The Life of One of Our Founders Al-Baseer Holly

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Al-Baseer Holly (ABH) is a natural born artist drawing inspiration from his experiences and surroundings.

Since childhood his mind has always been creating, a visionary at work non-stop. ABH first started off his artistic career in the music industry as part of “Philly’s Most Wanted” hip-hop duo in the early 2000s. In the mid-2000s he decided to switch over his creativity to painting. Al-Baseer Holly gathers inspiration from his time in the music industry and childhood memories. His abstract contemporary art includes famous characters, that we recall from our Saturday morning cartoons, with pop culture giving an urban feel to it.  

Al-Baseer Holly and his artworks

Some of ABH’s other artwork is inspired by Pablo Picasso and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Al-Baseer paints with layering different colors to create dimension and texture, a technique learned from Picasso. He includes Basquiat’s crown to pay respect to one of his greatest idols. In each artwork his message is always positive. For example, in the Skull Drip painting he expresses that we are all made the same and no one is more special or important, that we should treat all with kindness.

Al-Baseer Holly wearing his collaboration with Tango Hotel

You can learn more about each of Al-Baseer Holly’s paintings in our articles or check out our Canvas to Reality Series to see how we turn it into wearable art.