In March of 2013, urban artist Jay Shells launched his “Rap Quotes” project in New York, whereby he installed street signs emblazoned with rap lyrics in the specific locations that said lyrics called out. The series was so well received by the public (and the rappers he quoted) that, he went for another spin around the city and then took it on the road to LosAngeles, Philadelphia and most recently, Atlanta.
“The plan has always been to get all of the major cities in the U.S. represented,” said Shells about his latest trek down south. “Atlanta has such a rich and vibrant hip hop culture, it was a must to get down there as soon as I could and the fine folks from the A3C festival helped to get us down there and showed us a great time.” Shells says he plans to go back in October and add some more lyrics that he missed the first time around.
“To quote Andre 3000, ‘The South got somethin’ to say, and that’s all I got to say.'”
After getting New Yorkers to clean up their act with his etiquette campaign, artist Jay Shells has been memorializing iconic hip-hop lyrics with the Rap Quotes project. For the project, Shells identifies specific locations mentioned in rap songs, paints them on street signs, and posts them at the intersections they…
After schooling New Yorkers on etiquette via numerous unsanctioned interventions, artist Jay Shells channeled his love of hip hop music and his uncanny sign-making skills towards a brand new project: "Rap Quotes." For this ongoing project, Shells created official-looking street signs quoting famous rap lyrics that shout out specific street…
So far, artist Jay Shells has installed a total of 68 site-specific "Rap Quotes" in New York, with more coming. Yesterday, just like old times when we first covered the project, ANIMAL followed Shells as he put up 21 new uncanny signs with hip hop lyrics that shout-out street corners and…
