Cey Adams, a New York City native, emerged from the downtown graffiti movement to exhibit alongside fellow artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He appeared in the historic 1982 PBS documentary Style Wars, which tracks subway graffiti in New York. Adams served as Creative Director for Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons’ Def Jam Recordings, where he co-founded the Drawing Board, the label’s in-house visual design firm. He exhibits, lectures, and teaches art workshops at institutions including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture, MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of the City of New York, New York University, Temple University, MOCA Los Angeles, Stanford University, and Howard University, among others. He co-authored DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop (HarperCollins); designed Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label (Rizzoli); and designed the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap (Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings), a box set including a 300-page book and nine-CD set.