Devising Virus.

The ship has left the dock once again to embark on a new journey throughout the cosmos. The collective force known only as Deltron 3030 came through San Antonio on a stop earlier this year and brought a live band with them (including a piece of The Mars Volta with Juan Alderete). The show was very energetic and it was nice to see these space fiends perform a great set. The city came through too, packing the venue with a surprising amount of people. Deltron has been one of those suuuper underground groups mostly known only to true heads.

I found Deltron by chance years ago, likely through a random find with Hieroglyphics. I used to hear the name Del The Funky Homosapien thrown around a bit and wondered "What the hell kind of name is that!?". I was pleasantly surprised when I began to hear more of his music and his, well, funky style. Del's delivery is very rhythmic and fluctuation in tone. Spit over Automator's otherworldly beats and Kid Kola's erratic cuts make this combo a very special one. Having never seen Del perform live before, I was in for something very new and exciting. The live band addition made for a dope show and this set was reminiscent of that ill Cut Chemist show I caught years ago (and one of my favorite of all time across all genres). A splash of high energy and pulsing cuts across button-pushing drum tracks gave me nothing but smiles the entire night.

Del is definitely someone who approaches lyricism from a shy spot between left field and that place in your mind you rarely visit. I drew the piece in the following days after the show. It wasn't til recently that I finally found time to lay some colors down. I found myself travelling to that same rare place when I colored this, trying some new shape exploration. I had two colorways for this one, finally settling on this warner toned background. It is definitely the launching pad for the next step in my art that I am excited to share with you all very soon. For now, enjoy this fun and colorful character known as Deltron 3030.

"Infiltration hits your station

No Microsoft or enhanced DOS will impede

Society thinks their safe when

Bingo!--hard drive crashes from the rending"

Stay Creative,

BLUE731.

9"x12" ink on mixed media paper, digital colors
For purchase of this Original painting, contact me at blue73100@gmail.com

(Prints to follow)

Duel of The Liquid Sword.

So here we are. Twenty years later after the release of one of hip hop's greatest releases of all time. A record that would change the face of hip hop as we know it and bring light to a brand new era of music--period. Twenty years ago the Wu Tang Clan hit the scene with a fierce explosion of lyricism, kung fu samples, and a number of MCs previously unheard of in one single collective with Enter The 36 Chambers. The Wu hit with the speed and force of a true Shaolin blow, leaving many trembling in awe of this new arrival. For myself, I didn't find the Wu until my senior year of high school, many years after the release of this record. I was immediately hooked though when I heard Ghost's Supreme Clientele and one of the next to follow was the classic, and often revered as one of the greatest solo releases from the group, Liquid Swords.

I was drawn in and really didn't understand why. GZA approaches the mic much differently from Ghost and, at first, it kinda through me off. GZA's steez is a much more complex and intellectual than most MCs--I knew I liked it, it just took me a while to understand why. The first GZA record I heard was Beneath The Surface and it GOT me, yo. When I heard that joint I caught myself enthralled by, well, his Genius! It seems I was finding myself drawn to the Wu's solo efforts a bit more at this time and it was always the sophomore record that I found first for some reason. But when I revisited this gem for the first time, I got to see how he built up to Beneath The Surface. Liquid Swords is a little less polished than his follow up (some may argue for the better), but it is nevertheless seen as one of the best Wu releases of all time. And their catalog is DEEP, son.

The concept of the Liquid Swords title (as well as RZA's Digital Bullet) is something I always loved about Wu. They have a unique way of playing with words and titles of songs. I mean, imagine...a LIQUID sword? A DIGITAL bullet? Come on, that's just hard, yo. This always pushed me in my own writing and even in titling works of mine. Just keeping my brain in that mindframe is definitely something I can say Wu helped influence. GZA does this often in his music. He just has an intellectual labyrinth about his rhyme schemes that gets me excited. It makes you think twice, thrice, sometimes multiple times on so many levels. I am always a fan of anyone that can get me to think like that or surprise me later with those little gems like when I found out years later that the Liquid Swords cover is actually a chess board with animated pieces.

How fresh is that?


Here's to 20 and counting.
"Woofers thump, tweeters hiss like air pumps
RZA shaved the track, niggas caught razor bumps..
..Now watch me blow him out his shoes without clues
Cuz I won't hesitate to detonate, I'm short fused"


Stay Creative,
BLUE731.


11"x14" acrylic and inks on bristol
For purchase of this Original painting, contact me at blue73100@gmail.com