Raw × Infinity: Remi @ Oxford Art Factory

I used to be into hip-hop. Around the year 2001-2004, I went through a huge phase where I loved hip-hop, rap and RnB. I soon fell out of that phase and dove into classic rock. During that time I was a massive fan of the Black Eyed Peas. I owned all their albums prior to their Elephunk success, a DVD, all their singles that existed, and had many posters of theirs up on my wall. I still like their music, but I don’t listen to it as much, because I’ve grown to like other artists more.

In recent years, I have become familiar with photographing hip-hop artists. Admittedly, they have never impressed me that much up on stage. I make an effort to listen to the lyrics, and I find a lot of artists of the spoken word (or let’s just say rap) really find a way to evoke emotions with their honest, raw and passionate words and stories.

A lot of them don’t perform with very much enthusiasm or passion. Unfortunately I think that is a huge part of how their music makes me feel. Fortunately, when I saw Remi on Saturday night, he performed so well, and was really into his own music. I am not ashamed to say that I enjoyed it. I honestly didn’t expect much from a hip-hop artist, but he’s got a lot of personality, and that is the kind of thing that makes me like artists like him. His friend N’Fa Jones played his own set, too, and he was amusing, interacting with the audience, even making a joke to “stop texting on your phones!”

I dragged my camera along for fun, and I got some shots that I am pretty proud of.