Diplo Bites Me Part II

Huh... I actually got a response from my email to Mad Decent. If you haven't read the blog before this one, then do that and then come back here.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: MAD DECENT
Date: 01 Aug 2008, 11:03



Hey Dimitri,

This is DJA, the engineer and producer at mad decent who suggested we start using black metal influenced design. We all actually do enjoy black metal music (especially me, i've been aware and listening to it in various forms since I was a kid in the 90s) We don't think its a joke.

I really like the darkthrone style logo on the first few. Why would you get so mad about this? We aren't blatently stealing anything from you, we weren't aware of your fliers before we made any mad decent related black metal style imagery.

The thing with Vice, i dunno. Didnt that guy do a photo style thing like 4-5 years ago and just now Vice decided just recently to flip it for a kinda half baked article?

derek

+++++++++++++++++++ Here's my response +++++++++++++++++++++++

Hello, Derek.

Thanks for your quick response. I guess my reaction is kind of pointless, now that I think about it. The thing is, which I explained in my first email, that for people who know about Booty Bassment, the flier art always comes part in parcel. What I mean is that people know when they see some weird corpsepainted dude standing in front of a Rolls Royce on 20's parked in front of a burning church that it is a Booty Bassment event. So, when I see other people in the "dj world" using the imagery from black metal, it is just too close for comfort. I don't feel as though I'm being unreasonable about this.

I suppose it was bound to happen at some point. But when I came up with the idea to mix the stark black and white photocopied images of black metal with the misogynistic and opulent imagery of modern rap, no one was doing it. Like I said, most people didn't even know what black metal was.

The fliers I make are more than just an advertisement for me. My first concern with each one is the image. This is why I am upset. Because I have been doing this event for almost 6 years and I have made every single flier for every event. That is one a month for 6 years in San Diego, one a month for almost two years in San Francisco, and a couple for our recent Los Angeles events.

I guess it is just another trend that is bound to play itself out (see examples)-

http://flickr. com/photos/dimitridickinson/2385440893/

http://flickr. com/photos/dimitridickinson/2722465229/

Thanks for your time.

D

Diplo rips me off again.

Man, this really stinks. I have been noticing some people ripping my artwork off lately.... well, at least my black metal style collage stuff.... and it's really ticking me off.

The first one I noticed was the label for Hollertronix #8. They took the cover of Welcome To Hell and changed the Venom logo to say 'Holler'. Who cares, really? Well...



...I talked to my friend Omar from San Francisco about this very topic. He told me that he had recently DJed with Diplo. Diplo handed Omar a sticker of the Hollertronix #8 label. Omar asked him, "Hey, have you ever heard of Booty Bassment or the Basstanic Group? Have you seen their artwork?" Diplo responded with a terse, "Yeah. It's cool," but came off like, "Why the fuck are you asking me that?"

The next offense was offered by San Diego's own Transport, hosted by Gabe Vega and Saul Q. (who is really super cool, and in no way indicted in this trial).



Not long after that, I saw this record by Bobmo.... I don't know.... some electro bullshit. But they used a fake Darkthrone logo on it. WTF, bro...



Then, I saw some pictures of Diplo wearing some death metal shirts and like hanging out in cool places. In one he's wearing a Sepultura shirt and standing in front of The Kremlin. Again, I say meh.... close but no cigar, chump.

(I couldn't find the Kremlin pic, so here's another one... in front of a cool wall).



Today, I logged on to www.myspace.com and I saw this goddamned piece of shit flier on the Mad decent page:



In my humble opinion, the boy is stealing my shit. Am I tripping? He used the fucking Mayhem logo, and pentagrams, and all that. I'm not having it. So, I wrote our friend Dipshit, I mean Diplo a letter:


Let me start this by saying that I respect you as an artist and I like your music and I even play it sometimes at my events. I am writing you this email though, because I have a problem with your recent Mad Decent promotional materials.

I saw the Venom rip-off, I saw the Bathory t-shirt, and etc.... but this Mayhem/Death flier has just gotten me to the tipping point. Granted, I don't do the changing-up-the-logo thing, but really.... I have been doing black metal influenced artwork for my club events for 5 years now, and no one cared until that stupid True Norwegian Black Metal book came out on Vice. Now everywhere I look people are chomping and biting.

I have spent an inconceivable amount of hours at the xerox machine and the computer making this artwork for my clubs. I do not, and have never hired anyone to make a single piece of art for me, and I am proud to say that. The only reason I even feel comfortable using these images of black metal dudes is because I really love the music. If it was something I wasn't totally into, I would have forgotten about it a long time ago. I do an exclusively black metal radio show called WAR GOAT RADIO on a pirate station in San Francisco and I have a black metal band with my brother out of San Diego. I am not telling you this to brag; I merely wish to point out to you that I am a true fan, and although my images are always rendered with my tongue firmly in cheek, I still have utmost love and respect for the genre and it practitioners.

Do you love black metal? I guess it doesn't really matter in the scope of things, but this flier makes me wonder if creativity and originality are words that mean anything to you. These images that I have created for Booty Bassment are it's identity, and you are blatantly stealing it. I do not appreciate this at all.

The problem for me is that you are in the public eye much more than I am, and therefor according to those who do not know who I am, it is now your identity. If it were just a random flier or something, I would not care. But being that I am seeing more and more of these images from you, I felt this letter was necessary. The fliers I make mean a lot to me, and I think if you look at them you will see that.

Sincerely,

Dimitri Dickinson

P.S. I left a bit of a rude comment on the Mayhem flier before I wrote this email. I was shocked and angry, so please excuse my insult, if any was taken.


I will let you all know if I get a response, but I'm not expecting one.