Artbeat: ‘Black Pop’ Artist XPayne

Graphic designer and artist Xavier Payne, better known as XPayne, highlights black pop culture of the 90’s depicting iconic titles and characters in his signature bold and flat shaped images. The Nashville talent undoubtedly holds a place in pop art’s new school, introducing us to  his version of what he likes to call “Black Pop.”  The young artist recognizes Keith Haring, Kara Walker,  Milton Glaser and others before his time as his greatest influences. Nostalgia, hip-hop and fantasy seem to be the recipe for this up and coming artist’s magic. XPayne has gained an immense following through his Tumblr, where he shares all of his new work and ideas along with the story behind them. Despite his open interaction with his followers, XPayne himself remains a mystery, revealing only a cropped headshot photo of himself and one shadowy self-portrait. The underground creative keeps his profile low-key no doubt, but it’s impossible to keep his striking and powerful art works a secret. Read on as I try to learn more about XPayne in our brief Q&A below.

I just stumbled upon your work and became an instant fan! Please tell me about yourself.
Thank you! I’m Xavier. I’m an illustrator, painter, and graphic designer from Nashville, Tennessee. I like watching movies, reading comics, and music. I love music.

So you seem to be pretty low-key and mysterious. Is that because it’s just all about the art or are you just a shy artist?
(Laughs) Yeah. It’s a little bit of both. More of the first than the second.

Poetic Justice poster

I love that you are highlighting black culture, something that is usually ignored in pop art. What triggered your inspiration to go that route?
Thank you. I make it a point to at least touch things that other artists don’t usually do. I have never seen artwork featuring Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, so I did one. I do a lot of stuff influenced by Black culture because that’s what I grew up with. I mean, I don’t really want to look at it as black culture. Or culture, really. I just want it to be something that just is. They look like me, and that’s awesome. But I also look at them and see heroes and heroines, and I don’t believe I’m the only one.

Nostalgia is a prominent element in your work. There are references to Martin, Poetic Justice, Do the Right Thing, and many other black films and shows from the 90’s. Is that all part of one series or is that a consistent aspect of your artistry? 
I call it “Black Pop.” It’s about expressing the things that make black culture so unique and influential. I’m just making the kind of stuff I want to see on the street or in a space. It explores black iconography, black figures (male and female) and anything else the African American population may put into the universe. Black Pop is one wall of one room in the space between my ears.

Also, all of those shows and movies shared a key-common factor: The presence of Hip-Hop. I compare myself to rappers as much as I do other visual artists because I learned about rap before I started studying the historical canon of fine art. Because of that, I chose subject matter that was rooted in Hip-Hop culture in some way. To me, it wasn’t like I had a choice though.

What about the 90’s inspire you?
Simply put: Living in that decade. I went to see The Lion King in theaters. I remember the debut of the Power Rangers and the last episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I’m not an old man, but that decade is my frame of reference for a lot of things. The stark colors. They reflected pride. Music was awesome. How many legends debuted in the 90s?

Black TV was really good then. It was centered around a family, whether it was a family of friends (like Martin and Living Single) or a traditional family (like Family Matters and Moesha). Even the Wayans’ made a show that featured their family. It’s not so much like that now.

I read somewhere that out of all of your fantastic works, your favorite is “Sasha’s New Move.” Why is that particular piece so special to you?
It’s a really personal piece. It reminds me of being outside, in the summer, with my friends. It’s also about young love and infatuation. It also, in some innocent way, expresses the origin of my fascination with dancers. That may be a little cliché, I know. I wrote a short story with it too.

Is Sasha relative to Samurai Sasha? Tell me about this Samurai Sisters series.
No, they just share the same name. Coincidence.
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Samurai Sasha

The “Samurai Sisters” is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Afro Samurai, PowerPuff Girls, and Foxy Brown all mixed together and thrown into the contemporary world. They are three badass sisters who are tough, sexy, and loyal to a cause.

Bushido Betty (BB) is the tough one. Samurai Sasha is the baby. Katrina Katana (Trina) is the leader. Their archenemy is a fourth sister. Her name is Nikita Knives (Niki). That’s all they told me.

As a fellow artist, I sometimes struggle with creative blocks. What’s your cure for the dreaded block?
I would say that maybe it’s a sign to cultivate inspiration. Research is an overlooked part of being an artist, but it’s one of the most fun parts for me because the pressure is removed almost instantly.

If art is something you do for fun, that’s cool too. I would say go with it and live life. Then come back to it.

Before you work on a new series or character, what is the process that you go through and where do you find ideas?
I don’t know. (Laughs)

Sometimes, maybe most times, the characters I make are composites of other people I know or saw in a movie, book, or something else.

I have a character named Big Bouy, who was inspired by a Langston Hughes poem that I illustrated for school. Then I kept drawing him, and now he’s one of my favorite people to draw.

I read in an interview a long time ago that Denzel Washington writes biographies of the characters that he plays, so when he’s acting it’s easier for him to pull from the past that he has created. I was intrigued by that and began to do the same thing. Whenever I started drawing I would give my character a name and started thinking about where they were from, who their parents were, their dreams and so on. It works pretty well.

With so much buzz and press, I’m sure you are super busy these days. Do you plan on expanding the XPayne brand beyond sketches and drawings?
Absolutely. I’m doing shirts little by little. I want to dip my toe in the fashion pool. I’m also a graphic designer so I do logos for companies and book illustrations.

Any words of advice for aspiring creatives?
Art is life plus motion.

Learn more about XPayne by visiting his website, Tumblr and by following him on Twitter @XPayneArt.