From the days when taggers bombed the New York transit line to the five different covers to Kanye West’s latest album, Hip Hop and art have always been nearly inseparable. Now, Chuck D joins the ever-growing list of emcees to collaborate with artists, as the Public Enemy frontman gears up to launch his first-ever art collection titled “By the Time I Get to Arizona.”
Debuting this March, the prints find Chuck D and collaborator Ravi Dosage envisioning what has been described as “…a future Arizona border created in a sophisticated collage utilizing a cache of recognizable figures (created over the last 100 years) to show how our ‘nation of immigrants’ has been lost to legislation.” The collection was inspired by Arizona’s stringent immigration policies and takes its title from Public Enemy’s 1991 song of the same name (see below).
Chuck and Dosage will release the series of 300 prints on March 4, with over 30 figures, lyrics and messages hidden throughout the piece. Each print will also feature the rapper’s handprint plastered on the print in paint and a placard of authenticity signed by Chuck D himself.
“By the Time I Get to Arizona” isn’t Dosage’s first flirtation with the rap game, however. Last year, the artist collaborated with the RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan on the critically acclaimed piece “Victory or Death.”
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Fans looking to pick up a copy of Chuck D and Dosage’s work can head to their website for more information.
