Justin Bua

Very few have been able to paint such a vivid picture of the true essence of hip-hop, but Justin Bua over time, has continued to effortlessly embody every element of this deep rooted culture. Growing up in New York’s upper west side, Bua is one of the game’s most recognizable names. “There is no book like The Beat of Urban Art which combines visual art with history, social commentary, and a narrative autobiography. In a time of re-dos, re-makes, and re-mixes, Bua has spearheaded a truly unique and original style. His work will be some of the only from our era to stand the test of time. “Your children’s children’s children will love BUA.” Big Daddy Kane

Scheme: Growing up, I remember always drawing cartoon characters and karate men. The first thing I wanted to do was be a cartoon artist, until I discovered that my neighbor could really draw, so then it registered that this wasn’t for me. When did you realize you really had a gift for this art?
Justin Bua: Last week (laughs). No I honestly have been drawing since I was five years old, but even back in high school when I was studying visual art I still wasn’t that focused. It wasn’t until I was about eighteen that I knew this is what I really wanted to do. So besides drawing that’s when I really got into painting.

Scheme: What would you say the main difference is between the two?
Justin Bua: Painting is another level of drawing. I mean painting is drawing, you’re just drawing with paint. The only thing is your utilizing values as opposed to just color. You have to find that exact balance or its not going to work. In a perfect world accessing the exact colors and values would be simple, unless you’re colorblind, then you’re just f*cked you know?

Scheme: I was with you for a minute, and then it went over my head.
Justin Bua: No, its simple. Basically, drawing is the foundation. You can’t paint without knowing how to draw. Its like, if you’re a b-boy, you have to know your third step and your sixth step, if not, then get the f*ck out of the kitchen. You get it?

Scheme: Ok, I feel you. Now you say that you got serious around eighteen, what was your first big break?
Justin Bua: It was actually a famous skate artist that gave me my first gig. I started doing paintings for the skateboard industry, then one thing eventually just led to another.

Scheme: It seems like so much of your work is rooted in the elements of hip-hop, what led to that?
Justin Bua: Well you know I’m from New York, and at the time I was growing up in the hip-hop movement was huge. It actually had started a little before my time, however, it was everywhere and a part of my life. It was really part of the culture, I remember being a young boy in South Bronx, and I would see Crazy Legs dancing, and all the kids of my neighborhood painting and doing other stuff. It was crazy, I was like damn, I don’t know what this is but I need to be a part of this. Plus I can get laid. And I don’t care what you do in life, the ultimate goal is always to get laid.

“The most important lesson of my life is to believe in yourself and to do what you believe in. I wouldn’t try anything I didn’t believe that I didn’t think I would be great at. Art was the only thing I consistently came back to.”

Scheme: That’s deep….
Justin Bua: Seriously, anybody that says that don’t do it to get laid is full of it.

Scheme: So that’s the goal?
Justin Bua: Yep, that’s the goal.

Scheme: Your book, “The Beat of Urban Art,” what is the concept behind this?
Justin Bua: It’s basically a narrative of my life filled with artwork that hasn’t been seen elsewhere. I wanted to bring my audience into my world, so I think it definitely creates that feel.

Scheme: I see you’ve done work on everything from sneaker designs to video game covers (NBA Street, NFL Street), what work have you done that you find most interesting or gratifying?
Justin Bua: Um, well, like a wise man once told me, you’re only as good as your next piece of work. So I really don’t get focused on past accomplishments, there is still so much more that I’m focused on doing right now.

Scheme: The Slum Village video for “Tainted” was crazy, how much creative control did you have with that?
Justin Bua: Thanks, yeah we actually had a whole creative team on that one. Chris Robinson (video director), just told me what he wanted and we went in there and just got creative. I thought it turned out dope, I wonder why they haven’t done other videos like that?

Scheme: I was thinking the same thing, maybe you were too expensive?
Justin Bua: (laughs) Maybe but it definitely was a fun project.

Scheme: I saw that you actually designed t-shirts that can be ordered off of your website, do you have any plans to extend your clothing line?
Justin Bua: As of right now, I would say no, but who knows what the future brings.

Scheme: Are your pieces of work original ideas or have people told you what they wanted and then you created it?
Justin Bua: Well first off, I’m not licensed to take any ideas from anybody. But nah, everything I do is based off of what I see or have come across in my life. Like we discussed earlier, growing up in the era of hip-hop had a huge impact on much of the concepts I’ve come up with. Whether I’m painting pictures of the b-boys on the street, dj’s, or other inspirational characters that I have encountered, its all from my own experiences.

Scheme: So do you also come up with all the names of your characters?
Justin Bua: Definitely the majority of the names, if not me, than somebody else in my camp.

Scheme: Did you ever get into working with Graffiti growing up?
Justin Bua: Oh definitely, I was a big fan of graffiti, and I was a writer of graffiti. A lot of my friends were doing it, and I saw how good they were, and I was like man I really suck. So I really started to work on it, I got better and better but never got it where I wanted to go with it. So I started painting.

Scheme: Earlier when explaining the difference between painting and drawing, you started to educated me on the breaking, so how is your game?
Justin Bua: I mean, I don’t really break that much, but I’m more of a popper. I still do every day, but I don’t like I did, years back. I mean as a youth, I was running with Mr. Wiggs (Mr. Wiggles) and some of those other cats. But now I mean, I might go out with my girl, but it just me, her, and my 3 year old daughter. They actually made me dance at my birthday party this past weekend. So you know that was embarrassing.

Scheme: Aww man, I’m sure you still did your thing.
Justin Bua: Well it was my birthday, so they were nice to me.

Scheme: I’ve heard beat makers/producers say they see colors, singers/musicians say they see notes, what do you see when creating a piece of art?
Justin Bua: Wow, I mean, I don’t know, I see so many things. I see colors, I see art. It’s crazy because there are so many different visuals that flash in your mind, and you just hope to create as many as possible.