The drips of paint, the spontaneity of the brushstrokes and their multiple directionality refer, in a very direct way, to the process of the artist moving through the illusory space of the canvas. This painting recalls the artist’s first works, when he began in New York in the seventies signing with Al Diaz as SAMO © (Same Old Shit), while at the same time alluding to his Haitian and Puerto Rican inheritance. It also references Basquiat’s knowledge of avant-garde artists such as Pablo Picasso. From a pictorial point of view, it is richer and denser than most of the artist’s works, with a sharp contrast between the soft and pastel tones of the background and the aggressiveness of the figure, with its forceful darkness, electrified hair, bared teeth and open arms. In his work, Basquiat often referred to the music and musicians he admired, as in King Zulu (1986), a painting featuring three great American jazz trumpeters: Bix Beiderbecke (1903–1931), Bunk Johnson (1879–1949) and Howard McGhee (1918–1987). The canvas also shows a central face inspired by Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), characterised as the King of the Zulus at the New Orleans Carnival Parade in 1949. Armstrong, also a trumpet player, explained his participation in this parade: ‘The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club was situated in the neighbourhood that I was reared… And no place that I’ve ever been could remove the thought… that, someday, I will be the King of the Zulus… I won it in 1949... Wow.’ Basquiat places his King Zulu at the centre of the canvas, while the musicians are submerged in a blue space that evokes the lyrical sound of the blues. Finally, Sterno (1985) presents an aggressive and apocalyptic vision of alcohol abuse. The presence of a gin bottle at the centre of the canvas is associated with a can of Sterno (a.k.a. canned heat), an alcohol-based fuel created in 1920, used for heating food products but also notorious for its abuse as an alcohol substitute. Basquiat strengthens the apocalyptic message with ‘Drink Sterno’ written on the can and an image in the foreground of a monster with a double mouth, wolf’s teeth and horns. The dark and reddish tones contribute intensity to this nihilistic evocation of the perils of alcohol abuse.