Rap/Hip-Hop

September 28th, 2005 in Chicago. A quick portrait taken before a performance.

December 10th, 1986 in Los Angeles, California. A portrait for Playboy to illustrate what government censorship might do to musicians. Got to his house as he was getting ready to watch “Raising Arizona” so we grabbed some ice cream bars out of the freezer and watched the movie. I had three rolls of tape with me (red, white and blue). Toward the end of the film, I got them out and fashioned them into one piece of red, white and blue tape. When the movie ended, I handed it to him and told him to put it over his mouth, hoping that he would like the idea. If not, I had no backup plan. He just chuckeled, said great and the shoot was done in five minutes.

September 24th, 2016 in Chicago. In 2016, Chance started his tour by inviting every artist that he knew to appear with him at a baseball stadium, and they all agreed. It was one of the biggest gatherings of Rap and Hip Hop stars in the history of the genre. 12 hours of music in front of 60,000 fans, young and old, black and white.

July 12th, 1991 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. On assignment for Rolling Stone, I was tasked with getting a picture of Chuck and Flav together on stage, an almost impossible task, as Flav never stops moving. So I went backstage before the show and asked Chuck if he could pick one song and play it together, and he was happy to oblige.

September 24th, 2016 in Chicago. During Chance the Rapper’s monsterous show, Common stole the show with a stirring rendition of his Academy Award winning song “Glory.” The entire crowd sang along.

December 15th, 1985 in Chicago. I was photographing a day long festival in Chicago. I went backstage to get something to eat and saw these three guys hanging out. So I asked them to pose for a few pictures. They were more than happy!

December 31st, 2006 in Chicago. I was working on a Comedy Central special with a guy named Katt Williams. I was told that there would be some special guests appearing late in the show. About 3/4 of the way into the show, Snoop walked out on the stage, did about 10 minutes of hilarity and walked off.

May 26th, 2006 in Chicago. I was photographing around a video shoot for a Chicago based rapper named Rhymefest. Whenever there was a break in the action, I would take him aside and do a series of photos, then go back to shooting around the video shoot.

November 17th, 1993 in Chicago. I was working for a television show in Chicago. Whenever they would have a musical guest I would bring a backdrop and do some portraits after the show had finished taping.

September 24th, 2016 in Chicago. Another act on Chance the Rapper’s amazing all day show. During his set I looked over and there was a mom and two kids singing along to every song. This was especially crazy as the lyrics were filled with filthy language!