Author: Visionary Artistry Magazine

DJ Envy: Evolving His Way to the Top

Ask anybody how they listen to music, and the majority of their answers will probably be Spotify, Apple Music, or some other online streaming service. Thirty years ago, if you wanted to listen to a specific song on demand, you would have to go to a record store and buy a copy of the album or wait for it to be played on the radio. Since then, the way we consume music has constantly evolved. In the early 2000s, digital music downloads were invented, and streaming services like YouTube, Pandora, and Soundcloud followed soon after. Some record stores survived, as a lot of people still wanted to buy physical copies of albums. Mixtapes, however, found themselves in a perilous situation. They didn’t find their home online immediately like mainstream album releases did, but the advent of streaming services meant that many did not want to buy mixtapes from the corner, or wait for them in the mail. Mixtapes eventually found their home on digital platforms, but for a while, their future was unclear. DJs who made a living making and selling these tapes had to find a way to adapt, or risk being lost to obscurity.

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Mariusz Kędzierski: Drawn By Passion

One of the persistent pitfalls of art discussion is the idea of “natural talent.” A phrase that commonly accompanies this topic is that someone was “born to be an artist.” This is not an inherently wrong statement, but it often leads people to discredit or forget about the blood, sweat, and tears that a truly great artist will pour into their craft. The idea that people are good at something because they were born to be skilled at it fails to acknowledge the many exceptional individuals who were able to overcome all odds in order to become great at what they do. Portraitist Marius Kędzierski might have a few words on the subject because he has to work harder than most to create his artwork. Kędzierski only has a partial right arm, he was born without hands.

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AREA: High Fashion & Social Listening

When I think of innovative fashion, I don’t typically think of fabrics or materials such as crystals or satins being utilized, I associate these goods with inaccessible couture brands such as Chanel or Dior. However, as younger fashion designers and brands that have had to utilize the unique materials and opportunities provided to them rise, these materials have become as innovative and contemporary as the people wielding them.

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Master P: Got it Out the Mud

It’s been over 20 years since the self-made millionaire, visionary, philanthropist, and serial entrepreneur Percy "Master P" Miller said:

“I’ll never work for the white man.”

-Master P "What They Call Us?"

He confidently recited this  phrase on the 1997 Tru 2 Da Game track “What They Call Us?” At the time, I was only 13 years old when I first heard the album, and I knew exactly what P meant when he said it. He was my very first favorite rapper, not just because I liked his music, but I admired his business sense, his hustle, and the way he looks out for his people, especially his family. At the time, I hadn’t seen anything like it.

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Tatyana Fazlalizadeh: Don’t Tell Me To Smile

When looking at art, it’s hard to fully understand what the intention behind a piece of artwork is, without looking at the artist. When women during the Baroque period began painting women filled with rage and disdain, how much of that was for the simple demand for art, and how much of that was a projection of themselves? Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh pondered this in her book “Stop Telling Women to Smile: Stories of Street Harassment and How We’re Taking Back Our Power.” She asked the Rumpus, “What would it look like to explore my identity within my artwork based not on what people have done to me based on those identities, but based instead on what I love and I celebrate within those identities?” The main focus of Fazlalizadeh’s book is sexual harassment against women, the project beginning in Brooklyn, where she is based. 

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