in the late 1980s, photographer Sue Kwon was living in downtown Manhattan, soaking up the sounds of the city. “I was going to clubs like Madame Rosa’s, Milky Way, and 1018, where they were playing all the greatest vinyl,” she recalls, mentioning three long-lost nightlife landmarks. “I would stay home to record DJ Red Alert’s [radio] show and then run down to Vinylmania the next day to buy the music I had heard.
When I started seeing these artists that I loved on album covers, I immediately thought, ‘I want to shoot these covers.’ ” She went on to lend her distinctive eye to dozens of hip-hop’s top artists, capturing the strikingly intimate portraits collected in her new book, Rap Is Risen: New York Photographs 1988-2008. “When I first envisioned this book, I was also planning to include shots of skateboarders and New York City street scenes,” Kwon adds. “But it quickly became obvious hip-hop deserved the whole book.”
UP NORTH TRIP
The Source sent Kwon to shoot Slick Rick at upstate New York’s Gouverneur Correctional Facility, where he was serving a sentence for attempted murder. “Rick was allowed to change into the shelltops, which is this moment here.”
NOW WE SIP CHAMPAGNE
The Notorious B.I.G. celebrates the completion of his album Life After Death, circa 1997. “When I arrived at the studio, ‘Hypnotize’ was blasting, and I immediately got goose bumps,” Kwon recalls. “I will never forget that moment.”
JESUS WALKS
Kwon took over the Bathing Ape boutique on Mercer Street for a 2000s shoot for the Japanese fashion brand. “Kanye was one of the models,” she says. “It was a star-filled day.” (Pharrell, Pusha T, and graffiti artists Stash and Futura were also part of the event.)
MCA FOREVER
Kwon took this photo of Adam Yauch after a release party for Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head at New York’s Pier 25. “As we were slowly exiting, Adam randomly just posted up like that in front of the cop car,” she says. “I love the energy of this image, Adam’s hands are like sculptures, and they frame his playful grin.”
WU WISDOM
Ol’ Dirty Bastard (left) and Method Man in a candid moment on set for the “Brooklyn Zoo” video (1995). “Method Man and ODB were always so generous when
I’d ask for a photo,” Kwon says. “It was like watching ballet as they deftly maneuvered into multiple poses.”
SUPER FRESH
Bronx hip-hop pioneer Busy Bee at another Source shoot in New York. “Busy Bee, wearing the fresh Sergio Tacchini, burst onto Mott Street,” Kwon says. “We walked around shooting at several locations in Little Italy. The red bodega background was my favorite.”
INFAMOUS COOL
Mobb Deep’s Havoc
(left) and Prodigy at a publicity shoot in Times Square for their 1996 album, Hell on Earth. “We shot all over the place without permits, and no one stopped us or bothered us,” Kwon says. “I remember it being a hot night and a pretty mellow shoot.”