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Graffiti Park Radio! 🎨🎧 Where creativity knows no bounds.
Listen to Graffiti Park Radio were we’ll tap in with artists, our proud partners, and community stakeholders who believe in empowering the next generation of art visionaries and the valuable teaching moments that come from living, breathing art.
Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NB studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
Anika Jones 0:16
Let's get scratching, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the vibrant world of graffiti Park radio, where creativity knows no bound, we'll tap in with artists, educators, our proud partners and community stakeholders who believe in empowering the next generation of visionaries beyond the hidden alleyways abandoned warehouses and local city transits, where artists are known to leave their mark, graffiti Park Foundation has redefined and re imagined the persona of street Museum.
Dan Moloney 0:44
Hello, hi, yeah. We're back another episode of graffiti Park radio coming at you live from the KU NV studios here at none other than the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I'm Dan with my beautiful, wonderful co host other Dan, Miss Anika Joe,
Anika Jones 1:02
the most beautifulest, wonderful, wonderful.
Dan Moloney 1:04
And today, our special guest is Mr. Perry Porter, yeah, baby. He is a modern visual artist and songwriter hailing from Tacoma, Washington. He focuses on the esthetics of black magic, encompassing both black girl magic and black boy joy. His work explores the documentation of contemporary events and their potential presentations by intertwining abstract movement with recognizable human forces. Porter creates pieces where meaning shift, allowing for a wide range of interpretations. This duality is evident in both his music and visual creations. How you doing today?
Perry Porter 1:39
Sir, yeah. Well, great. I haven't heard anybody say that out loud.
Dan Moloney 1:44
I practice. You got another paragraph in here. We might hit that later. You know, cool. You doing good, man. So you're so you bounce back and forth between here and in Washington,
Dan Bulgatz 1:55
yeah, yep, yep, well, in California too, if I'm not mistaken, yeah,
Perry Porter 1:59
honestly, because, so I'm from Seattle. I moved out here to be closer to Las Vegas. I didn't know any, I mean, la I didn't know anything about Las Vegas. And then came here and kind of like fell in love with this. So I've been here in Seattle pretty much every three weeks, okay, and then yeah, and LA's is right there, which was the goal, but I'd be here so much now. I love it
Dan Moloney 2:22
out here. Good to hear. It's awesome, man. How long? When was that first jaunt down at the end of
Perry Porter 2:28
2020, 2021, gotcha on there. It was like the Wild West. They enjoyed Floyd
Dan Moloney 2:36
Gotcha.
Perry Porter 2:39
Seattle did that. Then it came down here and was just chilling, cool.
Dan Moloney 2:43
Well, awesome, man, we're happy to have you here. Thank you for joining.
Dan Bulgatz 2:48
Yeah, then wait. So how long have you been in Las Vegas?
Perry Porter 2:51
Said, so, yeah, like, for four years. Technically, okay, it feels like to be here that much. Yeah, it's been four years. Okay, y'all were one of the few first people I, like, met, honestly, really, when the first, like, six months maybe,
Dan Moloney 3:06
yeah, cuz that would have been like 20, late 2021, ish, right? In that timeframe when we got connected, yeah? So yeah,
Dan Bulgatz 3:12
because I'm trying to think is, you've done a couple of projects with us. I remember distinctly Myrtle Tate. There was a, like, a tiger shark, but that
Dan Bulgatz 3:21
one wasn't the first
Dan Bulgatz 3:21
one. What was the first project?
Perry Porter 3:25
I think it was I did like a portrait, and I did like the shark sunflower at a school. It was either one of those two, and then there's tiger shark. Was the third time. It was either the headquarters or one of the other schools.
Dan Moloney 3:42
And for those listening, Myrtle Tate, their mascot is the Tigers. And Perry did a tiger but then put a shark fin, so it was a tiger shark.
Anika Jones 3:55
Pretty sweet. Well, you started off saying that you came here after George Floyd, and of course, we've got to talk about the mural that you did in Seattle, and that you continue to do this was just past your fifth year annual of that. Can you talk a little bit about that and how you've put culture and politics into your artwork and how that's transformed you over here?
Perry Porter 4:14
Um, that protest, honestly, kind of made like it was full circle. Because before then, I'd never really seen myself as, like an activist or protest kind of person. Like, I've always been, like, the nerdy, weird black kid, like I wasn't picked on or anything. I was, like, always just kind of me. So I never really seen how much of an importance that was to people in comfortability. So like, when now stuff was going on, everybody knows I'm, like, very outspoken. I'm kind of a conspiracy theorist, so like, that's what's going on. I would like go to the news, and they would be saying so many different things. That was, like, actually going on the protest. So that, like, really started piqued my interest to, like, really be involved more stuff. And then one day, another artist, her name's takia, she hit up a bunch of artists that she knew that, like, locally, did stuff. And she was like, Hey, I seen DC. They did this mural. We should do one, but instead, like, it'll be all the artists from the community. We'll all get a letter. Just do it real quick. The police precinct, nobody was using at the time because of the protests. Like, we're not going to get arrested, you know, let's go do it. So we just, without thinking about it, just did it. Had no idea what was going to happen after that. Like, all the news. People started picking it up all these other places like, it became this huge, huge, huge thing, which then the city came back around. All right, let's do like, old thing. We'll pay you guys. We'll make like, a monument in the city. Oh, that's what we started doing every year. So, like, it was awesome. We're just trying to do something we've always done. We've always done, like, very local Seattle's very DIY kind of place, from like, punk art, all that's like, nobody really thought it was gonna be what it is. And, like, everyone took off from there. So it was
Anika Jones 5:46
cool. So it was a more of a positive response to your activism.
Perry Porter 5:49
Well, there's still, like, even I'm on Antifa watch list I'm on, like, a bunch of you know, like, anytime I'm panning outside as a black man, there's someone else from Trump. Like, there's always going to be all that weird stuff, which, like, before 2020 it was not really like in my perspective, but the amount of positivity way outweighs that so much. It just comes with it. Now, yeah, with that, I like to, you know, I like to buckle.
Dan Bulgatz 6:18
That's good. That's awesome. So can we, I guess we'll backtrack a little. Is, how did you get your start? Was it in Tacoma? How did you get your start as an artist? Or where did you find your footing first?
Perry Porter 6:28
Oh, man. So I've always said I was a band geek in high school. I was a kid who built the studio in their garage and, like everybody come rap and stuff like that. But I was like, drone. I was in band, band. So I did drums, jazz band, marching band, all that stuff, fun. But I'm from Spano wakes home was like a small city, so I didn't really think it was gonna be much of anything. I just did stuff to be out of trouble. Yeah, then the music started taking off when I was in my young 20s, from just doing a lot of punk shows, all that stuff. I needed someone to do my merch. The art I was into is way too expensive to buy. So I was like, Man, I can kind of draw. Let me just, like, figure it out, yeah. So, like, maybe 12 years ago, I was like, I'm gonna just figure out how do watercolor. And then that kind of just took off. I knew how to promote myself from the rap stuff. So like, just started folding. And then, like, 2017 met some, like, muralist people. They started telling me how to use a can all that, and, yeah, it just kind of just spilled into each other.
Dan Moloney 7:27
Bro, that's awesome. So music first was that first outlet. Yeah, music's always,
Perry Porter 7:32
I don't do as much music now compared to the art stuff, but music has always been the core of everything
Dan Moloney 7:36
I love to do that you've done. And correct me if I'm wrong. Haven't you done shows where you're like, doing both, like, doing art and then rapping, and then tell us live painting. Yeah, tell us a little bit about how, though, how those work or came about.
Perry Porter 7:49
Um, so, like, I've always been known for doing live shows from, like, was in a punk group. You know, we're taking off our shirts or screaming. We're running around jumping. So I just wanted to find ways to kind of just elevate the show. Once I left the little punk group I was in, started doing solo things, and when I first started doing the art and rap thing, a lot of people were telling me it wasn't gonna work out. They're like, you either have to pick being a pain, you gotta pick being a rapper. It's gonna fuse everybody. So then I just like, was very like, bent on making this happen. So then I just, like, seed out the last I was like, oh, man, that'd be cool if I had, like, a live painter. Like, that'd be even dope if you just did it. You know, it's like, you always paint by yourself, and you're always working on stuff. Like, just treat it like you're at home. And I tried it out, and people just loved it, you know, they were, like, buying the paintings off the stage after I'm done and stuff. So it's cool.
Anika Jones 8:38
That's really cool. That's like, a performance art sort of perspective. Now you said that you're Basquiat meets. I love that. I love that. I'll ask you what your favorite Jay Z album is later. But what do you mean by that, for people who don't
Perry Porter 8:52
understand that, it's just like the black excellence of just both art forms, you know? It's like when Black painters talk about, that's Basquiat, when rappers talk about and, like, that's where I take the pride in. Is the fact, if I don't see me being the painter rapper is, like, this niche kind of thing. It's the fact that, like, no, if you talk to the other rappers, they are one of their favorite rappers. If you talk to the other painters, I do, like, I really care about the craft enough to be at the peak of that. So that's like, um, both sides, whatever you're into, I got the best.
Anika Jones 9:22
Well, you're definitely embodying that. Is there a chapter that you feel like you haven't touched in that way that is just maybe personal and private for you that's not really connected so much to your hip hop, you know,
Perry Porter 9:34
hierarchy, I would say the band geek stuff. I don't really like lean or talk about it enough, you know, like, because I'm a rapper, I don't really produce or make also, people don't really know, like, in my spare time, I'd be jazz funk, Japanese stuff, and whatever it is, we just be listening to everything.
Anika Jones 9:51
You hear it in your hip hop, yeah,
Dan Moloney 9:52
sure. So you produce your own music, like, beats wise. No, I,
Perry Porter 9:56
I've barely enjoy the collaborative. Inspiration, nice music, nice just like that. I like, even with doing the paying rest of I really don't like the idea of, like, I'm a artist who just does everything and just by myself in my room, just making all this like, I want to hang out with my friends. Yeah, you working on, like, when I do music, I like, separate it. So it's like, my solo projects are, like, all the music with all my friends. Like, there'd be 15 producers on it, and then I'll do a project with just the homie where it's just, like, we'll take all your beats and we'll span and make this whole world of just like us hanging out type thing, and just do that with all the homies. Like, I'm really into the collaborative part of
Dan Bulgatz 10:33
music that's awesome, so cool. And I feel like music is a lot more collaborative in that spirit, in that effort, just like in the one way that all of your friends, anybody in your group, is going to push you a little bit further and then also encourage you to be a little bit more outgoing, I guess, is, Have you always been an outgoing and collaborative person? Or was that something that was learned along the way?
Perry Porter 10:53
I think I've always kind of been like that. I've noticed it more. But so when I was a kid, I was playing basketball, skateboarding, anime, band, rap, and I was everywhere. So it just kind of was just used to it. And then once I go, just like, oh, like, this is a very good attribute to have it. So it's just, I just love hanging out with people. And just, you're into something different. I can learn today for something else, a different perspective. I'm really into that.
Anika Jones 11:19
I love that. Okay, I was gonna say,
Dan Moloney 11:20
it sounds like you're, you're uniquely in a positive way, like, confident, just in your own skin and who you are combined with, like, a level of just open mindedness and like, a lifelong student of, like, how to learn things. What kind of advice do you have for artists? Because we've talked to folks both on and off air, that are like, yeah, it took me 20 years to, like, get comfortable with, like, who I was and lean into it. What kind of advice do you have to someone who struggles with that identity?
Perry Porter 11:49
It's really just like that. Like, even from live painting, I have a bunch of friends who like, Man, how you live paint, and then my response, like, they don't know when it's done, really impressed that you're, like, up up there doing it. You know, just you having the confidence alone is enough for them to support it. And that's like, Oh, I've just really looked at everything. It's like, Hey, man, everyone's kind of freaking out. Everyone you just kind of just go up there, you're already ahead of the curve, exactly. So, like, just, just do it. Yeah, we're all figuring out the same time. If you're not learning, I just feel like you're kind of, like, setting yourself back.
Dan Moloney 12:20
Yeah. So much of that's just like in our own reality, our own perception, and like, just getting over that hill,
Perry Porter 12:26
because, you know, people even admire people who fail. Because even if exactly you know exactly, if you fail, enough people might, they'll help you succeed at one point. Yeah. I mean, like, just go for it.
Anika Jones 12:35
Well, it's funny that you even brought that up, because that's kind of all we're about, is that collaborative after effort, not just with our artists, but especially with young artists really kind of up and coming. I saw that you were doing some youth mural projects and things like that. Can you explain a little bit
Perry Porter 12:49
about that for us? Yes, being from Spanaway, it's like the more middle of nowhere. It's everyone sees Seattle, especially in Washington, but it's like an hour, hour and a half away from Seattle. So we don't, like, have a lot of the accesses to a lot of the bigger cities and stuff like that. So knowing that I had to, like, travel and do all these things to be seen, it was like, Man, I just wish there was more older black men or just even older men who just, like, knew the struggles of doing these things. You can just kind of give me a little bit more game and just to understand stuff like that. Like when I was doing art as a kid, I didn't think it was like, real job. You know, I'm gonna go to college and, like, go get a real job. No, man, you're like an artist. Like, you have to, I mean, do it. So like doing stuff like that. So when I moved to Seattle, a lot of my home girls, they would do, like, nonprofits and stuff like that. And they would just ask, like, oh, we like me men to, like, come talk to the kids and stuff. Yeah, I would love do that. So I'd wish somebody when I was 16 and be like, oh bro. Like, you don't got to be famous, you know, you can go and do this as, like, a young artist and have, like, a normal job. So I go there and talk to the kids, and then, like, sometimes start loving doing, you know, because then it'd be like, meet a six year old dude who's doing stuff he's not supposed to be doing. It's like, oh man. Like, you can go print t shirts, or you can go do something else instead of running the streets. I know you're just doing it because you want money and, I mean, like, you have a creative outlet, learning how to do it and stuff like that, and then them just seeing it. Yeah, you know, like, when I go and do a lot of this teaching stuff, there's not a lot of teachers who, like, I look more like a rapper, and all these kids are like, Oh snap. Who's this guy? He's doing the stuff that I kind of want to do, or see myself doing, so I can, like, see it being more tangible now. So that's why I love doing that stuff.
Anika Jones 14:27
The representation factor is huge. Even in your artwork, you've shown that as well. So being able for the kids to not only see it through your artwork, but see it through your action, is huge. That's very, very cool,
Dan Bulgatz 14:38
and that's awesome. So are these classes tailored specifically for kids. Or, I know you've had a couple of different workshops and
Perry Porter 14:45
I do all over the place, like the one that we're talking about right now is do this place called Urban artworks. They're a nonprofit that strictly works with the youth, or like troubled youth and stuff like that. So it's either or where it could be. They're told by the courts that they have to do. Do community service stuff, or their parents just sold signed them up for the summer school because, like, they're really artistically client. They just don't know what to do, and they get paid for doing it. Oh, wow, you know. So it's a whole apprenticeship. They get paid, like, $20 an hour. Oh, wow. Do maybe, like 12 hours a week. It's like an actual thing where they can put on their resume and like, Hey, this is, like, your first job. And even that telling them, like, I will come up to Spanaway and like, I don't know how much to charge for a mural, you know. Like, I don't know the square footage, you know, then I'm just figuring it out. Like, you have this stepping stool, you're like, doing something for the YMCA or doing something for Amazon. And like, being able to be 16 and be like, well, I got paid, like, close to $1,000 to do this project. And like, we do the whole steps of color theory, learning how to, like, put the mural up and everything. It's like a eight week program, yeah? And then, like, all the other stuff I like to do is, like the coloring book stuff, where it's adult stuff, you know, we 21 and, uh, beverages, we get together, we still color, because everyone still needs some type of meditation, yeah, creativity, you know, even when they're younger old. So I try to work all of them, even kindergarten. Whoever wants to create. I'm a kid at heart forever. Yeah, I'm saying, but I'm going to get older, so I gotta, I gotta get everybody.
Dan Moloney 16:12
I love that, man. I didn't even know that that was a I knew you were doing some stuff like that, but like, the full programmatic aspect of that, that's awesome.
Perry Porter 16:19
Yeah, it's great, bro, I said it's something I wish, man, if I was 16, I'd be there every summer, every summer, doing
Dan Moloney 16:28
so, shifting gears a little bit to like your, you know, your artwork, whether it's your your music or your artwork, like, where do you draw? Like, your creative process, your style, what? What's some of the stuff that leans in your inspiration, kind of how you get to where you're producing stuff,
Perry Porter 16:46
everything, really anime, for sure. I'm a big
Dan Moloney 16:49
anime, nice, nerdy guy. What's your favorite anime?
Perry Porter 16:53
Cowboy Bebop will forever be that it's a little slower to people. Cowboy Bebop, Full Metal Alchemist. I do like tack on Titan. I'm not, like, a super talk about in public nerd.
Dan Moloney 17:10
I'm on, like, book 17 of Attack on Titan. I've watched it all, and I'm not reading through it. That's why
Perry Porter 17:16
I want to start doing more of getting back into the mangas.
Dan Moloney 17:18
Yeah? Cuz it's a whole other
Dan Moloney 17:20
do way better. Yeah, it's
Dan Moloney 17:23
anyways, yeah, real drama going on.
Perry Porter 17:27
But sorry to throw you off. So I love watching documentaries. I go out a lot. I like to party. And even from that, it's like being my friends gonna go skateboarding, or, like, I got a bunch of nieces, so I like have them come over. Sometimes it's Bill Fords. I just like to just, yeah, hang out with people. And that's where I get a lot of the ideas from.
Dan Moloney 17:48
So just a sponge, like, whatever you got going on, you know, that's what channels into your so do you use is there a time where you just kind of like, sit down and create, or do you not try to force it like that? You just kind of, um,
Perry Porter 18:00
the last like, five years, I stopped, like, forcing it, like, in my 20s, I was really on some like, student I'm gonna watch a bunch of stuff. I'm gonna create every day. I'm gonna be doing all that for the last five years. I'm just living more life and just creating.
Anika Jones 18:15
For sure, I love
Dan Moloney 18:16
that. Have you seen a difference, or do you have a preference in it? Like having done both now,
Perry Porter 18:21
the music I've I've definitely feel the difference. Because before I moved to Vegas, I was in the studio like five days a week, and maybe in the studio like once every four months. So I definitely know, like, I don't have that quick wit as fast, but I know it's just like riding a bike, I can kind of get it, but feel like I enjoy it more. Now, I just feel like I've gotten out of the student kind of aspect of it, and just getting to be more of the master of my kind of craft.
Dan Bulgatz 18:48
I love that. And do you have, I guess it's like, when you get into the studio, are they pre formulated ideas, or are they, like, more off the top of the mind? Like, Oh yeah,
Perry Porter 18:59
definitely off top of mind, even to the point where I tell friends, you know you're going to send me, don't even send me a beat you want me to get on. Just wait till I'm at the studio, bro, because I'm going to be living life when I get there. Like, we'll make it happen. Everybody knows, like, that's even I've gotten on video games and all that stuff is I had a really good reputation of, oh, if he's here, we're going to finish something, yeah, you know, like, if Perry comes to studio, we're at least gonna leave, like, they might be half songs with just five half songs, and then you come back, we'll finish them all that. Like, I, if only the studio, we gotta have to work. I have all this energy that I've been chilling for a while. I gotta get all out. So that's right,
Anika Jones 19:38
well, I love the element of you talking about having, you know, enjoying your life, living your life that taps into the black girl magic, the black boy joy. How do you feel like you're channeling that as an adult and as an artist? Like, how do you give that to the audience? But then, how do you give that for yourself?
Perry Porter 19:53
Um, I would say definitely just, I guess, being really interested into just like, outside of my craft, because I. Like, why I did it with even like rap was, I'm, like, a really nerdy, nerdy rapper. And I was like, man, a lot of rap is just about rapping. You know, it's like, they're not even talking about living lives. I don't know if any of these rappers have gone on vacation for a while. People are so focused on trying to make this thing is like, now I want to be able to go travel, you know, fall in love limit, like, have things actually talk about my real life and my music, because, like, I've done the student part. I know the technicals of all that. It's like, now let's get to the actual, like, feeling of what people like really are going to enjoy about that part. And then I just see, like, people talking about, kind of, like, man, you travel so much, you get to do all this stuff. And it's like, ties into, like, said, the black boy, joy of just enjoying life, man, I'm just having fun, trying to see the world, explore things me and girls say it all the time, like learn something new every day, yeah, even if it's a small thing. Well, I love
Anika Jones 20:49
that you're perpetuating a different narrative, that we can be all different things, not just a stereotype, especially as artists, especially as hip hop artists as well. I just love how you're doing that. Did you have any new music out that kind of channels that as well, or you just kind of focus on just the visual art?
Perry Porter 21:07
See, like, once I moved here, I slowed down a lot. But the last few months, I've been rolling out an album called Black Boy joy, all right? And that is the whole purpose of the album is, like I grew up a very wild childhood, and like, this silliness has never left me. You know this, the curiosity and the confidence has never left like. That is the point of the album. It's like, as black people are not just this. We can be as nerdy, we be as serious, we do all these things, even as men, as artists, as painters, and that's even realized as doing the paint wrap thing was like, Oh man, as a black man who paints, I look like I'm way more educated. And then when I was black movie raps, it's more like I'm a degenerate. You know, interesting seeing those aspects of certain things was like, oh, there's already these narratives that people absolutely certain things of being able to try to just break through those,
Dan Bulgatz 21:56
yeah, can I ask is, what has that perception been like? And has your family had any influence in that.
Perry Porter 22:01
My my family, they they be running the streets. They enjoy it. They the ones I like pointed out to me the more. So it was just like, oh, you know, we're in these certain things. Or like, when you're looked at Perry, the painter, you know, you looked at certain or even like, people say they think my family, like, comes from a bunch of money, or come from all this stuff, like, but they, they eat it up. You know, there'll be talk to certain people, and they get to name drop me, or, like, name drop paint. So into it. But it's just always has been very curious to me. It's like, I'll do talks about doing an art show, and I'll tell them, like, oh, that there has to be a music aspect, because that's like, a very big part of me. And say, Oh, he knows, cool. And then once you realize that, oh, like, it's like rap music, things start slowing down. Yeah, okay, now, then the insurance starts coming to thing. And how many people are showing small stuff like that?
Dan Bulgatz 22:54
Can I ask is, do you think like, the type of rap at all matters has said because it's labeled exclusively as, like, hip hop or rapper. Do you think that it'd be different if it was a jazz, rap, spoken word?
Perry Porter 23:08
Definitely, definitely that and like I I'd saw it to my own detriment, because I know I do make rowdy stuff. I'm kind of a wild guy. Like, this was another thing too. I was supposed to be in one of the newspapers, one of the cities back home, for, like, prominent adult figures and all this stuff, okay? And they found out that I had a pole dancer at one of my shows. It was 21 up in show. She wasn't stripping anything. Was just pole dancing, you know, fitness, okay, like, I like it, but the fact that that's was tied to it. They were like, We don't know if you could be a part of this campaign. It was, like, interesting. I was like, Yeah, small some of that. But I was like, I could see the line with that. I understand it. But it was just like, Oh, okay. There's just certain aspects of being a rapper where I just have to be a little bit more cautious with just stuff like that.
Anika Jones 23:53
But well and even representation, I think we even go through that with our name alone. Being able to change in narrative by your actions is a huge thing. So maybe six months from now, a couple years from now, they're like, You know what? This guy's a really stand up guy, like, I don't know if we care so much about that.
Perry Porter 24:11
You know, no, that's a good point, because, like, even back home, graffiti and street art are like two different things. And then when you say the word graffiti, you mean, you know, like, delinquent, kind of doing all these things, right? Like, exactly, and it depends on just who you're talking to, yeah. And it can just change through time. Can I
Dan Bulgatz 24:28
ask, what does, what are those terms mean to you? What's the difference between graffiti and a street artist?
Perry Porter 24:33
Oh, man, they're really to me, personally, there's not difference when I hear everybody else says it, it's just that is, Oh, someone paid you some money to do this. You think someone, yeah, this is how everyone else is that. But to me, it's like, when people say rap and hip hop, man, it's the same thing.
Dan Moloney 24:50
I think that's well said. I think that's like, one of the misfortunes in like, graffiti culture is this, like, eat your own piece of like. Yeah, if you know, there'll be graffiti artists that are respected. But it's like, all, well, they're muralists now, and it's like, okay, like they just, they just did the name of the building in sick letters. You know, I want to like, what you were just, we were just talking about, like, the the pole dancer, and asking about hip hop and all this, like, language and whatnot. I think, like, art has to be on the edge of what's, like, socially acceptable and not right. Like, I like, maybe not. Has to. Isn't the right language. But like, good art pushes that boundary, especially as like, adult, you know, obviously, if you're working with kindergarteners, you know, there's levels. But like, as adults, you know, it's like, good art makes you feel something, yeah? And that's like what many would argue the definition of art, something that evokes an emotion, right? And so I think it's, like, super refreshing to hear and talk to you about that you're unapologetically the art, the artist that you want to be in, whatever medium that is. I think that's like, I want to, I want to shout you out on that. I think that's super cool, because I think that that's like, the purpose of art is to just be that, like, thread, that needle, you know,
Perry Porter 26:06
especially man, because especially that too is, I just want people to know, like, I can go do the 21 and up show with the pole dancer, and then tomorrow, go teach some fifth graders or something, exactly, and I know How to split those two
Dan Moloney 26:19
CCSD out here,
Perry Porter 26:23
just the fact that like bringing the idea of, like being men in our community, we should be able to do all different aspects of this.
Anika Jones 26:30
Yeah, absolutely. And it's back to that representation thing that I was talking about. You've been an incredible representation, not for art, not just for artists, not just for Washington, but for our community as well. What are some new things that you're kind of into trying to do that we should hear about.
Perry Porter 26:46
I'm always on the fence with rap stuff. I just feel like commercial music is in a weird place that I don't know if I want to all the way participate with, just because it language is so you in a unique spot right now where you know that stuff. So it's like, just trying to just balance on that side. Doing way more events has definitely been my thing now, especially going back to what we're saying is, I'm not even really, I have a following on social media, but I'm not like, do all the trends and do all those things. You know, I'm still unapologetically myself for those but like, I feel like the community in talking to people and being able to touch people is so important right now, so that's what I do, is way more actual, like in person events. So like the coloring book I got right now that's tied to my album. So I've been doing a bunch of events with that. I also am a part of a nonprofit called Black wins that we started around the George Floyd thing was, like, aspect of all we're saying now was like, I go to the protest. Protest would be peace talks. People are like, planning in the park now, like, fruits and vegetables, all the stuff going on. And then I go and watch the news, and they're talking about people handing out guns. And I just said the conspiracy theory and me, all that stuff was going online, and be like, Man, there's so much black history that's just focused on trauma and not, like, on just the triumphs, or just the fact that, like, black people don't be caring about a lot of the stuff that people think we'd be caring about, me like, so like, making something that was about black history, but It's just the triumphs of it, yeah, when we also go to that city. So like, we went to Tulsa, and we talked to people in there. We went to Oakland, we talked to the Black Panthers. And, like, getting people who actually lived, there's point of view of the history, instead of us, like playing this telephone chatgpt, kind of, What's black history? Computer, computer, telling you. So, like, those are things I've been, like, the most focused on. I love that. Man. Yeah, that was a really long question.
Dan Moloney 28:47
Thank you. And I want to make sure we're getting to the end of time here, before the after hours graffiti park after hours. But you know, in the last minute here, if people are interested in finding your music, finding your artwork, where
Perry Porter 28:59
can they find you? Perry porter.com. Instagram is Perry paints. You can Google it, baby. You know it's right there.
Dan Moloney 29:07
You can Google it, yeah, fine, and we'll put it right here. If you're interested in checking out graffiti Park, it's graffiti Park, underscore LV on all channels, you know where to find Mr. Perry Porter. And if you've enjoyed this episode on air, you can tune into our YouTube to find the full length, or wherever we put all the full stuff, we'll put it right here. Thank you guys. Thank you, Mr. Perry, thank you. Thank you. Keep those headphones and have a great day, everybody. Thanks for
Music 29:32
listening. You
Music 29:33
you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai