High on Dust
April 25, 2009

This past April 23rd, Fool's Gold Records and Fader Magazine held the event "Best of the Beast" an exhibition of the work of one of the better commercial pop artists of our time, Dust La Rock.
Having been a fan of his artwork, from album covers to party flyers, I was inclined to go, braving the crowd of hundreds that i knew would ensue since Diddy tweeted about the event.
I ushered myself past a crowd of people that hugged the block like a Harlem Douja boy to be greeted by NYC luminaries and contemporaries, but like a Wall Streeter in the projects, i was only there to look for Dust. In the midst of a conversation that i was probably in a hurry to get out of, i was greeted by another of the many familiar faces that were in the house that night, my boy Josh I had met at a random party some time ago, this time instead of being clad in his signature v-neck tee displaying the cholo script tattoo scrawled across his clavicle, he was dressed to the nines in all black, dress shirt, v-neck sweater, slacks and fancy shoes and walking through a gauntlet of handshakes like he was waiting for someone to hose him down with hand sanitizer.
We talked for a sec and here's a rundown of our dialog:

Me: Hey What up Josh!
Josh: Thanks for coming to my show!
Me: Oh you put this thing together?
Josh: No, this is all my work
Me: You're Dust La Rock?
Josh: Ummm... Yea
Me: Derrrrrrr
Josh: Yo, i gotta keep shmoozing, but if i don't see you before you leave, have a great night, and thanks again!
Me: Duuuuh Do'hkay

The dude who when i first met him we were in the freezing cold, in tee shirts, embroiled in drunken discussion with 2 Somalian girls about the virtues of geopolitics, feminisim and New Jersey guidos, ended up being one of my favorite artists. We met many times after, but it just never came up. How unassuming, how odd, how refreshing.

I left that party with a bag full of stolen Vitamin Waters and a new respect for artists who understand that the self aggrandizing only takes away from the art itself.

Click Below to see Dust and the pics I took of his work

Joshua Prince aka Dust La Rock