Roc Marciano was surrounded by masterpieces inspired by "the greatest" Muhammad Ali as he debuted his and The Alchemist's latest work of art, The Skeleton Key.
The New York native teamed up with revered artist Josué Thomas to host a rare art show during the peak of Art Basel weekend in Miami. Upon walking into the pop-up gallery in Miami's Design District, guests were instantly greeted by an "Art That Kills" themed boxing gym followed by pieces from Thomas' solo exhibit "Mental Energy." The collection includes several incredible depictions of Ali that Thomas created with the blessing of the famed boxer's estate.
"He's one of my best friends," Marciano said about collaborating with Thomas. "Just organic what I'm saying. He's a fire visual artist. I handle the audio, know what I'm saying? So it's like a good synergy."
Thomas made the paintings by using approved images of Ali and integrating a mixture spray paint, oil, acrylic, crayon and other types of paint. He also featured an installation dedicated to his rare collaboration with Asics. The walls were covered with graffiti over a collage of tattered GALLERY DEPT. and Asics posters. Three pairs of athletic sneakers, including one completely covered with white paint, rested on pedestals next to the boxing ring.
Roc's collaboration with Josué Thomas made sense. After all, Thomas made the multicolored album cover for The Skeleton Key. Among all the artwork in the gallery, one piece by Thomas in particular caught Marciano's eye. Behind the boxing ring was a huge fine art painting of Ali called "CHAMP." Thomas used spray paint, acrylic paint, acrylic marker, pencil, crayon, pastel, and charcoals to surround Ali with bright silver and yellow hues. He included the word "fight" in red on both sides of Ali along with the phrase "World champion of freedom" in magazine clippings at the bottom.
Photo: Painting by Josué Thomas & Photo by Tony M. Centeno
"That's the one," Roc Marci said. "I'm trying to get that one in my crib. I'm going to try to wheel and deal to see if I can get that one."
Once the gallery was filled with fans, the 46-year-old rapper and producer addressed the crowd before he played The Skeleton Key in public for the first time. Marciano and Thomas stood in the middle of the boxing ring together as fans gathered to hear 10 tracks produced The Alchemist like "Chateau Josué" — a clever shout-out to the GALLERY DEPT. founder — and his latest street hit "Chopstick." Marciano says he "gets back to the basics" on this project and didn't rely on any other collaborations.
"There's no collaborations on this one —— Just me and Alchemist," he said. "Alchemist is on the board. I'm rapping. I wanted just to get back to the basics, you know what I'm saying? I don't need to rap with nobody."
"We just fly over everything like pelican wings," Roc Marci raps on "Cryotherapy." "Bentley Bentayga dreams/To get in this SUV, you need a skeleton key."
Roc Marciano released The Skeleton Key two days later on his website RocMarci.com. The original version of the album comes with two bonus tracks "Hard Drugz" and "Bleu Mouson," which fans won't find on streaming services. Their joint album serves as a follow-up to the duo's 2022 LP The Elephant Man's Bones featuring Action Bronson, Boldy James, Ice-T, and Knowledge The Pirate. It also arrived several months after Roc Marciano dropped his ninth solo album Marciology, which arrived via Roc's Pimpire Records and Roc Nation's Equity Distribution.
Listen to Roc Marciano and The Alchemist's The Skeleton Key on iHeartRadio now and watch the music video for "Chopstick" below.