Musical artists have made me who I am today. Two years ago, for the 50th anniversary of the genre, I wrote that Hip Hop Saved My Life. And it’s true: Music and musicians helped pave my way to success and shaped my way of thinking, working and moving through.

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I got to know most of the artists below while working with Mitchell & Ness. One thing that was different about my business relationship with them: I didn’t give anything away for free. Having them pay, even at a discount, made people like Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Snoop and Biz Markie want their jerseys, jackets and hats even more. Other designers and labels give away their clothing to celebrities. But people who already have the kit and caboodle, if they get something exclusive for free, it doesn’t mean anything. To them, paying makes it worthwhile.

After my Mitchell & Ness days, I photographed some of the artists I’d met using black-and-white Kodak 120 film and my Canon AE-1. Film is old-school; it gives photos more depth, more texture, makes pictures pop more. I did some color, too, but black-and-white was my preference.

It’s a joy to recollect about the friends I made and things I experienced through the years. Looking back, knowing how rich my life has been because I followed my passion, is humbling.

Snoop Dogg, 2014 Roots Picnic

A year into my time at Mitchell & Ness, I found myself flying out to L.A. for the 2001 American Music Awards. It was after 9-11, and my plane ticket cost me about $5,000 last minute because Diddy wanted me to dress him. He was hosting with Jenny McCarthy. I flew from Philly to Seattle to L.A. with two boxes full of jerseys.

Snoop Dogg at the 2014 Roots Picnic.

I went straight to the rehearsal hall. Snoop pulls up in my favorite car ever, a ‘’68 Chevelle, smoked out from all the weed. He’s telling me how much he loved the jerseys (he wore Dodgers in his performance with Diddy) and that he’s a Steelers fan like me. I wound up driving with him to his house. I said, “Look, I gotta let this window down” to let the smoke out.

In this shot, from the Roots Picnic, he’s repping Philly with a Mitchell and Ness sweater. Snoop knows where his bread is buttered.

Lupe Fiasco, 2010, Trocadero

The first performer I photographed was Lupe Fiasco, who invited me in 2010 to come to his concert at the Trocadero. I was, you know, backstage with him, and — you know me — I always like to do things different. For this shot, I went faster on the shutter so I could slow things down, for a more in-depth, film photography.

Then, when Made in America came around, I said: Let me carry my film camera as well. And that’s what I did.

Lupe Fiasco in 2010 at the Trocadero (left). Rakim at the 2014 Odunde Festival. Rakim, 2014 Odunde Festival

Rakim is my favorite hip hop artist of all time. He’s the GOAT, the God MC. When he came around, he changed the melodic form of rhyming. He put punctuations in everything — before him everybody just fast rap. He changed it all by putting in hooks. In 1986, Charlie Mack brought him to my block, 56 and Spruce. Never in my wildest did I think one day we’d become friends.

Jay-Z, 2012 Made in America

I went to Made in America as a photographer, and was in the pit with all the photographers shooting for the wire services, just shutter, shutter. I’m like, no: How I’m looking at it is as artistic motion. I took my time, breathed, and decided: I’m gonna capture the decisive moment, when you see the image that just lights up to you.

The black-and-white film I used for these shots of Jay-Z at the inaugural 2012 Made in America is why you see the motion, why his image illuminates.

Jay-Z at Made in America, his Labor Day weekend festival.

Jay-Z and I go back. On a Sunday in 2003, I’m watching my Steelers, and he calls me up: “Rube, I need a, I need a, um, a banner jersey for my concert at Madison Square Garden.” He wants a Knicks jersey, but it says Rock-A-Fella, for his Fade to Black concert. I cursed him. He’s interrupting my Steelers.

So, I call Peter [Capolino, Mitchell & Ness owner], and Peter calls the factory in Missouri, and they make it. He got it that Tuesday morning. That night, I’m there at the concert, and Michael Buffer comes on — most people don’t know the WWE announcer Michael Buffer, you know, “Let’s get ready to rumble!” is from Philly — and they’re raising the jersey up there in the same corner where the banners go in Madison Square Garden, the greatest arena in the world. And I’m just there, crying my eyes out. (You can see it on YouTube.)

Mitchell & Ness collaborated with Jay-Z’s label to make 999 jerseys that said “Rock-A-Fella.” But our first collaboration was with Supreme, a Yankees jersey.

Run-DMC, 2012 Made in America

This is DMC with his arms in a B-boy stance, performing “Peter Piper.”

DMC was a great friend to me during my Mitchell & Ness days. He signed my exclusive Run-DMC Adidas, “Rube, thank you for walking this way.” I keep them in a plastic case, and when I put them out at my parties, people just go crazy.

DMC of Run-DMC at the 2012 Made in America Festival. A$AP Rocky at the 2015 Roots Picnic. A$AP Rocky, 2015 Roots Picnic

A$AP Rocky’s parents named him after Rakim. So when I met him backstage at the old Festival Pier, I said: Man, you got a big torch to hold. And he said: Look, that’s why I got into it, to do him justice. In this shot he has the microphone in his mouth; he’s doing his hand gestures. And he really did Rakim justice.

Rita Ora, 2014 Made in America

This photo of Rita Ora bending over, just giving a very soulful vibe, reminds me of Whitney Houston. You can see her baritone coming down in this image. With the American flag in the back, this moment was just so meaningful.

Rita Ora at 2014 Made in America (left). Trey Songz at the 2016 Powerhouse concert, Wells Fargo Center. Trey Songz, 2016 Powerhouse, Wells Fargo Center

Trey Songz had the women going crazy with his shirt off. I took my daughter to that concert. She was a teenager, and I’m covering her eyes. I shot this when he was singing his song “I Invented Sex.”

Biz Markie, 2015 Odunde

Biz, rest in peace, he was one of my biggest friends and fans. The last time I saw him, I was with my lady outside the old Delaware Ave movie theater. I’m walking out of the old camera supplies store Calumet; he was out there waiting for a friend to go into Warmdaddy’s. We hugged each other, and my lady, she was going goo-goo gaga over this hip-hop legend.

Biz Markie at 2015 Odunde.

This is him performing at Odunde, but we also traveled to Super Bowls all over the country. He performed at Donovan McNabb’s going-away party after the Eagles traded him. I used to give him exclusive Mitchell & Ness stuff for his performances. He was a great friend and I miss him dearly.

Meek Mill, 2014, Wells Fargo Center

Meek Mill, I’ve known him a long time, since he was coming up in the ranks, doing YouTube videos. His family is from South Philly; his uncle was a famous local DJ. Back in the day, he used to beg me for jerseys. And I said to him: No. You gotta earn your stripes first.

Meek Mill in 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center.

That’s why it’s so crazy that later, he hooked up with Michael Rubin, and now he’s one of the co-owners of Mitchell & Ness.

The photo of Meek with the smoke behind him is at his Meek Mill and Friends concert with Rick Ross, Fabolos, Jadakiss …

Lil Uzi Vert, 2016 Powerhouse and Made in America Festival

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Uzi perform. Meek Mill was running at the Roots Picnic and was like “I gotta go see Uzi.” He was on point: Uzi’s stage presence is like none other, he runs around and gets the crowd involved. It’s a beautiful thing.

Lil Uzi Vert at 2016 Made in America (left) and 20216 Powerhouse. Usher and The Roots, 2016 Roots Picnic

This is another one from the old Festival Pier. Usher was headlining, and performed with The Roots. That’s MC Black Thought.

Usher and Black Thought and The Roots at the 2016 Roots PIcnic.

My history with Usher is, his former wife Tameka Foster styled him in a bunch of jerseys for his “U Don’t Have To Call” video. I was supposed to be in it, but I caught the late flight to L.A. and didn’t get there in time.

G-Eazy, 2015 Made in America

I met G-Eazy backstage at first; he had been up there performing with Fabolos, and I complimented him on that jacket. I said, “That’s a Yves Saint Laurent jacket.” It’s a tailored varsity jacket with no logo, and costs like $5,000. And he’s like: Man, you know your style. He must have been thinking: How does this photographer know about me?

And then somebody told him who I was, and he was like, “Oh, you the GOAT. Ain’t too many people know about this jacket.” This shot is of him on the Made in America side stage.

G-Eazy (left) and Nick Jonas, both at 2015 Made in America. Nick Jonas, 2015 Made in America

This is when Nick Jonas came back out solo with his hit “Cake by the Ocean.” I had met the Jonas Brothers before, when BJ and Craig Spencer had them perform at the Chickie’s & Pete’s in South Philly for their daughter’s bat mitzvah back in 2003.

Leslie Odom Jr., 2016, the Hamptons Leslie Odom Jr.’s microphone.

This is Leslie Odom Jr’s microphone just before he’s about to hit the stage at the opera house in the Hamptons, where he had asked me to come to cater for him and photograph him. His crew was working on lighting, and I just snapped it with my film camera. This was the time I met Mariska Hargitay and her husband. It was a high point, and the shot just feels iconic to me.

West Philly born and raised with a slosh of Brooklyn, Big Rube partnered with Mitchell & Ness in 2000 to help make it a global brand marketing and selling high-end throwback jerseys. He has been photographing Philly since 2009, including in a Daily News Column from 2011 to 2017. He’s also a chef, preparing to open his own space in 2026.

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Clockwise from top left: Rita Ora, Meek Mill, Jay-Z, A$AP Rocky, DMC. Photos by Reuben Harley.