Artistic Integrity: Giacometti v. Bobby Ray aka B.O.B.

Ok, so I'm bringing back my segment "Artistic Integrity." I stopped for awhile, but I got re-inspired for lack of a better word after seeing Mickey Factz's GFCNY blog with their section on artwork with Mickey's poems (WATTUP MICKEY). For those not familiar with it check the last two posts on Nas and Wale. I'm a fan of Art and Music so I'm pretty much fusing the two. I'm going to drop a classic artwork, capture the vibe and compare it to a track.

Damn these people look lonely.....don't they? It was exactly the vibe Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti was going for. His artwork was a social criticism of the late 1940s after World War II. He noticed that after the horrors of the war, society just wasn't the same. The streets seemed empty and the people seemed isolated and looked emaciated searching for different ways to cope with the difficulty of the war. The above sculpture is his artistic interpretation of a popular street corner where he used to live. Everybody is faceless and detached from the world dealing with their own problems.

Similarly, B.O.B. captures the same vibe with "Lonely People", a song that samples the Beatles classic, but he addresses the questionable lifestyle of society specifically regarding alcohol and drug abuse. The visuals of the video are dope as well, because even though you can be in a room surrounded by people you can still be lonely because of your situation.

There is a lot of story telling on this track from visions of children left crying in the alley to girls suffering from depression and pressures of conformity. So vibe to the track and look at the sculptures, and tell me that you don't see a resemblance to what you are listening to.

DOWNLOAD: B.O.B. - Lonely People (NO DJ)

Oh yeah, I def had to show to provide the Beatles classic song as well. Listen to their lyrics as well as it also pertains to the same gloomy view that Giacometti captured.

Out...next segment will be dedicated to Mickey Factz.

Artistic Integrity: Hopper v. Nas

Aight, I'm back with another post for Artistic Integrity, now if you don't know about this segment just check the last post as it was inspired by that Wale track.

Edward Hopper - Nighthawks (1942)

What is the first thing you realize about this painting? For me, it was the damn isolation of all of the figures, especially the center figure that is going to be the focus of my post. Even though there is a couple, they seem disinterested and distant at the time. Hopper's painting shows that even though there can be a lot of people in the city (inspired by Manhattan), there is still loneliness.

Nas - Drunk By Myself

I got to say one of my favorite CDs ever is the The Lost Tapes by Nas, so when I saw this painting I immediately thought about that Nas track because it is essentially about depression and solitude. The dude in the middle of the painting is by his lonesome and it is almost assumed that he is drinking away the pain. Now of course I could have put that classic Mobb Deep and Q-Tip track, but I remembered these Nas lyrics (3rd Verse/ 2:41) and it just fit, I can picture the dude just saying these lyrics in his head:

"The reason that I want to be alone
Tired of all the things that went wrong
That would have went right if I would have did it on my own
Take another swigg
The more I drink, the more I think bad thoughts
Fake friends who hung around who wanna bring you down
Not knowing who to trust, rumors about niggas coming through
Supposedly to shoot at us, not knowing what was true
Or what to believe, that's why I'm on the low lately
Choosing a Henny bottle over a friend..."

Aight, so there it is, Hopper and Nas seem to catch the same vibe on this painting and track. If you guys see this painting and another song comes to mind, post up ya comments and lyrics. Let me know what ya think.

Wale - Artistic Integrity Video!!

Dope song and video!! And for the millionth time, if you haven't already done so, download that Mixtape About Nothing!!

Props to Dan & Elitaste for the posting!!

Artistic Integrity: Friedrich v. Wale

Ok, so I'm starting a new segment with Ill Vibes called "Artistic Integrity" inspired from the Wale track off his last mixtape. Music is a form of self expression and provides messages, it's a form of art. So, here's the plan...I'm a big fan of Art and Music, so I'm going to fuse the two. I'm going to drop a classic artwork, capture the vibe and compare it to song. I know, it's a little out there but stick with it, let's see what happens. So to top off the series, who better to do it with than the inspiration....Wale.

Caspar David Friedrich - Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

Friedrich was a German artist inspired by the sublime power of nature and its audacity. This joint captures that exactly, as this guy is on top of the world, yet at the same time seems so small with what is around him. His stance exudes confidence like he is inspired by what he is seeing. This is what he had to say about his own artwork:

"The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself. If he sees nothing within, then he should stop painting what is in front of him."

Friedrich is talking about originality, and that he has to be true to himself or else he is putting out nothing. Sounds like the hip hop game huh?

Wale - "Artistic Integrity"


George's interlude sets the tone of the track. Wale is talking about doing him, doing what he wants to do, putting the music that he wants to put out, expressing himself and not what the media wants. It is his artistic integrity. It's similar to that Friedrich quote, the painter was saying he is gonna paint what he feels, not what people want to see. Check the Wale rhymes:

"So they put me in a box with he and he and them, which is more of a circus than a fair / They work to get theirs/So to work to get theirs I'd be nothing but a replica lookin in the mirror/ Respect is still there but yo boy's right here/ We apple n oranges, but everybody pears"

Wale's quote is similar to dude, cuz he is not just trying to spit like cats in front of him cause then he would be nothing, just a "replica looking in the mirror."

Drop your thoughts...