Infused with the emergence of the hip hop culture, the graffiti revolution primarily took place in New York City in the 1970s to the 1980s. Graffiti art has historically been viewed as a form of vandalism, a curious enigma viewed by the governing class, and a general menace to society especially in large urban populations such as cities. Within the 1970s to the 1980s the urban youth began extensively spray-painting subway cars, trains, and walls, giving a voice to the disenfranchised, anti-authoritarian rebels who were seeking an identity to be seen and heard by the city that was now discrediting them. This type style of graffiti-inspired art is still present within the many art communities around the world, ever transforming and altering in
On February 26, 1973, Mayor John V. Lindsay’s graffiti task force drafted an anti-graffiti plan that featured “increased security measures in those areas of the city where security may deter vandalism.” As crime increased in majority black and Latino neighborhoods, police detectives associated graffiti in these areas with the violent crimes surrounding it. Technically, the police had reason to prosecute graffiti as a crime; the term graffiti addressed the illegal defacing of public and private properties. When Bernie Jacobs of the New York City Transit Police asserted that, “graffiti is not an art...I can sure as hell tell you [it’s] a crime,” Style Wars viewers see how vehemently detectives disparaged graffiti work and writers. Despite the fact that writers of color fought hard for free expression, racial profiling continued to constrain the process of getting the materials needed to make graffiti. Writer Skeme stated that, only “niggas who be high when they come from school...break windows,” and then commit violent crime; nevertheless, a white youth commented that “everybody [thought]” black and Puerto Rican kids wanted to rob aerosols and spray-paint from stores. Even though most graffiti writers of color did not commit violent crime, police detectives still labeled graffiti writers of color who wanted to buy artistic
Within the impoverished urban streets arose a youth culture captivated by infamy and self-pride. A youth culture virtually undistinguishable from members of modern society with a passion, setting them apart from the community. The members of this underground subculture could be your next-door neighbor, your son or daughter, or the contractor repairing your roof, yet you would have no idea that they strive to “bomb” objects and surfaces found in everyday life. It is the subtle differences that distinguish a graffiti artist from the average member of society, such as their, mindset, desires, speech and active lifestyle.
This movie took place after graffiti had been so staunchly looked down upon. Craig Castleman supports this in his article “The Politics of Graffiti”, when he goes through a timeline of all of the policies that Mayor Jon V. Lindsay established in 1972 to get rid of graffiti, while the graffiti artists continued to do what they loved (21-28). Graffiti writing is not just an art to these people, it is a way of life. This is shown in Wild Style, when Hector says that there is nothing out there for Raymond and he replies "Yes there is (looks at graffiti, then back at Hector)...this." Wild Style hearkens back to a Golden Age when graffiti made sense. In the early eighties, New York City was a brutal and fairly dismal place to live. It made sense to the “taggers”, it was a part of their life and a way to improve the streets of New York. In “The Politics of Graffiti”, Richard Goldstein stated graffiti to be “the first genuine teenage street culture since the fifties. In that sense, it’s a lot like rock ‘n’ roll” (25). For some, it might even be about getting that “runners high” type of feeling that they cannot get from anything else. Raymond explains this in Wild Style by...
In the words of rapper Busta Rhymes, “hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It’s a platform where we could offer information, but it’s also an escape” Hip-hop is a culture that emerged from the Bronx, New York, during the early 1970s. Hip-Hop was a result of African American and Latino youth redirecting their hardships brought by marginalization from society to creativity in the forms of MCing, DJing, aerosol art, and breakdancing. Hip-hop serves as a vehicle for empowerment while transcending borders, skin color, and age. However, the paper will focus on hip-hop from the Chican@-Latin@ population in the United States. In the face of oppression, the Chican@-Latin@ population utilized hip hop music as a means to voice the community’s various issues, desires, and in the process empower its people.
Graffiti is an art form that was bred from the rebellion of youths. The first sighting of graffiti was seen on subways, and other impoverished areas around New York. This form involved what is called tagging , where the artist signs his or her name, nickname, or group name, on the side of a building or other surface. It is well known for its bold, colorful presence and intricate script. It is still prominent and visible in those areas of the Bronx today.
"Tracing the Roots of Modern Street-Art and Graffiti." Tracing the Roots of Modern Street-Art and Graffiti | WebUrbanist. WebUrbanist | From Urban Art & 3D Graffiti to Abandoned Cities. Webist Media Publishing, 22 Apr. 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. .
Nowadays if you ask someone to define the hip-hop genre, they probably would say that it’s an African American artist reciting lyrics that rhyme to the beat of music. However, it’s a form of expression where the artist’s lyrics connect to self-image and a meaningful bond to their community. The purpose of my paper will outline the true reality of hip-hop through urban black communities, the act of spreading positivity, and the techniques of hip-hop sounding.
The identity of a graffiti artist is hardly ever known unless they want to tag their art with their name or a nickname. Graffiti writers as a subculture are trying to express their political views through civil disobedience by painting pictures that speak out against the government. This subculture developed because they were tired of being oppressed by the government. Graffiti is one of the most enduring acts of protest. It is an important tool for the resistance movement as a way to publicize their protest. It is a visible and powerful form of protest that is going to promote change in the social justice by allowing oppressed groups of people express their viewpoints without being penalized by the
After Hip-hop became "Americanized," the other forms of the culture became prevalent. For example, art has been drawn on walls since the beginning of time, but a new type of graffiti wall art came of the hip hop culture in the late 1960's and early 1970's (when hip-hop was thought to have begun). Although teenagers were scribbling their names on walls, signs and other places since the 1950s, more and more kid...
Hip hop culture and its creation of rap music has been stereotypically deemed as mere violent depictions as portrayed by its black artists, and is prejudicially more criticized than white genres that also perpetuate violent language within its lyrics. They are subsequently blamed for the massive rates of homicides within the black community, as blackness is given a dangerous face and linked to criminality, as if innately part of a violent culture. However, violence must be defined through the physical utilization of certain words and actions, along with social manipulations of power and hierarchy to confirm one’s own identity (Hernandéz, Weinstein & Munoz-Laboy, 2012, pg. 595). Rap music was created in the 1970s and originated in the South
Graffiti has been on the rise in popularity since its beginnings fifty years ago. Danielle Crinnion provides a brief history of graffiti arguing that “Philadelphia
Growing up, my life has revolved around music and diverse cultural aspects of it. Considering my interest in music, this weeks’ core Friday focused on giving students the backstory and history of hip hop. The lecture was presented by multiple people. Each of them had their own topics on explaining the different aspects that played a role in the development of the hip hop movement. Through all this, I learned that hip-hop has more to it than just a form of music and dance. It is a complex art that expresses the culture, attitude, and personality of the person. Hip hop also consists of graffiti. Graffiti is a writing or drawing on a street wall, also known as street art.
Although street art and graffiti art seem very similar, upon closer examination the differences in technique, function, culture, and intent are revealed (Weisburg.) ‘“Graffiti (sgraffiti), meaning drawings or scribblings on a flat surface and deriving from the Italian sgraffio (‘scratch’), with a nod to the Greek graphein (‘to write’), originally referred to those marks found on ancient Roman architecture”’(Weisburg). Though, it is unknown when or where graffiti first made an appearance; modern graffiti did not come around until the late 1960’s to early 1970’s in New York. The term “tagging” is the modern form of scratching (Weisburg). It also is considered the origin of all modern graffiti, including street art.
Many people hear the word “graffiti” think of gangs and the violence that results when gang’s territories begin to overlap. A lot of what they think is “graffiti” is nothing more than a few doodles that are put there to represent a gang or a group of random kids trying to make a name for themselves. Graffiti as an art form got it’s start in the late 1960's, and it has been evolving ever since. However, it is not widely recognized as being fine art, like those works that are found in a gallery or a museum. It is not exactly denied the status of genuine art because of a lack of form or other base artistic elements. Most of the time when people think of graffit...
Street art combines graffiti and classical art and as a result brings art out of the museum and onto the streets of cities where all citizens are able to view and interpret it in their own way. Nicholas Riggle described it as “an art practice that, instead of delighting merely the refined sensibilities of an elite few, has the power to engage, effortlessly and aesthetically, the masses through its manifest creativity, skill, originality, depth of meaning, and beauty” (243). While to some street art is artists vandalizing property or causing a disturbance, to those who create street art it is their form of self-expression. Street art offers an artistic freedom, different from other art forms, in its independence from museums as a means to gain attention.