About BG
I’m Brandon Gross. I graduated from Brown University with a degree in Modern Culture and Media (don’t ask) and Art Semiotics (again, don’t…) I have a practical background in photography, film, video, and most recently, creative writing. My C.V. can be found here, with some examples of my video work here with photography soon to be more organized… but if you snoop around you can see some casual flicks.
I’m currently based in both LA and NYC. (Cringing at the term “bicoastal”)
Feel free to contact me via email: brandonagross[at]gmail[dot]com.
Network with me socially
MySpace… psyche
The True Hollywood Malibu Story
In 10th grade I went to boarding school in New Hampshire at Phillips Exeter Academy to pursue the American Dream and up my West Coast pedigree by injecting some proper East Coast knowledge. It wasn’t long after my arrival that I was tagged as “the kid with the baggy pants” and branded as a “wigger.” But it was not the first time the unabashedly racist yet accepted epitaph was hurled at me like a lax (that’s lacrosse ya’ll east coast haters) ball. Oh hailll nah, “wigger” dated three years back, to my days at an all-boys (no H) Jew camp in the Berkshires. I was banging Mobb Deep “Shook Ones” in the bunk, while Justin Seegal (names changed to protect the guilty) was jerking off to DMB (that’s what East Coast herbs call Dave Matthews Band.) Sure, I jerked off in my bed in a room of 12 other bar mitzvah boys too, but at least I was listening to Mary J Blige when I did it.
When I came back from Exeter, my buddy Mazik hooked me up with a gig as the intern on the World Famous Wake Up Show. Nevermind that they called themselves “World” and “Famous” in their name, this was the West Coast hip hop show to listen to, and in fact it was iconic worldwide. (Sway, holler @ your boy). My primary functions were to carry DJ Revolution’s records into the DJ booth and record the name of each record he played on a sheet of paper so that Tech, Carmelita, and Sway could read the playlist on air. Rev used to play so many white label records that had been leaked to him, that I couldn’t always grab the name from the vinyl, so I’d ask him, “hey man, what record was that?”. ”The new Nas record.” or “It’s Evidence’s new banger.” Whatever it was, that shit was constant fire.
Anyway, one day I’m trying to keep up with Rev, who’s in a crazy mix session and I see the on-air light on… Sway’s saying, “Ay yo, Brandon, come in here and read the playlist man” So I did. My jew nasal frogger voice probably had kids all over Cali in tears, laughing as they hot boxed their rides. Kids at school that Monday even caught it… and tried to hate. But whatever, that shit was tight.
More Rap Stories…
The day I first met Nasty Nasir Jones, and sincerely told him, "you're like the messiah of rap." He hit the blunt that my friend rolled and replied, "word is bond."”
