With its rallying cry against the establishment, Public Enemy’s 1989 hip-hop anthem “Fight the Power” was a cultural megaphone. Rappers Chuck D and Flava Flav brought a marginalised narrative to the mainstream, confronting racism, inequality and abuse of authority in five bass-heavy minutes.
She was just a child when the track was released, but visual artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards saw the possibilities in creative expression early on. “I didn’t have to go to museums, because it was such an important part of our community,” says the Detroit native. Vacant buildings served as canvases for sprawling graffiti, and derelict warehouses were transformed into venues for underground musicians. No medium was off limits, not even hair. Larger-than-life styles coming out of Black-owned salons and barbershops earned the city a distinctive nickname, Hair Capital of the World – a reputation that began to crystalise in 1991, when Hair Wars moved from Detroit nightclubs into larger venues.
From abandoned buildings and empty warehouses to towering hairstyles – the grand scale is significant. “When you have something to say in hip-hop, you say it loudly,” Richmond-Edwards explains, noting that as a Black woman of smaller stature, she must push harder to command attention. “If I have something to say in art, the equivalent is doing it on a monumental scale.” For a recent exhibition, the artist created eight expansive mixed-media paintings that explored race, class and identity through elaborate portraiture. One must also be seen to be heard, occupying space in the most physical sense.