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January 26, 2023
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You Don't Know Diddley
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This drop sees these two cultural forces come together as Vakseen debuts “The Originator,” his homage to the other Otha. In these three pieces, Vakseen captures the essence of Bo Diddley's trailblazing style, flamboyant personality, and musical contributions in a way that words or photographs could never accomplish.
This artwork has an unreleased performance of Bo Diddley’s classic song “Road Runner,” as the soundtrack and comes with a signed museum print (20x16”) on satin paper by the Artist Vakseen.
Born in Athens, GA (1979) and raised in Jacksonville, FL, Otha Davis III (also known as Vakseen) is a self-taught, museum-exhibited, multi-platinum, multi-hyphenate Artist.
While working on hit records as a music executive-producer has played a driving force in his career, Vakseen has been an active realist painter since moving to Los Angeles in 2011. Known for his Vanity Pop, collage- influenced paintings, his artwork has been exhibited by the Ontario Museum of History & Art, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Spectrum Miami/Art Basel, Adidas, Vans, BBC World News, HBO’s Insecure, Thinkspace Projects, Flinders Lane Gallery, Zhou B Art Center, Julien's Auctions, Gallery 1988, the University of California Los Angeles, the city of Los Angeles, and Soho House London.
"Everything I know I taught myself." — Bo Diddley
The thing that Bo Diddley’s name most often calls to mind is his singular beat: Bomp ba-bomp-ba-bomp, bomp bomp. Scanning his hits, like “Bo Diddley",“Hey Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love". It might be the most influential musical motif since Robert Johnson brought back the I-IV-V chord progression from the crossroads.
He was a cultural icon and trailblazer who faced significant racial discrimination during his career — receiving no royalties on his work until 1989 — and worked tirelessly to advocate for the rights of black musicians. Diddley was also one of the few male rock musicians of the time to include women instrumentalists in his band, notably Peggy Jones (AKA Lady Bo), a lead guitarist.
Diddley died in 2008 in Archer, FL, less than a two-hour drive from the childhood home of Otha Davis III, the similarly self-taught music producer and artist who shared a given name with Diddley and who would also rechristen himself, using the name Vakseen.