The energy of New York City throughout the 90s remains unmatched. The fashion was fresh, the art was outspoken, and genres like hip-hop were developing rapidly with some of the best artists in its category.

Tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, Tokyo-based brand Macbeth Studios launches the Mayonaize x Public Enemy collection. Combining style, passion, and self-expression that blends the artistry of powerful figures, its latest pieces serve up a strong message with the uniform tagline: “Fight the Power”.

Hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, Mayonaize is an artist who predominantly creates in the world of graffiti and tattooing. Known worldwide for his calligraphy-styled art on any canvas, Mayonaize explains the importance of blending passion in your profession. “Your hobbies should be enjoyable," he adds of his art, "So, for me, creating is like a motor function. My joints, my muscles, my ligaments, they all move a certain angle and when I hit that angle it's really satisfying. So a lot of what I do is just because it is satisfying for me to do it. Basically, I'm always searching for the perfect brushstroke basically.”

This passion that stems from expressing your truest form is one of the many common characteristics between Mayonaize and Public Enemy and served as the basis for this collaboration. To celebrate the collaboration amongst cultural legends, we sat down with Mayonaize to talk about all things tattooing, the collection and, of course, the impact of Public Enemy.

How did you develop your own unique style?

I've been tattooing for 20 years and I haven't always been doing my exact style. Since tattooing can be stressful, I thought it would be good to do something else in the art world as an outlet. So I got into graffiti. It all started when I saw a video called “Style Wars”, which is about the birth of graffiti in New York and it inspired me to go and start painting graffiti myself. That’s when I began tagging, which is what forged my calligraphy style in tattooing.

What changes in your creative process from tattooing to painting to tagging?

Not a lot. To me, it’s the same thing. When tagging, I always look around. For example, f I'm going to paint a building, I look at the buildings around it. It’s a very similar process to tattooing. If I'm going to do a tattoo, I look at the shape of the body and I try and fit it with the shape of the body. I’m really lucky actually, I don't have to think too much about details because it’s a shared formula that I use. I just look at something and I can tell the best composition for it.

What changes in your creative process from tattooing to painting to tagging?

Not a lot. To me, it’s the same thing. When tagging, I always look around. For example, f I'm going to paint a building, I look at the buildings around it. It’s a very similar process to tattooing. If I'm going to do a tattoo, I look at the shape of the body and I try and fit it with the shape of the body. I’m really lucky actually, I don't have to think too much about details because it’s a shared formula that I use. I just look at something and I can tell the best composition for it.