs to these “kind” of tracks and because they helped get the point of the song across to whom I wanted the songs to reach. The tracks did take a sharp left down south, but I wanted that sound to add to songs like “Keep on Rocking” and “The Light”.

dowload it now!!!

( http://www.sendspace.com/file/83cgmh )

Heron Gibran @ ARTOMATIC

         I recently had an art showing at this year's ARTOMATIC. Artomatic is a staple in the arts scene in Washington, D.C. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the art show. Over a thousand artists were showing their work this year. I figured this would be a great first step in letting the world Know about the visual art that I create. The response was phenomenal. I will upload their comments soon. The comments really inspired me. My father helped me create the display. I designed the display to be clean and accessible. My father being the master carpenter built the display in about 6 hours. Special thanks to my DAD for coming down from New York on short notice although he had a big job for DKNY the next day. I wanted to showcase my Digital as well as traditional art. I finished the Soulja Slim painting and couldn't wait to show this labor of love. I have been working on this piece for years. I would go on these two-week runs every six or so months.

         I have been doing my freelance Illustrator thing this year and completed roughly a 100 illustrations for H.E.L.P. ( www.edlyrics.com ). I wanted to keep my display clean so I decided to create books. The books made the display interactive. I wanted to bring the viewer into the display and engage them. I used a 17-inch frame to display my animations I created in after effects from the stills taken earlier this year. The final piece was a digital print of an illustration I did of my lil nephew Kevin. A 16-year-old left a comment about it being one of inspirational things he has seen. When I create the drawings I don’t think about how it affects the viewer. This exhibit showed me that there is an audience for my voice. I sold all of my pieces I made available.

Teaching at Ballou

This summer I taught an Art Class at Ballou high school in DC. Asheru was putting together a summer program and needed some one to coordinate the visual arts portion of the program. After quitting last august I told myself I wouldnt be teaching anymore. The opportunity to be in DC and to work with my friends again for another summer was too enticing and New York was begining to feel stale. I found myself on the South Side of town at "Big Bad Ballou" and was ready for the challenge. My students were eager to learn and well behaved and it was a joy interacting with them. I love working for DCPS because you always have to start with pencil and paper because they are always late with money for supplies. I never understood it. Ever since I was a teenager our supplies always came during the third week of a six week program.

After running through some of the basics I began prepping them for our mural project. I had this vision of the Ballou Knight (school mascot) protecting the kingdom of south east. Ballou Senior High School was the castle and the Anacostisa river would be the moat separating it from the rest of DC. I had a great time at my brother Branch's school. I am so proud to see him as the principal of such a large school. When it comes to teaching with Guerilla Arts ( guerillaarts.ning.com )I'm always down.