URBAN STREET JOURNAL
Throwback AUS | $12.40 NZ | $12.95 US | $9.30 Issue 1
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Editors Note URBAN STREET JOURNAL is a debut magazine designed by myself Douglas Page. This magazine focuses on urban street culture in all forms from art to music to sports. This debut issue revolves around the concept of “throwback Thursday” and explores updates, people and styles that relate in some way to the 80’s and 90’s eras. This magazine is for anyone interested in urban street culture and wants to keep up to date and informed on what is happening.
Disclaimer All content, unless otherwise specified is not my own and has been used for the use of a magazine for a tertiary assignment as a part of Waikato Institute of Technology. This includes anything from written content, photographs and any other form of imagery, and has been credited appropriately.
CONTENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS Lead Design & Editor | Douglas Page Co Editors | Jordan Foster and Luke McConnell Content Contributors | Billboard, NZ Herald, CNBC, NY Time, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Complex, VH1, Highsnobiety, Paper, Ironlak, ABC News, Stuff, Nike Images | Unsplash, Pexels
PAGE 6
PAGE 30
Meet Skyler Grey
Kendrick Lamar
PAGE 8
PAGE 32-33
Boon Festival
Jay-Z vs. Diddy
PAGE 11
PAGE 38
Opinion on Street Art
Space Jame Review
PAGE 18
PAGE 42
Bringing Back Vinyl
Greg Marius
PAGE 25
PAGE 44
J. Cole
Olympic Streetball
URBAN STREET JOURNAL
Photography by Levitucus
MEET SKYLER GREY, THE 17-YEAR-OLD STREET ARTIST BALANCING AN INTERNATIONAL ART CAREER WITH HIGH SCHOOL By Myrlaun Walker
Some people have called you the modern day Basquiat -- do you feel added pressure from the comparison?
While most 17-year-olds are busy worrying about math tests or sports games, LA-based high schooler and artist Skyler Grey has been building a buzzed-about street art practice. With graphic, pop-y street paintings that often take inspiration from classic cartoons or musicians he’s inspired by, Skyler has caught the attention of the art and media worlds and was named to Forbes’ annual “30 Under 30” this year and featured on BET and CNN. Currently represented by Avant Gallery in Miami, he’s seen his work exhibited everywhere from Graffik Gallery in London to The Four Seasons Jumeirah in Dubai. We had the chance to chat with the artist and hear about how he got his start, his creative process and his dream collab.
I don’t feel added pressure because the only reason people compare me to him is because of ethnicity and age range. But really, he started at 19 and expressed himself differently, so I feel I’m actually writing a new storyline, instead of filling his shoes.
How does it feel to be the youngest person to ever be on the Forbes list in the Art & Style section? It feels good! It feels that I’ve arrived -- just happens to come at a time I’m getting international recognition for my art, so I feel overjoyed and proud.
When did you start creating art? I’ve been drawing all my life, and at the age of 8 I was going to school 6 days a week -- 5 days of regular school and art school on Saturdays. Weekends I would wake up early and my dad would play different art documentaries for me to watch all day so at 8 I was exploring different art forms, galleries, and museums. By 11, I was creating art professionally. My first painting was of the Queen -- Amy Winehouse.
How do you navigate high school? Do you ever get treated differently because of your art career?
Did you think that you would have a budding career before graduating high school? Art has been my focus since childhood, so this has been coming for a while.
It’s all art to me, fashion, music, painting, it’s all an art form that works together. I express myself through my clothes and I’m fortunate enough to wear brands that inspire me to incorporate them in my art.
Who or what inspires your art?
What is your dream collaboration?
My art is inspired by a couple of things, music firstly. When I create I play anything from hip-hop to old school funk. Kanye West, Travis Scott, The Funkadelics, James Brown and a couple of more people are among my favorites. I am also inspired by the world -- from the homeless man on the corner to the way the trees move. I am inspired by our every day things.
Dream collaboration would be to do something with Andy Warhol or Jeff Koons -- these guys were and are the biggest of the past and present.
What is your creative process like?
I’m coming out with an album this year, entitled The Fresh Prince of Street Art that I will have a bunch of big features I’ll reveal closer to the project’s release.
Sometimes, because I get kids asking me for Instagram shoutouts all day long, which can be a little annoying when I just want to fit in like the other kids and get an education.
Your recent artwork incorporates the Chanel and Hermes logos, are you influenced by fashion?
On your Instagram it states you are a painter, rapper, actor. Are there any upcoming projects that you would like to share with us?
My creative process involves a lot of Kanye West and Chance the Rapper, and Kid Cudi blaring out of speakers, a couple of friends around (because I feed off of energy), and a bunch of spray paints, and shrimp alfredo so when I get tired I can get re-energized.
-Paper Mag
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URBAN STREET JOURNAL
ASKEW AT BOON FESTIVAL IN HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND RETURNING TO NEW ZEALAND, ASKEW PAINTS A PORTRAIT OF TE ATA ASKEW has been spending a bit of time back in New Zealand recently. As part of his return home he participated in Boon Festival in Hamilton – a city in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island. At Boon, he painted this mural – the centre piece a portrait of Te Ata.
It really is the warmth of the people, the sincere generosity and manner in which people extend those qualities unconditionally. Time moves a little slower here so people have a sense of perspective on those things – that makes my day. From my friend @discount.taxivan dropping everything to hit the road with me, the locals and business owners that extended their hospitality, fed us, brought me a coffee – to the guy that popped out the building window and offered me a box of donuts. A real high point was meeting the family of Te Ata, who I painted, they came past to check it out. So happy to get the official approval, made my day!”
Here’s some words from ASKEW about the whole experience: “Coming home felt kind of abrupt at first – compared to NY or Paris it felt like I’d hit the breaks. It took a few days to transition back into the flow of things but over those few days in Hamilton there were several reminders of what makes this place beautiful.
-Ironlak
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PETER DORNAUF: STREET ART REJUVENATES URBAN LANDSCAPE BY PETER DORNAUF OPINION: Apparently Christchurch is listed in the Lonely Planet Guide as one of the top cities for its street art, along with London (famous for Banksy), and New York. Obviously the people who make these calls have not visited Hamilton recently. If they had, they’d have seen that the city is blooming with bold, brightly coloured graphic images both in the CBD and in Hamilton East. This is a fairly recent phenomenon promoted by people associated with BOON, a biannual street art festival involving Creative Waikato, to animate the precincts by way of street art on a spare wall near you. The latest round of paintings took place a couple of weeks back with artists from around the country contributing to the rejuvenation of the urban landscape. Two sites have felt the presence of the artist spray can in Hamilton East while others in the city, especially a wall in Collingwood Street, have presented spectacular murals with funky abstract and pop art designs. My particular favourite, created two years ago, would have to be a work by Hamilton artist Eliza Webster and her dancing, prancing figures cavorting across the wall beneath the Claudelands overbridge. Jeremy Shirley is another who has brightened up many a bus shelter across the town. He’s also painted the mural that adorns the wall adjacent to the Riff Raff sculpture. Hamilton is well served by its creative community and Mesh is another arts organisation which has added enormously to the city street art in the form of modern, eye-catching sculptures. A fourth is in the pipeline, gratis to the city, to be located near the riverbank. Two other philanthropic groups which enhance and add value to the look of our streetscape are Toti and Riff Raff Public Arts trust which have donated works that both celebrate and commemorate the past as it pertains to Hamilton and its history. The Riff Raff statue also features in Lonely Planet. A city that ignores its past and heritage becomes a barren, soulless place, lacking a sense of history, identity or continuity. It may seem odd but there is another form of street art that people may not immediately associate with the term which has the capacity to embody the positive qualities mentioned above. Buildings that line the streets of a city are where both history, memory and aesthetics intersect. These constructions, architecturally designed, are in reality giant forms of sculpture. Some are beautiful, some less so. A city with soul will have administrators who carefully construct and implement legislation that both protects the past and enhances the future look of a
place in terms of its architectural character and inheritance. Hamilton and it administrators have been a little slow out of the blocks in this department. Heritage consultant Dr Ann McEwan proposed back in 2013 that the historic Euphrasie House (a rare Spanish Mission-style building on Clyde Street) be listed by Heritage New Zealand. The proposal was received but never actioned. Now the building is being demolished. Someone also, it seems, didn’t look too closely at the “independent” commissioner’s independence, who granted resource consent to demolish the beautiful heritage site. It’s been pointed out that the man had a working relationship with the diocese, and thus a potential conflict of interest was involved. Dr McEwan was on one of the panels that advised Hamilton City Council on matters of heritage preservation but those voluntary panels were astonishingly disestablished in the very first meeting of the new council back in January of this year. Recently the demolition crew have gone in and started to dismantle the beautiful old convent, prompting some in the community to use another form of street art to declare their abhorrence of such action. Various denunciations were drawn in chalk on the wall adjacent to the building, statements that summed up people’s anger toward the Bishop and the diocese. Words and phrases such as, “sacrilegious desecration”, “sinful”, “May God forgive you”, “Urban Terrorists”, “Hamilton Vandals” and “Shame on you, Bishop Steve”, were chalked up on the parameter red brick wall. The bishop had been visited by both local and national politicians on both sides of the house, but their pleas and offers of help obviously fell on deaf ears. The whole sad scenario was summed up by an online blogger who wrote: “What annoys me as a Mickey Doolan is they paid millions for the cathedral to be done up and revamped when there was nothing wrong with it as it was and then they come out and say this grand old building has got to go because they can’t ‘afford’ to do it up.” There are even some seasoned parishioners who have stopped going to church in a silent protest against the recent destruction involving the demolition of the presbytery and now the convent. While some conserve and preserve, others pull down and destroy. It appears to many that the demolishers are currently in the ascendancy in this town. Street art can do only so much to create a community and city with heart and soul when up against people with a lack of vision and imagination.
-Stuff
“I’m going to be a fashion icon in a minute. I’m not going to do it in a corny manner. I have a voice that speaks for a whole other market - not just black people, but high fashion urban people. I mix street wear with high fashion. It’s never been seen before”. -ASAP Rocky
URBAN STREET JOURNAL
VINYL IS VINTAGE AND THE FUTURE, AS NEW GENERATION WARMS TO AN OLD MUSIC FORM Natalia Wojcik
into his shop want to experience records in a completely different way. “Today people come in and already know what they’ll buy, whereas in the past you would have to take a chance,” Roberti said. “People will go into the shop and go through YouTube or Spotify before buying a record — which I think eliminates some of the adventure I felt [when] you talked to the record owner and learned about it that way.” Even with the popular interest in vinyl, Roberti wasn’t sure the resurgence is here to stay. “It’s hard to know where this is going in the next 5 or 10 years,” Roberti said, noting that recordings have been around for over 100 years. Still, “the notion that a big analog disc can exist in 2017 is kind of amazing to me.” Perry of The Stereo Times believes vinyl is on an upward trend. “It’s a tangible form… It’s a little personal contact with the music that no other format can really match. It’s really special in that regard,” Perry said. Vinyl is more special to some than others, with some deeppocketed fans shelling out thousands for vintage records. A recent survey conducted by website Mr. Gamez found the 25 most expensive records ever sold on eBay since its inception in 1995. Topping the list was “God Save the Queen” from the Sex Pistols, which was auctioned off for $10,578. Taking second place is “Please Please Me” by the Beatles, which went for $8,323. The people who spend this kind of money, though, aren’t just chasing sound quality. Vinyl, Perry said, allows you to connect with the music in a unique way. “If you want to really sink into the soul of the music, vinyl gives you a better chance of doing that without becoming an audiophile,” Perry said. “I’m not going to tell you that vinyl is better — you can’t quantify that it’s better,” he added. “People will say that they prefer it, [but] both vinyl and digital have their strengths and weaknesses.” Norton Records’ Linna added that “vinyl record fans in general... value the song and how it motivates us. It’s a pleasure to watch the label go around, to marvel, as I do with every record I spin, on the magic of a rotating piece of plastic, and how it can cause us to laugh, cry, fall in love, or jump for joy.”
Vinyl records, which is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity that’s outstripping digital music growth, proves the adage that everything old is new again. Last year, Vinyl LP sales reached 13 million, according to Nielsen’s Year-End Report released on Jan. 9. That figure was an all-time high since Nielsen started keeping track back in 1991. Despite the fact that cell phones and tablets are music lovers method of choice for music playback—a function of streaming media—vinyl’s vintage novelty is feeding a boom in record sales. So what gives? Clement Perry, the publisher of The Stereo Times, a magazine for audiophiles, said that for some, vinyl never went away: Indeed, a number of electronics makers still manufacture turntables for hard core music lovers. The renewed interest in vinyl from consumers at large is partly due to its increasing availability. “Millennials, a/k/a ‘kids these days’ are who we were back when we, or any generation, was spurred into a mania for records. For us, radio and records were the only way we could hear recorded music,” Miriam Linna, president of independent label Norton Records, told CNBC in an email. “Now with the internet and instant gratification, the younger record fans still love the feel and sound of a physical artefact. It’s highly personal,” she added, saying music has been “on a vinyl comeback trail for 30 years.” Linna added: “It hasn’t happened overnight at all. It’s small mom-n-pop labels that kept the pressing plants open and worked hard to keep the faith of the fans and artists.” According to MusicWatch, 56 percent of vinyl record purchasers are men, and almost half of purchasers are under 25 years old. The industry research company also found that 58 percent of vinyl buyer’s only purchase used records, versus 32 percent who only buy new ones. Despite the recent surge, vinyl sales make up a small portion of music sales as a whole—just 11 percent of physical album sales according to Nielsen. Yet data shows growth in LP sales has outstripped digital downloads, and vinyl is drawing in a new generation of music aficionados. Fabio Roberti is the owner of Earwax Records in the Brooklyn neighbourhood Williamsburg since 1996, and has been a radio disc jockey for over 30 years. He said that many young people who come
-CNBC
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Biography: J. Cole Name: Jermaine Lamarr Cole Age: 32 Occupation: Rapper | Songwriter Home: Raleigh | North Carolina | USA Genre: Hip Hop | Rap Recent Release: 4 Your Eyez Only About: Jermaine Cole, most commonly known as J. Cole, is a hip-hop and rap artist from North Carolina. J. Cole made his name after being signed onto Roc Nation by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, and become well known after his debut verse in Jay-Z’s song “A Star is Born”. Since then J.Cole has released 4 studio albums to high success, with his most recent album being 4 Your Eyez Only in 2017, going platinum with over 1,000,000 sales. J. Cole is well known for his storytelling methods in his music, very similar to the style of rap put out in the 80’s and 90’s era of hip-hop.
“I now possess the tools as a producer and a songwriter to really just go out and make smashes all day long. I could make an album full of smash records that got pop appeal. But my heart is in hip-hop. My heart is in telling stories. And it’s like therapy for me.” -J. Cole
J. COLE REFLECTS ON POWERFUL FINAL SCENE IN ‘4 YOUR EYEZ ONLY’ DOCUMENTARY Carl Lamarre J. Cole’s second HBO 4 Your Eyez Only documentary ends on a powerful note. The rapper had an exchange with a 52-year-old black woman who had lost both of her children to different tragedies, and was amazed by her positive spirit. On Thursday (May 3), Dreamville released a three-minute video featuring Cole reflecting on the heartfelt conversation he shared with the Baton Rouge native regarding her tragic losses. “I’m just looking at this lady and asking her about her life, asking her about her grandkids,” Cole tells the students of Southern University. “She tells me how many kids she got, and she tells me that she got a son that raps. He was 19 and he passed away. I didn’t want to get too much in her business, but I couldn’t help [it]. You know, I’m just out here talking to people and she told me. She was like, “He was 19-years-old.
His best friend had a gun. They started arguing over the gun and they’re like wrestling over the gun or something, and he got killed like that.’” Shaken by the woman’s resilience, Cole then explains the story of her daughter, who was also murdered. “We keep talking and then she tells me she had a daughter that was 14 that got murdered. She didn’t say it like it didn’t mean nothing, but I didn’t see no type of like bitterness or anger in this woman,” he says. At the end of the clip, the NC rapper referred to his interaction with the mother as a “blessing,” and applauded her for her strength to push forward and juggle three jobs while attaching her purpose to God after enduring such tragedies. Earlier this week, Cole was named a headliner for this year’s Made in America Festival, alongside Jay Z and The Chainsmokers.
-Billboard
Biography: Kendrick Lamar Name: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth Age: 29 Occupation: Rapper | Songwriter Home: Compton | California | LA | USA Genre: Hip Hop | Rap Recent Release: DAMN. About: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, more commonly known as Kendrick Lamar is a hip-hop artist from Compton, Los Angeles. Kendrick Lamar made his name in the industry largely after his studio released album good kid, m.A.A.d city, with the album becoming platinum certified. Kendrick Lamar since then has released many hit singles and 2 studio albums in high critical success, winning several nominations and awards. His most recent album was DAMN. Released in 2017 with the song “Humble” instantly becoming a number one hit single. Kendrick Lamar’s style of rap ranges over a variety of styles, with popularity leaning towards his storytelling methods, similar to that of the 80’s and 90’s era of hip-hop, much of where his influences occurred.
“It was always me vs. the world -Kendrick Lamar
d, until I found it is me vs. me.�
URBAN STREET JOURNAL
WITH DAMN., KENDRICK LAMAR JUST GAVE RAP ONE GIANT HULK-SMASH Chris Schulz
cameo! For Bono! On Loyalty, he hooks up with Rihanna for a pop culture moment. Duckworth includes an apparently true story about his father’s near-death experience. Fear includes backwards lyrics you’ll need to Google to decipher. Yes, DAMN. requires some serious unpacking. You may want to pack a notepad and pen. But it’s so worth it. “I’m willing to die for this,” Lamar claims on Element, before bursting into song about “looking sexy” while destroying his competition. You can almost see the grin. It proves he’s not just enjoying his demolition job, Lamar’s savouring every second of it. How ubiquitous are DAMN.’s songs already? At his headlining appearance at Coachella on Sunday night, just three days after the album’s release, Lamar sprayed eight of its 14 songs through his set, opening with DNA.’s bruising headshots, then sparked a near-riot by closing his main set with HUMBLE., which, in two weeks, has become one of the year’s best singles. But the most telling moment came when he rose into the air from a stage in the middle of the crowd, crouching, staring straight ahead, silent, but poised, ready for action. The image was entirely apt: Lamar was a king among his subjects and right now he’s absolutely untouchable.
What if Kendrick Lamar got really mad? For six years and four albums - a lifetime in hip-hop that’s the question everyone’s been asking. Over the weekend, we got our answer. “I don’t contemplate, I meditate, then off your f***king head,” spits the 29-year-old Compton native on DNA., the first of DAMN.’s many blisteringly focused verbal assaults. After two minutes, the beat slows, the bass gets lower, and Lamar really cuts loose. “You muthaf*****s can’t tell me nothing,” he bellows. “My DNA’s not for imitating / Your DNA’s an abomination.” Phew. If DAMN.’s moody album art didn’t warn you, then DNA. slams the message home. On the follow-up to 2015’s progressive jazz-funk odyssey To Pimp A Butterfly, Lamar isn’t holding back. He’s got issues, and he’s ready to go to war over them. The results are nothing short of breath-taking. In the year of the flex, one which has already seen great rap albums delivered by Migos, Run the Jewels, Drake, Joey Bada$$ and two - two! - from Future, DAMN. hits like a muscled-up Hulk smash. On XXX., Lamar grinds about Donald Trump and Fox News, spits the line, “The great American flag is wrapped and dragged with explosives,” then gifts Bono a small cameo. A
-New Zealand Herald
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JAY Z MIGHT BE A BILLIONAIRE AFTER $200 MILLION ROC NATION DEAL Jonathan Sawyer Just yesterday we highlighted Forbes‘s list of wealthiest hip-hop artists, which saw Diddy and Jay Z — go figure — jockeying for the top position. Currently, Jay has a net worth of roughly $810 million USD, while Diddy’s is $820 million, so the question remains, who will become a billionaire first? Well, thanks to a new Roc Nation tour deal, that might just be Hov. Jay Z has subsequently inked a new 10-year partnership with Live Nation, covering worldwide touring, with Live Nation as producer and promoter. “Live Nation and I entered unchartered territory in 2008,” said Jigga in a statement. “Over nine years, we have travelled the world producing historic music experiences. Michael Rapino is an industry visionary, and this renewed partnership is a testament to
our longstanding relationship and the talented individuals at Live Nation. For the next 10 years, we will continue redefining the live event landscape.” “Jay Z is one of the world’s preeminent touring artists,” Live Nation president/CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. “This strengthens the creative and business partnership of someone that continues to expand his touring base and reach. News of the Live Nation deal arrives as Jay Z is reportedly focused on revitalizing his own music career, as he is rumoured to be working on a new album. Your move, Diddy.
-Highsnobiety
DIDDY NAMED WEALTHIEST HIP-HOP ARTIST FOR SIXTH YEAR IN A ROW Erin Nyren It appears, indeed, to be all about the Benjamin’s for Sean “Diddy” Combs. The rapper has topped 2017’s edition of Forbes‘ annual ranking of the top five wealthiest hip-hop artists, for the sixth year running. Diddy is worth about $820 million, beating Jay-Z by $20 million, although Jay-Z gained significantly on Diddy over last year with a 30% increase in net worth — thanks largely to Sprint’s $200 million investment in his music streaming service Tidal. Following Mr. Carter is Dr. Dre at $740 million. Although he lags behind Diddy and Jay-Z by about $100 million this year, Dr. Dre still holds the record for the largest single-year payday by a living musician, with his 2014 sale of Beats by Dre to Apple for $3 billion. The rest of the high earners are worth significantly less than the
top three, with $730 million separating Diddy (at No. 1) and Drake (at No. 5). Birdman, co-owner for Cash Money Records, which is home to Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Lil Wayne, comes in fourth with $110 million. Rumours indicate that the three superstars might be leaving the record company so Birdman’s days on the list may be numbered. Finishing fifth is Aubrey “Drake” Graham, whose “Views” world tour raked in almost $1 million per night. He’s worth a comparatively small $90 million. At only 30 years old, however, and with deals with Apple, Nike, and Sprite, Drake’s fortune is only growing.
-Variety Media
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.� -Abraham Lincoln
URBAN STREET JOURNAL
‘SPACE JAM’: THR’S 1996 REVIEW Duane Byrge On Nov. 15, 1996, Warner Bros. teamed with Michael Jordan to launch Space Jam in theatres, eventually grossing more than $230 million worldwide. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below. Michael Jordan proves here that Dennis Rodman is not the only Looney Tune he can play with. Taking the cinematic court with Warner Bros.’ vaunted line-up of Looney Tune characters, including Bugs, Daffy, Elmer et al., Jordan and his new cartoon teammates scores some fast-breaking laughs in this animation/live action teaming. Kids who want to be “just like Mike,” as well as we bigger kids who get transported back to happy days via Bugs and the other Looney Tuners, will get off on this cagey winner. Expect a high-scoring box office for Warner Bros. A hybrid in optical style — animation with live action — Space Jam is also a creative amalgam, owing its inspiration to Nike ads and Jordan’s ascendant popularity as a superstar pitchman and following through with a traditional film scenario centring around a shootout with bad invaders. With Jordan on the team, the shootout is held, not surprisingly, on the basketball court where the Looney Tunes must defeat a force of nasty aliens to avoid serving as perpetual theme-park attractions at Moron Mountain. A team of screenwriters (Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, Herschel Weingrod) has drawn up a simple cinematic play of Xs and Os, allowing all the individual superstars from Mike to Elmer Fudd to have their moments in which to shine. The creators have shrewdly thrown in some supporting real-life characters to give Mike
some comic assists. These are most notably Bill Murray, who tosses some no-look nonsense to Mike, and Wayne Knight, a recurring delight as a rotund publicist. There’s also a team of NBAers, including Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Shawn Bradley and Muggsy Bogues, who cash in with their hoops presence. It’s a well-selected comedy team, with the 7’7” Bradley and the 5’3” Muggsy making a great sight gag whenever cinematographer Michael Chapman can fit them into the same frame. Indeed, the integration of real-life Muggsy with cartoon Bugsy is a hoot. Credit veteran TV commercial director Joe Pytka, whose zingy ads spotlight sports personalities, for the fast-break action. Perhaps the real superstars of Space Jam, however, are the talented technical team members who have magically blended the real-life and cartoon worlds. Overall, Space Jam is a seamless marvel as Jordan slams and jams in the Looney Tune world. Animation co-directors Bruce Smith and Tony Cervone have orchestrated a dazzlingly visual treat, including some zippy fun courtesy of special visual effects maestro Ed Jones and his ace team. Jordan’s superstar persona and serious demeanour are well-suited for his role, essentially that of a straight man. His unruffled confidence and restless energy make him the perfect star and the perfect foil for his new 2-D teammates. If Space Jam scores heavily, don’t be surprised if the next big-screen Jordan effort is a single-product, 88-minute commercial posting low as a feature film. — Duane Byrge, originally published on Nov. 12, 1996
-The Hollywood Reporter
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URBAN STREET JOURNAL
GREG MARIUS, IMPRESARIO OF HARLEM STREET BALL, DIES AT 59 Daniel E. Slotnick
thousands of roaring fans, many of whom wait hours to watch the games, which offer free admission. Mr. Marius also took versions of the tournament on the road to other cities, broadening street ball’s audience. N.B.A. stars like LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant have all played in the E.B.C. So has Kevin Durant, who once scored 66 points in a game. The hip-hop musicians Sean Combs, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Jay Z and others have sponsored teams. The tournament has attracted corporate sponsors like Reebok, Gatorade, AT&T and Tommy Hilfiger, and games have been broadcast on NBA TV and MSG. In the process, tiny Rucker Park has become an international symbol of basketball prowess, and tourists now flock to join the locals at E.B.C. games, many of them hoping to see celebrities along the sideline. Alicia Keys, Denzel Washington and former President Bill Clinton have been among the luminaries in the crowd. Gregory Alexander Marius was born in Harlem on March 18, 1958. His mother, the former Elaine Smith, was a community activist; his father, Nathan, was a chemist at a hospital in Paterson, N.J. Mr. Marius grew up in Harlem and lived there at his death. He graduated from La Salle Academy, a Roman Catholic school in the East Village in Manhattan, then attended St. John’s University in Queens. In addition to his sister Cheryl, he survived by another sister, Stacey Marius; a daughter, Charisma Marius; and three sons, Raheem, Gregory and Nathan. Starting in the 1980s, running and promoting the E.B.C. was Mr. Marius’s full-time occupation. But some Harlem locals, including Mr. Hammond, the former Rucker Park star, did not welcome all the hullabaloo. “It ain’t what Rucker built it to be,” Mr. Hammond said in 2002. “It’s a tourist attraction now, a moneymaker, and the big business is killing the basketball.” The criticism did not faze Mr. Marius. “I’m not going to apologize for turning a street-ball game into one of the largest marketing tools in corporate America,” he said. He added: “The people who say that we aren’t part of the Holcombe Rucker philosophy are right. But who can deny the fact that my league has kept the legacy of Holcombe Rucker alive?”
Greg Marius, who helped make street basketball big business when he founded a tournament in Harlem that let playground standouts share the court with professional stars in a raucous atmosphere of dazzling play, hip-hop music and exuberant crowds, died on Saturday in Harlem. He was 59. His sister Cheryl Marius, who confirmed the death, at a hospital, said he had cancer. Mr. Marius was a young rapper with a group called the Disco Four when he started the tournament, the Entertainers Basketball Classic, in 1982, originally involving rival hip-hop crews who played one another on Harlem courts. Before long, he began inviting more talented players to participate, and soon the E.B.C. became a prominent basketball tournament in Harlem, held at Holcombe Rucker Park, at West 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, near the site of the old Polo Grounds. At the time, Rucker Park was already hallowed ground to fans of street ball, a louder, flashier relative of professional basketball that emphasizes individuality, slick moves and dunks over the fundamentals. Named after Holcombe Rucker, who founded a tournament to keep neighbourhood youths off the streets in 1946, the park became a proving ground for home grown talent. In the 1970s, National Basketball Association stars like Wilt Chamberlain, Connie Hawkins and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came to challenge local talent like Joe Hammond, known as the Destroyer, and Earl Manigault, nicknamed the Goat. (For Hawkins, it was a homecoming: He had been a schoolboy legend at Rucker who many students of the game say played his best ball there in obscurity.) But by the early 1980s, professional players were much less likely to show up at Rucker and risk injuries that could jeopardize their N.B.A. careers. That was when Mr. Marius took the lead in enticing top talent to return through aggressive promotion and corporate sponsorships, transforming Rucker Park’s pro-versusplayground history into a branding opportunity. “I’m not going to tell you that this is a multimillion-dollar business — not yet, anyway,” Mr. Marius told The New York Times in 2002. “But we’re about to take off in that direction.” The E.B.C. is now an elimination tournament held every summer and lasting for weeks, the basketball accentuated by a booming hip-hop soundtrack, enthusiastic play-by-play calling and
-The New York Times
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URBAN STREET JOURNAL
OLYMPICS GETS ‘STREETBALL’ AS IOC ADDS THREE-ONTHREE BASKETBALL TO TOKYO PROGRAM The Tokyo Olympics will feature three-on-three basketball after the IOC added the sport to the 2020 program to give the games a more youthful and urban appeal. In another move toward street sports, BMX Freestyle cycling will also join the Olympics for the first time, among a net increase of 15 gold medals for a 321-event program. However, the IOC cut 285 athlete places from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, with track and field losing 105 spots. The overall athlete quota for 28 core sports will be 10,616 athletes in Tokyo, including 64 in three-on-three basketball. There will be eight teams in each of the men’s and women’s tournaments of the half-court format, which was introduced at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. “The dream of a path from the streets to the Olympic Games has become reality for all the basketball community,” said Patrick Baumann, the secretary general of basketball governing body FIBA. An urban Tokyo venue for three-on-three basketball could be announced when the IOC executive board meets again in Lausanne on July 9-10, IOC sports director Kit McConnell said. Track cycling will add men’s and women’s madison races in 2020 — in a velodrome about 130 kilometres outside Tokyo — and swimming will add men’s 800-metre freestyle and women’s 1,500-metre freestyle events. Swimming also gets a 4x100-metre mixed medley relay among a broad increase in mixed gender events, including a 4x400 mixed relay on the track. “I am delighted that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will be more youthful, more urban and will include more women,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement. The IOC expects women to account for 48.8 per cent of the athletes in Tokyo. Events confirmed on Friday are in addition to decisions last August to include sports climbing, skateboarding, surfing, baseball and softball and karate in the Tokyo program. Among sports losing athlete places, weightlifting will have 64 fewer in Tokyo after reporting dozens of doping cases in retested samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Games.
Wrestling will lose 56 places, sailing and shooting will each lose 30 and swimming will have 22 fewer. How exactly to cut 105 athletes from track and field will be discussed with the IAAF at its world championships in London in August, McConnell said. He noted that some sprint relay places typically went unused. 2024, 2028 Olympic hosts to be picked together The IOC has also formally proposed picking the 2024 and 2028 Olympic host cities at the same time this year. Los Angeles and Paris now seem certain to both be awarded a Summer Games in September as the IOC tries to safeguard its signature event for the next decade. “This represents a golden opportunity for the Olympic Games and for the IOC,” Mr Bach said at a news conference after an executive board meeting. The widely expected proposal from the board did not address which city would go first and stage the 2024 Olympics. A meeting of the full IOC from July 11-12 in Lausanne will be asked to ratify the board’s request. The 95-strong membership seems unlikely to block a policy that could help define Mr Bach’s eight-year first presidential term at its midpoint. A final vote to confirm the hosting order should take place on September 13 in Lima, Peru, at the regularly scheduled IOC annual meeting. Paris and LA bid leaders both issued statements welcoming the IOC board decision, and could yet agree how to split the games in the coming weeks. Mr Bach said there had been talks but not negotiations with officials from Los Angeles and Paris, which he described as “two such great cities, two such great countries, having two candidatures who are really enthusiastic”. Paris has emerged as the favourite for 2024, and bid leaders insist they can focus only on that option. Public comments from LA bid leaders have been more flexible and acknowledged talks to explore who could be persuaded to accept 2028.
-ABC News
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