Mistah Rapsey is my name..
staying underground is the experience..

I’ve been traveling since my youth searching for experiences of truth. An old soul back again to discover what I left uncovered. I love to love and live to laugh. Enrolled in a school called Knowledge of Self. Paying attention is my drug. Learning to live Life like music and flow with the rhythm, careful not to miss a beat. A renaissance man, Life is my art project. An habitual nomad, I roam to evolve. Music and cannabis are my constant companions. Interested in people, i’m always searching for my tribe. The beauty of the wilderness is the closest i’ve come to experiencing Truth.

music, graffiti, vinyl, treeplanting, & mixtapes..

Love is an Action. Love is the Answer. Love is the Movement.

Portrait of ?uestlove of The Legendary Roots Crew Artist: Thomas Rapsey This is one of my portraits of ?uestlove, i think i was around 15 when i drew this.  In 2006 I got it signed by the whole Roots crew except ?uestlove!  Unfortunately this portrait and a lot of my portfolio got lost in one of my many moves. If anyone can get the man himself to check out this portrait, i would deeply appreciate it.

Portrait of ?uestlove of The Legendary Roots Crew

Artist: Thomas Rapsey

This is one of my portraits of ?uestlove, i think i was around 15 when i drew this.  In 2006 I got it signed by the whole Roots crew except ?uestlove!  Unfortunately this portrait and a lot of my portfolio got lost in one of my many moves.

If anyone can get the man himself to check out this portrait, i would deeply appreciate it.

Smooth Derw itook

Smooth Derw

itook

The Photographer

The Photographer

My Art: Talib Kweli the BKMC

My Art: Talib Kweli the BKMC

My Art: Jay-Z I did this one on the same day as the Snoop portrait.

My Art: Jay-Z

I did this one on the same day as the Snoop portrait.

“Where my mind is at, is where my soul is atAnd if my soul’s intact, then my mind’s intact..”

“Where my mind is at, is where my soul is at
And if my soul’s intact, then my mind’s intact..”

”[…] the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’ What did they call such young people in Goethe’s Germany?” -Jack Kerouac (On the Road)

”[…] the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’ What did they call such young people in Goethe’s Germany?”
-Jack Kerouac (On the Road)

Things that I said I wouldn’t do, I did ‘em Secrets below the surface of truth I hid ‘em This man kind is past, but can he erase The tears of a million years is human race Of animals, that talk and walk uprightThen slave all day and fall in a trance at night Roamin the planet, trying to find missing links Like the men we used to be and are we suppose to think? Mysteries, maybe not It’s getting hot, we better configure the plot, but I hold a pen with the grip so tight That’a squeeze the ink onto the page, and write a song for the people Came up from the underground, now I write above on a hovercraft sound This microphone, like an an amphetamine Keeping me clean, speaking in dreams So nature can intervene, just for a scene -K’os

Things that I said I wouldn’t do, I did ‘em
Secrets below the surface of truth I hid ‘em
This man kind is past, but can he erase
The tears of a million years is human race
Of animals, that talk and walk upright
Then slave all day and fall in a trance at night
Roamin the planet, trying to find missing links
Like the men we used to be and are we suppose to think?
Mysteries, maybe not
It’s getting hot, we better configure the plot, but
I hold a pen with the grip so tight
That’a squeeze the ink onto the page, and write a song for the people
Came up from the underground, now I write above on a hovercraft sound
This microphone, like an an amphetamine
Keeping me clean, speaking in dreams
So nature can intervene, just for a scene

-K’os

A portrait of Jay Electronica that I have been working on.  I think I am going to finish it with some runny ink..

A portrait of Jay Electronica that I have been working on.  I think I am going to finish it with some runny ink..

listening for a connection / phoney faces (photo credit t.Rapsey)

listening for a connection / phoney faces

(photo credit t.Rapsey)

alive in the city (photo credit t.Rapsey)

alive in the city

(photo credit t.Rapsey)

Joni Mitchell, Laurel Canyon, CA, 1970 I love this woman.  She is an artist through and through.  I am grateful for all that she has brought into this world.. (photo credit Henry Ditz)

Joni Mitchell, Laurel Canyon, CA, 1970

I love this woman.  She is an artist through and through.  I am grateful for all that she has brought into this world..

(photo credit Henry Ditz)

Aretha Franklin at 18  (NYC, 1960) After signing with Columbia Records in 1960, Aretha Franklin was weaving her gospel musical roots into a jazz-influenced pop-oriented sound inspired by artists like Sam Cooke and Dinah Washington. In August 1960, when Don Hunstein took this early photo of the future queen of soul, Aretha Franklin was 18 years old, her lifetime of hits still on the horizon. (photo credit Don Hunstein)

Aretha Franklin at 18  (NYC, 1960)

After signing with Columbia Records in 1960, Aretha Franklin was weaving her gospel musical roots into a jazz-influenced pop-oriented sound inspired by artists like Sam Cooke and Dinah Washington. In August 1960, when Don Hunstein took this early photo of the future queen of soul, Aretha Franklin was 18 years old, her lifetime of hits still on the horizon.

(photo credit Don Hunstein)


Nico, Los Angeles (CA, 1966) In 1967 Nico and I hung out at John and Tom Law’s home above the Sunset Strip where she visited and we did a shoot. She tried on a dress I had made to wear during my pregnancy with Pilar, our first child. Nico started dancing around the back yard twirling and pirouetting and having a wonderful time. A very special moment in all my years of photography. Nico was an amazing woman. -Lisa Law (Photo credit Lisa Law)

Nico, Los Angeles (CA, 1966)

In 1967 Nico and I hung out at John and Tom Law’s home above the Sunset Strip where she visited and we did a shoot. She tried on a dress I had made to wear during my pregnancy with Pilar, our first child. Nico started dancing around the back yard twirling and pirouetting and having a wonderful time. A very special moment in all my years of photography. Nico was an amazing woman.

-Lisa Law

(Photo credit Lisa Law)