.

Life is only whatever we decide to value and make of it.
Some folks achieve so much good that you pray, ‘they never quit.

Einstein said, “Creativity is Intelligence Having Fun,”
then I said,
“And some folks will make a living out of it, hun.”

Fab 5 Freddy is one of those folk. He’s been listed in societal pages since he was a teen.
So the other day while on my “learn & play” I found more vibrant light into his scene:

NPR –  In 1978, Michael Holman moved to New York City for a job on Wall Street, where he “read a short blurb in The Village Voice. Fred Brathwaite, who served as an informal spokesperson for the Fabulous 5 graffiti crew, put out a call for readers to hire them to create custom burners at their businesses or homes, priced by the square foot…”

Genius!
How about my quote on “making a living out of it?” Don’t forget it too soon.
Einstein’s wisdom is tried and true; Fab was trying it out by noon.

I chuckled at the NPR write up. I’ve known Fab for more than a decade and I am still learning his moves as if they are new.
My friend is a legend of youth-appealing truths!

If by chance, you have been living on the other side of the cool side
and you are not familiar with my friend, Fab 5, his art, or his writes —
I invite you to drop in on his multi dimensional site:

“He has been, at one time or another, a graffiti artist, a rapper, an internationally exhibited painter, a video and TV-commercial director, a screenwriter, a film scorer, an actor, a lecturer, and a television personality,” (Orlean, The NEW YORKER 1991)

Susan Orlean published a fabulous piece in The NEW YORKER Profiles Section titled: LIVING LARGE | The World of Fab Five Freddy. At the time Fab was hosting MTV’s YO! MTV RAPS and I was glued to the tube like it was the source for water & food. I was into the dude who seemed to open and close every Hip Hop video that made an impression on the souls of millions of viewers during Hip Hop’s formative years. In fact, Fab wasn’t just a rap host at its infancy, he was a Music Video Director, too:

When KRS dropped MY PHILOSOPHY, I was a sophomore in high school giving deep thought to verse and chorus… giving deep thought to the music video’s visual highlights and metaphorical breakdowns. For instance, at the video mark 2:28 Fab can be seen crossing the camera at: “Like all my brothers eat chicken and watermelon. Talk with broken English and drug sellin.'” Awesome juxtaposition to point out BS stereotypes. The view of ‘a diplomat of networking cultures (Fab 5 Freddy) is a contrast to the words. Perfect and profound.

Fab 5 Freddy has vision and it has been with him, dare I say, since birth. Born the eldest child to the union of his parents and the God-son to Max Roach, this guy was born ‘to a beat. 22-years after his birth, WILD STYLE was born as an introduction to Music & Dance evolution. Obviously Fab set his sights for success pretty high when he was a lad. Speaking of high: CANNABIS & ART. What are your thoughts on it? Fab has set his sights on the topic, and, well, it looks like a lot of green:

NETFLIX presents GRASS IS GREENER

In a recent piece published in the NY DAILY NEWS, Fab recalls watching his father host friends in the early ‘70’s, “Jazz recordings and the smell of cannabis filled the air. Later that decade, I became a graffiti artist, smoked “cheeba” as it was then known and played a role in the inception of hip-hop culture. I’m blessed to have grown up in New York City and to witness firsthand how cannabis is endemic to American music and freedom of expression.”

Fab 5 Freddy is both Director and Producer of Netflix’s GRASS IS GREENER Documentary. The reel extends to much more than exhaling into a good feeling for 90-minutes. It covers two important objectives:

• To explain the foundations and capacity of Marijuana
• To use the film’s revenue to help recover lives lost to the criminalization of Marijuana

To strengthen his objective on this front, Fab 5 Freddy went into mode “From The Block to The Boardroom,” with Curaleaf, a multi-state Medical Marijuana Dispensary network to produce the B NOBLE Pre-Roll brand.

Inform, elevate, and lift are the first 3 points out of 5 in Fred Brathwaite’s aka.In order to learn more about the other 2 points, you’ll have to catch him in person. Fab 5 Freddy’s life philosophy is an amazing 2 cents that only he can best convey.

What a life! So worthy of “5 On The Fabulous Side” + 2 more. Let me explain the additional 2 cents. Today’s compositional install was created from 5 reference links pointing directly to Fab 5 Freddy, his current pursuits and progressive conquers. In the process of stitching together writes to share a dimensional view of High 5’s for Fab 5, I was excited to realize that my article research turned up 2 additional reference URL’s beyond NPR, Curaleaf, Wikipedia, The New York Daily, and The New Yorker that dole out 411 on the Legend, and they are: Fab5Freddy.com and Qui-ME.com. Fab is an awesome force on his own, in fact, he is responsible for the talent exposure and career of many whom you watch and have jammed to for decades. No man is an island. It takes a team to deliver box office hits like NEW JACK CITY and AMERICAN GANGSTER; Fab5Freddy played the team role of Executor Producer and Consultant to their successes.

Today’s article of acknowledgement affirms that I am on the team. My role is to remain focused on those who are uplifting others and to celebrate them with confetti, champagne toasts, and digital publishings to boast. While Fab’s accomplishments are far and wide, my team support is not limited to International Go-Getters. I am very much into ‘Who is doing What in the USA. So what are you up to? I’d love to compose a 5 On The Fabulous Side for your legacy efforts, as well. Put me on the team and let’s surpass the highest of seams. Everybody loves a contact…

Pass the good 411 to me and I will pass it back… strong.
I’m Qui
High Five’ing my community because your contributions go long.

There’s no expiration on good art and informative songs: