RCRD LBL

The wait is over. This weekend sees the Los Angeles premiere of graffiti documentary, Bomb It.   Anyone who considers themselves a hip-hop head or a street culture aficionado will need to see this. Running from June 6th-12th (click full interview link for all screening details), Bomb It is a study on graffiti and urban artwork, taking us from early cave paintings to its explosion in the late 70s and early 80s on the streets and subway cars of New York, eventually landing in galleries and influencing all aspects of pop culture.

Using interviews with artists around the world and footage of the artists in action, director Jon Reiss uses the film to take on the question of "what is public space and how should it be used to benefit the public?" Reiss shot Bomb It on five continents and immortalized some graffiti legends including Taki 183 (who's credited with being one of the first taggers in NYC), Stay High 149, T-Kid and Cope (NY), Cornbread (Philly), Revok (Seventh Letter crew), Mear One, and the prolific Shepard Fairey.

CLICK HERE for full story and interview with the film's music supervisor David Garcia.

We're sad to hear that one of the dopest graffiti documentary filmmakers, Tony Silver, died last week. We saw the LA-based filmmaker speak on a panel at MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in August 2005 for the screening of his films, Style Wars and Style Wars: ReVisited.

The original Style Wars captured 80s New York and the essence of real hip hop. Silver's film took you back to a golden age of hip hop, before G4 jets, Jacob The Jeweler and quick strike Nikes. This was a New York City that was governed by Major Koch, where the Guardian Angels patrolled the subways and where graffiti artists (aka vandals) painted "whole cars" (top to bottom) and transformed the New York subway system into a rolling art gallery that would fetch millions now.

Style Wars: ReVisited was Silver's addendum project that fast-forwarded us 20 years on to see the lives of the artists through personal interviews and outtakes never seen before. We love the interview with Dez, now better known as superstar DJ Kay Slay.

Little known trivia...the MC and artist Ramellzee also had a recording career and was produced by Jean-Michel Basquiat on a Profile Records tune called "Beat Bop". That 1982 joint is worth dough! Later in the 80s he got inspired by Europe and recorded with German electro outfit Death Comet Crew.

Thank you Tony Silver for bringing legendary graff artists Seen (no relation), Dondi and Case 2 to the screen and for Ramellzee and Crazy Legs (Rock Steady Crew b-boy) and many, many more icons to our living rooms.