Camden New Journal: Royal artwork on display in Camden
By Dan Ashcroft
Since being drafted in the 10th by London, L’Gazzy Burfict has been a favourite with the fans for his hard hitting style on the pitch and polite, gentle nature off it. Living in the city, he can regularly be seen working out in local parks or running through the streets, always wearing a big set of headphones. Burfict has spoken in the past about the importance of immersing himself in the culture of wherever he plays – eating local foods, drinking local beverages, respecting local traditions, even learning a few of the slang terms. And this desire to live the local life is where his latest collaboration came in to play.
A huge fan of music, Burfict made a point of searching through his Spotify to listen to all the biggest London based artists, past and present. They have all helped form the identity of the city, helped tell the story, the history of the region. And for Burfict there was no artist more gifted in this than the late rapper Dizzee Rascal. As an artist, he may not have been well known globally, but in London at least he made it his mission to famously drive fans bonkers at all his live performances.
After hearing about his admiration for Rascal, a local art foundation reached out to Burfict to understand if he’d be interested in a very special project they were working on. Local artists were commissioning updated versions of classic music artwork, in conjunction with local celebrities, all in an effort to raise money to support the arts throughout London. As an avid music lover and star of the London Royals they saw Burfict as a perfect match.
So that’s where Burfict found himself on the night of the ISFL season awards. Too polite to go back on his word, not wanting to let the local artists down, he was with the charity at KOKO in Camden to support the release of, among other things, the artwork of a reworked version of Rascal’s classic single “Jus’a Rascal”.
Speaking at the event, Burfict reiterated the good cause he was helping. “Look, this is a great foundation to support and when they got in touch with my agent about being involved I knew straight away what piece I had in mind. When the awards calendar was released I could see there was a clash but I spoke with my general managers and they understood my reasonings. They have even promised to donate £100k of their own money to the foundation for any awards the team has to pick up on my behalf in my absence!”
Doug Rocket, the artist behind the piece added “I first met L’Gazzy at a gig I had been arranging with my old band, the Veryphonics. He was fascinated to learn more about the cities cultures so we arranged to have dinner and go and watch Email the Music@l, a superhighway odyssey, limited tickets still available.”
The artwork will be on display in the venue for four weeks and all Londoners are encouraged to go along and have a look at what’s on show. A limited edition print run of 100 copies, signed by Burfict and Rocket, will be made available at a later date.
A link to the artwork can be found here.
By Dan Ashcroft
Since being drafted in the 10th by London, L’Gazzy Burfict has been a favourite with the fans for his hard hitting style on the pitch and polite, gentle nature off it. Living in the city, he can regularly be seen working out in local parks or running through the streets, always wearing a big set of headphones. Burfict has spoken in the past about the importance of immersing himself in the culture of wherever he plays – eating local foods, drinking local beverages, respecting local traditions, even learning a few of the slang terms. And this desire to live the local life is where his latest collaboration came in to play.
A huge fan of music, Burfict made a point of searching through his Spotify to listen to all the biggest London based artists, past and present. They have all helped form the identity of the city, helped tell the story, the history of the region. And for Burfict there was no artist more gifted in this than the late rapper Dizzee Rascal. As an artist, he may not have been well known globally, but in London at least he made it his mission to famously drive fans bonkers at all his live performances.
After hearing about his admiration for Rascal, a local art foundation reached out to Burfict to understand if he’d be interested in a very special project they were working on. Local artists were commissioning updated versions of classic music artwork, in conjunction with local celebrities, all in an effort to raise money to support the arts throughout London. As an avid music lover and star of the London Royals they saw Burfict as a perfect match.
So that’s where Burfict found himself on the night of the ISFL season awards. Too polite to go back on his word, not wanting to let the local artists down, he was with the charity at KOKO in Camden to support the release of, among other things, the artwork of a reworked version of Rascal’s classic single “Jus’a Rascal”.
Speaking at the event, Burfict reiterated the good cause he was helping. “Look, this is a great foundation to support and when they got in touch with my agent about being involved I knew straight away what piece I had in mind. When the awards calendar was released I could see there was a clash but I spoke with my general managers and they understood my reasonings. They have even promised to donate £100k of their own money to the foundation for any awards the team has to pick up on my behalf in my absence!”
Doug Rocket, the artist behind the piece added “I first met L’Gazzy at a gig I had been arranging with my old band, the Veryphonics. He was fascinated to learn more about the cities cultures so we arranged to have dinner and go and watch Email the Music@l, a superhighway odyssey, limited tickets still available.”
The artwork will be on display in the venue for four weeks and all Londoners are encouraged to go along and have a look at what’s on show. A limited edition print run of 100 copies, signed by Burfict and Rocket, will be made available at a later date.
A link to the artwork can be found here.