Monday, July 06, 2009

I've Got That Boom Boombox Bag.



I'm in love with my new found go-to happy doc for bad day brightening. It's Style Wars, the late 70s/early 80s PBS documentary that got the word out on writers, b-boys, bombers, and rappers before they were mainstream. It shined a flashlight on the urban art of graffiti that either adorned or debased the MTA's fleet of 70s subway cars in NYC depending on whether you asked the bombers or Mayor Ed Koch. The doc is pure pleasure stocked with characters quirky and confident enough only to be found in real life, and it makes me crave early 80s gear, like a boom box and a Sugarhill Gang cassette. I know, I know; I'm a white girl from the 'burbs who missed the height of hip hop by a few years, but I can still appreciate its flavor. I'll rock the boombox bag I saw in the window of the ICP shop (pictured above) instead of embarrassing all of humanity by pumping up the volume on an actual handle toted ghetto blaster. You want to watch what's got me so excited? Start with this:



Parts two through eight are all on Youtube.

2 comments:

Rahul said...

I cannot fucking wait to watch this!

Roxy VR said...

Style Wars is not a doc. It's a movie. With bad acting and a so-so story line, lol, but yes, it's a movie. The first ever in terms of hip hop culture though, before Breakin', Beat Streets, etc., so it is legendary and great in that sense.

If you want a good doc on hip hop history, check out The Freshest Kids.