Brian Ach

The legends are leaving us. Ricky Powell, born in Brooklyn, New York (and later moved to Manhattan), was the photographer of the mid-80s that documented the careers of rising hip-hop stars Run-DMC, LL Cool J, and most famously the Beastie Boys, among others died today at the age of 59. It is being reported that he passed away from heart failure.

Having a camera in hand at the moments that made these super heroes of rap visual icons, is what he did best.  Cey Adams, friend, founder of the Drawing Board creative agency and creator of Def Jam's visual presence in the 80s and 90s said it best, "New Yorker Ricky Powell reinvented street photography in the '80s." Powell, the type of guy who wrote his name in graffiti tag script, spoke heavy street slang, and had style for days looked at his work as something fun to do while having fun with his friends. He was often named the "fourth member" of the Beastie Boys, because of his tight relationship with the trio. Most of his iconic photos of the group came from the early days of traveling the world with them on the Def Jam record label powered Licensed To Ill tour. Many more tours would follow, but the frozen frames of tour life on buses and planes and in dressing rooms showed what life was like for young rap performers. Ricky provided the raw look as well as the sharp scenes of definition.

 

Often one to chill off the hustle of the industry lights, Powell took time to publish books of his work and muse on the times that shaped his life and New York culture. Just turning the pages of Oh Snap! The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell, all the way to the everyday shots of The Individualist, you can grasp that he loved the simple dope moments that time creates. He was just great enough to capture them. He had a famous pose that defined his mood, his right hand would pinch his thumb and index finger to replicate the holding of a joint, brought up to his pierced lips as if to inhale the invisible smoke. Such a dope look.

 

In Feburary 2020, just weeks before the quarantine, I got the chance to speak to Powell at a photo gallery exhibit that featured the work of many influential photographers. There he was, signing the photos of Run-DMC in Paris by the Eiffel Tower with his black sharpie...tagging it like a grimy NYC subway train car. He finishes and I ask him about the shot and the tours. "We were young, having fun. I shot what I saw. Rarely set up," his New York accent in full mode. "Wild times."
I assured that they were, but now I know of them because Powell made sure we didn't forget to see them.

Ricky Powell
Datwon Thomas
 

Respect and rest well, legend.

Gaz Coombes and co. shared a mysterious teaser online, highlighting Monday’s date (September 16)

Supergrass are teasing an upcoming announcement with fans, according to a new post.

The British band, fronted by Gaz Coombes, shared a cryptic new post across their social media channels this morning (September 13), suggesting to fans that a new announcement is on the way.

Posted at 9am BST, the post simply shared artwork of the band’s logo in red, alongside next Monday’s date, September 16. In the caption, the band simply wrote: “Sign up now”, alongside a link to their website’s homepage.

Upon clicking the link, the page prompts fans to sign up for future updates, and asks them to input both their email address and the country they live in. Check out the post below.

 

While details on the announcement remain sparse, the post has already caught fans’ attention, with some speculating that the news could be around the upcoming 30th anniversary of their debut album, ‘I Should Coco’.

Released in May 1995, the release marked the record that first put the band on the map, and contained singles ‘Mansize Rooster’, ‘Caught By The Fuzz, ‘Lose It’ and ‘Lenny’. It also saw Coombes and Co. nominated at the 1995 Mercury Prize, and contained what would soon become their biggest track to date, the Ivor-Novello winning ‘Alright’.

At time of writing, the band haven’t shared any further indication as to whether the announcement is related to the huge upcoming milestone – whether it be an anniversary tour or reissue – nor whether it has anything to do with new music that could be on the way.

The band’s last studio album was ‘Diamond Hoo Ha’, which arrived in 2008. Since then, they have shared remastered versions of both their 1999 self-titled album and their 2003 record ‘Life On Other Planets’.

In other news around the band, last year it was reported that the band’s frontman joined Johnny Marr onstage last month to perform The Smiths‘ classic ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ at Lakefest 2023.

Before then, Coombes opened up about how “nervous” he was about reuniting Supergrass following the success of his solo albums.

Supergrass split up in 2010 but reunited for a series of live shows in 2019. They released a live album in 2020, Live On Other Planets, to celebrate their 25th anniversary and raise money for grassroots venues affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Having got into a flow and the last two albums having done so well, it seemed a bit odd, like a backward step,” he said. “But then I was confident that I could operate both things together and it seems that I did, because I was obviously writing this record mainly during the reunion so I feel like I made best use of both things.”

Coombes’ fourth solo album, ‘Turn The Car Around’, came out in January of last year.

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