F1RST T1ME IS THE ARTISTIC PSEUDONYM OF BRONX-BORN RAPPER AND CONCEPTUAL ARTIST ANDRES CABAN.

SINCE 2021, HE HAS DEVELOPED PERFORMANCES, GARMENTS, VIDEO WORKS, AND PRINTED MATTER THAT TREAT RAP NOT ONLY AS A MUSICAL GENRE BUT AS A COMPOSITIONAL METHOD.

WORKING THROUGH APPROPRIATION AND REDISTRIBUTION, F1RST T1ME RECONTEXTUALIZES CULTURAL MATERIAL, OBJECTS, SLOGANS, AND GARMENTS INTO SYSTEMS THAT EXAMINE VALUE, AUTHORSHIP, AND EXCHANGE. SAMPLING, REPETITION, CIRCULATION, AND BRANDING MOVE ACROSS MEDIUMS AS STRUCTURAL TOOLS. RETAIL BECOMES MEDIUM, MERCHANDISE BECOMES ARTIFACT, AND THE MARKET BECOMES A SITE OF COMPOSITION.

CABAN GREW UP IN SOUNDVIEW, THE BRONX, A NEIGHBORHOOD CLOSELY TIED TO HIP-HOP’S CULTURAL MYTHOLOGY. HE STAGES PROJECTS AS INTERVENTIONS IN HYBRID ENVIRONMENTS WHERE ART AND COMMERCE OVERLAP, INCLUDING SCARR’S PIZZA AND LRCHQEV IN NEW YORK. HIS MOVING-IMAGE WORKS HAVE BEEN SCREENED AT ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES AND THE MOTT HAVEN FILM FESTIVAL. GROUP PRESENTATIONS INCLUDE NADA NEW YORK, PIONEER WORKS, AND WAREHOUSE AMSTERDAM.