Taji Ameen

  • Marco Hernandez: The Skate Life Photography King of Staten Island

    For this week's Mahal, I caught up with skate-life photographer, Marco Hernandez. A native of Staten Island, home to one of the world's largest landfills, Marco snaps pics of skateboarders, bums, dead animals, girls, and anything else that catches his...

  • The Amazing Falcon Bowse T-Shirt Transformation Program

    Falcon Bowse has spent many years traveling between New York and San Francisco tattooing people and doing interior design. His most recent project, the Amazing Falcon Bowse T-shirt Transformation Program, creates five-panel hats out of t-shirts.

  • Billy Rohan Left Florida to Create Illuminati Videos

    This week, I caught up with my forever friend, the pro skateboard personality and filmmaker Billy Rohan. After spending a year in Florida to gather his thoughts, he’s back in New York City to launch a new video series called Illumignarly.

  • 2013 Summer Roll

    Between the outdoor drawing sessions and the sweet breeze of the air-conditioned cinemas, summertime is the most exciting time to mess around in New York City. In honor of the summer's encroaching end, I decided to share another summer photo roll.

  • We Spoke to Wilsonman About the Night NYPD Officers Attacked Him

    Recently, I caught up with my friend Wilsonman. A member of the rap group the Stone Rollers Stone Gang, he’s spending his golden years laying down smooth rhymes and frequenting the New York City party scene. Unfortunately, NYPD officers recently beat...

  • Meet the Legends of the Lower East Side

    Throughout the past year, Clayton Patterson has written about the crucial figures and courageous artists of the Lower East Side. He honored them this week at the Acker Awards. I spoke to Clayton to learn more about the legends, the ceremony, and how he...

  • Postmodernism and Sumo Wrestlers: An Interview with Joseph McElroy

    Joseph McElroy is one of postmodernism’s major players, and at age 82, he's still kicking. His new book, Cannonball, tells the complicated story of an inexperienced photographer, who shoots government staged propaganda during the Iraq War...

  • Pizza Party at the Good Company

    For this week's Mahal, I headed over to the Good Company in the Lower East Side of Manhattan for a pizza party in celebration of Henry Gunderson's artwork. The Good Company opened six months ago. It was an idea birthed during an acid trip and its main...

  • Wildstyle with Clayton Patterson

    For this week's Mahal, I got to experience the Wildstyle and Tattoo Messe, a traveling carnival of odd and extreme tattooing, circus culture, and avant-garde body art, through the lens of Clayton Patterson. Over the last few decades, Clayton has been...

  • Rolling Blunts with the OG Dutch Master and T. Kid

    For this week's Mahal, alongside VICE's other regular weekend column, Weediquette, I hosted a blunt rolling contest between Baltimore rapper OG Dutch Master and New York's T. Kid. After hearing all the hype about Dutchy, namely his rapping skills and...

  • Shredding with Galen DeKemper

    Galen DeKemper has been shredding New York City for the last decade. For this week's Taji's Mahal, I got to talk to him about his latest skateboarding video, 'MMM,' how Houston Bump and Gay Ledge are his favorite skate spots in the city, and the future...

  • Hanging with John Joseph of the Cro-Mags

    John has lived many lives, overcoming every possible hardship known to mankind. The experience has transformed him into a super-natural being. Nowadays, when he is not raging the stage with the Cro-Mags, he spends his mornings feeding the homeless in...