Fine Art Friday: Thomas Hooper

I don't normally get caught up in tattoo culture, as I have seen way too much cornball tattooing on peoples arms and legs in my life. However, every once in a while you will see some incredible artwork on someones body and recognize that there are masters out there who know how to create unique and captivating ink drawings on human flesh. I recently came across the artwork and subsequent tattoos of Thomas Hooper, a Brooklyn tattoo artist who is classically trained and a master craftsmen.

The bulk of his work is based in "the sanctum of nature and natural forms, the unconscious, mathematical and geometric patterns, cosmology, and eastern religious images." He uses classic printmaking and mark-making techniques to render these forms and the results often call for lots of staring or meditation to appreciate.

ARTIST WEBSITE
http://meditationsinatrament.com

SIGN UP FOR A TATTOO IF YOU ARE NEAR NYC
Saved Tattoo
426 Union Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 486-0850
savedtattoo.com

DETAILED IMAGES OF HIS WORK AFTER THE JUMP

Listen: Kap Kallous X Midaz The BEAST X Shinobi Stalin - "Bad Decisions"

Florida emcee Kap Kallous recently teamed up with fellow Florida favorites Midaz The Beast and Shinobi Stalin to wax posetic about a life of "Bad Decisions" over a track of the same name. Despite the murderous look on the cover, the Orlando emcee tries to channel Houston rap lord Scarface's famous track "The Diary" over some laid back, hypnotic production provided by his long-time collaborator Optiks as a preview for the upcoming release "Grandeur" with Doxside Music Group.

I made my own artwork for the single, so if you want the original artwork download it on Soundcloud at the link above.

Video: L'Orange & Stik Figa - "Smoke Rings"

Repping the middle of the country, literally, Kansas emcee Stik Figa linked up with beatsmith L'Orange for the collabo album "The City Under The City". As part of the Mello Music crew, Stik Figa doesn't shy away from the fact that he lives in a neglected part of the U.S. and instead embraces his stance of someone who is making successful strides despite his geography. Weaving stories about the struggle to be heard, life in general and the human spirit of overcoming adversity, TCUTC seems like a telling project for the times we live in. Check it out and support quality music from all corners of the map.

DOWNLOAD LINK
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-city-under-the-city/id687402217

Video: CM JONES -"DA LUV"

I honestly checked this crew out because of the similarity to my own LuvJonez moniker and was pleasantly surprised at the chill vibe and jazzy track and video. I am not going to front like I know much about this crew, but DJ Creestal and MoShadee as CM JONES made a solid track here and if this is any indication of the rest of the album, they are someone to keep an eye on. Reppin New Jersey on a much more chill tip than most East Coast rap, check out the debut album "Perfect Hand Off" below and support some slept-on talent from the garden state.

DOWNLOAD LINK
http://cmjones.bandcamp.com/album/d-a-l-u-v

Video: SmooVth - "There Goes The Neighborhood"

Maybe it's because I have been following these cats for years, SmoovTH and Hus Kingpin are known together as Tha Connection, and even having had done some artwork layouts for some of their albums, I tend to support them in their many ventures both as a team and soloists. SmoovTH recently dropped the video for the single "There goes the Neighborhood" which shows him stomping around a rundown house and talking about the general public's continued "evil eye" for everything rap. The beat sounds like some old school Too Short mixed with early 90's NYC production but gives SmoovTH plenty of room to drop knowledge on the listener without overpowering it.

DOWNLOAD LINK
https://soundcloud.com/sean-smoovth