I am not the person who goes to art exhibits and stares at paintings wondering what state of mind the artist was in when they were creating their work. I am not your average who talks to strangers on their way to Starbucks. Honestly I only go to Starbucks for the WiFi and peach tea lemonade because I feel guilty just using their WiFi. I am not a hipster; I have no idea what a hipster is but I do shop at Urban Outfitters for the clever graphic tees. I have a degree from a four-year university but my major was not art history. I am not even into art like that, however I like this one artist.

I was introduced to Jean Michel Basquiat when I was visiting my Aunt in Washington Heights neighborhood of New York city. One day we were out shopping in SOHO and I noticed on a wall full of graffiti a simple little crown. This crown was so simple a kid could have drawn it for all I knew. The crown stood out because, in the mist of this massive wall full of different tags it was the only graphic that was not covered by another artist. It was almost as if it was left alone out of respect. We walked a little further and I saw a guy selling postcards. One of his cards had a picture of Basquiat and Andy Warhol wearing boxing gloves. Right over Basquiat’s head was the same crown I saw on the wall earlier. I decided to ask the guy “so whats with the crown? I saw this before.” He begins to tell about this homeless graffiti artist who would go around the city using the tag “SAMO” and he would also use that crown. If I knew that almost 15 years later that this artist would become one of my imaginary best friends, I would have paid more attention to the explanation. Instead I had other things on my mind like trying to find this exclusive sneaker store off of Wooster Street.

I didn’t run into Basquiat again until I was a real-life adult in Walmart. Aside from being a sneaker head, my other loves are music and film. I have this thing where every time I go to Walmart I buy a random movie that I have never heard of and pry its good when I get home. It’s my form of gambling. One day, I came across a movie with the title “Basquiat” it was staring Jeffery Wright and the title. If you are a person who are not familiar with actor’s real names he was muddy Waters in Cadillac Records, Martin Luther King in Boycott, and Peoples in Shaft. David Bowie and Benicio del Toro were also in this movie. Looking at the cover I thought this was a different cast so I picked it up. I didn’t make the connection to the post card years back until I saw the crown again in the movie. After that I did a little more research and other than the fact that I share the same birthday as him we were kind of alike creatively.

There is a quote where I especially felt like were once on the same page, the quote says “The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings. I realized that I didn't see many paintings with black people in them.” As an aspiring screen writer I also felt the same way when I would watch television. I would often wish I saw African American characters in a more variety of roles. This is why most of my stories tend to center around black people.

The title of this article came from a documentary that I saw and now own called “The Radiant Child” it had interviews with Basquiat and talks with some of his close friends. They were able to give an insight of the type of person he was socially and as an artist. Like other young talents his career was cut short due to a heroin overdose. In this short time, he became an inspiration to many people most of them designers and musicians. Reebok has a series for sneakers that features his paintings on them. I am still trying to get my hands on a pair.He is mentioned a lot in Hip-Hop. You know Jay-Z and Yeezy’s album Watch the Throne? There is a song called “Oceans” featuring Frank Ocean and in the chorus there is a line “I hope my black skin don’t dirt this white tuxedo before the Basquiat show…” He inspired people with more than his paintings but in the way he lived his life. He was “Hip-Hop” in a way. I always looked at Hip -Hop being the kid who grew up poor and hit the lottery. Got rich quick and didn’t know what to do with their money. That’s was Basquiat, except he was on a roller coaster. He came from a well off family ended up homeless and humble living the starving artist lifestyle. He caught a couple of breaks and fell into some cash. The saying “Mo money mo problems” was proven to be true for him. He went from humble to cold.

I learned a lot from his life, we could all learn something actually. For us to the best at whatever we set our sights on, we need to be true to ourselves and trust our own uniqueness. Understand that you may not be the right fit for everything and everyone but there is place for your talents. Sometimes we have to make our own space and grow within it as well. Also don’t be quick to sell out or compromise what sets you apart for a quick buck. Yes, we all have bills but there is a huge difference in conformity for the comfort of others and the characteristics that makes you different so choose wisely.

Exactly who is this radiant child you speak of? He is the muse we never knew.