Dj / Rupture
Record + CD covers
Tigerbeat6
Oakland, USA
2004
Dj / Rupture explains: “The watermelon image comes from a slot-machine parlor in Madrid. I was walking by in 2001 or so (when I lived there), the idea struck me instantly: add three black ‘motion lines’ and the watermelon would become a shooting bullet. It was bright, iconic, and played with inverting notions of black stereotypes (watermelon and fried chicken) into a funny statement. The idea came years before the album, the image was that strong, it just stayed with me. It also speaks to people who have no ideas about watermelon stereotypes, to them its just a powerful, simple design.”
“Philadelphia is burning and water- / melon is all that can cool it / so there they are, spiked / atop a row of metal poles / rolling on and off pickup trucks / the fruit that grows longest / the fruit with a curly tail, the cool fruit / larger than a large baby, wide / as the widest green behind, wide / vermilion smile at the sizzling metropole.” From “Overture: Watermelon City”, a poem by Elizabeth Alexander, from the liner notes.