IN THE STORE | WHITE BOIZ – NEIGHBORHOOD WONDERFUL
Our symbols, our colors, our logos and flags – they’re what we choose to live by, representing the things we love and the things we hate – culture, pride, freedom, money and fear.
Krondon & Shafiq Husayn’s White Boiz is based around a concept of a world stripped of its color, a “neighborhood wonderful,” devoid of any stereotypes. The sleeve for their album Neighborhood Wonderful, is an all-white U.S. flag, sewn by Moneekah, with cover designed by Stephen Serato and photography by Noe Montes.
The sleeve is also a reference to Sly & Family Stone’s 1971 classic There’s a Riot Goin’ On, an album which seems to have reflected the collective national mood of the time it was released over 40 years ago, times which in some ways don’t seem very different than our own.
As Neighborhood Wonderful and it’s sleeve were being completed earlier this summer, the album cover captured an ironic poignancy for us after the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooting reminded us all of the power and meaning of our symbols, and a national conversation emerged about white supremacy and another flag in our history.
See the track list and featured artists on Neighborhood Wonderful