Recommendation! - Style Warrior

The 'Heroes' LE print

Music Of Life shirt - upcoming

There are a few places you can find the old UK b-boys hanging out these days. If not here then over at Waxer's Disco Scratch or Websta's Heroes website. There's some really interesting people about and some are still working hard pushing forwards with the UK ethic.

I've dug out the old original logo and dusted it off to bring your attention to one of these people in particular, Lovegrove, and his Style Warrior site.
A few years back he originally produced some Hijack t-shirts and then moved on to Overlord X, Son of Noise, Gunshot and MC Mell'O'. Being an ex-writer means that he has that graphic edge just right for design work.
He is now in the process of putting together a Music Of Life shirt and has the blessing of Simon Harris, too. More news on this when I have it.

In the meantime you can still just about get hold of one of the few remaining copies of his Limited Edition 'Heroes' print. This comes in A2 in size, printed in 3 spot colours using a litho press on a heavyweight art stock paper. Look closely at the picture and see how many legendary British acts you can see.
I own one and it really is a thing of beauty. Get yourself over to http://www.stylewarrior.co.uk and grab one today. Or email Lovegrove at info@stylewarrior.co.uk

Hush Hip Hop Tour Flicks

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All pictures are the property of J Glover. Please do not reproduce without permission.


Hush Hip Hop Tours are based in New York City and take the form of a busride through the city stopping at famous landmarks along the way with luminaries such as GrandMaster Caz from The Cold Crush Brothers, Kurtis Blow, Rahiem of The Furious Five or even Reggie Reg from The Crash Crew stepping onboard.

One ABU! member, Jim, has had the lucky fortune of going on one of the tours and has very kindly sent in all of these fantastic shots. In his own words this is his description of each picture.



1, 2 & 3 - The Bronx Walk Of Fame



4 - A b-boy demonstrating one of the elements on the hip hop tour.



5 - Grandmaster Caz with his reply to 'Rapper's Delight'. He was left out of a bigger place in history by his then manager who stole his rhymes in a audition for the Sugarhill Gang, so he'd written a slightly scathing attack on the track, describing what happened.



6 - Caz demonstrating the look and attitude.



7 - This was once Harlem World, in Harlem, where people came from all over the 5 Boroughs in the late 70's to check out what was going down in the Bronx.



8 & 9 - It looks very different now, now that most of it has been demolished, but this is the amphitheatre used in Wild Style.  Shame really, but at least some of it remains.



10 - Random photo of a gateway to the Bronx.



11 - Kool Herc DJ'd his first party here in 1973. There were so many people trying to get in that it eventually moved outside and became the first block party.



12 - Two members of the Disco Four who were just walking along the street as we passed them by. The girl that runs the tour gave them each a t-shirt of the tour.



13 - Caz outside the Graffiti Hall Of Fame, East Harlem. It was closed for a while when we got there (June 2008) when these photos were taken.



14 - Caz and his helpful tour guide assistant show us how to get ''..power from a street light, made the place dark'' - I love that track DJ Scott La Rock, Blastmaster KRS. One & D-Nice - 'South Bronx'.


Thanks so much to Jim for this. I don't know know about you but this has made me feel just a bit closer to our heritage and has now fueled my desire to eventually reach the birthplace of hip hop at least before I'm 50 (I'm giving myself plenty of scope here, y'understand!)


Edit: Looking at the shots of the ampitheatre - it seems to have shrunk since 1982! Look at the pictures of the Wild Style jam with all the artists on stage and audience watching and it seemed massive. The awe I felt when LEE climbed over the main arch seems to have dampened a little as I see that it wasn't that high up after all.






Link-a-rama:

Hush Hip Hop Tours



Me after seeing the Ampitheatre shots

BBC 6 Music Street Sounds Special

Especially of interest to the European b-boys and possibly the more open-eared US counterparts is news that Street Sounds' mogul Morgan Khan will be taking part in a special 2-hour special on the radio.

Yes, on 20th June tune into BBC Radio 6 Music at 8pm and we'll hear the man elaborate on a few stories from the once-great British record label from the 80's.
Maybe we'll hear tales of how he watched in awe of the legendary Mastermind in a blur around his precious GLI as he mixed Electro 9? Or maybe how he guffawed to himself as he coined the immortal 'Electro is aural sex' tagline?

However, I feel my 'Hat Of Scorn' calling to be placed atop my noggin whilst listening in.
Why?
Well, for a start it's being hosted by Dave Pearce.
A lot of you reading this will already be feeling a sharp jab in your sides at the mere mention of his name which is a shame as this man was responsible for a lot of people getting into hip hop in the late 1980's via his A Fresh Start To The Week show on Radio London.
Unfortunately he dropped hip hop faster than a fat man discovering that he's inadvertently picked up a salad stuffed-crust pizza before it's descent.
Dave employed the prefix 'Dangerous' and jumped on the Techno bandwagon, not forgetting to add 'Eating Pies' to his list of hobbies on his CV along the way whereby playing as much rap in his sets as Steve Wright currently does in the afternoons.

Another reason I have my doubts is that a few years ago there was a much pant-wettingly, anticipated special on BBC's 'yoof' (that's the first time I've ever spelled it like that. Does that mean I'm officially an old git?) station BBC 1Xtra which featured the Grand Daddy of Electro and Hip Hop on UK radio, Mike Allen.
It ended up being a rather tame affair in which nothing new was learned about the man. And he didn't even spin the tunes himself. He'd sold his collection. And the choice of music was mediocre to say the least - no obscure classics that we remembered from days of yore. More like Our Price Presents Some Right Hip Hop Stonkers and presented by Timmy Mallet.

But I can't help thinking like this. Hip Hop has hurt me in the past and my defences are already up ready to shield me to the upcoming knowledge that maybe Morgan Khan wasn't always the smiliest and nicest man in Electro after all I'd read in The Street Scene back in my bedroom in 1985.
Fingers crossed, eh?

Link-a-rama:

BBC Radio 6

Wise To The Game

I've been listening to a great mix today from DJ AD.
Entitled Wise To The Game, it's just a touch over 30 minutes and features some well-known joints all deftly mixed together with some choice samples and snatches of dialogue from tv and films (Only Fools And Horses!)

Grab it here.

For more on DJ AD visit his pages here and here.

Is This The Ampitheatre From Wild Style?

View Larger Map

As the title says....is it?
Unfortunately there is no Google Street View close enough to check but this aerial view looks promising.
Going on the adverts in my Wild Style Sampler book, it is "4 blocks south of Houston St" or "Delancey St" depending on which advert you read.
At least it's still around.

Talking of which, I haven't read that book since I got it 3 years ago and as I cracked it open again tonight it still had that lovely 'new book' smell. Beautiful.

If anyone can shed any light on the whereabouts of the location of the Wild Style mural then that would be double def fresh.
All I know is that it was done in Riverside Park in NY. But one Google search later and I realise that Riverside Park is big. Very Big.

The Wild Style Reunion 2010

Who doesn't want to attend this?
A 2-day event exploring the wonders of the classic hip hop movie, Wild Style.
Just look at the flyer.
DJ Tony Tone & Charlie Chase. 
Rocksteady Crew. 
COPE 2. 
Chief Rocker Busy Bee. 
Double Trouble.
A live Wild Style dedication mural.
And a meet 'n' greet with the man, Charlie Ahearn

Looking For The Perfect Beat - A Hip Hop History

I've ripped this documentary from my own D-120 cassette. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while as it's a really good piece of history.
Hosted by Jeff Young, this hour-long documentary features some interesting chats with people such as Grandmaster Flash, Russell Simmons,  Run DMC, Marley Marl, Ice T, Flavor Flav, Prince Paul and others!
It was broadcast originally on 14/07/1990 on BBC Radio 1 and as far as I'm aware is as rare as rocking horse poo.
It begins in the 1970's and features the "Hunter S. Thompson of Hip Hop", Bonz Malone with some wild tales of the old school. Bam and Arthur Baker talk about Planet Rock and Hip hop historian and ex-Head of Publicity at Def Jam, Bill Adler speaks about Run DMC.

Looking For The Perfect Beat - A Hip Hop History. Grab this one as it's a great bit of history.

RIP Frank Frazetta

Who he?
Well he was an illustrator who painted fantasy landscapes and science fiction fantasy art who sadly died at 82 today.
The reason I'm mentioning him is simple.
Style Wars?
Kase?
Subway station?
The Beastmaster.... Yes?

The legendary one-armed graffiti writer KASE points at a poster for the film The Beastmaster and alludes to the painting being similar to the work of Vaughn Bode and Frank Frazetta.


Look at that eagle.
Word. l said look at that eye. You know where he got that from, right?
From Vaughn Bode and who?  

Frank Frazetta! 

The BEASTMASTER. The letters is breakin out.
'The epic adventures of a new kind of hero! That's what we're gonna be. The extraterrestrial brothers, you know what I'm saying? Extra terrest! Knowin we the best.

Yes I know. This post is very tenuous at best.


Read some more here 

Oh, and check this picture out. This is Frazetta's "Princess of Mars" original painting from which The Beastmaster ripped-off. 

Beat Street....flashback!

I watched Beat Street again the other night. But what was different with this viewing was that I watched the whole thing from start to finish instead of just heading to the battle at The Roxy as is the usual routine.
So here we have the film in pictures with some analytical commentary.

This is a nice shot of the action that's about to occur.
The Beat Street crew (or rather, The New York City Breakers) ready for battle.
Look at Lee's get-up; to paraphrase Prince Vince, he's sporting it fresh, Homes.

Look Ramo. A white one!
And so it was. Gleaming, clean & fresh.
Unfortunately the subsequent burner sprayed by Ramo was anything but fresh.

And here it is. I think even in 1984 we were looking at this and thinking, "Was it Bring Your Daughter To Work Day when they shot this scene?".
Considering Martha Cooper, Michael Holman, Tony Silver, Henry Chalfont, Kool Herc, The NYC Breakers, Rock Steady Crew, Afrika Bambaataa and Jazzy Jay were on board then they should have treated the 4th element of hip hop with just as much respect.

And here we go again. What a waste of Krylon.

Here's Jazzy Jay at The Roxy rocking those shades before Kanye was out of Rusks. Probably.
And proof that someone else other than Mastermind mixed on the GLI.

Richard Sisco. There he is.

With lyrics such as "Often imotated but never duplicated" I'm wondering, like you, why he never reached the dizzy heights of fame that so cruelly passed him by.
He shoulda dropped that Wanda Dee like a bad habit. Then maybe it would've been HIM singing about thongs.

Here is 'The System'.
Now this guy deserves his own show. No, not the Michael Jackson-alike but the yuppy keyboard player on the right.
The way he grooves and gets down throughout the whole song? He was born with music in his bones, this dude!








Now I might be wrong but weren't these two in the beginning of that Arena documentary, Beat This! A Hip Hop History...? They were poppin' on the street in Times Square and peering into the electronics shop watching Mel Brookes on one of the tv's.
They're called Fantastic Duo btw. And they are, rather.

This was an influential scene for me when I was growing up.
I had various sound equipment around my room in homage to Double K's bedroom. Oh happy days.

The man, the myth, the legend. DJ Kool Herc live at the Burning Spear.
While it was good to hear Kenny spinning the cool Tommy Boy ish - well, mixed by Jazzy Jay actually - it would have been even cooler to have Herc on the wheels of steel.
But then again, I dread to think what they would've made him play.






What a shot.
I mean, look at them. You're facing off with Rock Steady!!
If this was my POV I'd be uprocking with cacky pants.










The legendary Kuriaki (RIP) and the immortal diss to Powerful Pexter:

Powerful Pexter : You're biters, all your homeboys are biters.
Kuriaki: I ain't never stole no moves from you, your moves ain't worth to be bit. So what's up with that, punk?




This was a great scene in that it tried to convey a sense of authenticity of the hip hop culture.
Like KRS ONE said, "power from the streetlight made the place dark".
We see the guy hooking up the power cable to a streetlight and suddenly the whole room lights up.
US Girls are in the house which is always good. I must admit I had a thing for Lisa Lee. I think it was the haircut.
But check out the turntable. Hmmm, Double K, I don't think Kool Herc would've let you play at the Burning Spear if he'd clocked this. Why and how did the needle get over there?



That's all for now. The next post will feature a 'cut-out-and-keep' guide to the b-boys at The Roxy Battle! So what's up with that, punk?

B-Boy Classics

I've been spending a far-more-than-is-actually-healthy-for-me time on a Facebook group called B-Boy Classics.
Set up by my man Jaz Ford, an ex radio dj and  outta Wellington, New Zealand this is certainly a FB group actually worth checking (as opposed to all hundreds of plain idiotic ones such as "Sucking a cup to your face and then panicking cos it won't come of"*).
The sheer amount of photos on there (619 at this present time) is a delight for the hip hop heads. From record covers to fan photos of artists, there's a lot of good stuff on there.

As well as this, Jaz runs the coldrockdaspot blog, too with some well-written and detailed articles. Again well worth checking out.

This man knows his stuff and as such I'm tentatively considering christening him the NZ version of Waxer. It's all good in the hood.




*This IS a real FB group.