Like.… Warhal Graffiti & Basquiat Acrylics

By Kenny Attaway

“like”….Warhol graffiti & Basquiat acrylics
-“the fluorescent kanvs excursion”-
A collection of poetry/thoughts from Ghetto English Rock and his stones (Kenny Attaway, Yanni Handcock, Fd, SAYSO, Slum Beautiful, Nirvana Sanchez, Wild Irish Rose, & Ghetto Othello). Nirvana Sanchez journeys with Ghetto English Rock & his stones on a world renown tour- “the fluorescent kanvs (canvas) excursion”” as they journey through Chicago, Philadelphia, London England, Paris, France, Sinotri, Greece and cities and countries sharing their art, dropping gems and reciting their spoken words. Narrated & orchestrated by Ghetto English Rock and Nirvana Sanchez (cover art front and back). G.E.R & the Stones not only explores their most memorable and favorite spoken words/poems but takes the reader and audience into a glimpse into their personal world and space of some-living and rehashing some of the wildest, real life and intricate times. Many of the poetry, spoken word and emotional bombs are reworked, reconstructed and remixed from the original works; which could be found in the published works (Inkquani, Hot Knickels & Pennies, Ink pens & Spray cans) and once unpublished work Stoned from Ghetto English’ Rock

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728337067

Kenny Attaway

Kenny Attaway (G.E.R) is an American writer. Raised in West Philadelphia, began authoring novels, plays and mini movies in the pre-teens of his life. His works of art has touched the hearts and minds of countless fan/supporters. Since 2005, he has published a total of twelve-thirteen works of art. His subject matters/genres continue to give light on array of topics. He loves writing and ushering in new projects. Currently, he is penning three complete novels to be published soon.

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© 2019 Kenny Attaway/ GER. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/22/2019

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3707-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3705-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3706-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019919560

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

1. what the fuck is Warhol graffiti?

liquid swords

hugging the humidity-

a poet’s work is never done

aquamarine shovels

scent of a beggar (aquamarine II)

toy novelist (remix)

gift of the raspberry sunrise

tying ribbons & bows around march 23rd

made from blue hue

icing from national cake day

writer’s block V

like water for the chocolate

mahogany QUEEN /chocolate KING

to crown a black butterfly

the everything of nothing

mis-eduaction of the prettiest fool

2. no sugar & cream

the lower end theory

love’s debt

sugar pages & sticky sheets

revolutions per minute

lions live in your mouth

funny fingers

three feet & rising

in living color

D.R.E.A.M.S arounds me

scent of basquiat’s acrylic

enigma of the purple tape

neforola acents

haiku hum

orchids from winter’s memory

poetic eyes/ remix

3. flowers grow from my hand

808 & heartbreak

pouring my voice ova pages

handful of pennies & a pocketful of cool

neptune’s swimming pool

eryaka badu

purple velvet cake (crumbs)

eat a diamond for breakfast …

pineapples & peppermints

the endless book (extended version)

entering & exiting a gift shop

the tip of piscasso’s paintbrush

stuffed on greed

soft orgy

we fight/we fuck

4. unboxed crayola

the hard-knock life

romantic foibles

handfuls of gobblygook

a soliloquy of chaos (extended)

rages to riches memoir

champion requiem

like cotton candy for breakfast

sex, cigarettes & graffiti

the rose that blossomed into a gun

bag lady

after the rain, but before the sun

mascoto, a pen & sad feeling

reflections of the internal sunrise

infused with sapphire

5. lion’s live in our mouth

infinite error.

return to sender …

the rebirth of kool

feathers with iron shadows

ink pens & spray cans II

outside my dreams

luckily, yesterday was recorded

frequency of a fuck

beautiful face/ugly smile

art of meeting love (artwork)

the annoying joy

lou’s painful beauty

artistic biscuits

korn muffins & koca-kola

more than just words (extended mix)

covering the sky with one hand

6. the chocolate crown

eiffel tower (extended mix)

a Harlem memoir (in 1979)

bleu rummy’s magic (extended mix)

in Warhol’s hothouse

thoughts have a mind of their own

padlock pandemonium/ FG version

mocha latte (the kind…)

karnival of papier mache

the rubik cube poem

gems of a gemologist.

7. love’s painful beauty

raspberry rain

never faithful in my sleep

the notorious FAT lie

DOPEMA (the NU fix)

8. art of having sex with graffiti

slum beautiful

blueprint to an illmatic love (remixed)

in love for 17 minutes (remix)

juicy jubilee joy

kandy lady

blind pig (the dreams)

unlitter life & love

pigeons & planes

ribbons that bow

lying in teardrops

mango sunset

ink pens & spray paint III

AMERICAN CREED

blueberry opium AM, again

portrait of a man with pink shoes

ghetto o-thello

a minute from a second

9. tip of piscaso’s brush

by any means necessary

a fly love poem

name me unlimited.

window seat (extended version)

fresh ink & opening lines

halloween kandy (sex version)

new graffiti

feathers of destiny

in sugar sweet & something like that

a nut it takes a stone to crack

rooted, but I flow….

making me wet

10. the florescent canvas

it’s going to take a million of a nation…

flowers for spring

crumbs of a bum’s cake II

across an orange moon

lost soldiers

let me talk to you (remix)

beautiful noise

raincoats & napkins (remixed)

the sheets of morning

11. i.AM.iNK

WU C.R.E.A.M

the tequila love letter

abstract acrylics

popsicle cabaña / Ms. v long

halloween kandy

the happy rooster

stronger wit’ each tear

jewel of the nile

handful of rainbows

handful of beethoven’s rhinestones

the NU danger

another halloween hopeful

12. . scent of basquiat’s acrylic’s

inkquani (ink and I)

hot hands II (penography II)

hunger pains II (extended)

the happi harlot

life after cream

the feeding (who’s hunger?)

placing flowers & candy around your last fuck

like jellybeans, but more like cake

black nutmeg

bijou (the trinket)

13. a poet’s work is never done

the sky within

on becoming a sunflower

Iamink

kinnamon fly

buttercup slum

the love below

mis-education of the prettiest fool

unboxed crayons

lyrical cocktails (the never poem)

foolish (remix)

EMMA JANE TYLER

flowers from a midnight market

thicker shadows

black roses with gold stems

eat a diamond for dinner …

LUVMONSTER

&

the stones

Nirvana Sanchez

slum beautiful

wild irish Rose

kenny attaway

Sayvion /SAYSO

Fēdē

ghetto Othello

Yanni Handcock

like …. Warhol graffiti & Basquiat acrylics

- the fluorescent kanvəs excursion-

A collection of poetry/thoughts from Ghetto English Rock and his stones (Kenny Attaway, Yanni Handcock, Fēdē, SAYSO, Slum Beautiful, Nirvana Sanchez, Wild Irish Rose, & Ghetto Othello). Nirvana Sanchez journeys with Ghetto English Rock & his stones on a world renown tour-

the fluorescent kanvəs (canvas) excursion" as they journey through Chicago, Philadelphia, London England, Paris, France, Sinotri, Greece and cities and countries sharing their art, dropping gems and reciting their spoken words. Narrated & orchestrated by Ghetto English Rock and Nirvana Sanchez (cover art front and back). G.E.R & the Stones not only explores their most memorable and favorite spoken words/poems but takes the reader and audience into a glimpse into their personal world and space of some-living and rehashing some of the wildest, real life and intricate times. Many of the poetry, spoken word and emotional bombs are reworked, reconstructed and remixed from the original works; which could be found in the published works (Inkquani, Hot Knickels & Pennies, Ink pens & Spray cans) and once unpublished work Stoned from Ghetto English’ Rock

the

florescent

canvas

ONE

what the fuck is Warhol graffiti?

Chicago, IL

My initial reactions to being asked to be a guest, helper, performer and whatever else Ghetto English Rock could muster or tag to helper was NO. But at the time I was out of work, no freelancing jobs in sight, bored, lonely and somewhat depressed, the best and only answer became yes. Nights leading up to the five-month tour gave me butterflies, sugar flies and a sour taste in my throat. My brother and I talked of meeting up in our hometown Brazil, but that wasn’t enough to totally persuade the butterflies and anxiety to just go the fuck away. Yanni and I weren’t friends, I believed he had a misplaced love for woman, G.E.R was very demanding (the tour that put the tour together), Kenny (one of The Stones) wasn’t always cordial and all the rest were new-babies to the international tour life. I didn’t know what to expect. But within days, touring with ghetto English rock & his tones became some of the best-most unforgettable times of my life-ever came into play. Yanni was and is always one edge, but in the sense that’s what gives him his colorful testicles. He’s a candid and sometimes uptight man that wants to free the world of everything, but sex and enjoyment. He’s a laissez-faire always and in all places. The tour aka excursion "Like Warhol graffiti & Like Basquiat acrylics ‘"the fluorescent kanvəs/canvas excursion-was in making for many years to come. In the early stages of planning it was initially titled Like Pussy on Paper Alive, but G.E.R believed the name was not only too coarse and sexually explicit but would send the wrong message. We don’t just write about sex Ghetto English is not much of a poet-but more of an unorthodox writer with an apologetic pen and fuck you pencil (no erasers). I’ve hung out with G.E.R on numerous occasions, but the tour brought about a new respect for him. Collectively, he, myself, Yanni Handcock, Fēdē, SAYSO, Slum Beautiful, Kenny and a few surprised guests-Ghetto Othello, nit to be confused with Ghetto English Rock- orchestrated the most unique, uplifting and entertaining tour of spoken words ever. Yanni and I have worked closely on the stagnated -unreleased novel A Nutt it Takes a Stone to Crack, G.E.R, I’ve worked on a few shelved projects with Kenny (very reserved and private), but Slum and I met for the first time. I read her biography Slum Beautiful (written by Kenny) years back but was blown away and truly amazed by her poetry in-motion and candidness and openness on all things- STILL. She doesn’t mind allowing her heart and mind to speak-even if they are interrupting and rude to each other. G.E.R and Yanni settled on Warhol graffiti & Basquiat acrylics ‘-the florescent canvas excursion after months of heated debates of the who, what, why, where and other logistics of the tour. settling on which cities/countries and who would take part was the easy part. Giving the tour the proper declarations was when the fights brewed. G.E.R is a huge Andy Warhol fan/collector-although he only has one authentic piece of his work. Basquiat’s work is more important than Andy’s shit Yanni yelled through phones, scribble on paper and in poetry (unreleased)… until the two agreed on Like …Warhol graffiti & Basquiat acrylics ‘-. They are fans and advent supporters of both deceased artists’ works. the fluorescent kanvəs excursion- subtitle, came into play to symbolize the importance of all the poets/Stones brightest /decorated works. Like Yanni & G.E.R I truly believe that poets and writers are painters, graffiti artist and hopeless romantics to the pen and paper-their attributes are just as important.

Jean Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol were incredible artist that works has went on to outlive them-it essence their works are displayed on florescent canvases across the world as is G.E.R and his stones (myself, Yanni Handcock, Kenny Attaway, Wild Irish Rose, Slum Beautiful, SAYSO, Fēdē, and later Ghetto Othello). With the name of the tour, poets & performers in place-we assumed there would be no other obstacles or issues. I big fat thought. Fēdē (one of the stones) selections for the tour were rejected due to issues with the titles of the work from the tour’s promoter. His initial works were all titled Fēdē love moments (titled that way to conjunctions with Ink Pens & Spray Cans); which believed would confuse the attendees of the tour. Fēdē promised to drop out the tour completely if he was not able to keep the original titles. Luckily, he, G.E.R and I met in Philadelphia in/at LOVE PARK and voted unanimous that he would release the original works with the original titles; which was initially rejected by his older brother SAYSO for their now classic work Ink pens & spray-cans (released in 2016).

Ink pens & spray cans (The Graffiti bridge Mixtape) became a huge underground success to all underground artist of the word- and helped a great deal in helping the two at gelling the broken friendship. Fēdē aka Fēdē is a graffiti artist that tagged his "poems/love moments throughout the various boroughs of New York City during SAYSO penning his then untitled work; which later became Ink pens & Spray cans (He is being Ink pen and his brother Fēdē being Spray cans). The collection of work is a remarkable nod not only to art and penmanship, but a successful attempt at bridging the two thought to be unparallel worlds as one. The tour would have not been the same without Fēdē-his works are some of the crowd favorites. The original tags or love moments written by Fēdē were inspired by various classic hip hop albums; such as Dela Soul’s 1989 classic 3 feet & Rising, Kanye West’s 808 & Heartbreak, A Tribe called Quest’s the Lower End Theory and eight others. Fēdē’s contributions to Ink pens & Spray cans were essential, but even more important to the tour. Fighting with Fēdē into joining the tour was almost an eclipsed moment but allowing him to not only reiterate the reasoning and logic behind the initial titles gave the dead work new life. I learned quickly in the graffiti world your tag is old the minute it dries. With Fēdē’s work now part of our canvas and ready and willing to perfmon CPR on his dead works. Watching him and others perform CPR on dead work was an amazing and unforgettable feat. On some stops he spray painted the tags to various artifacts of the stage. The first landing spot for the tour was supposed to be Philadelphia, City of smother me with Love, but a quick coin toss and Yanni not giving a fuck, but in need of brothel ASAP frame of mind-Chicago aka The Windy Chill City would be the first city to be splattered with fluorescent cheers.

We arrived in Chicago IL, sometimes around 2am and a few nights before the initial start of the tour. G.E.R was advent that everyone taking part in the tour needed time to get familiar with each other and the city before anyone was to perform anything. Chicago’s Southside was/is heavily influenced by violence. poverty and gang activity. G.E.R didn’t want Yanni to headline Chicago due to the nature of his work. Yanni is a remarkable artist, but since Inkquani he hasn’t published much of anything and spends his days and nights drenched in the scent of cocaine, cigarettes and sex. G.E.R believed the Fēdē’s work identified with the artist and general public of Chicago more than any other artist other than Slum Beautiful. But due to personal issues she was not able to make Chicago in time to perform. I was desperate to know. The reporter, woman and caring heart in me wanted to know more of her life. I so wanted to know how and where she conjured up that kind of strength. I wanted to know more her tats, her stance on life, the name Slum Beautiful and so much more. Being on stage with G.E.R & The Stones was beautiful, amazing and colorful, but all his sharing hotel floors and sometimes rooms was just as fun and entertaining, but more intimate. Quickly my corky brain went from a reporter/writer to a friend to all the artist taking part in the tour. Sitting around in our t-shirts, panties and private wear sharing life moments and experiences became everything. We became a family. Getting to know Kenny, Fēdē and Slum was mindboggling. Slum’s strength is superior to most. She been through a lot in her life, but is that honest, upfront and forgiving to all of people and things that has happened in her life. She forgave her brother for the hurt and pain he caused when he molested her for over five years of her early life. Almost every night he’d molest her and leave her a piece of candy before exiting her bedroom or sleep space. Kenny Attaway penned her biographical Slum Beautiful outlining all the damage she suffered emotionally, psychologically, physically, spiritually and financially (losing money in not wanting to work, perform and make a living). She wanted her story to be an inspiration to anyone that has been hurt in that way. I was saddened she was not able to make the Chicago stop and place her pallets to the canvas I have some personal issues to tend to. No one on the tour liked sleeping much for different reasons. SAYSO was working on his new yet to be titled novel, G.E.R was writing the forward to Kenny’s yet to be titled novel, Yanni was occupied with his addictions and Kenny (sometimes called Attaboy) was always on the phone, watching a documentary or trying to come up with new chapter titles for newer works. Fēdē and I bonded precisely in Chicago due to being chosen to jumpstart the tour with his tag/poem Liquid Swords -formerly known as Fēdē Love Moment five. Aside from Fēdē being a handsome and thoughtful guy with a splash of decadent cool-he was super shy and didn’t like talking much. Words die in my mouth Nirvana, so don’t take it personal.

Early on I assumed he didn’t celebrate me but tolerated me. But he and I shared many things in common such as our favorite colors being purple, a love for quiet time, tacos and hip-hop music. So, what was the motivation with Liquid Swords/ Fēdē Love Moment five? "GZA from Wu-tang Clan (hip hop supergroup/clan) always had the shortest, but sharpest rhymes from the Clan. He did a spectacular job at trimming the fat but stacking the sugar. When I began tagging identified thoughts aka streams of consciousness, I wanted everything I write to be short, but strong like Nas’s Illmatic album or GZA’s Liquid Sword. An actual sword cuts deep and fast. The Liquid Sword album released in the fall of 1995 became a hip hop/ WU classic. GZA is a unique poet and performing artist, but more than anything he’s an intellect that requires a lot of quiet and down time. He’s a master chess player like the Clan’s leader and his cousin RZA. Chess is a thinking man’s game. When I tagged Moment of Silence around New York at that time-I was stressing that we all need to shut the fuck at times and listen to anything other than ourselves. Most of us talk too much and don’t listen enough. The words/lines Sometimes I wrap beautiful giftwrap around words /Dress my nouns & pronouns in elegant cloth" Was my way of saying I think of beautiful words and cool shit to say all the time, but I believe we should listen to other cool shit other people have to say or feel. It maybe cooler than ours and freeze our dumb-shit right up. He went quiet for almost twenty minutes with his eyes staring into the sky as if he was spray painting clouds. Fēdē I love this shit I gushed with laughter and excitement. Words die in your mouth; do you really mean that (from Liquid Swords/ the tag). Yeah, and I am glad they do. Sometimes the wrong shit comes out and then everyone is mad at you. I don’t remember when I tagged that, but it’s important that we shut up at times and listen to others." A few hours into the evening he bewildered the 500 plus audience with Liquid Swords meaning, purpose and delivery. Prior to reciting the verse and bring the tag to life as an ode to GZA and Liquid Swords the album he had the soundman, Trevor Nash, play instrumentals from GZA; s album before and after the tag of his rendition of Liquid Swords. I always wanted to meet The GZA from WU, but he and I never crossed paths Aside from Fēdē’s Liquid Swords- the fan favorites became Icing from National Cake Day and the unorthodox Writer’s Block.

G.E.R wrote writer’s block as a nod to all the writer’s that struggle with thought process at times. I have interviewed many artists that have struggled with that deadly artistic disease that kills thoughts-instantly leaving the mind with an empty canvas. G.E.R went on after Fēdē’s Liquid Sword and stood on the stage quietly for a long while; before writing Writer’s block unto a piece of wood and having the audience pass around what the symbolism of nothing meaning something. We all were stun that he not only pulled it off, but that the crowd wanted more of nothing. The something of nothing/nothing of something inspired Kenny Attaway to pen a poem/collection of thoughts Everything of Nothing". The Writer’s Block and Everything of nothing was discussed throughout the tour in eatery’s, hotel bedrooms, stages, brothels, street corners and everywhere in between. The Everything of Nothing became an idiom that sometimes summed up how we all felt when addressing thoughts/feelings that come to mind that has no real meaning or justification or how sometimes we can have everything, but feel like it’s nothing or have nothing, but feel like it’s everything. The psyche