How many rappers can say they have a comic book based on their lyrics? Before today I couldn't think of any. However, that's all changed thanks to Quanstar. He's a rapper from Atlanta with nine solo albums and two collaboration albums under his belt. Currently he's embracing the independent artist lifestyle and living by three simple principals. 1. He can do anything he puts his mind too. 2. He doesn't need much to do it and 3. Everything is Hip Hop. At this point it's just great to see that's he's still pushing the envelope and trying a new way to deliver his music to people.The most recent way he's come up with is a comic book, because everyone loves comic books. Quanstar has teamed up with illustrator Rafa Lee to create Rapper's Words. The basic premise behind the comic is to take lyrics from Quanstar's music and create an isolate story surrounding each of the songs. Right now there are three issues based on the songs; "Ghost In A Shell," "Someday Soon" and "As Far As My Eyes Can See."
Admittedly there isn't much time to get attached to the characters because they aren't relevant to issues beyond the ones they appear in and aren't named. The important thing is that we get a glimpse of what each one is going through in the short comic. Emotion is a much stronger aspect to the comic than the individual characters or even the story to some level. In fact, I could even argue that it's the strongest aspect. When the images depict the moments in the lyrics they become much more potent, and it's not like they weren't already potent with content like:
I used to fight the system, then I started to understand it. Then I figured that's the way the powers probably planned it. It ain't evil underhanded, just the way shit falls. I could be stuck on this bullshit or just go get it all. See we all bitches to the bank string.Artistically the covers don't really pull me in and I would probably pass them up. Then you actually open them up and there's some great artwork within. I think it's a situation where the artist just works better in black and white than color. That's okay, people make entire careers of it, others can beautifully color content but can't really draw well.
The coolest thing about A Rapper's Words is that it's a substitute for a music video. I don't mean that music videos are bad. But, music videos have limitations on what can be done. With art there's not really any limit. The artist can depict everything perfectly with no compromises so it just feels more pure when you're reading it. I hope more musicians follow Quanstar's way and use comics as a way to spread their music. If for no other reason, you should pick this up, just because it's something different.
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You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs or Skyrim
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