photos by Leia Jospe, words By Black Bubblegum

MC Kool Kyle

Spank Rock was AWOL (once again), but the originoo headz were still in full force in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Wild Style at Danbro Studios Warehouse in Brooklyn back on November 13th. Billed performers who did show up included Busy Bee, Double Trouble, Grandmaster Caz, Grand Wizard Theodore, and The Rub. Unannounced guests included Fantastic Romantic's Master Rob and Kevie Kev, and "starchild" MC Kool Kyle. The entire night was curated by Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn and Sleep When Dead NYC (his son Joe Ahearn).

"It's not just young people here. It's a really great turnout, all over the spectrum, not just one type of person, or race, or age here," [event promoter] Todd P said.

He was right. The audience included hip NYU Freshmen with skinny jeans and ankle boots, a young CUNY professor, a 44-year-old radio station volunteer from Seattle, all sorts of music professionals, video and graffiti artists, nostalgia-stricken fans from the original Bronx scene and everyone in between.

Rapper duo Fenton Arms and Raylight Hope, who call themselves "the future of hip-hop," felt honored to be in the same building with the guys who broke ground 25 years ago.

"It's like you go back in time and actually chill with Malcolm X," said Arms. "Without that movie rap might not have happened the way it happened." [Greenpoint Gazette]

More pictures below, and warning, the following scenes may contain male nippleage...

Continue reading "Wild Style (sans Spank Rock) @ Danbro Studios, NYC - pics"

by Black Bubblegum

In celebration of what some see as the ultimate cinematic document of Hip Hop culture, Wild Style, director Charlie Ahearn has released a 35MM print of Wild Style that will play from Nov 14-20 at Film Forum in NYC. Tickets are available here. Here's what my favorite film critic at the New York Times had to say about the movie:

"Wild Style remains, to borrow a term from the rap lexicon, permanently fresh. In capturing the Hip Hop aesthetic at an early point of ferment and vigor, Ahearn's film was able to intuit what Hip Hop would become."
-[ A. O. Scott, New York Times]

To kick off the celebration, Ahearn enlisted the help of original cast members Busy Bee, Grandmaster Caz (Of The Cold Crush Brothers), Grand Wizard Theodore, and Double Trouble (of Funky 4+1) as well as the headliner Spank Rock to play Danbro Studios in Bushwick, tonight, Thursday November 13, 2008. The Todd P show also doubles as a benefit for Showpaper. Get on out and support the old sch-, -er, ORIGINAL school of hip hop! Charlie Ahearn was recently interviewed on WNYC (check that out here) and the New York Times ran a piece on Wild Style's anniversary. Todd P party details, and the Wild Style trailer, are below...

Continue reading "Wild Style playing @ Film Forum, Spank Rock show tonight "