André LeRoy Davis -- A.L.DRé

WHO AM I? “Well, Hip-Hop elder, motivational speaker and legendary Hip-Hop photographer and the author of the book "Who Shot Ya?", Ernie Paniccioli dubbed me as, “Hip-Hop's official Cartoonist.” I like to refer to myself as, “The Al Hirschfeld of Hip-Hop.” Like an Illustrative-documentary or like an illustrative Hip-Hop Historian… Through the use of Illustrative Art, I have provided a visual record of the world of Hip-Hop entertainment and it’s entertainers for the last twenty-one years. True art occupies many functions... It sooths the visual soul, it inspires, it makes you laugh, it makes you think, it educates and it enlightens... After earning my BFA from The School of Visual Arts College in New York City I have been pimping my pencil as a freelance artist and a true renaissance man. I have worked to supply caricatures, illustrations and humorous illustrations for an array of magazines and record companies. I wrote and illustrated The Last Word column in The Source magazine from September 1990 up until the January 2007 issue. I also have written a diverse amount of feature stories as well as music reviews and interviews for a variety of magazines and newspapers. Besides writing and illustrating the last page in The Source, “The Last Word” for sixteen years I also helmed the column “Hip-Hop 101” for about 5 years. The column paid homage and respect to the Architects of Hip-Hop history. I am an artist, writer, journalist, teacher, manager, producer, and semi-retired M.C… (It’s always in the blood) My alter ego “A.L.Dre” has been described as a true Hip-Hop icon. Through the years I was often approached by various industry types ( M.C's, Record labels and folks starting up their own businesses) to create logos, album covers, mix-tape art and to design a wide range of subjects, so I decided to organize and co-founded Melanin Inc. in 1996 with my childhood friend and fellow artist Kevin Greene. Together we provide logos and graphic designs with a raw flair that is corporately street. Check out my/our other MYSPACE page: http://www.myspace.com/melanininclogos Presently I am still using the creative gifts that the man upstairs has blessed me with, as I currently am teaching an art workshop that I call “The Art of Drawing” at The Brooklyn College Community Partnership as well an art class at The Leadership Village Academy in Harlem to 6th and 7th graders. I am teaching all aspects of drawing, including but not limited to illustration, illustration on scratch paper, cartooning, painting (acrylic and watercolor), as well as caricature. I'm trying to give back a lil' something to da kids while hopefully improving and perfecting my teaching skills... *** AN A.L.DRE MUSIC VIDEO*** YES, An A.L.Dre music video?... YOU'VE READ IT CORRECTLY*** Back when I was a fulltime M.C on the grind hard, I had a lil" following and I made a lil' noise on the come up, but now some 14 years later I really get my 15 minutes of fame on a wider scale... Click and enjoy!!!... I personally think that it's hilarious... Thanks The Original concept and illustration that I came up with for Ja Rule's 2003 album, "Blood In My Eye" before the label got scared and flipped the script...ART CLIENTS INCLUDE: Bad Boy Entertainment, BET.COM, Bicycling Magazine, Billboard Magazine, Celebrity Skin Magazine, Def-Jam, Discover, TheDrawing Board, Emerge, Gallery, Grey Advertising, Hawk, High Society, High Times, Icon Life Style Marketing, Island Def- Jam Music Group, Jive (RCA), Loud (RCA), Mad Magazine, Monsta, Mouth Almighty Books, Mtv Networks, Murder Inc. Records, Outburst Records, Players Magazine, Playgirl, Polygram Records, Ral, Rappages, Rawkus Entertainment, Savoy, Stress Entertainment, Swank, The Hoboken Chamber Orchestra, The Source, Tommy Boy Records, Tuff-City Records, Violater (Ral), YSB Magazine... Writing Clients Include: Blaze, Disciple Entertainment, 4080, Giant, Ipropaganda, RapPages, Rich & Famous, Smooth Magazine, Stress Magazine, The Ave. Magazine, The Hook, The New York Press, The Source Magazine, The Source Sports, Tommy Boy Records, Universal Music Group, Urban City Magazine, Vibe, XXL.