90s Hip Hop Portrait | Guru & DJ Premier
Hand-drawn tribute to a photograph by British photographer Martyn Goodacre, shot in San Francisco around the release of Daily Operation.
I got into hip hop and skateboarding in the mid 80s when I was a kid. Eric B. & Rakim were an early entry point, followed by a friend’s older brother’s hissy cassette of Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions. Growing up away from the cities, finding more took some effort.
New records came through late night radio Radio 1 shows like National Fresh and Big Beat show before that, Fab 5 Freddy and Ed Lover / Dr Dre's YO! MTV RAPS, Hip Hop Connection magazine, Dance Energy on Channel 4, record shop visits and spreadsheet style mail order lists. Saturdays would be the day for travelling to Musiquarium in Swansea or Spillers Records in Cardiff to see what we could find. Friends swapped tapes and one discovery usually led to another.
During the early 90s, DJ Premier and Guru seemed to be constantly appearing in the places I was looking. All part of the same world I was already absorbing through skate videos and magazines — different things gradually joining together without really noticing it happening.
Martyn Goodacre’s photograph holds a lot of that period in one image: Gang Starr, Daily Operation, San Francisco, the boombox and a time when finding music involved following whatever clues you could get hold of. Drawing it meant spending time with the photograph again and noticing details that would be easy to pass over now. The portrait wass drawn by hand in graphite on paper, then scanned for print.
Museum quality matte paper
250 gsm (110 lb)
FSC-certified, acid-free paper.
Music Wall Art
Framed or Unframed.
Limited release.
Numbered.
Three Sizes: 8X10", 11X14", 12×16"
| Print Details | |
| Paper | 250 gsm acid-free matte museum-quality paper |
| Edition | 30 total. Individually numbered. |
| Print Sizes | 8x10" | 11x14" | 12x16" |
| Framing | Premium Black wooden frame made from responsibly sourced oak and ash. 20 mm (0.79") wide and thick, with shatterproof plexiglass and hanging kit. Ready to hang. |
| Original Artwork | 2023 |
| Release Date | 28 July 2026 |
Gang Starr Art Print
- Code: gangstarr
- Status: Available
-
$30.00
- Free shipping
90s Hip Hop Portrait | Guru & DJ Premier
Hand-drawn tribute to a photograph by British photographer Martyn Goodacre, shot in San Francisco around the release of Daily Operation.
I got into hip hop and skateboarding in the mid 80s when I was a kid. Eric B. & Rakim were an early entry point, followed by a friend’s older brother’s hissy cassette of Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions. Growing up away from the cities, finding more took some effort.
New records came through late night radio Radio 1 shows like National Fresh and Big Beat show before that, Fab 5 Freddy and Ed Lover / Dr Dre's YO! MTV RAPS, Hip Hop Connection magazine, Dance Energy on Channel 4, record shop visits and spreadsheet style mail order lists. Saturdays would be the day for travelling to Musiquarium in Swansea or Spillers Records in Cardiff to see what we could find. Friends swapped tapes and one discovery usually led to another.
During the early 90s, DJ Premier and Guru seemed to be constantly appearing in the places I was looking. All part of the same world I was already absorbing through skate videos and magazines — different things gradually joining together without really noticing it happening.
Martyn Goodacre’s photograph holds a lot of that period in one image: Gang Starr, Daily Operation, San Francisco, the boombox and a time when finding music involved following whatever clues you could get hold of. Drawing it meant spending time with the photograph again and noticing details that would be easy to pass over now. The portrait wass drawn by hand in graphite on paper, then scanned for print.
Museum quality matte paper
250 gsm (110 lb)
FSC-certified, acid-free paper.
Music Wall Art
Framed or Unframed.
Limited release.
Numbered.
Three Sizes: 8X10", 11X14", 12×16"