B+
(aka Brian Cross) was born and raised in Limerick, Ireland. He attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin graduating in 1989 with a degree in painting. In 1990 he came to Los Angeles to study photography at the California Institute of the Arts. While at Cal Arts he began work on a project entitled, Its Not about a Salary: Rap Race and Resistance in Los Angeles, which was subsequently published by Verso Books in 1993. It was nominated as a Rolling Stone Music Book of the Year and made the NME critics best music book of the year list.
Since the publication of the book B+ has continued to work in the L.A. hiphop community. His first album cover work was for the Freestyle Fellowship (Inner City Griots). Since then he has done an estimated one hundred more for artists from Mos Def, Rza, Cappadonna, Q-Tip, Eazy E, Los Super Seven, Long Beach Dub All-Stars, Ozomatli, Jurrassic 5, Dialated Peoples, DJ Shadow, Company Flow, Blackalicious, Money Mark, David Axelrod, South Central Cartel, Warren G, Yusef Lateef, Madlib, J Dilla, Build an Ark, Cut Chemist, Damian Marley and Yesterday's New Quintet.
He was the photo-editor of Larry Flint’s ill fated highly influential Rappages from 1993 to 1997.
He has directed several music videos for DJ Shadow and ones for Nitro Microphone Underground (from Japan) and Control Machete (from Mexico). His latest venture puts old school drummers together with new school DJs and is entitled Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl. The DVD of the project was released by Mochilla which is Cross’s production company with partner Eric Coleman and was a big success – subsequently the Sundance Channel bought the TV rights to the film and Ninja Tune released it in Europe and Australia.
The sequel Brasilintime: Batucada com Discos has just recently been finished and has premiered in Sao Paulo Brasil and is currently doing the film festival circuit.
B+ still lives in LA, answers his own phone, photo edits for Wax Poetics Magazine, still digs like crazy and DJs from time to time and is currently working on a book of photographs.
