ARTIST NAME

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ARTIST NAME

A N D Y H O W E L L

Y O u W I L L b E T H E g u E S T O f A g R A c I O u S H O S T

I N T E R v I E W b Y S H E p A R D f A I R E Y , L I L J O N , A N D E v A N p R I c c O p O R T R A I T b Y J O N D R A g O N E T T E

J u X T A p O Z 5 8

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ARTIST NAME

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Where does the list start? Zero Sohisto, Ma$$prohets, New Deal, underworld Element,Artsrojekts, ro skater, hi-ho msiian,rator, and o orse, fne artist, AndyHowell’s an oriinal. To oresee—nearly twodeades ao—the ower and releane osin hi-ho, skateoardin, and fne arthas made Andy Howell one o the ioneerso rrent olar ltre. His reatie andsiness sense has indeed set him (alonsidea selet other ew in the indstry) ahead othe times.

The origins o Andy’s storyinvolve other innovative artiststhat helped lay the oundationor contemporary hip-hop andart. On a February aternoon inLos Angeles, Caliornia, Andymet up with old riends ShepardFairey and hip-hop artist andproducer Lil Jon to discuss howeach one’s past has contributedto the uture and the way artistsrelate to today’s mainstream mass.

Juxtapoz

sat down with Andyaterward to inquire more abouthis past, present, and uture othe enterprise that is Andy Howell.What’s biggest on the horizon? Amuseum exhibition under his and Artsprojekts’ direction that willserve as a “passionate commentaryon the creative cycle o inspirationand innovation incorporating across section o artists, musicians,directors, animators, andtrendsetting designers o couture,action sports, and street ashions.”In short, an exhibition that isevery bit Andy Howell. As Lil Jontendered to Andy, “You were alwaysin control o your own destiny.” Themission isn’t even close to beingnished. —

Evan Pricco Andy Howell

: The story o Lil Jonand I goes way back, and Shep andI go back even urther. Probablymet Jon in 1991 or ’92. At that timeI was a pro skater putting gratithat I was doing on graphics, had just nished art school, and wasabout to start Underworld Element,(today known as just Element).Dude, Jon, how the hell did wereally meet?

Lil Jon

: Atlanta had two mainskateshops. Stratosphere was theshop that introduced contests to Atlanta. Nobody was doing thatbeore them. I worked at SkateEscape, which was a spot inPiedmont Park where you couldrent skates and bikes, and i youwanted to take your girl out androllerskate you would come here.But they also had a skateshopinside with all the hottest decks androllerblades. Andy: I remember at the time wewere going to Piedmont Park onSundays to cool out and skate,with beers and girls in tow. And like50 dreads in a drum circle wouldbe on the hill passing around thebeat, and that was our soundtrack.Beore I met Jon at Skate Escape,I’d bought an analog eight-trackrecorder and a keyboard witha 30-second sampler, which atthat time was insanely tech. I metGangstarr on a skate tour and gotsome phone coaching rom Premieron how to sample beats and makedrum sets. But I was using

SesameStreet

beats with

GI Joe

music,and adding punk beats and makingthis weird hybrid that ended upsounding like carnival hip-hopwith ADD. I was listening to all theexperimental stu like KMD, NativeTongues, Del and Hieroglyphics,and the rst PE record. Somehow Iheard that you were making music.Lil Jon: Y’all didn’t have a DJ so Ibecame your DJ. I remember sittingin one o your rooms or hours just looking or samples. You werenever in there because you alwayshad too much shit to do. You weredesigning t-shirts, skating—you

ANDY HOWELL

King and Queen of Goodness

(pages 62–63)

Walking Amonf the Normal