Biz Markie

Biz Markie

After I had photographed Alphonso Ribiero, I got a call from Lenny Fichtelberg, the president of Prism Records. He told me that he liked my shooting with Alphonso and would I shoot another artist for him.

I went to the Prism office and met with Dee Joseph, who was the office manager. She told me that she needed a B&W photo for a 12” single for an artist named Biz Markie.

The day that Biz came to my studio, he was wearing a striped shirt and black shorts with a ball cap. I told him that the shirt made him look like a sports referee.

But it was the cap that became important...

Biz Markie

After I went to Prism with contact sheets from the shooting with Biz, Dee Joseph, the label manager said that she liked the shots very much.

I asked her who was going to do the cover design and she said she didn’t have anyone in mind at the moment.

I told her that I could design the cover as well...

Biz Markie

The name of Biz Markie’s first single was “Make The Music With Your Mouth, Biz”.

Some people were calling Biz “The Human Beat Box”
because he could make drum sounds with his mouth and throat.

I thought that was unique at the time...

Biz Markie

After I went to Prism with contact sheets from the shooting with Biz, Dee Joseph, the label manager said that she liked the shots very much.

I asked her who was going to do the cover design and she said she didn’t have anyone in mind at the moment.

I told her that I could design the cover as well...

Biz Markie

Here is Biz in his younger days. Quite slim, he was.

Biz Markie

On a couple of Biz’s tracks, there was a singer named TJ Swann. TJ could do amazing imitations of young Michael Jackson and then the older Michael Jackson.

I always wondered why TJ didn’t get his own record deal.

Biz Markie

Back in the day, Biz was quite slim and agile.

Biz Markie

I believe that the font on Biz’s hat that I used was called “Fraktur”. I later saw that Tupac Shakur had a tattoo in a Gothic font. I wonder if that was inspired by the use of Fraktur on Biz’s first single.

Biz Markie

This photo was originally shot for publicity after we shot Biz’s original concept for his first LP.

When Tyrone Williams, who was acting as Biz’s manager, saw this shot, he told me that he wanted to use this photo for the cover of “Goin’ Off”, Biz’s debut.

This shot is a reflection of Biz in Mylar® a silver foil that could reflect like a mirror when stretched tightly or make images like one would see under the influence of LSD.

I have made several covers using this technique that I “borrowed” from Ira Cohen, a photographer who had a big influence on me when I was young.

Biz Markie

Here is an outtake from the shots I did on Mylar® for Biz’s publicity.

Biz Markie

Another publicity shot from Biz’s first LP photo session.

Biz Markie

I didn’t draw this image that was used as a poster that was inserted in Biz’s first LP “Goin’ Off” that contained the single “Pickin’ Boogers”.

I always loved the high school humor of that song and when years later I got the chance to shoot a cover of “Toilet Stool Rap”, I had the chance to shoot the real Biz on his Throne.

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Biz Markie

We had pyjamas made, I rolled several rolls of towel paper together and wrapped the final layers with blank sheet music and Biz went off...

The full story to this shoot is in my book “The Big Book of Hip-Hop Photography” available on Amazon.

It’s a great story...

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Biz Markie

This was the original cover concept for “The Biz Never Sleeps” aka “The Diabolical Biz Markie”.

Biz wanted to be eating small gold musical instruments, a device he had used on “Make The Music With Your Mouth, Biz” single, but wasn’t used.

But...first we had to shoot the cover for the cereal box.

I had a lot of fun with this session.

Biz Markie

This was a shot that was originally to be used on the cover of the cereal box that contained the little gold musical instruments that Biz was having for his breakfast.

Again, Cold Chillin’ Records decided that this photo would make a better cover...or one like this. This is my favorite shot of the whole project.

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Biz Markie

Here is an outtake of the shooting for “It’s Spring Again”.

Biz and Cool V hamming it up, but the dancing flowers
really made the shot...

The flowers would actually move to music...

Biz Markie

Biz’s third LP was titled “I Need a Haircut”. The idea being that Biz’s hair was so tough that the regular barber clippers couldn’t cut it and Cool V, Biz’s DJ and barber had to resort to using a chain saw to cut his hair.

Biz Markie

This is the real Biz Markie, a real clown...

Biz Markie

Biz had a single called “Just A Friend”.

He was such fun to work with. He was such a “ham”.

Biz Markie

This is one of the photos that I used in an assembly of two shots of Biz, where he was the judge and the “criminal”.

He had sampled or rather covered a song by the one hit wonder, Gilbert O’Sullivan, and had been sued as he didn’t credit G O’S at all.

As this was before computers were being used, I had to make two prints, cut them with a razor and fit them together, so Biz would be in the witness box and the judge’s bench.

When I couldn’t find a suitable court room to use, I had to build my own court room and judge’s bench.

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Biz Markie

Another single that was a blast to work on was “Let Me Turn You On”. A most unlikely situation.

But Biz went along with wearing a dress and having his hair, or a wig, put in rollers.

Dorian Lipman, the stylist of many of the Cold Chillin’ shoots can be seen in the upper left of the frame adding some makeup to Ms. Biz...

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