Ithaka | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Ithaka Darin Pappas |
Also known as | Korvorão (Korvowrong) [1] |
Born | [2] Anaheim, California, U.S. | July 8, 1966
Origin | Southern California, U.S. |
Genres | Alternative hip hop, hip hop tuga, trip hop, spoken word, electronic dance music |
Occupation(s) | Vocalist, lyricist, poet, contemporary artist, writer, photographer, producer |
Years active | 1983–present |
Labels | Sweatlodge Records, [3] Valentim de Carvalho (Parlophone/Warner Music Group), Publishing administered by: North Music Group [4] |
Ithaka Darin Pappas (born July 8, 1966), known professionally as Ithaka, is an American-born multidisciplinary artist of Greek ancestry who creates using music, writing, sculpture and photography (both as separate entities or using them in combination with each other). He has authored a collection of short stories, entitled Ravenshark Chronicles published in international magazines and periodicals, which have sometimes been the basis for his travel-oriented lyrical content. [5] In a 2005 article for the magazine Waves, journalist Ricardo Macario described Ithaka as "The Miscellaneous Man". [6] In a 2008 review of Ithaka's sixth album Saltwater Nomad, the online surf-culture platform Surfline stated that "the artist effortlessly traverses at ease between all of his choses mediums of expression [music, sculpture, writing and photography]", and that "his life's journey is a soulful balancing act somewhere between the worlds of euphoric creation and aquatic diversion." [7]
Ithaka was born and raised in coastal Southern California, and began experimenting with his father's 35mm and 120mm cameras at the age of five. He began surfing at the age of twelve, after vacationing with a friend's family on the Hawaiian island of Maui and observing the locals riding six-foot tubes at Honolua Bay. “That's the life for me”, he thought to himself. [8] Upon returning to California, he sold his drum kit to buy a surfboard. The ocean, until present day, has been a major influence for the artist. As a young adult he began traveling the world in search of waves and adventure, largely inspiring his photography, three-dimensional artworks and voyage-oriented lyrics and stories. [9] [10] As he told Dance Club Magazine in a 2005 interview, I live it, write it, rap about it. [11] He has since resided and worked in a variety of locations including; Greece, Japan, Portugal, Brazil and Mexico. [12]
Ithaka's first professional photograph was published in 1984, in Thrasher skateboarding magazine. [13] Much of his early portraiture work was of aspiring Hollywood actors, but he then began getting more involved in music industry photography, working with Los Angeles area hip hop artists such as; A Lighter Shade of Brown, [14] Big Lady K, [15] Low Profile, Eazy E and N.W.A. [16]
After the release of F. Gary Gray's 2015 biographical drama about gangsta rap pioneers Eazy E and N.W.A., entitled Straight Outta Compton, there was renewed visibility in some of the early pictures that Ithaka Darin Pappas had made of the artists (all created while freelancing for Priority Records between 1988 and 1990). In 2016, many of his photographs, including the cover of their 1989 Straight Outta Compton remix single release, were projected as a backdrop at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York during the induction ceremony officially admitting N.W.A into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2017, more photographs appeared in the HBO documentary, The Defiant Ones directed by Allen Hughes. [17] [18] Other photographs of N.W.A. by Ithaka were shown in the 2018 museum exhibition "Hip-Hop : Un Age d'Or" (or The Golden Age Of Hip Hop) at the Musée d'Art Contemporain in Marseille, France. [19]
Later in 2018, photographs of Eazy E riding a skateboard in Venice Beach, California that Ithaka had taken in 1989 were published in the photography book Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop (written by Vikki Tobak). The book, published by Penguin Random House, was included on Time Magazine's 25 Best Photobooks of 2018 list. [20] Ithaka's images from the book have also been present in its subsequent traveling photography exhibition series that to date has shown at The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles (2019), International Center of Photography in New York (2020) and at Manarat Al Saadiyat Museum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2021). [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] Other early photographs of Eazy E and N.W.A. by Ithaka have been manufactured into apparel by companies such as Neighborhood (Japan), Bravado, MadeWorn, Merch Traffic and others. [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]
The ongoing sculpture series entitled The Reincarnation Of A Surfboard [33] which Ithaka began in 1989 (which includes over 300 individual contemporary artworks created from recycled surfboards) has been exhibited in Europe, Asia, the United States and also in Brazil, at São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound. In an interview given to Surf Portugal magazine in 2012 while attending one of Ithaka's exhibitions in Europe, graphic artist Dave Carson described Ithaka's work as experimental, unexpected and surprising and in a 2013 report about his work, Fuel TV considered him one of the world's premier contemporary surf artists. [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]
As an audio artist, Ithaka has recorded seven albums of alternative hip hop and spoken-word music. His 1992 spoken-word song So Get Up, [40] under varying titles, has charted on four separate occasions in Europe and the UK and has been remixed by artists such as Fatboy Slim and Cosmic Gate. [41] [42] [43] [44]
Although a citizen of the United States who vocalizes in English, because Ithaka was living and recording in Portugal for several years during the mid-late 1990s, at the very beginning of the hip hop movement in the country, he is often included in the genre of music known as Hip hop tuga and sometimes considered one of the founding artists along with: Black Company, Boss AC, Zona Dread, Family, Funky D, New Tribe, Lideres da Nova Mensagem, Da Weasel, Mind Da Gap, and General D. [45] [46]
Escape From The City Of Angels, an alternative hip hop song Ithaka recorded with guest vocalist Marta Dias for his album Flowers and the Color of Paint [47] was featured in the soundtrack of Antoine Fuqua's 1998 feature film Replacement Killers (Columbia Pictures) in a scene featuring Academy Award nominees/winners Mira Sorvino, Chow Yun-fat and Clifton Collins Jr. [48] [49]
During his most active recording years in Portugal (1994–1997), the artist's musical projects were nominated for a total of nine Pemios Blitz (the Portuguese Grammy Awards) including; Best Album (for Flowers and the Color of Paint in 1995 and Stellafly in 1997) [50] and Best Male Vocalist (in 1995 and 1997). In addition, the national newspaper, Público, awarded his 1997 release Stellafly as "Album Of The Year" and considered a song from the record Seabra Is Mad (musically co-written by Ewan Butler and Joe Fossard) [51] as both the "Song Of The Year" and "Video Of The Year". Público also cited his debut release Flowers And The Color Of Paint as one of the country's Ten Most Influential Albums Of The 1990s, while a 2020 article in Rua Magazine proclaimed that Flowers And The Color Of Paint was one of the twenty albums that changed the Portuguese music industry. [52] [53] [54]
During the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s, writings from Ithaka's collection of ocean-related short story series entitled, ‘’Ravenshark Chronicles’’ (including titles such as "Zé dos Cães") [55] were published in the surfing magazines; Surfer, The Surfer's Journal, Wavelength (UK), Transworld Surf and Water Magazine. In 2009, one of the stories, “Miracle At Malibu”, was published in the collective hardbound book, Surf Story. In recent years these stories have also been published individually as mini-novels. [56] [57] [58] [59] [60]
Source: [93]
Source: [99]
N.W.A was an American hip hop group formed in Compton, California. They were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music.
Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, known professionally as MC Ren, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the independent record label Villain Entertainment.
Straight Outta Compton is the debut studio album by American gangsta rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987. Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988, the album was produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, with lyrics written by N.W.A members Ice Cube and MC Ren along with Ruthless rapper and unofficial member The D.O.C. Not merely depicting Compton's street violence, the lyrics repeatedly threaten to lead it by attacking peers and even police. The track "Fuck tha Police" drew an FBI agent's warning letter, which aided N.W.A's notoriety, with N.W.A calling itself "the world's most dangerous group."
100 Miles and Runnin' is an EP from the American gangsta rap group N.W.A. Released on August 14, 1990, this EP of five tracks reflects an evolution of N.W.A's sound and centers on the single "100 Miles and Runnin'." Two tracks, "100 Miles" and "Real Niggaz," incidentally incited N.W.A's feud with Ice Cube, who had left to start a solo rap career. The porno rap track "Just Don't Bite It," also drew notice. Pushing lyrical boundaries in its day, the EP went gold in November 1990 and platinum in September 1992.
Mongaguá is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista. The population is 57,648 in an area of 141.87 km2. The name comes from the Tupi language. Its seal carries the motto "E pluribus unum".
Portuguese hip hop, more commonly called hip hop tuga, is the Portuguese variety of hip hop music. It differs from mainstream hip hop because it has strong influences from African music, from Lusophone Africa, reggae, zouk and fado.
"Boyz-n-the-Hood" is the debut single by Eazy-E, then leader of a new rap group, N.W.A. Released in March 1987, the single was a local hit, reissued, by year's end on the unauthorized compilation album N.W.A. and the Posse.
"Eazy-er Said Than Dunn" is a song by American rapper Eazy-E. The song was released as the second single from his debut studio album, Eazy-Duz-It. The track was produced by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella.
"Straight Outta Compton" is a song by American hip hop group N.W.A. It was released on July 10, 1988 as the lead single from their debut album of the same name. It also appears on N.W.A's Greatest Hits with an extended mix and The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge. The song samples "You'll Like It Too" by Funkadelic, "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson and the Street People, "Get Me Back on Time, Engine No. 9" by Wilson Pickett, and most famously, "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons. It was voted number 19 on About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs, and is ranked number 6 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
"So Get Up", written and vocalized by Ithaka, is a 1992 spoken-word electronic dance music vocal-poem lyric song more frequently credited to the Portuguese house music production duo Underground Sound of Lisbon, German trance music duo Cosmic Gate, the Spanish group Committee and London-based DJ/producers, Stretch & Vern.
The Reincarnation of a Surfboard is a body of sculpture work created by Ithaka Darin Pappas. The project, which began in 1989 consist of approximately 300 wall-mounted sculptures that have been made using recycled surfboards as raw building material. The series to date has been exhibited on four continents. The most recent solo exhibitions of these works were mesa hosted by WOA - Way Of Arts in Cascais, Portugal in December 2012, by Hurley International in Costa Mesa, California in October 2013 and F+ Gallery in Santa Ana in February 2015.
Flowers and the Color of Paint is a 1995 travel-oriented hip hop, downtempo and spoken word album by Californian lyricist, vocalist and visual artist, Ithaka.
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Damien Fahrenfort, also known as "Dooma", is a South African business person, professional surfer, web-content creator, producer and journalist born in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Miracle Mile Shot is an experimental short subject, non-dialogue documentary film based entirely on a single photograph of the influential Gangsta rap group N.W.A. created on November 11, 1988, in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles, California, by photographer/artist Ithaka Darin Pappas. The photograph itself, also entitled The Miracle Mile Shot, was captured during a photo session that took place at the photographer's home studio apartment at 6516 1/2 Orange Street, Los Angeles. The short film, screened for the first time at the LAGFF on June 19, 2019, visually tells the story of the most important uses of the photograph in chronological order.
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Marta Dias is a São Toméan Portuguese singer of jazz, world music and fado who has recorded several solo albums and has additionally recorded and toured extensively with guitarist António Chainho. She has also appeared on several Hip hop releases, including the Ithaka song, Escape From The City Of Angels, which appeared in Columbia Pictures's feature film release, The Replacement Killers in 1998.
General D is a rapper, Hip hop tuga and World music artist. Being the first rapper in Portugal to sign a major record deal, he is considered the Godfather Of Portuguese Hip Hop. Although largely influenced by big name U.S. rap acts such as Public Enemy, Ice Cube and Ice-T, his music carried a distinct African flavor incorporating many live tribal percussion instruments. He recorded two solo albums for EMI-Valentim de Carvalho and has also appeared as a guest on other artists' releases including; Ithaka, Cool Hipnoise, Água d'Amanhã and Pop Dell'Arte.
"Who's the Enemy?" is an English-language alternative hip hop anti-war song by Californian artist/songwriter Ithaka and Brazilian rapper and author, Gabriel o Pensador. The song was originally included on the album, Recorded in Rio, released for the first time in association with Blitz Magazine (Portugal) in 2004. It would later be featured on the soundtrack of the 2006 film, Lost Jewel of the Atlantic, directed by Jacob Holcomb and produced by World Surfing Reserves. The song promotes world peace, containing lyrical references to former U.S. President George W. Bush, The Cold War and global dictators.
"Seabra Is Mad" is a 1997 drum and bass/alternative rock "story song" by Californian lyricist/vocalist Ithaka. The song was released as the first single from his second studio album Stellafly. Recorded in Portugal, it was produced by Joe Fossard featuring Ewan Butler on guitar and Sergio Nascimento on the chorus drums.
Media related to Ithaka Darin Pappas at Wikimedia Commons