CLEVELAND — The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is filled with incredible pieces from multiple inductees, but the piece that Jay-Z donated comes with a Cajun flair.
The piece was painted by New Orleans artist Jerin Beasley. He says it took 80 hours over a span of four weeks to create. Now, even he is astonished by as it sits in the Rock Hall for all to see.
“It was just mind-blowing,” said Beasley.
The painting was inspired by the rapper, and a lounge in New Orleans called Morrow’s Treehouse.
“So when creating the piece, we wanted to get a piece that people really were flabbergasted by,” said owner of the lounge Larry Morrow.
“We were trying to think of an iconic figure to come up with what we could do a tree-theme," Beasley said. "We all came up with the idea of doing Jay-Z."
The painting hung in Morrow’s Treehouse for a few days, soon blowing up on social media. Little did they know that not even a week later, the man in the picture would soon want it for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“Him picking this is priceless man. It's priceless for me. It's like, it's no cost,” said Beasley.
For Morrow, it was hard to let go of the art that found it's place in his lounge, but he believes Beasley earned this spotlight not just for him, but also for the city of New Orleans.
“We're from a city with a lot of culture and a lot of dope artists. I think you know, Jerin would definitely be able to pave the way for so many artists back home because this is this is huge," said Morrow.
Beasley is soaking it in and he says can’t wait for the moment he meets the model of his art.
“I don't know man, I’m going to have a plan for words but I’m quite sure it's going to switch up once I get in that energy net area of him,” said Beasley.
If you’d like to see the art, it is now on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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