Drawing his lyrical style from his hardships growing up in Springfield, Mass. and being raised by his single mother of five, Stalen Wright (stage name 'Stahlen' for pronunciation purposes) is stepping his foot into the rap game. He currently resides in Greensboro, NC and is hard at work sending his music to Roc-Nation in hopes of a record deal. I was commission by him a few months back to create the covers for his first two mixtapes. He had the rough concept of what he wanted and let me color inside the lines, so to speak.
For the first mixtape (above) I went with a crumpled paper look to try and emphasize 'throw away rhymes'. The "beast mic" concept was what Stahlen came at me with. I liked how it almost symbolizes that the microphone comes alive when he starts to rap. The second cover (below) is almost a carbon copy of the first with a few tweaks/color variations and more of a darker, nighttime feel to it. Be sure to listen to these mixtapes over at his ReverbNation.
I've always wanted to support local music by designing promotional materials, and this past week I finally got that chance. Let me introduce you to the best thing to happen to hip-hop in the last ten years...Kidsyc@Brandywine! Backed by a live hip-hop band, Brandywine, Kidsyc's MC skills are creative, explosive, and intelligent. Kidsyc@Brandywine's performances are always energetic and engaging. I've been a big fan since Halloween (2010) when my girlfriend introduced them to me. I finally had the opportunity to speak with them face-to-face this past October. I showed them what I could do and BAM! that's when the magic happened! I threw one of my exaggerated brand of skulls in my sketchbook and then added Kidsyc's trademark glasses and Braves hat to the mix. I fleshed out the remainder of the design with a bit of freehand text and what you see before you is my sticker design for the local hip-hop sensation! Expect to see these posted up around downtown Savannah and at Kidsyc@Brandywine's shows in the near future.
Kidsyc@Brandywine's video for their "Fire" single. Produced by Savannah locals!
