MISTERSOUL216

Online I spell it as "mistersoul216" because the period in the "mr." can sometimes throw things off in the net world. I tag it as "mr.soul" because it's quick and simple. It represents my style of art and my personality. And the 216 represents Tha Land that I am from..."Thieveland™". If ya don't know, betta ask somebody...

Where did the name come from? I'm asked this many times, so here's the official story, complete with a fresh new piece I will be using to further brand the name and myself.

So, back in '95 during my creative creep on a come up in Cleveland, I was the go-to guy for my homeboy and Cleveland legend DJ CENTIPEDE. 'Pede was known for throwing the very successful MIX MASTER MASSACRE DJ Battles back then and he provided me with the opportunity to get my work out by doing the flyers for the event. In the process of this, 'Pede used to always call me and say, "What up Mr.Soul?". It was his version of greeting me as my company (which was Visual Soul). I never really thought much about it, but then I moved to Atlanta, and my homeboy BJ Kerr followed suit. So I took it as something to embrace and to represent..

So at that point I decided that I had to give it meaning. I carved out a few acronyms to further break down the SOUL, one of them being Student Of Universal Law/Love. The others I can't share yet because there are people out there sharpening their teeth, waitin' to bite!

In addition to the acronyms, I decided that everything I designed or created should embody the definition of soul. It should be fluid and have movement, invoke emotion, and MEAN SOMETHING. I was heavily inspired by the movement of Atlanta's Dungeon Family around the same time, and so that music background provided me with the motivation and inspiration necessary to create. I wanted my artwork to visually represent what I heard through the music of Outkast, Goodie MOb., Society Of Soul, etc.


And so that's how the name came about and what it means! And now, the art...









"You know who it is, you know what it is...peace out."