Jay-Z, Drake & More Of Photographer Shareif Ziyadat’s Best Photos – Billboard

From the legendary rapper who created the classic album to the groundbreaking moments that changed genres, hip-hop has a rich history. And renowned photojournalist Shareif Ziyadat captured countless important moments in one snapshot at a time. For over 25 years, Ziyadat, an important cultural gear, has photographed celebrities such as Jay-Z, Diddy and Kanye West.

His career began when a high school friend asked Ziyadat to shoot a LOX that he agreed without hesitation in Yonkers, NY in the 90’s. Shortly thereafter, a coincidental moment appeared when Jadat bumped into the legendary Ruff Ryders Entertainment co-founder Joaquin “War” Dean on his way home from school.

“I had a camera in my hand and knew this was my chance, so I went to talk to him,” says Ziyadat. Billboard. “Me At that time 19. I jumped off the bus and went home without money and introduced myself to Waah. [every] often. He invited me to their tour, and I was in school for only a month, but I had to be there. ”

Before he knew it, Ziyadat snapped all sorts of content for the Ruff Ryders crew until he became their dependable photographer. A love for culture has always driven the natives of Yonkers to shoot. It only intensified after meeting DMX for the first time in the studio.

“The first thing DMX tells me is,’Do you like what you’re doing?’ I told him,’Of course I do,’ and he said. “If you do, you’ll never have to chase money. It’ll chase you,” Ziyadat recalls. “He was the biggest player in the music world at the time, so listening to it was very motivating. The energy was so pure that I always wanted to be part of it. Click At that time, I realized that I had nothing else to do. “

All the work and support he got from Ruff Ryders gave Ziyadat access to other artists outside the label, especially with 50 Cent. Ziyadat sees where he can bring his passion. “50 was a big turning point for me to enter the world of advertising campaigns, so it brought a blessing to my life,” he says. “I was with the puff and all of them were great for exposure, but while I was working with him, the way 50 guaranteed me and made things happen is the other No one did. “

Even nowadays, Ziyadat is driven in the same way by the unextinguishable fire that keeps him in the game. “I never wanted to hang a camera,” he adds. “I’m at a stage where I want to evolve and be innovative, like Jay-Z, who always does something that spins my head. That’s the energy I want to build.”

under, From shooting music videos to branding campaigns and fundraising, Ziyadat chooses the seven best photos he’s ever taken throughout his career and tells the story behind each.

Check out the pictures below.

DIDDY

This was when Diddy had Sean John, and he was the largest at the time to have a clothing line and brand. I did a lot of work with the Combs team and built with them. For this job, they called me to record his fashion show and afterparty as his personal photographer. week. I am very grateful to be able to catch him doing something that I don’t think he is in the room.

In this one particular shot, he had the Paris team record everything on film, but when he got out of Cipriani with a revolving door, he represented a symbolic man living a dream. I am. He lived in that vision. What he wanted.

JAY-Z

This moment was at his Sean Carter Foundation Gala, where they had a private party for family and friends the day before the actual event. He was sitting and Emory was sitting right next to him. As a shooter, you always give everyone space and read the room to see if a moment is happening and allow you to capture it. That is the essence.

So Jay pulled out the cigar, and as soon as you see the moment happening, you place yourself. So, as soon as I did that, it was like an energy shift that Jay looked up and basically said with his eyes, “I’m trying to do something, get ready.” ..It was like we made eye-to-eye adjustments [are] At that moment, speak without actually speaking or connecting. Looking through the lens, he sees and he sees, “This is what we are doing, so get it.” Even when I took a picture, it hit the inside. I had to go home after seeing the pictures.

50 cents

One of his people called 50 Cent wanting to make a music video. I shoot a video, but he never called me to shoot a video. I had to be there, so I went to the studio and everything was set up and 50 taught me the concept that the whole video is a series of photos. This moment came from that shoot. I don’t know why, but I love cigars and this shot just talked to me. It was a motivation for me because he gives off that energy of being his boss.

DMX

This was in the “Where the Hood At” set. I shot it for two days in Chicago and one day in New York. This shot was taken on School Street, where X was born and raised. DMX came 10 hours late — God blessed him — and everyone was very happy because he came, but his other boy Kato just passed by Aaliyah. It was a very moving moment as the energy was in his whole heart. He is very emotional. I shot him many times, but at this moment … as you know, his energy is very powerful, but not here.

He pulled me sideways to take pictures of him and his girl, and took a few pictures while wearing his shirt. He saw them and decided to take off his shirt and put him in the car. So I took more pictures of him leaning on the car, and he decided he had to crouch down and give a blessing. I shot him in a pose where he could see the pain in his eyes, but as a photographer he wanted to capture the subject and what they were feeling, so I thought this was a moment.

Rihanna

This was Rihanna’s album release party Rated R And that was the expectation of her and everyone who wants to be around her. You can see that everyone in the picture is supplying her energy. It was one of the moments when you felt what energy her arrival was about to bring. It’s like you’re waiting for something, it’s finally coming, and this is what happened that night. She came and took off her coat and commanded her room. She likes to record the essence before the setup, so this is to capture how she is preparing for the world. “This is me and my album. I’m ready to take over the world.”

NAS

Nas is a legend, this moment is a birthday celebration, and his manager at the time wanted to have a supper and record everything. There were many dope moments, but at the end of the night he had just taken off his jacket and was just chilling. He didn’t smoke his cigar all night until this moment when he was ready to relax.

He sat down and I saw him illuminating it, and I was like “bring it right there”, and I caught the moment. He had that look and I knew it was the mood. “We are here and celebrating the straight boss’s.” We are all trying to be bosses and be happy with what we are doing. Self-confidence is magnetic. When I create these moments and make them look bigger than life, their self-confidence is shown and people eat it.

Drake & Chris Brown

This was a greenhouse, [old] New York hotspot. They both came up with great things, and ironically, this was like a week before everything happened between them in the bottle-throwing case. But with this, everyone had a good time and there was a lot of good energy in the air. People didn’t have a lot of safety now. This night Drake came in and I tapped Chris to take a picture, but he tapped Drake and said, “Take a picture with me.”

It was a moment of love, and I caught it. The next thing I know is that a brawl has happened. This was a photo that was spinning violently in all media outlets at the time. I love capturing moments and telling stories with these pictures. I capture these two journeys, which are also part of my journey and it seems that we are all evolving. Now you never know what the future holds. See where we are all now.