Can you dig it?

"CYDI", or "Can You Dig It?" by Makio135 is an homage to the history and culture of hip hop as seen through digital coding.

The Story

Fundraising for the new universal hip hop museum

The Universal Hip Hop Museum (UHHM) is the first global hip hop museum dedicated to preserving and telling the story behind one of the world's most popular music genres. Founded by Rocky Bucano and artists including Nas, LL Cool J, Ice T and other influencers, the 52,000 square-foot state of the art museum is being built where hip hop was born, the Bronx.

Iconic is honored to partner with UHHM to build their first generative art collection that will be added to the museum's permanent collection and be exhibited in-person at the museum. For this release, we are excited to partner with Lionel Radisson, aka Makio135.

Artist Profile

Lionel Raddison aka makio135

Lionel Radisson has been using code for over a decade to generate unique artworks that blend motion, abstract expressionism and geometric patterns. Known as makio135 in the digital world, this French generative artist is always looking to push the artistic limits of generative art to discover new ways of expression. His visual journey is also represented in the themes of his works inspired by graffiti, urban landscapes, communication and exploration.

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Behind the scenes

The inspiration behind "can you dig it?"

From graffiti to calligraphy, glyphs, runes and much more, I’ve always been interested in the different forms that transmit information visually, to convey a message that strikes by its representation first then by its meaning.

The Turntablist Transcription Method was for me a way to show at first tags-like strokes over the spray paint-like background, which is an essential part of the Hip Hop culture. Then there is the TTM key to decipher it and understand the visual fully by the incorporation of music scores for scratching, a way to integrate Hip Hop music into the pieces.

Makio135 x The Universal Hip Hop Museum

About The Drop

Can you dig it?

Fundraising for the new universal hip hop museum

Lionel Raddison aka makio135

The inspiration behind "can you dig it?"

Gallery