Los Angeles – March 2009 – Mid-City Arts is pleased to present the first solo show ever from the infamous LA graffiti artist, Chaka. Resurrection opens April 25th and will feature highly anticipated new work from the mysterious Chaka.

Daniel Ramos, AKA Chaka, was 18 when he was arrested and charged in 1991 with 48 counts of vandalism, trespassing and causing $500,000 in property damage. Chaka’s signature tag had appeared in a staggering 10,000 locations from Orange County to San Francisco. At the height of his notoriety Chaka was demonized by mainstream media and culture as being little more than a prolific vandal. At the same time he was celebrated by street artists who admired the ability of a teenager from the projects to literally make his mark on the vast, glitzy LA cityscape in such a ubiquitous manner. He is credited with breaking away from the New York “wildstyle” popular at the time and introducing clearer, more blockish lettering into tagging. Chaka was one of the first to create a reputation as a recognizable individual tagger, and spawned many imitators. However Chaka was not just a lone operative. He was part of the LOD crew and as such, his work in reclaiming hard to reach places of the cityscape (freeway overpasses, walls, trains etc) on behalf of his crew is recognized by fellow taggers as a selfless achievement for LA’s graffiti scene as a whole.

After spending a year tracking down the once unavoidable Chaka, Mid-City Arts presents his first solo show. For Chaka’s fans as well as street art collectors, this will be a rare opportunity to revisit the nostalgia of the early 90’s, and own a piece of LA’s cultural history. Chaka himself will be in attendance and there will be a limited number of signed posters in addition to his works available for sale. The opening reception will take place April 25th, 7:00-9:00pm at Mid-City Arts, 5113 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019. For more info visit: www.chakaone.com

Mid-City Arts was established in September 2009 as an extension of the store 33third – LA’s premier source of graffiti art supplies, streetwear apparel, and related books and magazines. The gallery was established with the purpose of showcasing local, national, and international artwork by up and coming and established artists with a focus on (but not limited to) graffiti / street / urban art. Mid-City Arts offers a show space that interacts with other artists and events that surround the 33third Los Angeles location. The gallery’s artwork is available to view by the active customer base of 33third, which includes graffiti artists and fans of graffiti art. Mid-City Arts is open Monday through Sunday 12-8PM. For more information, visit: www.midcity-arts.com

The Brand New Heavies were labeled as heavy players on the London Acid Jazz scene of the ’90’s by Black music impresario Gilles Peterson. Their feverish quest for the essence of American soul, dance and jazz styles of the ’60’s and ’70’s with live playing made them immediately prized by hipsters and bohemians. The vim and soul of Atlanta born N’dea Davenport’s vocals are an identifying component of the band despite the past presence of singers Jay Ella Ruth who was their first vocalist and Siedah Garrett, Carleen Anderson, Nicole Russo and Sy Smith who all came after Davenport. “Stay This Way” is from their first album which also has the favored “Never Stop” and “Dream Come True.” There are plenty of nice dance remixes of their catalog with the Siedah Garrett lead “Sometimes” being a big club song in the late ’90s. Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol.1 was a successful take of a funk band with various rappers.
Davenport left the band for a while and released a striking solo album in ’98 that was produced by Dallas Austin. She rejoined the band in ’06 to record Get Used To It. Still funking and touring the band will play the Essence Music Festival’s 15th Anniversary lineup this year.

1. Won’t it be exciting to watch Prince on Leno for four nights in a row starting March 25th to promote his new albums Lotusflower and MPLSound ?

2. Aren’t you curious to hear what Dilla’s posthumous album to be mixed by Pete Rock and features people like MF Doom, M.O.P. and The Roots will sound like?

3. Now that Michael Jackson has sold out 50 concert dates in London will he ever tour America again? For that matter will he ever share the stage or even the recording studio with his brothers again?