Meet Aamir Khuller--the designer amplifying the work of Tony Cruise, Tech Yes, and October '71 /  by Maxwell Young

Photo courtesy of Aamir Khuller’s Instagram.

Photo courtesy of Aamir Khuller’s Instagram.

What is it that compels us to engage with the material (and immaterial) things in our world? “Life’s Goods” as our InTheRough page describes.

The clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the posts we share & like, even the furniture we buy for the dwellings we live in are dictated by behavioral motivations we have as human beings.

In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs, outlining behavior through prisms of physiology, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self actualization. We are motivated by primal instincts, yes—the need for food, shelter, and copulation are first in the natural order of things—while other motivations like security and value become more extrinsic, rooted in reward-based systems. The importance of your financial wellbeing or the desire for a luxury vehicle versus ‘I just need a car that runs’ are examples that come to mind. Such needs are satisfied by design; the manner in which we facilitate our consumption, protection, procreation, construction/destruction, and other societal frameworks.

“The nature of being human has seemed to me a series of attempts in imprinting control over what we perceive to be out of ours, but most of these definitions are held up flimsily by a collective spiral of silence. ”
— Aamir Khuller, artist & designer

Aamir Khuller is a Los Angeles-based graphic designer, photographer, art director, videographer, production assistant, and film director reinforcing the branding and aesthetics of his “tribe” of friends and artists who inspire him.

If you’re hip to Washington, D.C.-based artists Sir E.U and Jamel Zuñiga; Rob Stokes and October ‘71; or Tony Cruise, chances are you’ve seen Khuller’s work. As a designer, he’s been commissioned to capture and interpret the sonic tastes of these artists into adequate visual representations including graphics, photographs, videos, and flyers.

We saw Khuller’s art direction in grand scale last November, when sound engineer Tony Cruise fka Tony Kill debuted his latest LP, Replica, on 926kmh.com. The now defunct website designed by Khuller premiered Cruise’s music in a unique audiovisual experience that was alternative to contemporary streaming methods. “Traditional albums are dead,” Cruise told me. We briefly discussed the creative execution of the project in between tracks at a Tech Yes in December. “Don’t even talk to me about it. Talk to Aamir. He ran with it.”

For Cruise who is so entrenched in the way his music is perceived, it was interesting to find out he relinquished one of the more external-facing aspects of the project to someone else. I caught up with Khuller, the man Cruise entrusted to design the webpage, via email to understand more about the genesis and evolution of 926kmh.com as well as the creative communities he supports on the East and West coasts.

ITR: I asked Tony about the design of the website he released Replica on, 926kmh.com, and he told me he didn’t give you much direction. Talk about that level of trust.  How’d you meet?

AK: Tony was my uncle in a past life or something like that. He wished me happy birthday one year and sent me his address and I ran up on him like a month later, etc. In regards to trust, we probably identify with similar fascinations over quality of detail and have similar taste. This bamma didn’t even have the music for me to listen to when I made the campaign haha.

In order to have a replica, there has to be an original.  In Tony’s case, that’s Thought Crimes.  How did the music and even the cover art/branding of that project inform your design process for this go-round?

My design process is pretty impulsive, I don’t know how much it directly informed it but in retrospection there’s some overlap in the spontaneity and texture. I’m not sure, the majority of fleshed out design took place in a day or so.

In what ways did the sonics of Replica influence your work?

Can I insert this

*disclaimer: everything I say ought not to be redacted*

.jpg into the article?

Courtesy of Aamir Khuller

Courtesy of Aamir Khuller

The URL of Replica sounds like a radio station.  What’s the significance of it?

Redefinition of muddied waters.

I noticed that the site had been updated periodically since Replica’s release.  Some of the words I read are familiar from Tony’s IG Stories.  Can you talk about how the page evolved?

Art, as experienced by the contemporary user, is continually defined evolution and flux so I think it’s crucial to reflect that. The nature of being human has seemed to me a series of attempts in imprinting control over what we perceive to be out of ours but most of these definitions are held up flimsily by a collective spiral of silence. Art is ongoing as are the relationships between subject, artist, and audience and what you see is the result of the technological apparatuses to do so.

Et Cetera Labs - what can you say about it?

It’s the equivalent to a cruelty-free animal sticker. I don’t really know much else, truthfully.

You live in LA, right? Put us onto to some local talent you’ve been able to experience lately.  It could be any medium.

I consider myself fortunate to have a tribe in that sense — an abundance of my friends continually inspire me. I don’t want to list off people because there truly are too many and I’d prefer not to offend anyone out of a stony fog but it shall become even more apparent in 2019.

I’m curious about your life in the DMV and the people and places that informed your creative community growing up.

I began making art because I felt like I didn’t have any friends; that wasn’t reality as much as my perception but it caused me to branch out of the somewhat sheltered bubble I existed in before and for that I’m grateful.

Why’d you leave? What does the DMV’s creative community look like from across the coast?

I got a chance to leave and didn’t have much of a reason to stay. I cannot profess to be hyper tuned-in from afar but some of my dearest friends are making beautiful art and doing whatever the fuck they want and each time I’ve returned they’ve introduced me to more and more people on the same frequency. I think getting more involved could be cool.

Who had the best album cover of 2018?

Trippie Redd or Blood Orange.

What can we expect from Aamir in 2019?

I am a citizen of the world.

Where can we find your work?

I am a citizen of the world.

Lol.

Search my name though. I just did and found out I have an IMDb page. Instagram is cool too. Can you link the word instagram to mine in the article? That’d be wavy. Or borderline corny. Agh this is awkward. No more.

Late Bloom Radio hosts artists Absurdly Well and Esteban Whiteside ahead of Friday's gallery show /  by Maxwell Young

Tune in to Late Bloom Radio broadcast via FullServiceRadio.org, Wednesday at 7pm EST, for an in-depth interview with two of Washington D.C.’s most unapologetic artists.

Promotion for “Broken Safety,” an art exhibition featuring the compositions of Esteban Whiteside & Absurdly Well.

Promotion for “Broken Safety,” an art exhibition featuring the compositions of Esteban Whiteside & Absurdly Well.

The following is a press release from artists Absurdly Well and Esteban Whiteside.

Washington, D.C.—10 blocks from the Capitol!  The most highly-anticipated joint show from the DMV’s most prolific artists!

Join us March 8th in Eastern Market at The Fridge Gallery! Political street artist Absurdly Well and artist Esteban Whiteside come together in their first joint art exhibition to address social circumstances that galvanize today’s urban society.

Gentrification and displacement is at an all-time high in major cities in the nation.  The lack of financial, domestic and democratic safety has been taking a toll on the poor and middle class for years.  Artists also have been feeling the pinch of big business moving in Washington.  With more and more luxury condominiums being built & rising rents, artist spaces have been shutting down.  These factors consequentially puts this “broken safety” in the cross-hairs of many U.S. citizens.

Collectors and admirers of Absurdly Well & Esteban will be amazed by the ambitious size of art and spanning subject-matter.  Each piece is a unique perspective on and during the Trump regime from the most prolific artist-activists.  Most pieces are never-before-seen.

This exhibition will be up until March 31st and there will be programming and artists talks throughout the month by both artists.

Original works, prints, street posters, and other merchandise will be available for sale.

March 8, 7-11pm

The Fridge D.C.

516 8 St, SE

Washington, D.C. 20003

Other college radio stations could learn a thing or two from WVAU and Maliyeah Grant /  by Maxwell Young

“A lot of people come to D.C. and take what they can get out of it, without giving what they have to it.”
— Maliyeah Grant, Senior, Events Director, WVAU, American University

As a transplant living in Washington, D.C. (by way of Pittsburgh, Pa.), I can attest to a foreigner’s urge to experience the cultural heritage of the city. For those who have never visited, it’s hard not to feel this compulsion if for nothing but the fact that most of these experiences are free. It’s like tasting your favorite sweet treat for the first time—the rush of energy, the colors, the sensory immersion—you’re insatiable. It’s a natural part of living in a new environment, wanting to interact with its people and communities.

“I guess everyone was trying to connect with D.C. culture,” said Maliyeah Grant at the Tenleytown Chick Fil A, a popular spot for her American University classmates, no doubt. The Senior from York, Pa. opened up about her gradual involvement in the District’s creative scene running parallel to (and at times intersecting) her collegiate radio career, with Nappy Nappa’s social media acting as her entry point. “ I started listening to him on SoundCloud and following local artists. We started going to events at Uptown Art House and talking to people who aren’t from AU.”

Maliyeah Grant (left) at WVAU’s prom in April 2018. Photos by Jason Brandon

Maliyeah Grant (left) at WVAU’s prom in April 2018. Photos by Jason Brandon

The Art House is actually where I first met Grant. Last spring, she rented the now defunct venue space for WVAU’s annual prom. Just a year following my own graduation, the early-twenty-somethings’ youthful energy was contagious and I became nostalgic of simpler times. I thought about the house parties and DIY shows Rob Stokes encouraged me to see my sophomore year, like MILF and $uicideboy$ on the same bill. I wished my friends and classmates were privy to those untapped worlds so that we could experience them together. Yet, there was Grant looking eerily similar to SZA in her “Love Galore” music video, amplifying that same spirit through her school. Rather than merely being a part of the vibe, this time she was curating it.

Such foundational experiences can have a compounding effect on someone who is eager to support the arts, especially someone like Grant who has university resources and money at her disposal.

“There’s a responsibility when you move somewhere that you’re not from to engage with the community in a positive way. A lot of people come to D.C. and take what they can get out of it, without giving what they have to it,” she said.

Although WVAU is a campus station, the internet network is committed to highlighting locally-based talent, whether that’s playing music on air waves or inviting artists to interviews. It’s about bridging the arts and academic communities to not only expose young people to identities and perspectives they might not have considered before, but also fostering future collaborations. The station’s early 2000s party, ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot,’ featured sounds from D.C.-based collective MXDHOUSE while Greenss is slated to offer an exclusive set at AU’s Batelle Atrium in support of Stephn, who is releasing his album Time Before Us with WVAU on February 22.

“Putting funding towards local artists. That’s a big way I like to connect the two [communities],” Grant said.

Other universities could take a page from American, WVAU & Maliyeah’s script. Of course, there are some who already align with this identity. Oberlin College brought a full blown mind-melt to Ohio, booking the Model Home combo of Nappy Nappa & Pat Cain along with Sir E.U and Rob Stokes in December. Treat the arts like any other community outreach program and bring culture to campus. It doesn’t have to be thousands of dollars spent bringing major artists to the quad. Local experiences are relevant to the student experience, plus, they inform the real estate you inhabit.

Photos by Jason Brandon

BAS: HOW THE QUEENS MC FOUND HIS SOUND /  by JR Walker

Written by Hibak Mohamed

Photo by The Fiends

Photo by The Fiends

In 2018, we heard from Bas with his third studio album “Milky Way.” In an interview with Mass Appeal he said, “It felt like for the first time I put together something that fully encompasses all aspects of me.” The evolution of Abbas Hamad’s signature sound wasn’t over night. From the “Quarter Water Raised” mixtapes to “Milky Way,” we have been able to watch the maturation of his discord. I first heard the MC on J Cole’s track “Cousins,” and I instantly gravitated towards his hunger and drive. The grandeur of Dreamville’s music has been distinguishable and highly anticipated as of late. Label heads Jermaine Cole and Ibrahim Hamad have cultivated a movement beyond music. By amassing a roster of talented artists, Dreamville has been able to distinctively set themselves apart in the game.

“Milky Way” by the Queen’s MC, is truly an embodiment of his international identity. Bas’ father was a diplomat so they moved often when he was younger. He was born in Paris, France and moved to Queens when he was eight. During his childhood he also spent some time in Qatar. His worldly view shaped his identity and flows into his art. On the intro track “Icarus,” Bas declares, “I been giving New York City a new sound.” His New York cadence coupled with Afro-beats and Caribbean rhythms make this album stand out sonically when compared to his earlier works. Bas pays homage to his Sudanese roots with the album artwork, a picture his cousin took of him while they were visiting the Nubian pyramids in Meroë, Sudan.

His love for travel translates into his music and it’s even more evident in the samples he used for “Milky Way.” In the upbeat track “Tribe,” Bas sampled “Zum-Zum” by Edu Lobo, a Brazilian singer from the 60s. On “Boca Raton,” the brazilian funk sound is a sample from Sango’s “Para a Luz.” The electronic chords in “Fragrance,” are by French multi-instrumentalist FKJ. In the track “Designer,” Bas sampled British musician Tom Misch. Bas has never been one to limit himself in regards to his music. Bas previously worked with The Hics, a British electronic band on his last album “Too High To Riot.” I was happy to find out that Bas is planning on releasing a collab album with the band.

“This album is about finding ground. About not poisoning your own well.”

—Bas

Throughout the album, Bas centers the theme of love. He also relays moments of weakness and vulnerability in his music. On “Barack Obama Special,” he says, “I tell nobody else how it feels / I cannot share the stress I'm feeling.” As the album progresses we note that Bas has overcome his challenges. On “Designer” he raps, “My fears make me feel great...let the pain go I choose to move freely.” In this album, Bas is letting go of the pressures of the music industry and shifting the focus to the love in his life. During the release of “Milky Way” on Instagram he wrote, "This album is about finding ground. About not poisoning your own well. About finding and tethering yourself to the love that truly fulfills you. Love of self. Love of others. Lovers. Family. Friends. Fans. You’ve all given me all the affirmation I’ll ever need.”


Personally, this album was a stand out because of the fluidity and replay value. Even the visuals we got for “Tribe,” “Fragrance” and “Boca Raton” exude a feel good ambiance. You can really tell Bas was having fun with this one. “Milky Way” is a testament that Bas’ music is just as versatile as his passport. We also have the “Revenge of the Dreamers III” tape to look out for from the Dreamville camp. Bas is currently on tour and after you see this album live there’s no denying the milk.

Tune in to Too Deep For the Intro Podcast for more.