Reel Urban News Exclusive (watch)
Compton, Calif.-based artist Ronald “Riskie” Brent has released a new memoir that details both his groundbreaking hip-hop album art and his collaborations with the leading figures of West Coast hip-hop and gangsta rap.
Riskie Forever: From the Streets to the Industry – My Life and Art on Death Row Records, published by Over The Edge Books, is the culmination of a long journey in the music industry.
Riskie told Reel Urban News that the book’s title sets the scene for what’s to come. “It’s how I grew up in Compton and then how I crossed over to the industry. I’m telling the tale of what I went through, what it was like growing up in Compton and what it was like making it to the industry.
“Everybody thinks writing a book, you just sit down and write the book. It’s been a lot just being involved with it, getting it together, piecing it out, doing the layout. It’s hard. It’s not easy at all.”
Compton will forever be synonymous with gangsta rap and the violence associated with it. “The gang violence and going to school in the late ’80’s and early ’90’s – that’s when gang violence was at its highest. That’s when crack was coming to the city and taking over. Half of the time you would see your friends on a Friday and you might say, ‘Have a good weekend.’ Hey, that friend may not make it back to Monday. It was real hard growing up in the inner city, in Compton.”
Riskie’s name and art continue to be associated with the notorious and now defunct gangsta rap record label, Death Row Records. Riskie is candid about his times at Death Row. “It was a dream come true. Despite all of the bad things people hear about, my book is not just about the bad times, It’s about some of the good times. We were more like family than staff. It’s one of the most historic things that could have happened to anybody, especially for me, growing up in the streets.”
Marion Hugh “Suge” Knight, Jr., the former co-founder and CEO of Death Row Records, is credited with discovering Riskie and his art. “For me, I’m grateful,” says Riskie.
Riskie affectionately recalls how he was introduced to Knight. “I got with Suge though my play-cousin Gina. Gina used to walk around with one of my drawing books and one day, Suge told her to bring me around so he could meet me. It just so happened that day when I was going to meet him, Suge was having a meeting with MC Hammer. This was in Compton.”
Riskie and Knight would meet days later on a music video shoot in Compton. “Suge was over there shooting a music video with Tupac and Dr. Dre, which was the ‘California Love’ Compton Swap Meet edition. When I met Suge, he asked to see my portfolio. He later introduced me to Tupac. The rest is history.”
For Riskie, then a Compton street artist, it was a privilege to meet Tupac Shakur, who was a leading voice in hip-hop and gangsta rap.
“Meeting Tupac was a thrill. At that time, I was up on Me Against The World. I was already a big fan. It was real inspiring to be able to meet him face to face and especially for him to be looking at my art and portfolio. I never thought someone of that caliber would be looking at my work.”
Through his art, Riskie forged a working relationship with Tupac. “I’m not going to say that we were the best of friends, we had a cool relationship. As far as me turning over artwork to him, Tupac learned an appreciation for my art. Even wanted to throw me an art show before he passed. Unfortunately, that never happened. That’s something I’m talking about in my book.”
Tupac was killed in a drive-by shooting on Sept. 7, 1996 in Las Vegas. His murder remains unsolved.
It’s no surprise to Riskie that the music and personality of Tupac still resonates two decades after his murder. “I’m not surprised at all. That’s the type of person he was. He worked hard. His work ethic was incredible. You can’t put nothing past someone of his stature.”
While head of Death Row Records, Knight discovered Riskie’s artwork and provided him with a platform for his talent through several celebrated album covers. But over the years, Riskie’s relationship with the former music mogul has dissolved. Knight now sits in a Los Angeles County jail cell, charged with murder following a fatal hit-and-run.
“The last time I talked to Suge was three years ago. I can’t say that it was on the greatest terms. But that was the last time I talked to him.”
Riskie Forever captures and chronicles the stories associated with the artwork of 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Snoop Dogg’s Tha Doggfather and Nate Dogg’s G-Funk Classics Vol. 1 & 2.
“I did the first insert for the first double CD, which was All Eyez on Me. I worked with my boy Nate Dogg (rest in peace) on that. I did Death Row’s Christmas album. I did Death Row Greatest Hits. I worked on Snoop Dogg’s Tha Doggfather. I did Damn Near Dead for Operation From the Bottom. Everything I turned in was never refused. I got work that’s out there.”
Riskie’s art continues to evolve while promoting his new book. “I’m trying to cross over to canvas art. I want to see my work in a museum. I feel like this book will allow people to get to know who I am, the person.”
By: Michael Reel, Reel Urban News
Photo Credit: Norman Banton/Reel Urban Images
