What is Digg?91 Comments
- hormel, on 07/18/2008, -1/+31Only the commercial *****. True hip hop still exists today and is still deeply rooted in graffiti, tagging, breaking, etc. It's harder to find, but believe me that there are hundreds if not thousands of better rappers than whoever the ***** is on MTV these days.
- freqk, on 07/18/2008, -8/+33Interesting.
Too bad today's Rap is so horrible. - Kbiscu1t, on 07/18/2008, -1/+22Incredible watch, and really interesting. Thats all I really have to say 0.o
- Cuchanu, on 07/18/2008, -0/+14It's been awhile since urban black culture wasn't dictated by old white guys at MTV.
- slothchunk, on 07/18/2008, -1/+14makes you wonder what would have happened if she hadn't taken those pictures. Most likely, somebody else would have and it still would have caught on. But what if it didn't, and we lived in a world without hip-hop? What would it be like?
Maybe WE could have been cool! - pingpants, on 07/18/2008, -0/+12love how she stumbled upon it
- norman619, on 07/18/2008, -0/+11The OG rap is by far of higher quality and more intelligent than today's BS about how much money they have or how many sluts they have. Old skool Rap had a real message and made biting social commentary. It's sad when EMNEM's stuff is closer to what Rap was really about than the other ***** you hear on the radio. This generation of Rap fans haven't heard anything that comes close to the stuff done by Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Curtis Blow, and others. When I hear the stuff that passes for Rap on the radio today I can feel my IQ drop as it plays. What MTV has done to hip hop is flat out criminal.
"I've got hoes In different area codes" - Ludacris
WTF? - kjc5050, on 07/18/2008, -1/+11Very interesting... thanks. Well worth watching!
- knightblade2oo4, on 07/18/2008, -0/+10you dont know what you're missing man.
aesop rock, saigon, Jurassic 5, cage, blue scholars, common market, the weathermen crew, del, immortal technique, talib kweli, wyclef jean, mos def, jean grae, etc etc etc the list goes on.
you just gotta look around. check out definitivejux.com for real rap artists. they're my favorite label. - wellyuk, on 07/18/2008, -1/+10@Badandy:
Jay-Z? o_O
And "breaking stuff"? By breaking, he means break dancing NOT "breaking stuff". Come on guy. Obviously being a huge fan of Mos Def, Jurassic 5 and, most importantly, Jay-Z, you must be totally down with hip hop culture, so where did you get "breaking stuff" from?
And personally speaking, a painted wall as far more attractive than bare concrete. - Millsee, on 07/18/2008, -0/+9Don't-push-me-'cos-I'm-close-to-the-edge
- CaviMike, on 07/18/2008, -0/+8"Guns, bitches and bling were never part of the 4 elements of hip hop and they never will be" ~unknown
Forgot where I read it but AMEN. Keep it real. - thestrongrope, on 07/18/2008, -0/+8I have to say, I was up in Montreal a couple of weeks ago and saw one of the most amazing pieces of graffiti. I could have literally stood there for an hour dissecting this thing. I had to get up right next to the wall to see if part was really etched in or if it was actually paint. It was AMAZING! So much detail and Huge as well. Absolutely beautiful. wish I had a picture : ( Does anybody know it? it is near Old Montreal right next to an overpass. I know really helpful.
- lazycat, on 07/18/2008, -0/+8Well, it's difficult to fit "Earliest examples of emerging hip hop" and "Check out these vintage footage of NYC subway trains completely covered with graffiti! o_O" into one short title. Of course I am aware that the history of graffiti stretches deep into the ancient times. In fact, some prehistoric cave art may be classified as graffiti.
- Iztikeit, on 07/18/2008, -0/+7Awesome video. Can't believe people think great graffiti in an obscure place is vandalism. Hip hop was so pure at one point, can't believe how crappy (money, money, money, dro and hoes!) it is now.
pre 1979? Hip hop is older than I thought. - FidelBlack, on 07/18/2008, -0/+6Great story. Growing up in NYC i remember being very young and loved to look out the window at the elevated train outside and see all the different styles used on subway cars. Of course at that age i didn't understand what the letters said i was just the kid who thought the subway cars looked cool with different paint schemes.
- HigherLogic, on 07/18/2008, -0/+6All genres of music have the good and the bad. It'd be unfair of me to judge all Rock music by what I hear on the radio.
- Millsee, on 07/18/2008, -0/+6Well, that's your opinion. In certain places it can be a nuisance, sure - but don't say it isn't art. It actually brightens some places up, particularly run-down areas.
Some of the best designs and letter-forms have derived from graffiti. - pennvneff, on 07/18/2008, -0/+6That makes me want to watch the old flick "Beat Street" again.
- username7410, on 07/18/2008, -0/+5If you enjoyed this check the documentary Style Wars.
"Style Wars is an early documentary on hip hop culture, made by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant, made in New York City in 1983. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although breakdancing and rapping are covered to a lesser extent. The film was originally aired on PBS television in 1983, and was subsequently shown in several film festivals to much acclaim, including the Vancouver Film Festival."
Thank God for people like Martha Cooper, without them so much history would have been lost. - beefchi, on 07/18/2008, -0/+5anybody ever watch style wars? that's a great film about new york graffiti
- hormel, on 07/18/2008, -0/+5Damn. That piece on the Mission Old Brewery building is amazing. Who is/are the artist(s)?
- inactive, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4I spent a good deal of my youth as a graffiti artist and it's a tough business. A lot of people see the finished result but rarely think about the effort, the scouting, the planning and actually pulling it off. I have since replaced painting on walls to painting on canvas, but I'm glad this particular art form is still getting recognition and continuing to evolve at a rapid pace. Mad respect.
- staffell, on 07/18/2008, -0/+42 words
Wild Style
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084904/ - inactive, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4 The pictures are great. I always liked break dancing but I have to say I remember living in NYC in the 70's and most of the graffiti was an eyesore. Very little of it was these big stylistic pieces, most of it was just scribbled tags that very ugly. There's a reason people hated it and not because they were too narrow minded to see the beauty.
Even today look through were you live at all the graffiti and take a note how much of it is just vandalizing scribble versus how much has some forethought and artistic merit. - weakinduhknees, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3if you're into this stuff, check out the documentary "Bomb It"
- cryemoxkidcry, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3Very nice. Makes me proud to be a part of that.
- inactive, on 07/18/2008, -1/+4Well your title was accurate based on the video, it's the lady in the video I'm talking about.
She keeps saying graffiti to refer to tags. - Connormac44, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3Nope, not wrong. I live in Greenwich Village.
- originaldna, on 07/18/2008, -1/+4Great video, it was kool until they invaded our *****, almost like when the Greeks came to Africa. LONG LIVE HIP HOP!!!!
- Jelloed, on 07/18/2008, -1/+4theres some really awesome stuff in montreal and we hold a graffiti/hip hop show every year called Under pressure
http://www.underpressure.ca/
really great event if your in town for it check it out - inactive, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2This article says it better than I could:
The Montreal Gazette, Monday, November 12, 2007
Can art conquer graffiti? Montreal is about to find out. Montreal city councillor Marcel Tremblay has laid down a challenge to the spray-paint brigade. He announced that the city is willing to pay for artistic merit in public art. If that includes graffitists, that's fine. If it doesn't, they should make way for real artists.
A few days ago Tremblay stood before what is believed to be the largest mural the city has ever seen, a 23 metre by 24 metre piece (see photo) celebrating the 40th anniversary of Expo 67.
The mural was painted by Jasmin Guérard-Alie and Simon Bachand on the wall of the Old Brewery Mission at the corner of St. Antoine St. and St. Laurent Blvd. Tremblay said he would like to see a series of murals showcasing the city's history - as well as setting a standard of excellence in public art.
He hopes to be able to get at least some of Montreal's so-called "graffiti artists" involved in the project. It's a worthwhile initiative. Many spray-painters merely repeat the same banal squiggles over and over again, but a few do show some artistic talent. If both groups could be deterred from using other people's walls, the city would save $6.5 million in clean-up costs.
Do not-very-good graffitists take any inspiration from more-talented ones? Could there be a "trickle-down" effect here? We don't know, frankly. But it's worth a try, and the historic murals are not a bad idea even if they have no effect on graffiti.
With its graffiti clean-up budget already at $5.5 million a year, Montreal has announced that it will be spending an additional $1 million in response to requests from suburbs such as Île Bizard, which has been hit recently with an epidemic of spray-paint vandalism.
We wish Tremblay good luck in his novel attack against a scourge that defaces cities all over the world. Here's a chance for spray punks to step up to real art which can make the city more interesting. Instead of scrawls, we could have paintings that really mean something to Montrealers.
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007
They are working on another one, (really large again) downtown. - Stereotype77, on 07/18/2008, -1/+3Please don't be 'that' guy...
- JohnnyRad, on 07/18/2008, -1/+3makes me wanna hit some flats
- oliyoung, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2that was damned cool, awesome find
- Connormac44, on 07/18/2008, -2/+4It's so funny to be in New York now. A lot of yuppie business men and young hipster asswipes. Nothing like this anymore.
- innocentsinner, on 07/18/2008, -1/+3The D in the thumbnail reminds me of Double Dare
- inactive, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2"You do know there is more to art than aesthetics, right? "
Yeah, meaning. And primitive territorial markings don't have it. - Iztikeit, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2Yeah, you are right.....
- diggerphelps, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2RIP Dondi.
- johndarko, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1INFAMY! great post!
- inactive, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1People just need to know the difference between tagging and real graffiti artists. Most graffiti artists respect private property and mostly do their artwork over obtrusive billboards. I'd much rather see stuff like that than a giant AT&T ad selling me something. Taggers are just dumb ***** who just spraypaint their name anywhere with no artistic merit whatsoever.
- Iztikeit, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1Touche, touche.......but I doubt all hip hop graffiti masters were meaningless bastards.
- jerbaker, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Is that Adam Yauch (Beastie Boys' MCA) in that photo of Run DMC at 5:25?
- berzerk, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1word!
- nurriz, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Sometimes I wish i could digg several times. This was really good. Loved this modern history lesson.
Stuff like this will happen less often as the route from totallly unknown to world fame is shortened. I would have loved to have witnessed this period in time first hand. - inactive, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1It did used to be less saturated, but in my opinion the money was always part of it. Look at slick rick with the gold chains on or Paid in full. Money's been in the game for a minute, it's just very, extremely, over-exaggerated now.
- Iztikeit, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1Who said it was a predominate world culture? Why does it have to be? No one said Hip-Hop was ***** Christianity here.
- pollyboxer, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Your stuff is cool...keep it up!
- sl4x0r, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1The photographer has a photo book entitled "Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984". Looks rad.
http://www.amazon.com/Hip-Hop-Files-Photographs-19 ... -
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