Migos Reading "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" Should Make Your Season Bright

Before becoming one of hip-hop's superproducers and graduating from Harvard Business School, Kasseem Dean was just a kid from The Bronx who gravitated to the art he saw. Whether it was the graffiti on the trains and the brick walls or the fashion of the late 80s and early 90s, Dean, better known as Swizz Beatz, digested it all.

Now, with a few hits and Grammy's under his belt, the 40-year-old multihyphenate's newest muse is the upliftment of other living artists by way of The Dean Collection. Collaborating with American Express and Marriott Bonvoy, a new travel program for Mariott International, Swizz Beatz, premiered his latest art installation "Deluxxe Fluxx" inside Manhattan's Skylight Studios.

Created by Brooklyn-based duo Faile & Bäst, members of the media, musicians, art lovers and more were able to take part in the immersive experience, which featured neon-colored lights, old-school arcade games, and music that wasn't "regular," as Swizz said.

Before the night's activities began, VIBE caught up with  Mr. Dean to discuss the newest addition to the collection, what art has done for him and what he thinks art is supposed to do for the masses.

How are you, Mr. Dean? I'm good. I love that you call me Mr. Dean.

Well, that's how I was raised.  Respect. Blessings. My first question to you is: The Dean Collection began in 2014 and from my understanding, you started it because you wanted to support living artists. It's one of the reasons, yes.

So, what triggered the launch? The Dean Collection started as me and my wife's personal collection because we wanted to create a museum for our kids to run when we weren't here anymore. It was all about building a legacy. But then we realized shining a light on living artists with our star power, created more star power and more synergy, more education. More! More! More! This isn't something we should keep private. This is something the masses should know and we should help hundreds of thousands of artists around the world if possible with our gift. It's just been a blessing. What is it about FAILE that you took to? Well, I've been a fan of colors and vibrations for a long time and these guys have been killing it for a long time. They're such masters of their craft. I feel our culture needs to understand FAILE and we should support them and celebrate them as creatives. I just wanted to show the culture an amazing experience and different forms of art, not only canvasses on the wall but also an immersive experience. Even the music I'm going to play tonight is not going to be regular. "I want people to know I celebrate all artists. Whether you're African-American, white, Asian, you name it. We at The Dean Collection celebrate all artists."

What is it about this kind of art, like you said not just canvasses on the wall, that feeds you? Well, it's visually and sonically stimulating. Most of us are in our heads all day-- Superfacts. dealing with what we're dealing with, so if I can bring you into a world that can take you away from negatives and bring you into a positive and a creative state of mind, then we've done a good job and that's what art is supposed to do. Art is supposed to take you to another level. Although my next show might be canvasses, this particular one in New York City I felt that we needed this in the city right now just to shake this up.

I'm a disrupter, my partners Amex and Marriott they've been disrupters as well for a long time, and it's organic. When you come in here you feel like it's about the creativity. Even though we have strong brands backing us--and all artists need strong brands to back them--but its how you collaborate with those strong brands, and the artists trust The Dean Collection to represent them well. What are you wearing? I have on vintage Dickies. This is my Father's Day gift from my wife and my kids. I have on a cool G-Shock that happened to match the vibe. I dig it. Thank you. Oh, and these shades I've got are ECOODA. My last question: You're a kid from The Bronx. Before Ruff Ryders, before Harvard Business School before you met the love of your life how did art keep you? You know, different sides of the art kept me. Growing up in The Bronx, I grew up with graffiti on the trains and on the walls. It excited me. I grew up around fashion where you painted the back of your jacket. It excited me. I grew up around DJs and music and DJing so that excited me. Those chapters have been written before, how they organically came out, I just let it flow.

Filmmaker Deon Taylor is making his petition known with his latest full-length feature, Black and Blue. Set in present-day New Orleans, rookie cop Alicia West (played by Oscar-nominated actress Naomie Harris) returns to her Nola roots in hopes to serve and protect. It doesn't take long, however, for West to realize being from the neighborhood means nothing when she's wearing her uniform or badge.

The trailer for the forthcoming thriller premiered Sunday night (June 23) during the 2019 BET Awards. In the three-minute spot, viewers follow West as she exits a squad car and enters an abandoned warehouse. Seconds later, she witnesses a corrupt cop (played by Frank Grillo) kill a local drug dealer.

West now becomes a target after realizing the murder was recorded on her body cam. Her problems are only compounded when local drug dealer Darius (Mike Colter, Luke Cage) is working in concert with the police and puts a bounty on West's head. Now West has a decision to make: either ignore the truth or expose it.

Dialing in from Los Angeles, Taylor spoke to VIBE about the premise of the Peter A Dowling script, the timeliness of the film and did he, in fact, give it all away in the trailer?

Why the name change from Exposure to Black and Blue? Deon Taylor: In the film, Alicia West (Naomie Harris) kept being asked 'What side of the line are you on? Are you black or are you blue?' and what I thought was incredible throughout the movie was she's saying there is no side, we're here to serve the people. We wanted to lean into that. I thought it would be a great conversation piece and it's also about blending the worlds and creating a better place for people to live. So that's why we made the change.

Is the film as much entertainment as it is a political statement? Yes. I'm going to answer yes to that. Right now, we're in a world where we don't want to feed people medicine. We want to put the medicine inside the candy. That's what I feel like this film is about.

Our first goal is to make sure you have a blast in the theater. You're getting all those elements you would get from Training Day. But, as a filmmaker, I'm also trying to drop some messages and some Easter eggs in the film. What I'm hoping is this film shows us what we need to do to be better as a people as we're fighting against what we're seeing in the news every day. What's so current is here's Alicia West, Naomie Harris playing this character saying 'Nah, we not doing that. Y'all are corrupt and I'm about to expose it. I don't care what side of the line I'm on.'

Why did you choose to film in New Orleans? We filmed in New Orleans for New Orleans. New Orleans is interesting because as we began to put the movie together, I just loved being in the South where people are really homegrown. New Orleans was one of the places that had high corruption after [Hurricane] Katrina, and we just felt like New Orleans was raw and unfiltered. I love that Naomie Harris' character had those southern morals.  The backdrop of New Orleans is also beautiful. The music, the people, the culture itself. We featured a lot of B. Mike's artwork and the murals he's done as well. Mike Colter went from being everyone's favorite black superhero in Luke Cage to this scary, menacing drug dealer. Why did you choose to reimagine Mike Colter this way? What I love about being a director is I love playing people against type. In The Intruder it was Dennis Quad and the new thriller I did it's Hilary Swank. This movie is no different. For Mike Colter, when I thought about what character he's playing without giving it away, it would be easy to cast someone to be tough and beat people up and have that energy, but Colter's character in the movie, Darius, he's more complex. He's someone who's a product of the environment but also a cerebral thinker.

So for that, I needed to find an actor that was intimidating, but when he opens up his mouth and he talks, I needed someone who had the correct tone to be a more complicated villain. What I tried to do with the Darius character was build someone I know. Colter was able to reimagine the character that way in which you can see the tough exterior, but at the same time, he's calculated in how he thinks and how he moves.

My last question is in a lot of films, they give the best stuff away in the trailer. Have you done that?  Nope! [Laughs]

We're just hours away from the 2019 BET Awards, in which the best in hip-hop, rap r&b, gospel and more will receive their flowers for the artistry, and in turn, provide showstopping, meme-able performances the Internet will revel in for days on end.

Cardi B leads the pack with seven nominations this year including Album of The Year, Best Collaboration with Bruno Mars, Bad Bunny and J.Balvin and Best Female Hip-Hop artists. Grammy award winners like Ella Mai and H.E.R have also racked up a few nominations, while the Chief Creative Officer for the hot girl summer Megan Thee Stallion is competing for best Female Hip-Hop artists.

Tune in tonight (June 23) for the 2019 BET Awards, hosted by Regina Hall to see who goes home with the night's top honors.

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

Beyonce

Ella Mai

H.E.R

Solange

SZA

Teyana Taylor

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

Anderson .Paak

Bruno Mars

Childish Gambino

Chris Brown

John Legend

Khalid

Best Group

Chloe X Halle

City Girls

Lil Baby & Gunna

Migos (WINNER)

The Carters

Best Collaboration

21 Savage Ft. J.Cole "A lot"

Cardi B & Bruno Mars "Please me"

Cardi B Ft Bad Bunny & J. Balvin "I Like It"

H.E.R. FT. Bryson Tiller "Could've Been"

Travis Scott Ft. Drake "Sicko Mode"

Tyga Ft. Offset "Taste"

Best Male Hip Hop Artist

21 Savage

Drake

J. Cole

Meek Mill

Nipsey Hussle

Travis Scott

Best Female Hip Hop Artist

Cardi B

Kash Doll

Lizzo

Megan Thee Stallion

Nicki Minaj

Remy Ma

Video of the Year

21 Savage Ft. J.Cole " A Lot"

Cardi B "Money"

Cardi B & Bruno Mars "Please Me"

Childish Gambino "This Is America"

Drake "Nice For What"

The Carters "Apesh*t"

Video Director of the Year

Benny Boom

Colin Tilley

Dave Myers

Hype Williams

Karena Evans

Best New Artist

Blueface

City Girls

Juice Wrld

Lil Baby (WINNER)

Queen Naija

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award

Erica Campbell Ft. Warryn Campbell " All Of My Life"

Fred Hammond "Tell Me Where It Hurts"

Kirk Franklin "Love Theory"

Snoop Dogg Ft. Rance Allen "Blessing Me Again" (WINNER)

Tori Kelly Ft. Kirk Franklin "Never Alone"

Best International Act

Aka (South Africa)

Aya Nakaumra (France)

Burna Boy (Nigeria) (WINNER)

Dave (UK)

Dosseh (France)

Giggs (UK)

Mr.Eazi  (Nigeria)

Best New International Act – (Fan Voted Category)

Headie One (UK)

Jokair (France)

Nesly (France)

Octavian (UK)

Sho Madjozi (South Africa) (WINNER)

Teni (NIGERIA)

Best Actress

Issa Rae

Regina Hall

Regina King (WINNER)

Taraji P. Henson

Tiffany Haddish

Viola Davis

Best Actor

Anthony Anderson

Chadwick Boseman

Denzel Washington

Mahershala Ali

Michael B. Jordan

Omari Hardwick

YoungStars Award

Caleb McLaughlin

Lyric Ross

Marsai Martin (WINNER)

Michael Rainey Jr.

Miles Brown

Best Movie

BLACKKKLANSMAN (WINNER)

Creed 2 

If Beale Street Could Talk 

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

The Hate U Give 

Sportswoman of the Year

Allyson Felix

Candace Parker

Naomi Osaka

Serena Williams

Simone Biles

Sportsman of the Year

Kevin Durant

Lebron James

Odell Beckham Jr

Stephen Curry

Tiger Woods

Album of the Year

Astroworld Travis Scott

Championships Meek Mill

Ella Mai Ella Mai

Everything Is Love The Carter

Invasion of Privacy Cardi B (WINNER)

2019 Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award

Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin "I Live It"

Childish Gambino "This Is America"

Drake "In My Feelings"

Ella Mai "Trip" (WINNER)

J. Cole "Middle Child"

Travis Scott FT. Drake "Sicko Mode"

BET HER Award

Alica Keys "Raise A Man"

Ciara "Level Up"

H.E.R. "Hard Place"

Janelle Monae "Pynk"

QueenNaija "Mama's Hand"

Teyana Taylor "Rose In Harlem"