The Complete Guide To Jean-Michel Basquiat References In Hip-Hop

SAMO Tag, 1976-1979

Before making a name for himself as a painter, Basquiat took to the streets, tagging areas in downtown New York under the name "SAMO". Like Basquiat's later work, the Samo tags often featured political and anti-establishment messages, a similar spirit to that found in hip-hop lyrics. Modern graffiti writers still cite SAMO's influence on their own styles.

Relationship with Fab 5 Freddy, 1979

Basquiat met Fab 5 Freddy at a party in 1979, and they later shared a studio space together in Chinatown. Freddy introduced Basquiat to early hip-hop recordings and techniques like sampling. The two were both in the 2010 documentary "Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child".

Jean-Michel Basquiat DJing in Blondie's "Rapture" Video, 1981

In Blondie's video for "Rapture", Basquiat makes a cameo as the DJ for the club scene. Basquiat was hired for the role when Grandmaster Flash did not show up for the appearance.

K-Rob vs. Rammellzee's Beat Bop 12-inch single, 1983

While there are no lyrical references to the painter in this single, Basquiat produced the track and  made the album art. The single went on to influence many hip-hop groups and rappers like the Beastie Boys, El-P and Cypress Hill.

Havoc (Mobb Deep), 2001

Song: "Get At Me"
Album: Infamy, 2001

Lyrics: Do my dirt quicker from my early days swifter/With the gat, I'm like Basquiat, painting that picture

Gym Class Heroes

Song: "To Bob Ross with Love"
Album: The Papercut Chronicles, 2005

Lyrics: Now watch me rock the spot like Basquiat, minus the heroin and make my face popular like Andy did to Marilyn.

Wyclef Jean's voiceover for the "Basquiat" exhibit at the Brooklyn Musueum, 2005

For the audio tour for the Basquiat retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, Wyclef Jean read passages from Basquiat's interviews and poems. Both Jean and Basquiat share Haitian heritage.

Jay-Z, 2006

Song: "Grammy Family Freestyle"; also appeared on "Most Kingz" featuring Chris Martin
Album: Originally on Hot 97 in 2006, also appeared on Green Lantern's Invasion Radio 2K10 Mixtape

Lyrics: Inspired by Basquiat, my chariot's on fire/Everybody took shots, hit my body up, I'm tired.

Kanye West On His Work In "Love Lockdown", 2008

Kanye West is no stranger to referencing visual art in his music. He summed up the creation of the song "Love Lockdown" as, "You just do a Basquiat painting over the whole test. And sure, every answer is wrong, but look, it makes a beautiful picture." Apparently, Basquiat taught Yeezy how to bring a collage aesthetic to this track.

Swizz Beatz, 2008

Song: "That Oprah"
Album: Single Only

Lyrics: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, iPhone, Microsoft/My paper is very long, your paper is very soft/I am a big BOSS, Boy, get lost, My new Basquiat, H.O.V. know what that cost.

Jay-Z, 2008

Song: "Ain't I" featuring Timbaland
Album: Single

Lyrics: I got Warhols on my halls walls, I got Basquiats in the lobby of my spot/I'm so sophisticatedly hood, S. Carter cashmere premium goods.

Reebok Classics' Basquiat Product Line, 2009

Reebok originally introduced the product line as an homage to the artist. When Swizz Beatz signed on as the International Creative Director of Reebok Classics, he included the stipulation that he had full license over the line and could expand it at will.

Nas, 2010

Song: "Land of Promise" featuring Damian Marley
Album: Nas and Damian Marley - Distant Relatives

Lyrics: Promised land, I picture Porsches, Basquiat portraits/Pinky rings, realistic princesses, Heiresses bunch a Kings and Queens.

Swizz Beatz, 2010

Song: "Bang Bang" featuring Pusha T, Pharrell
Album: "Monster Mondays" track

Lyrics: Well if you like me, this the shit you like to knock on your yachts/Boat shoes on, walls full of Basquiats.

Decoded by Jay-Z, 2010

Jay-Z breaks down some of his most interesting and veiled lyrics in his autobiography Decoded, including his reference to Basquiat in the "Grammy Family Freestyle." Hova sites the Basquiat work Charles The First as his source for the lyrics "most young kings get their heads cut off" on "Most Kingz." He also comments on Basquiat's struggle with fame and the artist's death as a cautionary tale.

Lil' Wayne, 2010

Song: Mystikal featuring Lil' Wayne "Papercuts"
Album: TBA, 2010

Lyrics: Young Money Weezy, B-gang bi-otch/Abstract artist, call me Basquiat.

Rick Ross' Basquiat Portrait tattoo, 2011

Ricky Rozay is a known fan of Basquiat, and he paid tribute to the artist by getting a portrait of Baquiat on his thigh. While the former Complex cover boy is no stranger to shirtless photos displaying his ink, no image of his thigh tattoo has leaked to the public.

Danny Brown, 2011

Song: "Die Like a Rockstar"
Album: XXX

Lyrics: I got that Kurt Cobain type of mind-frame, feeling like Keith Moon shrooms in my dressing room/Basquiat freestyle/Feeling like Jimi Hendrix and Anna-Nicole mouth.

Jay-Z, 2011

Song: Jay-Z + Kanye West - "Illest Motherfucker Alive"
Album: Watch the Throne

Lyrics: When I say it then you see, it ain't only in the music/Basquiat, Warhols serving as my muses/ My house like a museum so I see 'em when I'm peeing, usually you have this much taste, you European.

Das Racist, 2011

Song: "Art School"
Album: URC - The Illuminati Bootleg

Lyrics: Jean Michel-Basquiat, hella diesel smoking pot/Canvas, badass, abstract, abstract, wealth and access, art school, art school.

Kanye West, 2011

Song: Jay-Z + Kanye West - "That's my Bitch" featuring Charlie Wilson, Elly Jackson
Album: Watch the Throne

Lyrics: She say I care more about them basquions, Basquiats she learning a new word, it's yacht/Blew the world up as soon as I hit the club with her,/Too short called, told me I feel in love with her.

Rick Ross, 2011

Song: Lil Wayne featuring Rick Ross - "John (If I Die Today)"
Album: Tha Carter 4

Lyrics: Red on the wall, Basquiat when I paint/Red Lamborghini 'til I gave it to my bitch.

Heems, 2011

Song: "New York City Cops"
Album: Stereogum Presents Stroked: A Tribute to Is This It

Lyrics: Basquiat '81, Irony of Negro police, man/Back in the day on the train that was G and was Grandmaster poster.

Phonte, 2011

Song: "Who Loves You More"
Album: Charity Starts At Home

Lyrics: From Marvin to Basquiat, it comes with a caveat/And that's the gospel like three or four choirs.

Kid Cudi Unofficial Music Video For "Ghost", 2011

Steve Brown created the unofficial video for Kid Cudi's "Ghost" after realizing the physical and artistic similarities between MC and the painter. The video features clips of Glenn O'Brien's pseudo-documentary film "Downtown 81," which starred Basquiat, and uses Cudi's haunting "Ghost" as the soundtrack. Watch it here.

Common's Memoir "One Day It'll All Make Sense", 2011

In Common's autobiography, he likens his spontaneous way of painting with words to Basquiat's raw artistic style. Common first learned about Basquiat from the 1996 film based on the artist.

Prevail (Swollen Members), 2011

Song: "Mr. Impossible"
Album: Dagger Mouth, 2011

Lyrics: Give me mine cause limited time is only allotted/I'm painting verbal high with Basquiat and Jackson Pollock.

Iggy Azalea's album art for "Ignorant Art," 2011

Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's album art for the mixtape "Ignorant Art" references a famous poster of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat as boxers. The poster was originally created for a joint exhibition the two artists did in New York City's SoHo neighborhood in 1985.

Crooked I, 2012

Song: L.A. Leakers Freestyle
Album: Exclusive to Power 106's L.A. Leakers radio show.

Lyrics: Slaughterhouse is hot as hell, y'all on that same ol'/But I'm like Samo, before you knew him as Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Ja Rule, 2012

Song: "Intro (Fuck Fame)" featuring Leah Siegal
Album: Pain is Love 2

Lyrics: Fuck fame....Picasso, Rembrandt, Basquiat, Warhol couldn't paint a better work of art.

Macklemore, 2012

Song: "10,000 Hours"
Album: The Heist

Lyrics: I observed Escher, I loved Basquiat, I watched Keith Haring, you see I studied art/The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint, the greats were great because they painted a lot

Mickey Factz, 2012

Song: "Mickey Mau5 (sampler)"
Album: Mickey Mau5

Lyrics: Young painter looking at the front pages, the Basquiats, the Warhols, all the plush painters/Inspiration on a daily basis, I copped a can and went bombing on a daily basis

Jeffery Deitch compares Swizz Beats to Basquiat, 2012

In an interview with T Magazine, Swizz Beats claimed that the director of MOCA, Jeffery Deitch, once compared him to the great painter. He agreed with the comparison, saying, "Basquiat had the same hunger and passion. He was young and out there and into music and in a place he probably wasn’t supposed to be. I took that as a great remark." 

Complex February/March Issue Cover Story, 2012

The cover for our Jeremy Scott x A$AP Rocky issue is another homage to the Warhol/Basquiat boxing poster. A version of the poster was also used as the promotional film poster for the 2010 documentary on Basquiat's life, "Jean-Michel Basquiat - Radiant Child".

Noah Caine, 2012

Song: "The Crown"
Album: Noah Caine: The Pre-Season

Lyrics: It's steady to the death and we've above ground, Basquiat with a microphone/Gems sitting on my brow, watch a king spit a poem for the crown

Rugz D. Bewler

Song: "Cuz I'm Black"
Album: 2012

Lyrics: A visionary can't be stopped, Picture me like I'm Basquiat/Hanging with a message, my meanings with my presence.

Busta Rhymes, 2012

Song: Raekwon featuring Busta Rhymes - "MTV Cribs"
Album: Unexpected Victory Mixtape

Lyrics: Limited box of cigars from diplomats in Cubana/Rare art of Baquiat feeding fruit to Madonna/Copacabana, Imma celebrate til they respect a sucess story with truck unloading imperial nectar

Macklemore in the Christie's Basquiat videos, 2013

This year, art auction house Christie's released a series of videos where friends of Basquiat as well as artists and performers inspired by the painter commented on his life. In one of the videos, Macklemore delivers a touching speech on Basquiats's influence on his art. He says, "When he got with Warhol it was like everyone just tore him down. That's such a weird feeling as an artist to make something that's pure, that's from the heart, that is who you are, and have a group of people shit on you." You can watch the full video here. 

Swizz Beatz's Basquiat Portrait Tattoo (Date Unknown)

Swizzy often raps about Baquiat as his fallen artistic idol. He has two ink homages to Basquiat on his body, including the portrait on his forearm above. He also owns 6 Basquiat paintings.