Broward County’s walls are getting a very recognizable signature. Cey Adams — the designer behind some of hip-hop’s most enduring logos and visual campaigns — is midway through a nine-mural public art project turning parks, business corridors and city spaces into giant neighborhood love letters. Six murals are complete, with three more planned before 2027.
The project, called Lead With Love, gives Adams a very different canvas from the album covers, tour merchandise and branding that helped define hip-hop’s look. According to Local 10, Adams is the founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings and created visuals for Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys, Method Man, Slick Rick and EPMD, along with the recognizable logo for “Chappelle’s Show.”
Nine Murals, Nine Broward Identities
Lead With Love is a partnership between the Community Foundation of Broward and Business for the Arts Broward, with a goal of creating nine custom murals in nine communities by 2027. The project’s organizers say each piece is designed around the history, colors and personality of its neighborhood, rather than dropping the same oversized message everywhere and calling it a day, as outlined by Business for the Arts Broward.
That neighborhood-first approach has carried the project from Las Olas and Plantation to Dania Beach, Huizenga Park, Pompano Beach and Tamarac. The Community Foundation of Broward identified Tamarac’s mural as the sixth installment, following a Pompano Beach installation that added a colorful landmark to the city’s Old Town area.
From Def Jam To Mentoring Young Florida Artists
For Adams, the murals are also a way to pass along the support he received early in his career. He has been working with young artists from across Florida and told Local 10 that he wants them to understand that “talent combined with support is what success looks like.”
That mentorship gives the project a second layer beyond its bright colors and familiar LOVE lettering. The murals are public-facing pieces meant to be shared by residents, while Adams’ career offers the younger artists a living example of how a creative path can grow from street art and design into music history, commercial work and large-scale civic art.
The final three murals are scheduled before the initiative concludes in 2027. By then, Broward will have a countywide trail of Adams-designed landmarks — each with its own local flavor, but all carrying the same unusually straightforward message: lead with love.
