In this interview, photographer and documentary filmmaker Henry Chalfant reflects on his work documenting New York’s graffiti movement during the 1970s and 1980s, and the lasting cultural impact of his photographs.
His work would go on to influence generations of graffiti writers far beyond New York. ART IS NOT A CRIME explores this lasting impact, presenting Chalfant’s photographs at their original scale and tracing their role in shaping the Dutch graffiti scene.
Special thanks to film director Leanne Vink.
ART IS NOT A CRIME is on view at STRAAT Museum through March 13, 2027. Curated by SUSO33 and supported by AFK.
The most expensive album in music history is a controversial, 1-of-1 work of art, owned by "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli, then the feds... and now a mysterious digital art collective named pleasrDAO. But, in no small part because the album's NFT-style circus began to fracture their team, Wu-Tang Clan's most famous member had never actually heard "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin." Until now.
This 58-minute archival b-roll tape is a look at the genesis of hip-hop culture, specifically the B-boy/breakdancing element, captured just as it was teetering on the edge of global commercialization.
The footage bypasses polished MTV-style framing and dives straight into the raw nerve of the culture. It opens with extended cuts of a Kiss FM radio broadcast and raw street cyphers, documenting the exact aesthetic and sonic landscape of 1984 New York.
The physical maneuvers—windmills, headspins, electric boogaloo—are captured not as choreography, but as athletic, highly competitive street expression.
The most sociologically revealing moments occur during the unvarnished interviews with members of the legendary Rock Steady Crew toward the end of the tape [48:46].
They bluntly deconstruct the "battle," explaining it not as a dance routine, but as a direct substitute for violence.
When asked if breakdancing took the place of old gang wars, a member confirms, "Yeah, definitely, since about '71, '69" [52:20].
The archive lays bare the structural reality of these youth: they were minorities in the Bronx, facing systemic hurdles in education and employment.
They explicitly acknowledge that without this art form, their outcomes could have been devastating ("how you think is it replacing... I have no criminal record, none of us do") [51:26].
The footage also exposes the early friction of commercialization.
The crew members recount being mocked when the trend "died out" initially, only to laugh in the faces of those who rushed back when "everybody sees that there's money" [57:02].
It captures a culture furiously trying to protect its authenticity ("don't look like nobody else") [55:43] while simultaneously negotiating the transition from street corners on Columbus Avenue to international tours in Germany and Japan.
The crew vents about the dilution of the culture, complaining that "the whole city's doing it" regarding a specific move (the windmill).
This captures the strict, internal policing of authenticity within the subculture, where copying was a cardinal sin and original style was the primary currency.
When asked what breakdancing is doing for kids in the city, the response is deeply sociological: "It's hard enough for most people living in the Bronx and New York City just by being minority for them to get a job, a decent education."
his explicitly frames hip-hop not merely as entertainment, but as an autonomous economic and social survival mechanism created by the abandoned working class.
A member directly confirms that breaking took the place of "old gang wars" dating back to the early 70s, tracing the crew's roots back to a subdivision of an actual street gang (the Bronx Boys).
This is a vital historical record of how marginalized youth spontaneously engineered a cultural substitute for self-destructive street violence.
The crew discusses the vultures of the industry, noting how people mocked them when breaking wasn't trendy, but suddenly "everybody wants a piece" once money was involved.
This exposes the raw machinery of cultural exploitation, where corporate entities commodify working-class art forms for profit.
"Electric Boogie" (1983) is a fascinating documentary and performance film that captures the explosive rise of breaking and electro-influenced Hip Hop culture during one of its most exciting periods. Filmed as Hip Hop was expanding beyond New York City, the documentary showcases the energy of street dancers, B-boys, B-girls, DJs, and the vibrant urban culture that surrounded the early breakdance movement. Featuring authentic performances and a soundtrack rooted in the electro sound of the era, Electric Boogie offers a valuable snapshot of the creativity, athleticism, and innovation that defined Hip Hop in the early 1980s.
In 1983, Hip Hop was rapidly becoming a global cultural phenomenon. Electro classics such as "Planet Rock," "Clear," "Jam On It," and "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" were fueling dance floors, while breakdancing was emerging as one of the culture's most visible elements. Music videos, television appearances, and documentaries helped introduce audiences around the world to B-boying, DJing, MCing, and graffiti writing. Electric Boogie belongs to this important wave of films that documented Hip Hop as it spread internationally, preserving the authentic style and spirit of the movement before it became fully mainstream.
Rather than focusing on a single artist, Electric Boogie celebrates the dancers and communities that helped shape Hip Hop culture. The documentary highlights the skill, creativity, and dedication required to master breaking, popping, locking, and other street dance styles that were captivating audiences worldwide. These performers, alongside pioneering DJs and MCs, helped transform Hip Hop from a local New York phenomenon into an international cultural movement that influenced music, fashion, art, and dance.
Electric Boogie remains an important historical document because it preserves the early visual history of breaking during Hip Hop's formative years. It offers modern viewers an authentic look at the fashion, music, dance techniques, and street culture that inspired generations of dancers and artists. For anyone interested in the roots of Hip Hop, the documentary provides an invaluable glimpse into the era when breaking became a worldwide phenomenon and electro music became its soundtrack.
If you enjoy classic Hip Hop videos, documentaries, interviews, and rare footage from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, don't forget to Like, Subscribe, and turn on notifications for more legendary content from the golden era of Hip Hop!
Kool G Rap is the most copied rapper in the history of New York — the man who put mafioso rap and multisyllabic rhyme schemes on wax before Nas, Jay-Z, Raekwon or Big Pun ever cut a record. He is also the clearest case in hip-hop of a career destroyed by the label that owned it: Cold Chillin' Records got named in the 1991 sampling ruling that changed the business, lost its Warner Bros. distribution, shut down in 1998 and sold the entire catalogue. This is the story of the blueprint, the label, and the thirty-five years it took for the check to show up.
The true story of an outsider whose relentless determination catapults him into the Wu-Tang Clan’s inner circle, where ambition and creativity converge to record an album poised to ignite global controversy.
Episode 19 of our Podcast presented by Modelo is out now featuring Niels “SHOE” Meulman. In this episode we sit down with graffiti writer SHOE, out of Amsterdam, a Dutch graffiti pioneer who helped redefine the art of lettering. Starting as a graffiti writer in Amsterdam in 1979, Shoe went on to bridge the worlds of graffiti, graphic design, and fine art. In 2007, he coined the term Calligraffiti, fusing the fluid movement of calligraphy with the raw energy of graffiti. From the streets to the gallery, Shoe continues to push letters beyond writing and into fine art.
Tune in as he shares rare stories from the early days of the movement, his influences, books, and his studio work. Whether you're a graffiti head or just discovering the culture, this conversation is a deep dive you won't want to miss. Out now on Youtube and Spotify. See his work and experience the story of graffiti at the Museum of Graffiti.
"Bodega Bop" marks the long-awaited collaborative comeback of Showoff crew lyricist REKS (Rhythmatic Eternal King) and powerhouse producer Hazardis Soundz—their first major reunion since their critically acclaimed 2014 joint album, Eyes Watching God. The two originally connected in Miramar, FL, where Hazardis is based and where their debut joint project was born. Known for his pristine sonic engineering on the top-rated podcast Drink Champs (featuring N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN), Hazardis Soundz delivers a cinematic, hard-hitting beat while Lawrence, MA’s own REKS sets the tone with a heavy-hitting opening verse and hook. Queensbridge royalty Capone (of the legendary duo Capone-N-Noreaga / CNN) steps up to lock down the second verse with classic, unfiltered street poetry.
Visuals are brought to life by one of the culture's most sought-after visionary directors, the in-demand Queen Philosophical, who captures the raw, authentic energy of pure East Coast hip hop.
The single and video are available first directly through the artists' official websites—hazardissoundz.com and iamreks.hiphop.
Mannie Fresh joins Questlove to trace his journey from a DJ’s son in New Orleans to one of Hip-Hop’s most influential producers. He reflects on the birth of Bounce music, the creation of Cash Money classics like “Ha,” “Back That Azz Up,” “Bling Bling,” and “Still Fly,” working with Teena Marie, and his hopes for a unified Cash Money and No Limit moment. As Black History Month kicks off, this is Southern Hip-Hop history told straight from one of its chief architects—explaining how a rich tradition of Black music informed his inventive, era-defining style.
The Questlove Show; The Birth of Bounce: Mannie Fresh Explains How Obscure Songs Became New Orleans Classics
Mannie Fresh Breaks Down How Juvenile’s “Ha” Took Over the East Coast | Questlove Show
A real tycoon is in the building. Questlove sits down with Vallejo’s own E-40, the Yay Area legend who was selling records out of his trunk back when getting a major-label deal felt impossible. He built his own label, financed his projects independently, and gave Hip-Hop an entire dictionary of slang and similes. Now, with Turning My Money Over—a historic 40-song quadruple album—Earl Stevens isn’t slowing down.
E-40 talks about growing up on Magazine Street in Vallejo’s Hillside neighborhood, the New York and Bay Area rappers who shaped his voice, and the year at Grambling State that taught him how to make it on his own. He explains how The Click navigated distribution through consignment sheets, mom-and-pop stores, and even rim shops—and how VHS duplication helped change the game for independent artists. 40 Water recalls his dealings with Tupac, advocates for members of the Hieroglyphics crew, and shares how being doubted by a room full of DJs decades ago only pushed him to go harder.
OFFICIAL TRAILER | From the dope game to the rap game. FX's The Drop: A Snowfall Saga premieres 9.8 on FX | Hulu
“The Drop: A Snowfall Saga” follows “Snowfall” characters Wanda Bell (Gail Bean) and Leon Simmons (Isaiah John) as they fight to reinvent themselves in ’90s Los Angeles, where the fallout from the crack epidemic is fueling a new game: the rise of West Coast rap.
Wanda starts the series driven by the clear belief that West Coast rap has the power to reshape American culture. She will work to put together a ragtag group of geniuses and lead them to the realization of all their dreams. To do it, she must navigate the dangerous overlap of music and street politics, pulling in those closest to her including her cousins Lamar Kinsey (Asante Blackk) and James Kinsey (Peyton Alex Smith), and pursuing volatile local rapper Artillery (Simmie “Buddy” Sims III), who is already in a tangle with law enforcement.
Her internship with former D-boy-turned-label-owner Darryl “DG” Grant (Brandon Mychal Smith) creates opportunities but also deepens tensions between Wanda and Leon, who has vowed to leave the streets for good and chase down his own atonement through his free legal clinic.
As ambition, loyalty and survival collide, how much is everyone willing to risk in order to build something lasting in a world that threatens to pull them down?
A single deal can hand the label a cut of your tours, merch, and endorsements — not just your music. It's called a 360 deal, and it's the industry standard now. The masters stay with the label, the streams pay pennies, and the real money moves somewhere else entirely. This is how rap labels actually make their money.
Brady Watt youtube channel
Series Produced by Ian Schwartzman, DJ Premier & Brady Watt
Keys and Synthesizers by Carlos Homs
Directed & Edited by Poe
Edited & Sequenced by Erick Lloyd Vann
Mixed by Jonas “Nef” Perrin
Mastered by Ryoji Hata
Brady Styled by Maritza Velazquez
Thank you to Matt Conaway for lining this one up
Fueled by Monster Energy Drink
Blahzay Blahzay youtube channel
Fat Joe opens with a salute to “Danger” and the legendary call: “When the East is in the house!”
“I Am East New York” previews the new Blahzay Blahzay album — our story, our pride, our rise. I don’t just love East New York. I AM East New York.
Arthur Baker, a pioneer of Dance, Electro, and Hip-Hop, sits down in studio with Questlove for an episode years in the making. The conversation traces key milestones from Arthur’s new memoir, Looking for the Perfect Beat: Remixing and Reshaping Hip-Hop, Rock and Rhythms , as he details his role in “Planet Rock,” the early days of New Edition, and his evolution from a music-obsessed DJ in Boston to one of the most groundbreaking producers and remixers in 1980s New York City. It’s the perfect Questlove Show conversation to close out 2025—and yes, there will be a Part 2 coming soon.
We said we’d come back for Part 2—and we did. Arthur Baker, the architect behind “Planet Rock,” “Confusion,” and so much of the ’80s dance-floor sound, returns to The Questlove Show to finish what we started nearly a year ago.
Arthur takes us from carrying crates of vinyl onto airplanes to the Synclavier sessions for Hall & Oates’ Big Bam Boom, the clubs and DJs who shaped his sound, and the Brooklyn studio sessions that led to what he jokingly calls “New Arthur” records with New Order.
He also opens up about Streetwise Records, the making of Beat Street, the story behind “Sun City” and Artists United Against Apartheid, his connections to Miles Davis, Diana Ross, and Little Steven, and why he wrote his memoir, Looking For The Perfect Beat, for his daughter. Arthur Baker is back.
• Old school graffiti from Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden 1984-1999
• Cover image: Tom1 and Zack from city painters and crazy 3. Oslo, Norway. 1985.
• Cover design by Chokone
• Language: English
Northern Styles - Nordic old school graffiti book does not set out to write the official history of Nordic graffiti, nor does it claim to be an exhaustive archive of every writer, crew, spot, or city that shaped the scene. It is a time capsule: a curated visual record focused on the 1980s and 1990s across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. It is a raw glimpse into an era, preserved through the lenses of those who were there. Every photograph featured in this book is thanks to the contributions of writers, photographers, and collectors who kept these moments alive and agreed to share them. Like graffiti itself, this collection is shaped by what survived: lost film rolls, undisclosed archives, or the personal choice of those who preferred to remain outside these pages. Key names, iconic walls, and legendary pieces are undeniably missing. Their absence takes nothing away from their legacy or their impact on Nordic graffiti history. The book Northern Styles is a tribute to a golden era and to the old-school graffiti culture of the Nordic countries.
- OCTOBER: PRE-ORDER
- NOVEMBER: PRINTING
- DECEMBER: WORLDWIDE SHIPPING
After more than two decades documenting the culture online, bringing part of that journey into physical form felt like a natural step. This led to the creation of three limited-edition books featuring graffiti writers and street artists from all five continents. The first volumes focused mainly on contemporary work, creating a snapshot of what was happening across different scenes around the world.
With time, however, the idea of looking backwards became increasingly important.
Historical photographs have something special. They preserve moments that can no longer be experienced in the same way, bringing back writers, walls, styles and scenes that might otherwise slowly disappear. Finding those images and the people connected to them became the starting point for a different kind of book.
Northern Styles — Nordic Old School Graffiti is the result of that journey.
Working on this volume has been an enriching experience: going back to the period between 1984 and 1999, discovering the origins and early development of graffiti across the Nordic countries, finding writers and reconnecting photographs with names, places and stories. Piece by piece, a fragment of that history began to take shape.
This book is another chapter in the journey that started with a website in 2005 — from the present to the past, from the screen to the printed page, and from documenting what is happening to preserving what came before.
None of this would have been possible without the people who have shared the journey. To every writer who painted, every photographer who documented, every person who opened an archive, searched through old photographs, shared a name, a story, a contact or a memory: thank you.
Thank you to everyone who welcomed me into their cities and scenes, made introductions, opened doors and trusted the project from the very beginning. Thank you to everyone who has supported El Rincón de las Boquillas throughout these years, and to everyone who has contributed to making these books possible.
And thank you to everyone who opens this book today. If these pages bring back a memory, reveal something new or simply make you want to discover more, then all the work behind them has been worthwhile.
This book is part of a collective memory, built by many people over many years.
