Brian Cross (aka B+)

A PRIVATE, DOMESTIC MOMENT WITH THE MOST PUBLIC OF FIGURES, N.W.A'S OWN EAZY-E CAPTURED SMOKING AT HIS MOTHER'S HOUSE IN CALIFORNIA

The late rapper Eazy-E, the controversial and foundational artist who assembled the legendary Hip Hop group, N.W.A, gave Brian "B+" Cross his first real break as an album cover photographer in Los Angeles. This led to Cross forming a friendship with Eazy which in turn produced an artistic trust and intimacy represented in the current lot - Eazy photographed at his mother's house in Norwalk, California, surrounded by paraphernalia and members of his recently-signed group, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Captured in tones of steely blue and soft grey, Eazy studies his tightly rolled joint as smoke streams from his mouth in a french inhale forming a cloud beside him.

Cross recalls the shoot below:

"This was a private shoot requested by Eric (Eazy E) himself. He had been working with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on their first EP and he was very proud of them. He wanted to understand how photography worked and aspired to become a photographer himself. He was constantly asking questions about the camera and the light meter. After the shoot downtown with Bone, he invited myself and my assistant back to Norwalk to make some images that he wanted to pitch to High Times magazine. He was frustrated that Dre had released The Chronic while he (Eric) was really the weed man of NWA. In fact Dre had rapped [in the song "Express Yourself"]:

I still express, yo, I don't smoke weed or sess

Cause it's known to give a brother brain damage

And brain damage on the mic don't manage

So we went to his mothers house and he broke out all the paraphernalia and we went to work. Sadly, both Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and my assistant got way too high... Eric on the other hand was completely engaged and creative. These are my favorite images I had the honor to make of him." (Brian Cross)

Brian “B+” Cross is co-founder of the renowned production house Mochilla, and an artist working at the intersection of music and photography. He has photographed album covers for artists such as Damian Marley, David Axelrod, DJ Shadow, Fly­ing Lotus, Eazy-E, J. Dilla, Jurassic 5, RZA, Company Flow, Madlib, Dilated Peoples, Mos Def, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington and Q-Tip. Cross was the director of pho­tography for the Academy Award–nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, and he has directed and produced several feature-length documentaries (Keepintime, Brasilintime and Timeless: Suite for Ma Dukes).

Cross was the photo editor of the music magazine Wax Poetics from 2004 to 2010, and Rap Pages from 1993 to 1998. Hiss 1993 book It’s Not About a Salary: Rap Race and Resistance, was the first book to document the burgeoning West Coast Hip Hop scene. It was nominated for the Rolling Stone and NME music book of the year award.

Currently, Cross lives in Los Angeles and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego. His most recent book Ghostnotes: Music of the Unplayed was published in late 2017.

Condition Report:

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