Toward the end of PBS’s classic 1983 documentary “Style Wars,” teenage graffiti artists Erni Vales and Cey Adams are answering questions about the art form transitioning from New York City subway trains to being on canvases in downtown galleries.
“Forget about trains. Who wants to be dirty and hot at the same time,” Vales said.
A then-19-year-old kid from Queens, Adams grins, staring at a graffiti piece on the wall and makes his motivation clear: “I’m into making money.”
Like other young Black kids gravitating toward hip-hop culture in New York during the 1970s and 1980s, Adams set his mind on two things: improving his circumstances and using artistic talents as way to express himself.
Today, Adams is a hip-hop legend, credited as one of the leading visual creative forces in the music’s history by fusing graffiti, pop art, collage, murals, vintage sign painting and comics into his work. Now in his 60s, the founding creative director of Def Jam Record no longer considers money to be his chief motivation.
“I want to educate young people, preaching the gospel of hip-hop and street art and showing young people that you can have a career in this business,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ahead of a visit to the city.
Adams and other influential artists are featured in the Museum of Graffiti’s traveling exhibition “Sneaker Stories,” which will be on view at Ponce City Market from May 31 through June 2. The weekend-long pop-up is a celebration of graffiti and sneaker culture.
Credit: Robert Bredvad
Credit: Robert Bredvad
In addition to Adams, artists including Futura, Eric Haze, Claw Money and Faust will have their respective pieces on display. At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1, Adams and artist Claw Money will take part in a panel discussion titled “Fighting Spirit Stories,” moderated by Atlanta graffiti artist Dr. Dax.
For Adams, it’s a welcome return to a city that has a Willie B.-strong grip on the hip-hop culture he and his fellow New Yorkers ushered into the world. It’s also a chance for the renowned designer, arts lecturer, educator and speaker to continue connecting with on-the-rise Black creatives in person.
His message to them comes from the mind of a man whose work features at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and who spent more than four decades leading creative campaigns for everyone from the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, and Jay-Z to Adidas, Nike, Muhammad Ali and Dave Chappelle.
“You guys are coming up at a time where design and your clothes — it’s all secondary and it’s all on the Internet, so you can learn how to do everything,” Adams said. “Back when we were doing it, you had to figure all these things out for yourself. Everything was about making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.”
‘This is not about me’
Around the time Adams was featured in “Style Wars,” he and his friends Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat were hungry artists leading the downtown street-art movement in the 1980s. Adams then developed a friendship and creative relationship with the Beastie Boys, designing the band’s early releases, merchandise and logos. He later connected with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, who was working at Rush Artist Management. There, Adams created logos and merchandise for artists such as Kurtis Blow, Whodini and Jimmy Spicer.
When Simmons and Rick Rubin founded Def Jam, Adams joined them, forming the label’s in-house design firm, the Drawing Board, with his business partner Steve Carr. The team was instrumental in bringing album covers, logos and other insignias for Def Jam and Bad Boy Records recording artists including Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, DMX, Usher, Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige to life. His Def Jam run spanned 1989-2000.
Credit: Def Jam Records
Credit: Def Jam Records
His favorite album cover? Probably the one for Public Enemy’s third studio album, “Fear of the Black Planet,” which featured the group’s sniper scope-inspired logo on a phantom planet orbiting next to Earth. “Chuck D, he was such an innovator and he was so mindful, and we are still friends to this very day,” he said.
Also atop Adams’ rankings is LL Cool J’s “Mamma Said Knock You Out,” as are the DMX classics “It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot” and “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood.” Adams remembers the late emcee as one of his favorite collaborators.
“I think about DMX and how much I miss him, and just what the working experience was like. He had a lot of faith in what we were doing and a lot of trust,” he said.
Credit: Courtesy of Museum of Graffiti
Credit: Courtesy of Museum of Graffiti
Whether Adams and his business partner Carr were guiding acts such Redman or Method Man on creative campaigns, their success came from execs rooted in hip-hop culture, focused on seeing their artists succeed. “The thing I remember the most is my relationship with the recording artists and letting them know that, ‘Everything that I am doing is about you. This is not about me,’” he recalls.
‘Invent and reinvent’
In 2024, Adams stays focused on preserving the people, places and stories that comprise hip-hop’s legacy, which explains his work the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Eight years ago, the museum commissioned him to create “One Nation,” a large-scale collage on an American flag bearing black and white stars and stripes. Part of the museum’s permanent collection, the piece highlights Civil Rights-era heroes.
Five years later, Adams and the museum joined forces for “The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap.” The 300-page books is designed by Adams and includes 129 songs on nine CDs, essays and photos documenting hip-hop from 1979 to 2013. One chapter is entirely dedicated to Atlanta and the South’s influence, documenting contributions from Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, the Geto Boys, Ludacris and others.
During the Rush Artist Management and Def Jam days, he spent time in Atlanta while touring with acts such as Whodini Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys. He witnessed a scene bubbling with Black creatives, which is why he’s glad, not mad, to see the city hold on to hip-hop and rap’s current throne. “It’s just so much fun to see the evolution and to know that you had a role in helping to contribute to that,” he said.
Preserving and documenting culture is also why Adams believes in the mission behind the Museum of Graffiti, which debuted in 2019. Adams designed the museum’s logo. He’s looking forward to discussing his 2006 graffiti-sneaker collaboration with Adidas that will be on display at the exhibition. It’s a full circle moment for a man who, as a kid, took to cleaning and painting his sneakers when they got dirty since he couldn’t afford new ones.
“That’s what we do in hip-hop culture, we invent and we reinvent …,” he says. “I’m not trying to change the world. I’m just trying to change the stripes on my shoes.”
Credit: Courtesy of Museum of Graffiti
Credit: Courtesy of Museum of Graffiti
Adams said it’s important that graffiti and hip-hop culture’s acceptance didn’t happen overnight.
“We are young men and women of color, and, oftentimes, we don’t get taken seriously,” he said. “A lifetime had to go by before people understood that the work that we’re doing is important.”
Entering his sixth decade, Adams says his current creative muse is “breathing.” Read: life. He’s come a long way and, upon reflection, summarizes his journey with a sports analogy.
“I never imagined any of this when I was a teenager. I just wanted an opportunity to jump in the game and get to play,” he said. “My goal is just always to stay injury-free and to stay out there on that playing field and keep doing my thing.”
IF YOU GO
“Sneaker Stories”
10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1; 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday, June 2. Free. Ponce City Market. 675 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Atlanta. museumofgraffiti.com
