MC Ren (of N.W.A.) photographed in DTLA in 1990 by Ithaka Darin Pappas

MC Ren (of N.W.A.) photographed in DTLA in 1990 by Ithaka Darin Pappas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_Ren

Never Seen Image of Ice Cube & Dr. Dre by Photographer Ithaka Darin Pappas - Surfaces After 31 Years!

NEVER BEFORE SEEN image of Ice Cube & Dr. Dre  just discovered in my deepest archives. Although we were mostly shooting black & white, this was from a lone color roll shot on a Hasselblad 500CE. It was November 11th 1988, the same day we made "THE MIRACLE MILE SHOT" ( aka the official press image for Straight Outta Compton "). This now historic session was made in my old apartment in The Miracle Mile area of LA when my roommates were out at their classes at UCLA 

{watch vid here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa1HApBPD6U }[][]

Image is copyrighted: Please contact ithaka.official@gmail.com for more info:

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

photo: Ithaka Darin Pappas © 1988

This was one of many shoots 

That I did of Ice Cube and NWA for

Priority Records Between 1988 and 1991.

For more information about this image 

Please contact: ithaka.art@gmail.com - Also see:  @_ithaka_

Note: This image is not Public Domain, it is Necessary to acquire authorization

thru my Representatives at the Tack Artist Agency Group in Los Angeles 

before reproducing in print, online or merchandising ... thank you.

Interview in Mass Appeal (Contact High Project)
http://massappeal.com/contact-high-ithaka-darin-pappas-on-photographing-a-bulletproof-vest-wearing-skateboarding-riding-eazy-e/

Interview in The Hundreds:
http://thehundreds.com/ithaka-interview/

Interview in Gerneral Admission:
https://www.generaladmission.us/blogs/news/eazy-e-and-ithakas-iconic-photo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 #nwa #drdre#icecube #beatsbydre #hiphop#gangstarap #straightouttacompton#themiraclemileshot#musicphotography#Dodgers#hiphopphotography#westcoast #compton #LA#raplegend #rapper#goldenagehiphop #hiphophead#thegodfatherofgangstarap#streetknowledge #streetart #biggie#hiphop_life #tupac #nas#fuckthapolice

#ithakadarinpappas

N.W.A - Backstage In Phoenix (1989) The Last Photographs of N.W.A. - Very Rare pictures by Ithaka Darin Pappas

BACKSTAGE IN PHOENIX - The Last Photographs of the Real N.W.A. (photographed and directed by: Ithaka Darin Pappas) The following images (all from a single roll of film) were taken early evening in Phoenix, Arizona about an hour before Eazy-E and N.W.A would perform one of the most powerful concerts on their 1989 U.S. tour. At the time, I was a regular freelance photographer for Priority Records and was flown out from Los Angeles that afternoon to document a private backstage ceremony. DJ Yella, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube and MC Ren were to be presented RIAA certified Platinum Records for their albums N.W.A."Straight Outta Compton" and Eazy-E "Eazy-Duz-It" which had been released almost simultaneously in August and September of 1988. Ironically, it was there in Phoenix later on this very same night, that Ice Cube essentially quit the project, ending The World's Most Dangerous Group as we knew it. These are the last photographs of N.W.A. together as a quintet. - Ithaka Darin Pappas 2019

________________________________________________ The good times couldn't last. Ice Cube was the first to discover all was not right with N.W.A. - at the height of the group's popularity in 1989 when the tour hit Phoenix, Cube stopped the show. Pat Charbonet, then publicist for Priority Records and Cube's future manager had been asking Cube some questions about his financing...How much money had Cube been making off the songs he had written for Straight Outta Compton? Where was the money...and when would Cube get it in his pockets? Cube didn't have any answers - so he stopped the group dead in its tracks. - Dr. Dre: A Biography (2007) page 48
___________________________________________________ At Eazy's request, N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller flew to Phoenix with new contracts in hand and $75,000 for those who signed. The rest of the group complied, but not Cube. He told Heller he wanted a lawyer to review the contract.The others in the group ridiculed him for turning down so much money. Cube in fact discovered he did have good reason to feel he was getting ripped off. According to Rolling Stone magazine, N.W.A. grossed $650,000 for their 1989 U.S. tour, but Cube only received $23,000. By the end of the year, Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-Duz-It had sold a combined three-million copies. Although Cube had written or co-written about half the songs on both albums, he earned a total of $32,000. - Sager 1990, page 166

_________________________________________________________ Royalties, which typically take months to work their way from shops to distributors to record labels and on to artists, weren't arriving fast enough to keep tempers from boiling over. At a gig in Phoenix, Arizona each member was given a check, but only if they signed a contract. I refused to take my check, because I felt I would be admitting that I agreed with what I was being' paid, Cube told me in 2006. They thought I was crazy!, saying, '$75,000 is more money than we've ever seen'. - NME August 25th 2015 Photography, edit and music: Ithaka Darin Pappas
Songs: "Afflicted", "Warm Budweiser", "Butterly Boogie" from the upcoming album, Ithaka Voiceless Blue Raven II Text sources: Sager (1999), Dr. Dre: A Biography (2007), NME Magazine (2015) Executive producer: craig raidor dahl Note: all images in this presentation under U.S. Federal and international copyrights. ©1989, ©2019 Thank you. https://nwafotosbyithakadarinpappas.b... https://www.instagram.com/nwa_photos_... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo97z... https://www.facebook.com/NWAandEAZYEp... #NWA #HIPHOP #IthakaDarinPappas

Fab Five Freddy & N.W.A. - Venice Beach - Yo! MTV Raps

Fab Five Freddy interviews Eazy-E & N.W.A for Yo! MTV Raps
at Venice Beach, California - February 24th 1989 /
Photo: Ithaka Darin Pappas

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

photo: Ithaka Darin Pappas © 1989

This was one of many shoots 

That I did of NWA

Priority Records Between 1988 and 1991.

For more information about this image 

Please contact: ithaka.art@gmail.com - Also see:  @_ithaka_

Note: This image is not Public Domain, it is Necessary to acquire authorization

thru my Representatives at the Tack Artist Agency Group in Los Angeles 

before reproducing in print, online or merchandising ... thank you.

Interview in Mass Appeal (Contact High Project)
http://massappeal.com/contact-high-ithaka-darin-pappas-on-photographing-a-bulletproof-vest-wearing-skateboarding-riding-eazy-e/

Interview in The Hundreds:
http://thehundreds.com/ithaka-interview/

Interview in Gerneral Admission:
https://www.generaladmission.us/blogs/news/eazy-e-and-ithakas-iconic-photo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Foto Inédita Dos N.W.A. tirada por Ithaka Darin Pappas há quase 30 anos (e a Rolling Stone foi atrás)

O artista norte-americano, que viveu em Portugal nos anos 90, explicou-nos como se tornou fotógrafo oficial do coletivo de hip-hop

MÁRIO RUI VIEIRA

Jornalista

Na edição de outubro do ano passado, a BLITZ, a reboque do sucesso do filme Straight Outta Compton, publicou um artigo sobre os N.W.A. para o qual falou com Ithaka Darin Pappas, responsável pelas primeiras fotografias de promoção do coletivo de hip-hop norte-americano.

O artista, músico e fotógrafo americano, que viveu em Portugal nos anos 90 e cá gravou vários álbuns, contou-nos a história da primeira sessão que fez com os N.W.A. e foi ao baú buscar uma fotografia "inédita e nunca vista", captada há mais de 27 anos.

A mesma imagem foi republicada em janeiro pela revista norte-americana Rolling Stone num artigo sobre os músicos que este ano entrarão para o Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, e entre os quais estão os N.W.A..

Íthaka contou à BLITZ a história que o levou a trabalhar com o grupo, no final dos anos 80:

«Tinha 22 ou 23 anos e andava a fotografar muitos atores jovens de TV e cinema», começa por recordar. «Fui apresentado ao departamento de arte da Priority Records por um vizinho que trabalhava lá. Mostrei o meu portfólio e chamaram-me para o primeiro trabalho umas semanas mais tarde. Entre 1988 e 1991, trabalhei para a Priority provavelmente umas vinte vezes». Sobre as sessões que fez com Dr. Dre, Ice Cube e companhia, declara: «em geral, era fácil lidar com eles. As sessões eram normalmente bem-humoradas, eles divertiam-se», acrescenta. «O Cube era o mais sério, mas se calhar já se tinha apercebido que não estava a ser bem recompensado pelo seu trabalho. O projeto teria sido completamente diferente e menos poderoso sem as suas letras».

À época, Pappas também fotografou outros nomes do gangsta rap, mas nenhum o impressionou como os N.W.A que, segundo o artista, eram diferentes porque incluíam algum humor na música que produziam. «Eles já tinham alguns singles editados e eram estrelas locais», explica. «Eu tornei-me fã dos N.W.A. meses antes de os fotografar pela primeira vez. Portanto, queria fazer um bom trabalho. A Priority pagou-me 500 dólares, mas gastei 600 no aluguer de equipamento de iluminação, câmaras Hasselblad, rolos e revelação, etc.». A editora, esclarece, dava os primeiros passos no mundo do hip-hop, «não penso que tenha sido uma decisão muito pensada escolherem-me e continuarem a contratarem-me, apenas estava no local certo no momento certo. E tinha a idade certa e estava no ponto certo da minha carreira para aceitar aqueles pagamentos ridículos. Um fotógrafo profissional nunca trabalharia por tão pouco dinheiro nem se colocaria em situações potencialmente perigosas, mas para mim era uma aventura». Uma dessas situações aconteceu durante a gravação de um vídeo de Ice Cube, «tínhamos alugado um posto de abastecimento de gasolina fora de serviço e a dado momento, apareceram uma série de rufias assustadores. Eram 40! Ficaram ali parados numa pose que parecia ensaiada para um filme. Um por um, abriram os casacos e mostraram as suas armas. A produção foi cancelada naquela localização e a equipa desapareceu em cinco minutos. Provavelmente era só uma atitude intimidatória, mas foi assustador. Fiquei com as mãos a tremer durante vinte minutos enquanto conduzia de volta para casa. Por qualquer razão aquele gangue não queria o Cube e o seu pessoal no seu bairro».

Ithaka chegou a ir em digressão com o grupo e estava lá, em Phoenix, na noite em que Cube se recusou a assinar o contrato. «Foi uma coisa pesada. Ouvi a notícia da boca da assessora de imprensa da editora minutos depois de ter acontecido». Outro momento que lhe ficou bem gravado na memória foi uma festa Wet & Wild para a qual foi convidado por Eazy-E: «foi a loucura total. Alugou um rancho em Malibu com uma piscina e convidou cerca de 700 dos seus "melhores amigos". Álcool e mais álcool, belas e curvilíneas mulheres e gangsters e música em altos berros. O maior cliché da cultura hip-hop. Mas adorei». A festa está retratada no filme Straight Outta Compton, que Pappas já viu duas vezes. «Fui ver uma segunda vez porque não queria acreditar que era tão bom. Tentei encontrar falhas óbvias no argumento mas além das necessárias simplificações não encontrei muitas», defende. «Acredito mesmo que merece nomeações para os Óscares, especialmente para Jason Mitchell, que faz de Eazy. Muitas vezes, esqueci-me completamente que estava a ver um ator a fazer de Eazy e não ao Eazy-E ele próprio».

Excerto do artigo publicado na BLITZ nº 112 (outubro 2015)

A BLITZ recuperou foto inédita dos N.W.A. tirada por Íthaka há quase 30 anos (e a Rolling Stone foi atrás). Conheça aqui a história

NWA - Blitz Magazine (Portugal 2015) By Ithaka Darin Pappas ©1988

Early publicity photograph I took of N.W.A. 

at my apartment in Los Angeles in 1998

on a Hasselblad ELX with 105mm lens.

This was how the image was published in Blitz Magazine (Portugal)
in a twenty page article in the October 2015 issue.

For more information about this image 
please contact: ithaka.art@gmail.com - Also see: @_ithaka_

Note: This image is not Public Domain, it is necessary to acquire authorization

thru my representatives at the Tack Artist Group Agency in Los Angeles 

before reproducing either in print, online or merchandising...thank you.

http://thehundreds.com/ithaka-interview/

NWA in Downtown Los Angeles by Ithaka Darin Pappas © 1990

NWA Publicity photograph 

in Downtown Los Angeles 

by Ithaka Darin Pappas © 1990.

This was one of many shoots 

that I did for Priority Records between 1988 and 1991.

For more information about this picture, please contact: ithaka.art@gmail.com - Also see: @_ithaka_

Note: This photograph is not Public Domain, it is necessary to acquire authorization thru my representatives at the Tack Artist Group Agency in Los Angeles before reproducing in print, online or merchandising...thank you.

http://thehundreds.com/ithaka-interview/

N.W.A. at MacArthur Park, LA - Photographer: Ithaka Darin Pappas © 1989

Publicity photograph I took of N.W.A. 

MacArthur Park - Los Angeles in 1989

This was one of many shoots 

that I did for Priority Records between 1988 and 1991.

For more information about this picture, please contact: ithaka.art@gmail.com - Also see: @_ithaka_

Note: This photograph is not Public Domain, it is necessary to acquire authorization thru my representatives at the Tack Artist Group Agency in Los Angeles before reproducing either in print, online or merchandising...thank you.

http://thehundreds.com/ithaka-interview/

NWA Photographed By: Ithaka Darin Pappas ©1988

Publicity photograph I took of N.W.A. 

at my apartment in Los Angeles in 1998

on a Hasselblad ELX with 105mm lens.

This was the first of many shoots 

that I did for Priority Records between 1988 and 1991.

We also shot Big Lady K during that same session. 

For more information about this image please contact: ithaka.art@gmail.com - Also see: @_ithaka_

Note: This image is not Public Domain, it is necessary to acquire authorization

thru my representatives at the Tack Artist Group Agency in Los Angeles 

before reproducing either in print, online or merchandising...thank you.

http://thehundreds.com/ithaka-interview/

ITHAKA interview - THE HUNDREDS - By MANOS NOMIKOS

http://thehundreds.com/ithaka-interview/

Meet The Greek-American Artist Who Shot N.W.A’s Earliest Promo Photos

Born Darin Pappas, ITHAKA is a prolific, multifaceted Greek-American artist and surfer based in Los Angeles. Back in the day in the late ’80s, he was the photographer responsible for the first official publicity and record cover shoots for one of the most influential rap groups out there, N.W.A. In the right place at the right time, he was there when history was written.

Along with commercial and artistic photography, he has worked close with some of the most renowned artists of that era, making his body of work extensive, exciting, and covering fields like music, poetry, and sculpture (he’s even been called the “Godfather of contemporary surfboard art”). I had the chance to speak with him and hear him reflect on his time working with Eazy-E and Cube, eating Doritos with OE, and touch on his approach to inspiration, the grind, and creativity.

MANOS NOMIKOS: Hello Ithaka! How is it going? Where do we find you and what are you working on these days?
ITHAKA: Hey Manos, what’s up, man? At the moment, I’m in Santa Ana, California. I’m digitizing some of my archaic photo files, scanning and editing.

As with many of us old-school shooters, I was born at a very complicated time to be a photographer… half of my entire archive of images is still on negatives. It’ll take me a long, long while just to catch up with all of this. Kind of a pain in the ass, but it’s always fun to find gems you never even remembered shooting. This whole process has been forcing me to look at photographs individually and to relive moments of my past.

With the Straight Outta Compton biopic just recently ruling the box office, how do you feel about your work on the early official N.W.A photo shoots back in the day?It was kind of an intense experience to see the flick. I was present in person in many of the scenes depicted in the movie—some of the tour dates, Eazy’s famous pool party, video shoots, etc. And I overheard many of the conversations that helped shape the script. Since I was observing their lives once every few months, I witnessed at a distance their increase in wealth, marriages, group separation, etc. The film seemed be as accurate as it could be. I mean, that’s the way I remember them, exactly. It’s a solid piece of cinema, well-deserving of some Oscar nominations.

An early N.W.A promo shot by Ithaka.

Did you have the feeling these guys were going to become so big and influential?No, not really… not that big anyway—but I knew they were unique. At the time, I listened to radio KDAY daily and was a fan of N.W.A months before we ever did the first pictures.  I was also working with a couple of other gangsta rap artists at that time and most of their music was just not that enjoyable to listen to—way too dark and depressing. I think what made N.W.A special is that as hard as it was sonically, the tracks were bombastic, upbeat with tons of energy and change-ups… and a lot of it was laced with humor. The mix of powerful lyrics, comedy, and slamming instrumentals made that shit what it is—absolutely timeless.

“THE BOYZ ROLLED UP IN EAZY’S GMC SAFARI VAN WITH CHROME WHEELS… WE HAD NACHO CHEESE DORITOS FOR LUNCH AND SOME OE. GOOD TIMES.”

How do you remember this shoot and how do you remember Eazy-E? 
Eazy was cool as shit to me, always. A smart and funny individual. I worked for Priority records about eighteen or twenty times between 1988-1991, most of the shoots were of Eazy and N.W.A, and later Cube solo and N.W.A without Cube, etc. And also of Big Lady K and Low Profile.

But that first Miracle Mile shoot of N.W.A was fun as hell. It was a low-budget thing—all the sessions were—so we shot at my apartment. I lived near Fairfax and Wilshire at the time in a quiet, mostly old folks neighborhood known as Miracle Mile. And the boyz rolled up in Eazy’s GMC Safari van with chrome wheels, music blasting to distortion, and the neighbors were just horrified, especially my downstairs landlord. But fuck him anyway for raising my rent that month! [Laughs] Dj Speed was also there and Big Lady K. We had Nacho Cheese Doritos for lunch and some OE. Good times.

Where do you get your inspiration and how do you stay motivated?Inspiration is a hard thing to fake; it’s obvious when people are just going through the motions. Example, a lackluster second record by a great band that had to mill out an album in only a year after using ten years of life as the basis for their first masterpiece. Their lives have changed; what do they have to fuel them now? Lunches with lawyers and record executives?

I try to make life choices that will give me fuel to create naturally. Change your path and the direction of your art will change automatically. I geographically change where I’m working several times a year just to break it up a bit and not to fall into too much of a specific routine, which can be death to creativity.

My principal stimulus these recent years is nature itself. Most big cities feel kind of the same to me at this point, but nature remains truly complex and always very different in every individual location.

I spend about six months of the year at my place in Brazil. It’s in the Atlantic Rainforest on the southern coast of the State of São Paulo. I make my sculptures there and work on new music too, but I also do massive amounts of observation and wildlife photographs. Just looking and listening for hours at a time. I only have an acre property myself, but it’s in a large area of relatively untouched woodlands. I usually can’t hear or see any outside civilization from within the density of the forest, just birds and rain.

“I TRY TO MAKE LIFE CHOICES THAT WILL GIVE ME FUEL TO CREATE NATURALLY. CHANGE YOUR PATH AND THE DIRECTION OF YOUR ART WILL CHANGE AUTOMATICALLY.”

The immediate neighborhood of about 2000 acres, an area called AkahtiLândia, is extremely rural. There is a native Guarani village just down the road, where many of the local residents literally live in mud and stick huts. There are several rivers and small mountains, exotic plants and birds and wild animals.

For the past five years, I’ve been occupied with a mutated version of the life I’ve known since my early twenties: making art and music—and surfing, but now part-time  in a neo-tropical forest environment. One of the things that has really impressed me most about the jungle is the insect life. Visually, there’s no end to the variety. The colors and geometric forms are absolutely mind-blowing. To me, insects are living, cutting-edge, contemporary art forms. These last couple of years have been all about insects for me. Photographing them and creating insect-based reincarnated-surfboard sculptures inspired by actual living bugs that I observe in AkahtiLândia.

A surfboard sculpture by Ithaka.

What does the future bring for Ithaka?I have four principle artistic involvements that rotate in my life—writing, music, photography, sculpture—[and] which one of those that dominates any given year doesn’t seem to have anything to do with me planning on it. It just happens on its own.

I’ve been actively taking pictures since the age of five. I began my adult life primarily as a photographer. And although I never stopped shooting, I started getting involved in many other activities and photography kind of became a sideshow hobby. But in the end, my careers are my hobbies. The line between work and recreation is absolutely blurred in my life. To the point [where] I’m not even sure if I’m on vacation or working.

The few things that have actually been lucrative in my life, I’ve created out of curiosity in my free time, while the things I’ve tried to earn money from have been, for the most part, complete washouts. Lately I’ve been back shooting professionally again—and it feels pretty damn good. I guess one of the benefits of having four different means to express myself is, that I don’t ever have that absolute burnout where I’ll become unproductive, I’ll just switch to the next thing for a while.

I rarely have the sensation that I have as much experience at these four mediums that I actually have: photography 40 years, sculpting 25 years, writing 20 years, music 20 years. They always feel comfortable, but a little new too. I don’t feel prisoner of my own self and what I’ve created in the past. Just keep going with new juice.

***