Today we’d like to introduce you to Blazzy.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Growing up in the southeast you’re surrounded by graffiti. Everyone either skated or tagged. My group of friends did both. We used to hit the LA river and the railroad tracks after school. In 2010, I had just turned 15 and Obey was everywhere. I fell inlove with his style and guerilla approach.
At this point, my friends started tag banging which was very common on the east. I saw how Obey (Shepard Fairey) elevated graffiti and that inspired me to go the street art route and do Wheatpaste posters. I was exclusively hitting Melrose ave and small areas in little Tokyo under the name “Sandblastr”. Did that for a whole year till I found a new interest in cover art design when Kanye and Jay Z did “Watch the Throne”. It was a big deal for me at the time Kanye was the biggest he ever was and he made his cover art a statement. From that moment on, I focused on cover art and slowly started doing covers for 100s of nobodies (no offense to my clients) online. One flyer design I did in particular for the “Crit Life” head @se7enchains in the fall of 2016. Established me as the twitter graphic guy of Dallas. At that moment more and more artists, brands, companies started reaching out to me mainly in Dallas. Although I had no family nor ever been to Dallas TX they embraced me like I was. Something I never experienced here in LA yet. Inspired by this new set of clients, I took my first plane flight in my life to Dallas, TX.
In late June 2017 to meet everyone. That same night Tay K broke the internet for being on the run. He was set to perform at a venue I actually was at. Unmarked police cars everywhere. They were looking for Tay K considering his name was on the show flyer. The next morning his team gets in contact with me and inquires about merch design. At the time, I had no idea (and everyone else) had big of a story Tay K was going to become. I declined there offer considering they had no budget to pay me. 20 minutes later, after my friends convince me it’ll be a good look I unwillingly agreed to do the t-shirt for him. He became a viral sensation in a few days and the design I made started to go everywhere. First t-shirt design I made became a hit. Although I never received a single dollar nor a physical shirt. More and more brand owners started inquiring for work by Blazzy. As my name grew more on twitter. I ran into Dillon Gerstung (head of marketing at Chinatown Market) in late 2017. At the time Dillon had just moved from Indiana to Los Angeles with a hope of becoming a player in the fashion/rap industry. He started interning and doing small projects for No Jumper and Chinatown Market. At the time Chinatown Market had only 40k followers and were operating out of a humble studio in the arts district. One day Dillon brought me for a potential design job position and thats where I met Mike Cherman (founder of Chinatown Market). After conversating with Mike for about 30 minutes, I was able to get his email to send over some graphics. I sent him maybe ten that weekend and all were denied. They didn’t see anything they liked. I felt defeated and disappointed.
Now it’s early 2018. I had just left my full-time job as a delivery guy at lax to pursue my design ventures full on. Scraping whatever jobs I can, I managed to get by. One night I decided to send Dillon and Mike another email of graphics and they told me to stop by the office again. They gave me the opportunity to start doing mockups and petty jobs around the office. I slowly worked my way up in the company to a position in the design team. Where I finally felt secured about my creativity and what I was capable of creating. From there on out, I began working with legends and corporations. Still managing my presence in the underground I kept two avenues of job placements and relationships. Mid 2018, I finally decided to start taking my creativity seriously and began releasing items on my own. Since then, I haven’t looked back.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
You have to hear 100 no’s before you hear a yes. I spent 2016-2018 working seven days a week 2-3 projects a day at the time. A majority of them unpaid. But I always kept my head down because I knew where I wanted to go.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I don’t think I have an official title of what I do because my abilities are a spectrum. I’ve done visual projections for the likes of Xxxtenacion and Migos. I’ve done cover art for Chief Keef, Merch for Lil Wayne, Lil Pump, Rich The Kid, Kali Uchies, Eryak Badu, Air Jordan, Uber Eats, Trapmoney Benny, Teejayx6, No Jumper, etc. Graphics for brands like Chinatown Market, Pleasures, Half Evil, Absent, Section8, Activity, Runtz, etc.
I think what sets me apart is my style. I started off heavily inspired by D Bruze and added my twist and twang to it throughout the years.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I base success on personal growth. It’s important to maintain a tunnel vision and exclusively compare yourself to yourself. I set daily, weekly, monthly goals. I do a lot of reflection and documentation. It’s important to identify what’s working and what isn’t on a frequent basis. Keeps you in check. I also keep a quota in my head and expectations. Everything gotta be on Q.
Contact Info:
- Website: thenothingpersonalshop.com
- Instagram: Blazzys
Image Credit:
Photo by @Astralbound
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