What's good. This is Stellan Oria and you're checking out the Cruise Show podcast.
Make sure to subscribe, rate and share. Yeah, let's get to
it real ninety two three LA's new home Fay Hip Hop Cruise Show. We're
in here and this is Stevan Oriol our guy and Steven. What's up,
bro? How you doing brother? Hey dog, we're doing well. Thank
you for being here. We appreciate it. Of course, you're responsible for
so much, for capturing the culture for so many years. We're just talking
about this off the air, over thirty years and over thirty years plus of
you capturing the culture here in Los Angeles and really showing the world what we
look like, what we sound like, what it feels like, you feel
me. You're responsible for the original La, the LA signs or LA fingers
I guess right, yeah, and so much more from Hollywood to the hood.
Dog, you've taken every picture. Yeah, what a career. Congratulations
man, thank you, thank you. Yeah, it's been a fun one,
you know, been a great journey. I've been around the world a
couple of times, you know, at the House of Pain in Cyprus Hill,
and then from that I set myself up as a photographer to be able
to keep traveling, because what was the trip for me is when I got
off tour in two thousand and five, Like the guys were like, hey,
we're going to take a break. You know, we've been going hard
since ninety two. Let's kick back and take a break and you know,
and like reset. And I was like, well, that's cool because you
know they get money from you know, every time the song played. But
yeah, if we're not on tour, then I don't get nothing. So
I was like, what can I do while this break is going on?
And I was like, well, I know how to do construction. I
don't really want to do that no more. I know how to work the
door clubs, I don't know we want to do that no more. And
then I knew how to do photography and filming, so I just jumped into
that, you know, head first. And because of traveling all those places,
I made some connections here and there and yeahs, yeah, you have
half a brain, you know, you try to do stuff like that.
So I was able to go back just as a photographer to these places and
you don't have art shows, and you know, it's been a it's been
a fun one Man, Let Me Plug Man hip Hop till Infinity. It's
an immersive tribute to fifty years of hip hop, featuring all five pillars of
hip hop. Graffiti, Breaking Him, Seeing, DJing Knowledge sixty four hundred
Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. What a great location on Sunset as well?
Right, Yeah, the old Amba, yes, and legend to that building,
you know, Like, I don't know, man, I've been in
that old Amba so many times. I haven't been in the new one yet.
Where is it at Hollywood? It's a few blocks down, it's by
Yeah, it's one block east of Vine on Hollywood. Man, did they
gentrify? Is there a Starbucks inside of me? Yeah? Keep it pure,
you know, yeah yeah, keep the Nipsy Stars right outside. Oh
yeah, Big Boys is out, yeah yeah, and then the Cypresses across
the street. You know, you've been and obviously you've shot like every part
of La Like, does it kind of make you feel sad when you go
back to certain places that you've shot and you were just kind of like it
just looks so different to say, Yeah, yeah, it kind of bums
me out. But you know, I try not to get stuck in the
past, even though I'm halfway, you know, I got one foot in
the past and one foot, you know, in the future. But I
really love the old stuff, you know, Like if I'm ever at the
pad by myself, I just start going through photos and tripping out on all
the old stuff and the way stuff used to look and how it used to
be. And it's fun for me, you know, to go through those
old archives, but brings back memories. I'm sure. I do like to
shoot a lot of places that I think could be taken away from us,
you know, like different little food spots or I don't know if you ever
went to that tail of pup. I think it was called the hot Dog
place on Semycynthe and Beverly. It was like shape like a hot dog back
in the like seventies. Old building was. Yeah, it was just like
a little I think I've seen that they moved to uh they somehow they found
the original one. They moved it back to I think La Sienega and Santa
Monica. But you know, there's just all these like old school places that
I always went to, Like there was an Oakie Dog on Santa Monica and
Vista. Now it's a fat burger. I think yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah. At least it's a fat burger, right, yeah,
yeah yeah. So that's a place we used to go to after the
clubs, Like the punk scene was real big back then and then in the
eighties and that's where everybody used to go and eat and fight, and you
know it's good old times. With all of your footage and your archives as
deep as it is, right, do you have stuff that you can never
put out because it may be used as evidence something? Yeah, for sure.
I feel like that's all I'm gonna say on it, right, Like
there's no way you can put it out because people and some yeah, weird
people that are like, you know, nervous probably every day, you know,
like I hope that don't get out. I hope that don't get out.
But I'm one of those guys, you know, I take it to
the grave, you know something. So you're okay with signing an ndia is
what you're saying, Yeah, das, you know, Like that's right.
I do that all the time. But you know, it's uh to me,
it's like respecting, you know, if just because they were cool enough
to do whatever they were doing while I had the camera and I was able
to shoot that shot doesn't mean I have the right to put it out there
and put them on blast, you know, for sure, for sure,
and just off they don't even ask, they don't even say that he help
me? Can you not put that out or this or that? And I'm
like, that's just not coming out. You know. The only reason I
have it is because there's something else on that role of film that I can
use. Yeah, but even if I'm somebody's like, hey, can you
do you have a picture of this one thing and that's on a picture with
something that's not you know, not so good for somebody, I'll do that
one myself. You know. I don't even give that to my assistant and
be like, hey help me for sure, like you didn't see this or
something right right right right of that. Yeah, you know, I put
everything that's you know, like that, I have it in a safe place.
That's right, that's right. Have have the homies ever asked you to
like to like shoot their daughters or anything like that? Yeah, for sure,
I don't know if I shot. I didn't shoot the whole thing,
but I took my camera and I took a picture of them with their daughter,
you know, like that legendary something like that. You know, I'm
not I'd done weddings before, but thank god that they weren't traditional weddings.
They're like more like gangster weddings. And it was more like let's go with
the flow, like I don't want to be Hey, can you get a
shot of my deal and my my cousin from Texas? And can you get
a shot at you know, like I don't want to go through all that
bridezilla's and the mother in laws, Like I don't want to deal with none
of that. So I don't do no family photo even I do portraits,
and I document different types of culture. Yes, speaking of culture, graffiti,
that's one of the pillars of hip hop. Yes, have you got
the chance to visit or take pictures of that sky rising downtown that's now become
a mural of graffiti. I took pictures of that building on Tuesday? Is
that right? Ah? Yeah, after I had somewhere to go at twelve
twelve o'clock, after that, I was going, I went down there.
That's what that was a plan. Yeah, I gotta I gotta do that.
You know, they did see all that art provoke anything like a sense
of representation but yet rebellion at the same time. Yeah, it's all that,
but at the same time I love it. You know, I had
some guys go on my on my page, you know, I was I
reposted that I said something about that building like that it was art, and
some guy was like, you should grow up, man, and you should
try to be in the Senate, you know, get to educate yourself and
be in the Senate. And I respond to that nothing. But you know,
my what I you know, like, why don't you do that?
Sure, you go to study and you get your seat in the Senate.
Let me be the guy who hasn't grown up yet and likes that stuff right
right right all us. Yeah, I don't care anything what you do,
Like you're tripping on me, like if it's my turn to give a fuck
turned obviously because it's your idea. Yeah yeah, yeah. For me,
I just want to enjoy shit, and and that to me, like I
enjoy looking at it. I like looking at that, and I thinking about
the people that went up there and did it, like, you know,
it's ballsy. Some of those videos like the winds blowing and like the doors
are blowing and slamming open and shut and these guys are out there holding on
the show with one hand and one hand with a graffiti can the rain and
everything. I'm like, ah, man, yeah, it's crazy like culture
like right, they did it in Miami and everybody was clapping and cheering and
patting everybody on the back. But they do it here in LA and it's
like the you know, big old crime and yeah, why do you think
that is what's the difference. They're not as open minded and like free thinking
over here they Is it because of the history that LA has, like we
know better or we should know better, I mean no better? What Like
people just want to go out and do their thing. It's not like it's
something new. I've seen photos from the sixties and seventies where walls were just
blasted up with graffiti. So it's like there's nothing new, you know,
and these guys are I thought, there's some pretty cool stuff. And the
new stuff they've been doing lately the past couple the past couple of days where
they've been doing like multiple floors like one crew. That's crazy, Like that's
so sick, Like look at the like how they line up the letters and
everything, like you're on one floor and you go, oh shit, I
got excited. You go from one floor to the next and the lines are
perfectly lined up. How do they do that? Like they planned it?
Sick crazy, Yeah, and I love it. I think it's cool.
Like if it's such a problem, then do something with it, you know,
go clean, go do finish the building. All of a sudden,
nobody everybody has a problem with it because it has some graffiti. You know
who's behind it. One of the guys behind it is councilmen. We saw.
Yeah, that's currently locked up right now. He's doing like thirteen years.
Yeah, the only councilman that fucked with the crucio. By the way,
he's locked up now. Yeah, what are you gonna do? Yeah,
earlier you were talking, you know about the places that you would visit,
the streets and everything. What do you feel like you know more about
La freeways or streets, I'd say all of it because and the crazy thing
too, is like some people that I know throughout the years are just confined
to their own area, their own neighborhood, and that trips me out,
you know, because I've been to so many parts of the city and I
love it, you know, like I have. My truck is probably four
or five years old, and I have one hundred and fifty thousand miles of
it just in LA Like I don't go to cross the country or nothing like
driving around the city. Just driving around the city like everywhere, and uh,
you know, I know that they're the you know, people out there
probably pissed off because I'm using gas v a truck, but you need I
just don't want to like that one movie where they started running into each other.
Yeah, something about the end of the world, or yeah, I
want my car to just driving other testa doesn't smashed me up in there.
That's right, that's right. What's your favorite part of hip hop'sil Infinity my
Room? Yeah? Yeah, no that you know, these type of shows,
they're they're stressful if you're the one who's who's putting your stuff in there,
you know, Like to me, I could have filled up the whole
building with all my stuff that's in my garage. I just you know,
some people see it, they think I'm a hoarder. But some people see
it and they think I'm a collect collector. But I could easily filled up
the whole place with different stuff. And they have some really good pictures of
the you know, hip hop photography from the Morrison Gallery. Then it goes
into the Snoop Dogg room and it's like an interaction place. That's the cover
art from the Doggy Style album cover. And then you go into the other
room and that's like the They have a Los Angeles signed with graffiti on it,
the Freeway sign. You know, it's part of the culture. She
looks badass. And then you go into the other room where the death row
chair is and all the music production. You can take a picture on the
death row chair, yep, And they have all the music production equipment in
those other cases the Marathon exhibit as well, for yep. That's all in
that room. And then you go into my room and that has They asked
me like what hip hop meant to me? And you know, for me,
I put as the hip hop part, some memorabilia that I've had from
Cypress Hill and House of Pain, and then to me, you know,
low writing is really important here in our hip hop and the gangster element.
So I put one wall has all my low writing members, not all,
but parts of my low writing memorabilia, and the other walls like a gangster
wall and on that wall. I put some panios and envelopes that were sent
to me for my homies that were busted. And then there's a bunch of
Teen Angel magazines that I feel like is only a Cali thing, Like you
can really explained that magazine to people that aren't from California. I don't know
that. It's like you had to be there moment. Yeah, and people
they say like, well, what's in it? And I'm like, it's
not even worth Yeah, you won't get it anyway, you Yeah, but
I remember, you know, buying those in the nineties at the you know,
the little magazine stands, and you know, I used to look forward
to that, going to the newspaper stand and I flipping through the pages and
all that, and that was like a cool thing back in the day,
kind of like Tower Records, you know, yeah, records that you could
go to a date night at Tower Records. It just looked through it looked
with the tapes and vinyls and magazines, magazine books and everything. But yeah,
so I brought all those different elements to the show, and then they
had my photos on projection, you know, from Florida ceilings. So that
was that was a really cool thing for me to you know, be a
part of. And and then then the other room is the uh it's like
a three sixty projection room, which is I think that room on that photo
there and that that thing's amazing. I think we're gonna me and the guys
from Food's Gone Wild, We're gonna try and do a screening of this little
documentary that we did like three different characters from his page. Yeah, we're
gonna try and do a screening there in the next couple of weeks. Oh,
that's crazy. That's great. Yeah, we gotta get you guys down
there. Yeah, man, we're down man. Yeah. And you mentioned
Food's Gone Wild. You know, they started as a social media page but
became so important to the culture. Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy,
right man. And the yeah, and the guys that run it, they're
like they're real community driven. You know, they help a lot of people.
And uh, you know, there's a lot of like haters on there.
They call him the net bangers, But those dudes do a lot more
than all those guys put together for the community, you know. So I
feel like as much as a feed to social media, like the content,
they're not for social media. They'refore they got a purpose, you know,
and they understand that creating a buzz visibility on the Internet could be used for
a great good. Yeah, you know, for the culture, not the
cloud. Yeah, they do all that, and that's the coolest thing.
You know. People are like, what do you think they're you know,
with the with the culture and stuff, like, man, that's that's there,
you know. Yeah, and he's not doing it getting that stuff send
in by him by people in the culture daily, like people send hundreds of
things daily, and he just reposts it, you know. Yeah, but
he adds his you know, comedy to it, and that's just funny.
It's so it's so funny that, Yeah, it's so funny that he but
a thing at the comedy store just said a little mystery, you know,
surprise comedian Knight, and it sold out. There's other nights there that don't
sell out with names on them, and here he goes in with no names
and sells it out. So obviously there's something to be said about that,
right if you could do that. And we did a show up to YouTube
Theater and he sold out that and yeah, man, that was you know,
all those things are They're fun to do. You know. They're just
ideas that you come out in your head and you write them down on a
piece of paper and then you see it and the end result and you're like,
damn, man, that was bad. As you know, I do
have a couple of things under my belt now and a couple of of my
projects are have been seen, so for sure, but the groundwork is still
going. Yeah, it doesn't stop. Yeah, now that's inspiring stuff for
sure. What's let you in your career? Did you feel proud of yourself?
Did you see my person that's just locked in you You're trying to just
keep going, you know, yeah, I guess I get proud of myself
after I see the project and people like people's reaction to the projects. Like
if I have an art show and I like some pictures are up on the
wall and I see people's reaction to them, like either they're laughing or they're
like crying, you know, people cry and they see my photos and like
that's kind And I would just say like you okay, you know, I
didn't know what was wrong with them, And they're like, yeah, this
picture just reminds me of this, that and the other. My my my
family, my life, and I was like, oh, okay, that's
cool. You know, I didn't know what they were crying about, you
know, but it was ended up being the photo, which was was cool.
You know. I have a feeling that your artwork sparks emotions and people,
you know one and inspires yeah, generations to come. So that's kind
of when I notice it. But after that I'm driving home, I forget
all about it onto the next one. You know, Yeah, I know,
right. It's tough to stop and think about what you're doing when you're
just after so much. Yeah. This this I was on a call today
is zoom and they're like, okay, everybody go around, you know,
in the Zoom, everybody go around and introduce yourself and what you do.
And I'm like, what I do? Like what do you want me to
do? Like what what part of what I do? You know? Exactly
where do I start? Bro? Yeah, just give us an update.
I just go to ninety two. I go, you know, I was
doing construction work in the clubs. Yeah, and I got you know,
I met up with Mugs in eighty nine and you know, he put me
on to a job with House of Paint in ninety two, and you know,
I just go that route. And you know, ninety two, two
of five, two thousand and five, I was tour managing. Then I
picked up a camera in between that, and that led me in the photography
and directing. And it's just like, uh, you know, you try
to hit the key points, you know, so that you don't drag it
out and make it a big old deal. You know. But after I
hear myself saying the things, I'm like, damn, that's pretty cool,
you know. Yeah, Yeah, there's so much in between that you just
like it would be hours and hours. Yeah, I don't want to bore
nobody. Yeah, and be like, oh man, listen to this guy.
He's all over himself. We keep it humble, We keep it with
all your accolades and and all the things you've done and accomplish. What keeps
you going? Like, you know what I'm saying, does that drive to
do photography? One of the main things is bills moving. Yeah, I
don't have a four oh one k or or a retirement program set up for
me, And uh, I just go, you know, like I'm going
out the job project to project and try to put a little aside. You
know when it comes like that, and that holds me over to the you
know, when there isn't those things just rolling in like that. The trip
is like people are like, oh, yeah, we wanted to hire you
for this big job, but we thought you were like too busy. You
know. I'm like, well, you could have hit me up and asked
me, you know, because as a matter of fact, I wasn't right.
I'm free, what's sung? Yeah for the money, I'm free.
Yeah, yeah, I'm free, but it costs Yeah, and you know,
I'm my own boss, so I could you know, switch things around?
You know, yes, sir. So that always trips me out.
And people are like, we wanted to get you the thing, but we
know you're busy. I'm that's crazy. Ask me first, man, shout
out you're booking in for right now? Yeah? Yeah, people know,
man, in a few words, right, describe your relationship with cartoon that
you know been a twenty five year you know, friendship and business relationship.
And we did a lot of things, you know, we did a lot
of companies, a lot of projects, you know, open the doors for
a few people here and there, helped a lot of people, whether it
was in the industry or not in the industry. You know, we did
a lot of outreach programs for at risk youth or like homeless or addicted people.
And we also at the same time where we were helping out the the
like the kids that were at risk and never would get a shot at something
that or felt like they couldn't. We were trying to you know, show
them a you could do this too. We would also hit up the art
schools, like the guys that were at the top of their class and be
like, you know, let's see what you got. And you know,
this is where you guys are headed. So you know, all the hard
work that you guys have been putting in, it's going to pay off like
quick. So you know, after you get out of school right here,
you know, get ready to come in the workforce, and I'm ready for
you. So you know we're gonna have some friendly competition. That's right.
That's right. You got gold teeth, Yeah, I had a Let me
see, they get a you know, after a few years, they get
a little bit old and they start chipping in your front. If you start
eating like you know, corn nuts or whatever, just like a little chip
comes and then you go eat something else another chip and you're like, oh,
man, just like I started looking like I had a gap in the
front of my teeth, and I was like, I'm just gonna in this
before it gets ugly. Do something about it now, yeah, like a
tweak or something. Right, you gonna step on lady dogs. Check on
the homie, Bro, he's losing all his teeth. So I just capped
it off and instead of buying some more parts from my low writer, I
bought something from my face. Hip Hop tail Infinity tickets are available now at
hip Hoptailinfinity dot com. We appreciate the time and energy, bro, and
of course the art and the pictures and everything else. Thank you very much,
man, man, thank you guys for having us, and everybody needs
to check that out. It's a I've done. You know, I've done
at least fifty exhibits, you know, big exhibits around the world, and
this one was special for me. You know, something different, and it's
cool, man. Yeah, man, I think like yeah in l A
for l A by l A Bro right exactly, yes, sir, I
should write lyrics, yeah right, crazy step on, Thank you, Bro.
We appreciate you guys. Cruise show real ninety three. Hey checking Rich
with the Cruise Show. Thanks for listening to The Cruise Show cat make sure
to subscribe, and hey, auto download so you don't miss an episode.
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