Pep Love
The Tao of Pep
In early 2019, I met Pep Love, one of the illustrious, philosophical members of the hip-hop collective Hieroglyphics. Our conversations inspired me to capture his words as images; these are my favorites from the series. Ultimately, I'm hoping to do a collection with the entire 9-member Hiero crew.
Tao of Pep Series. Quote from dialogue with Pep Love of Hieroglyphics. The figure is Pep; facial features were replaced with his logo to demonstrate that we are identified by more than tangibles, those things which feed our egos.
EGO (2019)
Dreamer (2019)
"I've always been a dreamer - my mother can attest to that. You know, the kid sitting there, looking up at the sky, while everyone else is looking down at their toys."
Concept: 1980's, red Wayfarers, hacked Rolling Stone cover.
BLUNT (2019)
NOW (2019)
"If I had a blunt, I'd light it up right now...and blow some smoke your way. Word."
Concept: Pep's logo hand-drawn and rendered in smoke. Interestingly, in a later conversation, Pep didn't recall ever saying this to me. If you stop and think about that, it's pretty funny.
"Now is the only Now there will ever be. In each Now, there is a flowering of possibilities for mankind and what we can achieve, surpassing our limitations."
Concept: Portrayal of thought. Ethereal, organic, psychedelic. Elemental colors of earth and water.
"Light cuts through darkness, and sometimes it hurts to be cut. My approach is to be flexible. Easygoing. Happy-go-lucky. Chill. Other people are like, 'I have the right to be as much of a dick, bitch, or asshole as I want.' the darkness is always thinking about ego gratification, or whether it will be hurt. The ego IS the dark side. Fear. The ego is false."
Concept: Street Oracle, philosopher king. Removal of identity (facial features), replaced with Pep's logo. Stark, intimidating, masculine, wise.