Glen E. Friedman

By Dee Mo

Photo texts: Rita Luchetti

Photo: G. E. Friedman

AL 32 December 1998 - January 1999

Just a few lines from the uncle, two or three things about Glen E. Friedman and his photographs, just so you know.

Because his images are infinitely more famous than his name and because a photographic exhibition like his “ Fuck You All,” is also worth seeing for how much of Hip Hop is represented in it.

The photographs he took for the covers of such seminal records as Public Enemy's “It Takes A Nation Of Millions” or Run DMC's “Walk This Way” were the first images to make the rounds of what was then called “New School.” Rap, aggressive as never before, was sweeping over racial fences to become an international phenomenon. Some of Glen E. Friedman's work was shown by the Beastie Boys to Russell Simmons. The founder of Def Jam records and Rush Management had no doubt: Glen had to move from Los Angeles to New York because there was a lot of work to be done. That's the way things went. His talent was already known in other circles, long before he started working for Def Jam: it was Skateboarding Magazine that published his first photos when Glen was just fourteen years old; he was a regular contributor to the major magazines of the American hardcore punk scene; he had produced a record and self-produced “My Rules,” a black-and-white photozine that came out in a single issue, now a rare collector's item. Friedman documented from the inside the most relevant urban subcultures of this last part of the millennium. It is impressive to note how often he was the right man at the right time, ready to fix a glance or a gesture, delivering it forever to collective memory with ruthless compositional talent. Whether it was skaters or mc's, Friedman always and in any case photographed only what hardcore, hardcore represented to him.

Not the skateboarding of today's supersponsored big contests, but the thugs who illegally entered the mansions of the wealthy in Hollywood to skate through emptied swimming pools, heedless of private property signs and security raids. Groups like Black Flag or Minor Threat, not Green Day. Krs One, A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy, not the Mc Hammers of then and now. Whatever their culture of reference, they were people, friends before they were subjects to be photographed. People to compare and share a way of seeing things with, what he calls “the hardcore soul of true integrity.” He collected them in two books, “Fuck You Heroes” and “Fuck You Too” (Burning Flags Press), from which the exhibition “Fuck You All” is taken, brought to Italy with the support of Slam Jam and successfully exhibited at the Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea of the University of Rome. The exhibition also passed through Turin (at Reddocks, Via Valprato 68, Nov. 12-28) and will be in Milan at Leonkavallo on Via Watteau, Dec. 10-13. These are two opportunities to admire the work of this artist up close, to remember and recognize through his photographs a part of us and our history. 

MAXWELL MELVINS # 66064 - LIFERS GROUP - Rahway, NJ - fall 1990

This photo marks one of the most beautiful pages in Hip Hop history -- Maxwell Melvins, sentenced to life, serial number 66064. We see him reflected in his mirror-the only way to see and be seen when you are now behind bars. In 1990 Melvins and other inmates at Rahway Prison ran a crime prevention program called Lifers Group. It was a unique initiative set up to discourage those who lived outside the prison in lawlessness by bringing them into “the belly of the beast.” They appealed directly to the world they had lost forever, using various channels, not the least of which was music. They released an album in the lyrics of which the harsh reality of prison is stated in the roughest terms. This was the cover photo. “I was asked to take the cover photo of the album, which gave me the rare opportunity to see and photograph part of the reality behind bars. It was really incredible.”.

BEASTIE BOYS - Hollywood, CA - December 1991 

Pulling “Check Your Head” off the shelf, we cannot help but notice that it is the same hand that signs that cover that took this picture. “I first met the Beastie Boys in front of CBGB's in 1981. They had skateboards and were playing hardcore-punk, having fun. Six years later they exploded as rappers with a new style on “Licensed To Ill” under the artistic direction of Rick Rubin. With “Paul's Boutique” they received critical acclaim and were aided by the Dust Brothers production team. The third album, “Check Your Head,” was largely self-produced, moving in every direction: on some tracks they played hardcore, on others they used their typical samples and rhymes; they also ventured to play some soul and funk instrumental tracks. The group was pleased, the critics positive, the fans loved them (more than a million copies sold), and I thought this record was outstanding. Another picture from the same day became the cover of “Check Your Head.”. 

RUN DMC - Hollis Queens, NY - March 1988 

Run DMC was the first rap group to give the impression that they had an authentic hardcore attitude. Unlike many rappers who had preceded them, they did not wear flashy stage costumes, the chic Michael Jackson style was not for them: they were Hip Hop gangsters in black leather and felt hats, similar to the ones Alva wore skating in swimming pools 5 years earlier. On their records they used sparse beats and rock'n'roll together. Rock guitars appeared from time to time, and scratches gave them a taste light years away from the disco of those days. 

IAN MCKAYE - MINOR THREAT - Washington, DC - August 1982 

One of the most influential hardcore bands of all time, Minor Threat truly embodied the spirit of American hardcore-punk like no other band. They were the spark that drove so many suburban kids to start their own band. If you have heard of Straight Edge before, they are at the origin of it. This photo depicts Ian McKaye, founder of the quintessential independent label, Dischord Records for which he records with his current band, Fugazi. In this photo, Ian live in all his disruptive power. “We're not the first, I hope we won't be the last - because I know we're all on a collision course with adulthood, time is so short, time belongs to us, why is everybody in such a fucking hurry? Deal with what you've got, take what you can - give a shit about us, we're just a minor threat.” (from Minor Threat - Minor Threat) 

JAY ADAMS - Rancho Park, West Los Angeles,CA - May 1978 

In 1976 Glen was 14 years old and skating around with his Dog Town crew. This place was the west side of Los Angeles where the most radical skaters of the California scene met.Being a skater, in those years, was already much more than playing a sport, it implied a fairly subversive lifestyle.These skaters were the antithesis of decent kids, they had no limits, neither the police, nor bans or “private property” signs, nor even the fear of getting hurt would stop them. “Jay was undoubtedly the most off-the-wall, uncontrollable skateboarder of all time.He created new maneuvers virtually every time he got on a pool skate, and while you wouldn't always find him on his feet at the end, he certainly gave everyone something to think about. Jay attacked more aggressively than anyone I had ever seen. By the way, he was exactly the same kind of person when he wasn't on a skateboard, whether he was surfing, riding BMX or with the girls: a savage.” Here we see Jay a split second after literally ripping the ledge off the edge of the pool, ripping a “frontside grind” with his typical impetuosity. 

H.R. - BAD BRAINS - New York City - December 1981

One of Washington DC's first punk bands, Bad Brains began as a jazz group, but were soon conquered by punk and reggae.Long before Living Colors or Ice T's Body Count, this hardcore rasta band conquered the world stage with a sound that was both powerful and musical. Lead singer H.R. possessed one of the most beautiful voices that was given to listen to, able to switch from the reggae register to the rough register of hardcore tunes as if nothing had happened. At the time this photo was taken they were at their peak.Hip Hop starting in the second half of the 1980s transcended the confines of the ghetto and entered directly into the homes of white Amerika.Friedman recognized in the disruptive charge and direct language of the mc's the same subversive attitude that hardcore punk possessed...and some of the most beautiful covers in Hip Hop history were born... 

TONY ALVA - Beverly Hills, CA - May 1977

Alva was a couple of years older than Adams. Although just a little more controlled than Jay, Tony was very radical on another level-he could control his boundless aggression on skateboarding with style, making it almost a science. He had character to spare, and if you didn't already know him, all you had to do was sit back and watch him take your mind away ’I don't believe in giving directions to other guys, I do what I want to do, and if they want to do what I do, then let them be prepared to pay the consequences, because I did. If you want to skate in private pools or whatever, you better be ready for anything -- ready for the police to come, ready for the reaction of the owners, the dogs, everything. Part of the game is really the adventure of being ready for anything that can happen--and pretty tough things happen--you have to be able to skate well and fast, run just as well and fast, or be able to beat yourself well. When things like that happen, there's no time to think, there's just time to do what you have to--everyone for themselves. If the guards come, everyone has to go a different way. And just hope to make it. “The skate scene and hardcore punk at that time were moving along very similar coordinates. Hardcore was a movement with strong anti-authoritarian connotations, the music of which became an integral and driving part of the everyday life of Dog Town skaters... 

CHUCK D. - PUBLIC ENEMY - Newark, NJ - Fall 1989

Photo Session for the cover “It Takes A Nation Of Million.” And if that's not enough for you, in addition to coming to see “Fuck You All,” which shows these and other photos from Glen E. Friedman's “Fuck You Heroes” and “Fuck You Too” books (on sale at major bookstores), check out the very rare promo for “Intergalactic” by the Beastie Boys and you'll find one of Friedman's last photos on the cover there!