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Forum nameThe Lesson
Topic subjectKnow Your History: When Ramellzee shitted on Basquiat
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2682038&mesg_id=2682038
2682038, Know Your History: When Ramellzee shitted on Basquiat
Posted by imcvspl, Thu Apr-05-12 09:31 AM
From this great piece - http://www.egotripland.com/rammellzee-beat-bop/

What are your recollections about the whole process of making “Beat Bop”? How did you meet Jean-Michel Basquiat?
Rammellzee: Jean-Michel wanted to do a rap song because rap was coming into power at the time and that was one of the things besides writing on the trains that he didn’t know how to do. He didn’t know how to do wild style or a true burner like some of these things in here . And I was brung into the city by Fab 5 Freddy to interrogate this guy.

And the basis of the interrogation was…?
Rammellzee: What he knew about art. Why was he in the power play position? And to tell him: you need to leave this shit alone and let the real troopers who did do something on the trains get past you and Keith Haring and let these fools know there’s an ikonoklastic war about to happen…

During the process of interrogation I had made a bet with him: I can do what you can do, you can’t do what I can do. He had brought three canvases, set ’em up and got me the paint in the basement of Annina Nosei’s gallery, which was his first gallery like 1982. And in the basement he decided to let me paint these canvases, and Annina Nosei sold all three at his price. My prices where nowhere near his because he was going off and selling well. She came into the gallery and she told him, “I sold three of your best artworks.” I said, “Give me my money!” “Now you gotta do what I do!” He never did what I could do. He switched from trying to do and went to do the song.

*****

I could say a lot about this, but what do *you* think?

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