IPOD
RADIO
Ricky Powell
By Daniel Robert Epstein
Nov 2, 2005
Ricky Powell has gone by many names over the years, The Rickster, Rick-a –Roni and of course we all know your girl got dicked by him. He is also one of the main people who brought hip-hop out of the streets and into your homes. Back in the 1980’s Powell snapped Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, Slick Rick, Biz Markie, Eazy E, Method Man, LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys and many more. His latest book is Public Access and it’s published by powerHouse books.
Buy Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985-2005
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hey Ricky, we’re doing this interview for SuicideGirls.
Ricky Powell: Tell those girls about me. I’m Ricky Powell, the man pussy forgot. How about you man?
DRE:
I just got married this year.
RP:
Good for you man.
DRE:
You ever been married?
RP:
No, I have a problem with intimacy. I’m a loner.
DRE:
You like to keep them at a distance with the photos.
RP:
Yeah, I grew up the only child with a single mother and a bunch of stray animals. I like being left alone. My apartment is actually smaller than this room. When I get in mood I just call a professional then afterwards she leaves and I get back to watching Sportscenter.
DRE:
They say you don’t pay for the sex, you pay them to leave.
RP:
Which is fine with me. Also I’m looking for a girl I can vibe with intellectually. Intelligence really turns me on. Does SuicideGirls have girls that dress jazzy?
DRE:
It’s got all kinds of girls!
Why is the book called Public Access?
RP:
When I was taping my show I had difficulties. I would tell people it’s for public access. I’d try anything.
DRE:
When was that?
RP:
I did my show off and on from August 1990 to 1996. Now ten years later I’m going to bring it back. We’re taping now. A big comeback. It’s going to be on Manhattan Neighborhood Network and it’s going to be sophisticated. We’re going to do a third of the show in the studio Charlie Rose style, third of it on locations and another third is special features like visual montages and shit like that.
DRE:
What kind of guests?
RP:
Native New Yorkers. I got shit on my mind man. New York has changed and I don’t like the change. Change is inevitable, but I don’t like the way it’s going.
DRE:
Do you like some of it?
RP:
A little bit.
DRE:
The safety’s nice.
RP:
Safety’s good. That’s it. I’m sick of beefing all the time so I just want to have other dudes to come on just to express their views on New York City. That’s all.
DRE:
Some people know you and others obviously don’t, did anyone not want to have their picture taken?
RP:
Yeah, a lot of people. You got to have a way with people. Not everybody likes me dude, like Fran Leibowitz. Every time she sees me on the street, I see this look on her face like “Oh, no. There he is. Oh, no. Get away.”
It’s too bad because I love her work. I even call myself the Fran Leibowitz of hip hop now.
DRE:
Why doesn’t like you?
RP:
She likes me but she thinks I’m a pain in the ass. On the other hand I ran into Sandra Bernhard the other day on the street and she loves me. She shows mad love. I showed her the book and she gave me a job right on the street to take pictures of her.
DRE:
There’s something sexy about her. She’s just so out there.
RP:
I’d love to get with her.
DRE:
I love the pictures in the book that have graffiti over them.
RP:
Yeah this was before computers so it’s all hand painted right on the picture. They just killed and it’s beautiful.
DRE:
How did you hook up with powerHouse Books?
RP:
It’s weird shit how it just came together. I went to an opening of one of their artists in 2001 and we met all there. This is my first book with them and they do stuff that’s top of the line. I like to refer to powerHouse as how Def Jam was in the mid to late 80’s. They are small and independent with a roster of thoroughbreds. I couldn’t be in a better place or situation right now in publishing.
My editor Sara Rosen picked everything in this book. This is her book. She came over to my house and went through all my shit. We have different tastes. Every time she’d pick shit, I’d look at her like “Yo. What the fuck are you doing?” She’d be like, “Look. This is dope.” I’d be like, “What?” She’d be like, “Yeah. Trust me.” I’d be like “All right.” Then I’d keep watching TV. She’d just go through my shit while I was watching TV in my cluttered apartment. She’d find shit n the floor tucked away behind cabinets. That shit is ridiculous.
DRE:
Now that it’s all come together, do you see the theme she was going for?
RP:
She was going for an art book, which is cool. I love this book because it’s got different dimensions to it. It’s not your usual, predictable photo book. You’ve got the paintings, the collaborations, the writings. It brings different flavors to the pot.
DRE:
Your Sofia Coppola photo is classic.
RP:
I love her.
DRE:
I just talked Stephane Sednaoui and he fell in love with her when he took he picture too.
RP:
Oh yeah. He’s a dick. Most photographers are bitchy ass cornballs. I ain’t with those guys. I ain’t fancy pants. I ain’t no prissy bitch. I’m setting a new mold here. Call me sophisticate.
DRE:
I think the old ladies looking at the motorcycle on the street might be my favorite in the book.
RP:
Yeah I took that one at Ray’s Pizza at 11th Street and Sixth Avenue.
DRE:
Were you just walking by when you took that one?
RP:
Yeah, look, this is my style. I do my errands, carry my camera, I see something go “Oh, shit” then snap the picture. That’s my style.
DRE:
What’d you study back at Hunter College?
RP:
At first I went to community college at an AA in liberal arts. Then I went to Hunter College and got a BS in Phys Ed. Actually, I won the first Hunter College triathlon in 1983.
DRE:
What happened to you since then?
RP:
Now I turned into a fucking lazy fucking couch potato.
DRE:
A couple years I spoke to Larry Clark, do you like this stuff?
RP:
I’m not really into that. My shit is really street photography. I like real life.
DRE:
Larry’s style and your style too have both been co-opted so much by magazines.
RP:
What’s that word co-opted?
DRE:
They kind of took your style and they turned it up for the magazine thing. They would take photos like yours but it would be a picture of Brad Pitt or Jennifer Lopez. They fancy it up with the point they’re trying to make, while you’re just trying to capture a moment.
RP:
Well I’ve got the celebrities in there. I like to mix it up. I pride myself on my diversity.
DRE:
You’ve got that great picture in the book of Gilda Radner contrasted again Barbara Walters. Was comedy a big influence on your work?
RP:
Yeah, I’ve always been a fan of Saturday Night Live. I got a good sense of humor depending on who you ask. Some people think I’m mean or a fucking asshole. But most people think that I have a good sense of humor. I’m actually a little overly sarcastic and have a knack for inadvertently insulting people.
DRE:
Have you ever directed any music videos?
RP:
No but I’ve been asked. I’ve got no patience to sit around or stand around all day in the same spot. That’s why I like to take my picture and keep going.
DRE:
Would you ever do it if they let you do it the way you wanted to?
RP:
Yeah but I have to do it my way. I like the videos but I don’t really like the way they cut shit up. 95 percent of the videos on MTV are so bad. If I made one, I think I’d do a pretty good job.
DRE:
Have you ever wanted to do a photo book of nude women?
RP:
I’m actually looking to do some. I could take pictures of the escorts that come over to my house, but I always forget to ask.
DRE:
I don’t think they’d let you.
RP:
Some would. It depends how the mood is.
DRE:
What camera do you use?
RP:
A Minolta auto focus from the early 80’s because it takes the picture when I press the button. Today’s cameras have that that fucking hesitation, which kills it. So fuck it.
DRE:
Do you have a digital camera?
RP:
Nah.
Well I did an ad campaign for Canon a couple years ago and I was supposed to get a camera. But some shit went down and I didn’t. I was like, “Fuck it. It doesn’t matter.” I’m not missing it. They’re good. I like the way you can see what you just shot, but fuck it. I’ll survive. I’m old-fashioned. I still use phone booths. I don’t even have a cell phone.
I’m actually getting a free cell phone this weekend in LA which is good because my main phone got disconnected.
DRE:
Why?
RP:
I can’t pay my bills. I don’t have cable. I don’t have a phone. I don’t have internet. But my pictures are in French Vogue, Italian Vogue, Italian Rolling Stone. But if they knew how I was living, they’d be shocked.
DRE:
How do you watch sports if you don’t have cable?
RP:
I’m suffering.
DRE:
What’s going on with you and the Beastie Boys?
RP:
I see them around. We say, “What up?” We still coagulate, but not like we used to. It’s way different now. They all got wives and family and I’m still a wild, swinging bachelor. It doesn’t mesh good.
DRE:
How do they treat you in Europe?
RP:
Unbelievable. I get mad love in Europe, man. Here they play me like a soggy cannoli. I’m like Hendrix. I get mad love in Europe.
DRE:
Would you want to live over there?
RP:
I wouldn’t mind having a pad over there and having a sugar mommy. I’m going to be 44 this month and I still need help from older women. I used to be a gigolo in college for older women on a moderate income.
DRE:
Is that how you advertised?
RP:
Yeah, I might go back to that. I used to bang a lot of chicks in my building where I grew up. My mother never knew.
DRE:
Where was that?
RP:
Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. I banged about 10 ladies in my building. Those were good days. It ain’t like that anymore.
DRE:
I bet you don’t want to bang those ladies now.
RP:
They’re like in their 60’s but some of them don’t look bad.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Ricky Powell has gone by many names over the years, The Rickster, Rick-a –Roni and of course we all know your girl got dicked by him. He is also one of the main people who brought hip-hop out of the streets and into your homes. Back in the 1980’s Powell snapped Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, Slick Rick, Biz Markie, Eazy E, Method Man, LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys and many more. His latest book is Public Access and it’s published by powerHouse books.
Buy Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985-2005
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hey Ricky, we’re doing this interview for SuicideGirls.
Ricky Powell: Tell those girls about me. I’m Ricky Powell, the man pussy forgot. How about you man?
DRE:
I just got married this year.
RP:
Good for you man.
DRE:
You ever been married?
RP:
No, I have a problem with intimacy. I’m a loner.
DRE:
You like to keep them at a distance with the photos.
RP:
Yeah, I grew up the only child with a single mother and a bunch of stray animals. I like being left alone. My apartment is actually smaller than this room. When I get in mood I just call a professional then afterwards she leaves and I get back to watching Sportscenter.
DRE:
They say you don’t pay for the sex, you pay them to leave.
RP:
Which is fine with me. Also I’m looking for a girl I can vibe with intellectually. Intelligence really turns me on. Does SuicideGirls have girls that dress jazzy?
DRE:
It’s got all kinds of girls!
Why is the book called Public Access?
Why is the book called Public Access?
RP:
When I was taping my show I had difficulties. I would tell people it’s for public access. I’d try anything.
DRE:
When was that?
RP:
I did my show off and on from August 1990 to 1996. Now ten years later I’m going to bring it back. We’re taping now. A big comeback. It’s going to be on Manhattan Neighborhood Network and it’s going to be sophisticated. We’re going to do a third of the show in the studio Charlie Rose style, third of it on locations and another third is special features like visual montages and shit like that.
DRE:
What kind of guests?
RP:
Native New Yorkers. I got shit on my mind man. New York has changed and I don’t like the change. Change is inevitable, but I don’t like the way it’s going.
DRE:
Do you like some of it?
RP:
A little bit.
DRE:
The safety’s nice.
RP:
Safety’s good. That’s it. I’m sick of beefing all the time so I just want to have other dudes to come on just to express their views on New York City. That’s all.
DRE:
Some people know you and others obviously don’t, did anyone not want to have their picture taken?
RP:
Yeah, a lot of people. You got to have a way with people. Not everybody likes me dude, like Fran Leibowitz. Every time she sees me on the street, I see this look on her face like “Oh, no. There he is. Oh, no. Get away.”
It’s too bad because I love her work. I even call myself the Fran Leibowitz of hip hop now.
It’s too bad because I love her work. I even call myself the Fran Leibowitz of hip hop now.
DRE:
Why doesn’t like you?
RP:
She likes me but she thinks I’m a pain in the ass. On the other hand I ran into Sandra Bernhard the other day on the street and she loves me. She shows mad love. I showed her the book and she gave me a job right on the street to take pictures of her.
DRE:
There’s something sexy about her. She’s just so out there.
RP:
I’d love to get with her.
DRE:
I love the pictures in the book that have graffiti over them.
RP:
Yeah this was before computers so it’s all hand painted right on the picture. They just killed and it’s beautiful.
DRE:
How did you hook up with powerHouse Books?
RP:
It’s weird shit how it just came together. I went to an opening of one of their artists in 2001 and we met all there. This is my first book with them and they do stuff that’s top of the line. I like to refer to powerHouse as how Def Jam was in the mid to late 80’s. They are small and independent with a roster of thoroughbreds. I couldn’t be in a better place or situation right now in publishing.
My editor Sara Rosen picked everything in this book. This is her book. She came over to my house and went through all my shit. We have different tastes. Every time she’d pick shit, I’d look at her like “Yo. What the fuck are you doing?” She’d be like, “Look. This is dope.” I’d be like, “What?” She’d be like, “Yeah. Trust me.” I’d be like “All right.” Then I’d keep watching TV. She’d just go through my shit while I was watching TV in my cluttered apartment. She’d find shit n the floor tucked away behind cabinets. That shit is ridiculous.
My editor Sara Rosen picked everything in this book. This is her book. She came over to my house and went through all my shit. We have different tastes. Every time she’d pick shit, I’d look at her like “Yo. What the fuck are you doing?” She’d be like, “Look. This is dope.” I’d be like, “What?” She’d be like, “Yeah. Trust me.” I’d be like “All right.” Then I’d keep watching TV. She’d just go through my shit while I was watching TV in my cluttered apartment. She’d find shit n the floor tucked away behind cabinets. That shit is ridiculous.
DRE:
Now that it’s all come together, do you see the theme she was going for?
RP:
She was going for an art book, which is cool. I love this book because it’s got different dimensions to it. It’s not your usual, predictable photo book. You’ve got the paintings, the collaborations, the writings. It brings different flavors to the pot.
DRE:
Your Sofia Coppola photo is classic.
RP:
I love her.
DRE:
I just talked Stephane Sednaoui and he fell in love with her when he took he picture too.
RP:
Oh yeah. He’s a dick. Most photographers are bitchy ass cornballs. I ain’t with those guys. I ain’t fancy pants. I ain’t no prissy bitch. I’m setting a new mold here. Call me sophisticate.
DRE:
I think the old ladies looking at the motorcycle on the street might be my favorite in the book.
RP:
Yeah I took that one at Ray’s Pizza at 11th Street and Sixth Avenue.
DRE:
Were you just walking by when you took that one?
RP:
Yeah, look, this is my style. I do my errands, carry my camera, I see something go “Oh, shit” then snap the picture. That’s my style.
DRE:
What’d you study back at Hunter College?
RP:
At first I went to community college at an AA in liberal arts. Then I went to Hunter College and got a BS in Phys Ed. Actually, I won the first Hunter College triathlon in 1983.
DRE:
What happened to you since then?
RP:
Now I turned into a fucking lazy fucking couch potato.
DRE:
A couple years I spoke to Larry Clark, do you like this stuff?
RP:
I’m not really into that. My shit is really street photography. I like real life.
DRE:
Larry’s style and your style too have both been co-opted so much by magazines.
RP:
What’s that word co-opted?
DRE:
They kind of took your style and they turned it up for the magazine thing. They would take photos like yours but it would be a picture of Brad Pitt or Jennifer Lopez. They fancy it up with the point they’re trying to make, while you’re just trying to capture a moment.
RP:
Well I’ve got the celebrities in there. I like to mix it up. I pride myself on my diversity.
DRE:
You’ve got that great picture in the book of Gilda Radner contrasted again Barbara Walters. Was comedy a big influence on your work?
RP:
Yeah, I’ve always been a fan of Saturday Night Live. I got a good sense of humor depending on who you ask. Some people think I’m mean or a fucking asshole. But most people think that I have a good sense of humor. I’m actually a little overly sarcastic and have a knack for inadvertently insulting people.
DRE:
Have you ever directed any music videos?
RP:
No but I’ve been asked. I’ve got no patience to sit around or stand around all day in the same spot. That’s why I like to take my picture and keep going.
DRE:
Would you ever do it if they let you do it the way you wanted to?
RP:
Yeah but I have to do it my way. I like the videos but I don’t really like the way they cut shit up. 95 percent of the videos on MTV are so bad. If I made one, I think I’d do a pretty good job.
DRE:
Have you ever wanted to do a photo book of nude women?
RP:
I’m actually looking to do some. I could take pictures of the escorts that come over to my house, but I always forget to ask.
DRE:
I don’t think they’d let you.
RP:
Some would. It depends how the mood is.
DRE:
What camera do you use?
RP:
A Minolta auto focus from the early 80’s because it takes the picture when I press the button. Today’s cameras have that that fucking hesitation, which kills it. So fuck it.
DRE:
Do you have a digital camera?
RP:
Nah.
Well I did an ad campaign for Canon a couple years ago and I was supposed to get a camera. But some shit went down and I didn’t. I was like, “Fuck it. It doesn’t matter.” I’m not missing it. They’re good. I like the way you can see what you just shot, but fuck it. I’ll survive. I’m old-fashioned. I still use phone booths. I don’t even have a cell phone.
I’m actually getting a free cell phone this weekend in LA which is good because my main phone got disconnected.
Well I did an ad campaign for Canon a couple years ago and I was supposed to get a camera. But some shit went down and I didn’t. I was like, “Fuck it. It doesn’t matter.” I’m not missing it. They’re good. I like the way you can see what you just shot, but fuck it. I’ll survive. I’m old-fashioned. I still use phone booths. I don’t even have a cell phone.
I’m actually getting a free cell phone this weekend in LA which is good because my main phone got disconnected.
DRE:
Why?
RP:
I can’t pay my bills. I don’t have cable. I don’t have a phone. I don’t have internet. But my pictures are in French Vogue, Italian Vogue, Italian Rolling Stone. But if they knew how I was living, they’d be shocked.
DRE:
How do you watch sports if you don’t have cable?
RP:
I’m suffering.
DRE:
What’s going on with you and the Beastie Boys?
RP:
I see them around. We say, “What up?” We still coagulate, but not like we used to. It’s way different now. They all got wives and family and I’m still a wild, swinging bachelor. It doesn’t mesh good.
DRE:
How do they treat you in Europe?
RP:
Unbelievable. I get mad love in Europe, man. Here they play me like a soggy cannoli. I’m like Hendrix. I get mad love in Europe.
DRE:
Would you want to live over there?
RP:
I wouldn’t mind having a pad over there and having a sugar mommy. I’m going to be 44 this month and I still need help from older women. I used to be a gigolo in college for older women on a moderate income.
DRE:
Is that how you advertised?
RP:
Yeah, I might go back to that. I used to bang a lot of chicks in my building where I grew up. My mother never knew.
DRE:
Where was that?
RP:
Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. I banged about 10 ladies in my building. Those were good days. It ain’t like that anymore.
DRE:
I bet you don’t want to bang those ladies now.
RP:
They’re like in their 60’s but some of them don’t look bad.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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