Though Louisville, Kentucky has been cranking out it’s share of talented rap artists since before the East Coast-West Coast Rivalry, southern fried hip hop rarely gets the attention that it deserves. The reason perhaps is that the shameless self promotion and ruthlessness that saturates the music industry does not come naturally to many Ohio Valley artists. This theory is personified in an individual by the name of John “B.Good” Fitzgerald, one of Kentucky’s true warrior poets.
We stumbled upon John years ago in a southern Indiana tattoo shop where he was transforming his body into a living testament to his love for a community that didn’t always love him back. Since then it seems that he’s been very busy.
Like many rap artists, B. Good is no stranger to hardship. In his youth he found out how uninviting the streets if Louisville can be. In 2008 a bout with diabetes nearly took his life. In 2015 the tragic loss of his mother might have plunged the young struggling artist into a downward spiral.
Instead Mr. Good chose to use his personal trials to fortify his resolve and strengthen his personal philosophy. The power of B. Good’s stage presence comes not from reflecting his misfortunes, but from an outpouring of his soul to his audience as though they are his support group. His performance somehow grinds out raw (and not always pleasant) emotion in an uplifting display that most people only get in church.
If this were his only contribution to the arts community we all would consider ourselves satisfied and ask where we can buy his albums. For some strange reason he decided it wasn’t quite enough. He is also a talented painter who has selected one of the most bad-assed choices of canvases we’ve ever seen..
John actually painstakingly hand paints images onto wearable hockey masks. The images are then covered with a clear coat so that they can be worn by fans of his art and of his music. The part that we at grasshoppertattoo think is more insane than the grizzly images he portrays on these masks, is the fact that most of them are sold for between $50 and $80, which is virtually unheard of for wearable artwork of this caliber. Though the concept seems dark, B. Good actually creates these remarkable works of art as a message of unity, and encourages that they be worn at his shows (even the ones the does for charities).
If anyone is asking themselves why they haven’t heard of this guy yet, the answer is that B.is too humble for his own Good. That’s where we at Grasshoppertattoo decided to step in and toot his horn for him (figuratively, you sickos).
Go to www.bgoodmusic.com. Watch his shows. Go to his shows. Buy yourself a bad-assed painted mask for a song before we talk him into raising the price. He custom paints these things! Follow him @bgoodmusic on Facebook and @Bgood502 on Twitter. Share this article and comment below! This guy deserves your support. You’ll thank us. Other people will thank you. Halloween this year will be AMAZING! We can’t wait to see what the mind of B. Good will cook up next.