Sometimes you never know where a text conversation may take you. A good friend of mine was saying he needed a photographer to cover his press run for an artist he works with.The artist was Chicago rapper, Brian Fresco of Save Money. For those that don't know about Save Money, it is an independent hip hop collective consisting of Vic Mensa, Chance, Brian Fresco, and more. They are definitely redefining Chicago sound and have a strong influence in today's music scene.
Day one and Day two of the Press Run featured my go to photographers, Sam Fu and Maksim Axelrod.
Day One Press Run: The Introduction
Featured Photographer: Sam Fu
Follow Sam (at) Samfuphotos
Sam and I were downstairs of Sean Comb's office.... Yes Diddy. We met up with manager, K. Morris and that's where I was first introduced to Brian Fresco. We head upstairs to the Revolt office space to start interview number one.
Some cases it's easy to open up and start a conversation and sometimes it's just awkward. I can tell both K and Brian were just real observant people. I'm the same myself. I saw that K was wearing a Stussy Treated Crew T-shirt. (Shout out to be a little hype beast bae working for Stussy)
Me: Treated Crew, I know about treated crew. That was a dope collab Stussy did when I worked there.
K: You know about Treated Crew? I'm in Treated.
And friendship was aligned.
Brian's interview with Revolt was real. The question "Who is your competition" and he responded that there is no real competition, the only competition is yourself. Being someone that has battled with my own demons of insecurities, it's true, the only person stopping you is really yourself.
To wrap up day 1 we did a quick lifestyle shoot in the busiest place in New York, Time Square.
Day two Press Run: The Overcoming
Featured photographer: Maksim Axel Rod
Follow (at) Maksimaxelrod
At this point everyone's on the same boat. SQUAD! We get to our first location. Sound Cloud. Can I just say that Sound Cloud got a LEGIT office space. I love seeing the people behind the workings of a brand. Everyone seemed pretty chill and open to new creative vibes. They definitely wowed us with their roof top view.
During our roof top hang out and hearing in on Brian's talks with Sound Cloud, I can see he really cared about his music and what he stands for. It's great insight to hear another artist speak about their journey in this grind we get so lost in some times.
Then we were off to an interview at Mass Appeal where we met up in a old library tucked away somewhere in New York.
After two long days of running around, meeting and trying to get to places on time through the crazy transits of New York, I invited Brian and K to my good friend Jules Kim's roof top party at The Standard Hotel, Le Bain.
Heading up to the the roof of the hotel I can tell everyone's faces were in awe. Theres no better feeling than to literally look over the city that you just busted your ass in getting around to and accomplishing all you needed for those two days. An overwhelming rush of positive emotions and celebration was heightened as we all gave thanks to one another's dedication and hard work.
Overcoming boundaries is all a part of the journey. I know the feeling all too well as I am also stepping fourth in my own becoming as an independent artist and a creative director. It was an amazing feeling to help support and be a part of someone else's journey and know "this is really just the start" and it only goes up from here. It's up to you to hone in the energy, keep the right people close to you, and remain consistent with your focus and purpose.
Here to add value in any way I can. Shout out's to Tee for aligning great people together. Shout out's to Sam Fu and Maksim for capturing some epic photos and documenting this journey. And lastly shout out to K and Brian. You guys are real ones!
We are all in this together.
The only real photos of us is just us texting and working. I guess this is a glimpse of what everyone was like when it was time to grind.