All Articles (5)
News
Aug 28, 2019
Pedro Bell (1950–2019), Funkadelic album cover artist
Pedro Bell was the self-taught artist who created some of Funkadelic’s most iconic album covers. Bell also wrote liner notes for the albums under the name Sir Lleb, and his intricate images and text helped shape Funkadelic’s unique aesthetic. A fan of Funkadelic’s early music, the Chicago native reached out to their record label in the early 1970s to show them his artwork and ask if it could be used for the band. George Clinton, Funkadelic’s bandleader, liked Bell’s work so much that he asked him to design the cover for their next album, 1973’s “Cosmic Slop.” Bell went on to design covers for a number of Funkadelic’s albums, including their most successful, 1978’s “One Nation Under a Groove.” Fans pored over Bell’s richly detailed covers, finding something new every time they looked. Bell also designed album covers for Clinton’s solo work, as well as working day jobs as a postal worker and security guard.
News
Jul 30, 2019
Ras G (1979–2019), hip hop musician and producer
Ras G was a hip hop musician and producer known for his instrumental, Afrofuturist music, focusing on beats as he blended genres including hip hop, funk, jazz, and psychedelia. Born Gregory Shorter Jr., Ras G was an important part of Los Angeles’ Beat scene and a co-founder of Brainfeeder Records. He released records as a solo act as well as with the Afrikan Space Program. His records include “Ghetto Sci-Fi” (2008), “Brotha From Anotha Planet” (2009), and “Back on the Planet” (2013).
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News
Feb 1, 2018
Celebrating Afrofuturists (video)
Afrofuturism describes a cultural movement by black artists and thinkers who embrace science fiction, fantasy, and other visionary storytelling forms to explore the complex realities of people of color. We kick off Black History Month this year with a salute to the pioneers of Afrofuturism: writers like Octavia Butler (1947–2006) and W.E.B. DuBois (1868–1963), space jazz pioneer (1914–1993), and expressive painter Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988). All have left creative legacies that inspire visions of a imaginative future as seen through the diverse lens of humanity's past.
News
May 22, 2014
Sun Ra: Visitor From Saturn
Legendary jazz pianist Sun Ra was born 100 years ago today in Birmingham, Alabama. Or maybe not. As Ra said of himself in 1998, "I'm a psychic being, and you know, we don't concern ourselves with being born; we concern ourselves with being eternal."
News
Jul 1, 2010
Rammellzee, Hip-Hop Pioneer
Music blogs were buzzing yesterday with the news that legendary had died at age 49. As is increasingly the case these days, the news first broke not over the wires but on Twitter, where fellow old school hip-hop Renaissance man Fab Five Freddy first shared news of his death.
