Born and raised in New York City, Cey Adams emerged from the vibrant graffiti scene of the 1970s while still in his teens, tagging “Cey City” on subway cars and painting murals — and was one of the first wave of street artists to obtain gallery representation. He met the Beastie Boys before they were the Beastie Boys, and designed their first logo, t-shirts and singles. He linked up with Russell Simmons at RUSH Artist Management where he designed logos and merch for an artist roster that included Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Kurtis Blow, Whodini. When Simmons and Rick Rubin launched a little label called Def Jam Records he joined on as creative director. If there’s an album from hip-hop’s golden era that you love, it probably has Adams' fingerprints all over it. We discuss his career from its earliest days to today,  which also includes work with iconic brands and fine art and collage.

 

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