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Wild Style was the first hip hop motion picture. Released independently in 1982 by First Run Features
First Run Features

First Run Features was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers to advance the distribution of independent film. Located in New York City, First Run today is one of the largest independent theatrical and home video distributors in the United States, releasing 12 to 15 films a year in theatres nationwide and 50 to 60 videos and DVDs annually....
 and later re-released for home video by Rhino Home Video, the movie featured actors like Fab Five Freddy
Fab Five Freddy

Fred Brathwaite , more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American History of hip hop music, Hip hop pioneer and former graffiti artist....
, Lee Quinones
Lee Quinones

Lee Qui?ones, born 1960 in Ponce, Puerto Rico and raised in New York, is one of the most important graffiti artists. Some of his paintings belong in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art....
, the Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew

Rock Steady Crew is a breakdancing crew and Hip hop culture group that was established in the Bronx, New York City in 1977. The New York Times called the Rock Steady Crew "the foremost breakdancing group in the world today."...
, The Cold Crush Brothers
The Cold Crush Brothers

The Cold Crush Brothers is a Hip hop music group that formed in 1978 in the Bronx, New York City, New York, the home of hip hop, during its beginning, alongside other hip hop icons such as Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force, Grand Wizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five , and DJs Baron and Breakout and F...
, Patti Astor
Patti Astor

Patti Astor is a hip hop person and dancer from New York City. She also has taken film roles....
, Sandra Fabara
Lady Pink

Lady Pink is a graffiti artist. She was raised in Queens, New York, and started her career in 1979 when she started writing graffiti while a student at the High School of Art and Design, and made a name for herself as one of the only females capable of competing with men in the graffiti subculture....
 and Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Flash

Joseph Saddler better known as Grandmaster Flash, is an United States hip hop musician and disc jockey; one of the pioneers of Hip hop music disc jockey, cutting, and audio mixing ....
. The protagonist is the legendary New York graffiti artist "Lee" George Quinones as "Zoro". The "Wild Style" logo originally designed by TRACY168 on the film's cover was copied and applied by scenic painters Zephyr
Zephyr (graffiti artist)

Andrew Zephyr Witten is a graffiti artist, lecturer and author from City of New York. He began creating graffiti in 1975 and first signed using the name "Zephyr" in 1977....
, Revolt and Sharp.

The film itself is unique in that the actors play roles that were designed to show exactly how they were in real life.






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Wild Style was the first hip hop motion picture. Released independently in 1982 by First Run Features
First Run Features

First Run Features was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers to advance the distribution of independent film. Located in New York City, First Run today is one of the largest independent theatrical and home video distributors in the United States, releasing 12 to 15 films a year in theatres nationwide and 50 to 60 videos and DVDs annually....
 and later re-released for home video by Rhino Home Video, the movie featured actors like Fab Five Freddy
Fab Five Freddy

Fred Brathwaite , more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American History of hip hop music, Hip hop pioneer and former graffiti artist....
, Lee Quinones
Lee Quinones

Lee Qui?ones, born 1960 in Ponce, Puerto Rico and raised in New York, is one of the most important graffiti artists. Some of his paintings belong in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art....
, the Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew

Rock Steady Crew is a breakdancing crew and Hip hop culture group that was established in the Bronx, New York City in 1977. The New York Times called the Rock Steady Crew "the foremost breakdancing group in the world today."...
, The Cold Crush Brothers
The Cold Crush Brothers

The Cold Crush Brothers is a Hip hop music group that formed in 1978 in the Bronx, New York City, New York, the home of hip hop, during its beginning, alongside other hip hop icons such as Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force, Grand Wizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five , and DJs Baron and Breakout and F...
, Patti Astor
Patti Astor

Patti Astor is a hip hop person and dancer from New York City. She also has taken film roles....
, Sandra Fabara
Lady Pink

Lady Pink is a graffiti artist. She was raised in Queens, New York, and started her career in 1979 when she started writing graffiti while a student at the High School of Art and Design, and made a name for herself as one of the only females capable of competing with men in the graffiti subculture....
 and Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Flash

Joseph Saddler better known as Grandmaster Flash, is an United States hip hop musician and disc jockey; one of the pioneers of Hip hop music disc jockey, cutting, and audio mixing ....
. The protagonist is the legendary New York graffiti artist "Lee" George Quinones as "Zoro". The "Wild Style" logo originally designed by TRACY168 on the film's cover was copied and applied by scenic painters Zephyr
Zephyr (graffiti artist)

Andrew Zephyr Witten is a graffiti artist, lecturer and author from City of New York. He began creating graffiti in 1975 and first signed using the name "Zephyr" in 1977....
, Revolt and Sharp.

The film itself is unique in that the actors play roles that were designed to show exactly how they were in real life. The movie was given a loose storyline as a means of commercializing it, but the story is not the reason it is so highly regarded. It's the culmination of legendary hip hop icons being filmed in their emergence along with a profound documentation of a new budding sub-culture that draws people to this film.

Synopsis

The film depicts several prominent figures from the early hip hop culture, engaging in activities such as MCing, turntablism, graffiti and breakdancing. The original WiLD STYLE was an artist named TRACY168. Quote TRACY168, "It's not just an artform, it's my way of life".

Impact

The film has received a large cult
Cult film

A 'cult film' is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fan . Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame amongst mainstream audiences, including Carnival of Souls , Easy Rider , 2001: A Space Odyssey...
 following over the years after its initial release. Highly regarded hip-hop albums such as Illmatic
Illmatic

Illmatic is the debut album of American Hip hop music rapper Nas, released April 19, 1994 on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place from 1992 to 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Studios, Battery Studios and Unique Recording Studios in New York City....
 by Nas
Nas

Nasir Jones, , , better known by his stage name Nas, , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapping and actor. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, he was born and raised in the Queensbridge, Queens housing projects in New York City....
, Midnight Marauders
Midnight Marauders

Midnight Marauders is the third album by hip hop music group A Tribe Called Quest, released November 9, 1993 on Jive Records....
 by A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest is an United States Hip hop music group, formed in 1988. The group is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad....
, Black Sunday
Black Sunday (album)

Black Sunday is the second album by rap group Cypress Hill. It was released on July 20, 1993.It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, recording the highest Soundscan for a rap group at the time....
 by Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill is an American Hip hop music group from South Gate, California. Originally called DVX, the name was changed after Mellow Man Ace left in 1988....
, Resurrection
Resurrection

Miraculous resurrection of one sort or another has been a recurrent theme or central doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and other Abrahamic religions....
 by Common
Common

Common may refer to:*COMMON, a users group*Common , fictional language used in sci-fi and fantasy literature*Common , Chicago based MC, actor, and author formerly known as Common Sense...
, Big Shots by Charizma
Charizma

Charles Hicks a.k.a. Charizma was an Rapping from Milpitas, California, California, United States. He is most known for his work with Peanut Butter Wolf; the two of them formed a duo together, but their music was cut short when Charizma was murdered in late 1993....
, Doomsday
Doomsday

Doomsday may refer to:...
 by MF Doom, Check Your Head
Check Your Head

Check Your Head is the third album by the Beastie Boys, released on April 21, 1992.Three years elapsed between the release of the band's second album, Paul's Boutique and their recording of this album, which occurred at the G-Son Studios in Atwater Village, California in 1991....
 by Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys are an American hip hop music group from New York City consisting of Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch, and Adam Horovitz. Since around the time of the Hello Nasty album, the DJ for the group has been Mix Master Mike, who was first featured in the song "Three MC's and One DJ"....
 and Quality Control
Quality control

In engineering and manufacturing, quality control and quality engineering are used in developing systems to ensure product s or Service are designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements....
 by Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5

Jurassic 5 was an United States alternative hip hop group formed in 1993 by Rapping Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir aka Soup , Mark 7even, and Phonograph#The phonograph in the 21st century maestros DJ Nu-Mark and DJ Cut Chemist, who came together from two separate crews, the Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee....
 have featured samples from Wildstyle. Significantly, the MTA
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S. state of New York, serving 12 counties in southeastern New York, along with 2 counties in southwestern Connecticut under contract to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, carrying over 11 million passengers on a...
 allowed director Charlie Ahearn
Charlie Ahearn (director)

Charlie Ahearn was born in 1951 in Binghamton, New York, and is a film director and creative cultural artist currently living in New York City. Although predominantly involved in film and video production, he is also known for his work as an author, freelance writer, and radio host....
 to film in the actual train yards in New York City. In 2007, the VH1
VH1

VH1 is an United States cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in television, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slighter older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music....
 Hip Hop Honors paid tribute to Wild Style in recognition of its influence upon the culture.

Soundtrack

  1. Military Cut - Grand Wizard Theodore
    Grand Wizard Theodore

    Grand Wizzard Theodore , is an American hip hop music Disc jockey. He is widely credited as the inventor of scratching.Theodore was born in Bronx, New York....
    /Kevie Kev Rockwell
    Funky Four Plus One

    Funky Four Plus One was the first Hip-Hop/Rap music group from The Bronx, New York, United States to receive a recording deal. They were notable for having a female MC, and were the first rap group to perform live on a national television broadcast....
     (Scratch Mix)
  2. MC Battle - Busy Bee
    Busy Bee Starski

    Busy Bee Starski born 1950s in the Bronx, New York, is an old school hip hop Rapping. First coming on the scene in 1977, Bronx-based Busy Bee worked with many of hip-hop's founding fathers, including Melle Mel, Afrika Bambaataa, and Kool DJ AJ....
    /Lil Rodney Cee
    Funky Four Plus One

    Funky Four Plus One was the first Hip-Hop/Rap music group from The Bronx, New York, United States to receive a recording deal. They were notable for having a female MC, and were the first rap group to perform live on a national television broadcast....
    /DJ Grand Wizard Theodore
  3. Basketball Throwdown - Cold Crush Brothers/Fantastic Freaks
  4. Fantastic Freaks At The Dixie - Fantastic Freaks/ DJ Kevie Kev Rockwell
  5. Subway Theme - DJ Grand Wizard Theodore (Previously Unreleased)
  6. Cold Crush Brothers At The Dixie - Cold Crush Brothers
  7. Cuckoo Clocking - (previously unreleased)
  8. Stoop Rap - Double Trouble
    Double Trouble

    Double Trouble may refer to:...
  9. Double Trouble At The Amphitheatre - Double Trouble (KK Rockwell & Rodney C)/DJ Stevie Steve
  10. South Bronx Subway Rap - Grandmaster Caz
    Grandmaster Caz

    Grandmaster Caz a.k.a. Grandmaster Casanova Fly, , was born in the Bronx, New York, USA, and was a part of the hip hop music group The Cold Crush Brothers....
     (Original Mix)
  11. Street Rap - Busy Bee (Previously Unreleased)
  12. Chief Rocker Busy Bee, DJ AJ At The Amphitheatre - Busy Bee/ DJ A.J.
  13. Gangbusters - Grand Wizard Theodore/Kevie Kev Rockwell (Scratch Mix)
  14. Rammellzee and Shock Dell At The Amphitheatre - Rammellzee
    Rammellzee

    Rammellzee , is a graffiti writer, performance artist, hip hop music musician and sculptor from New York City.Rammellzee's graffiti and art work are based on his theory of Gothic Futurism, which describes the battle between letters and their symbolic warfare against any standardizations enforced by the rules of the alphabet; his treatise, "...
     & Shock Dell/The Grand Mixer D.St
    Grand Mixer DXT

    GrandMixer DXT is an American turntablist. "D.ST" is a reference to Manhattan, New York City's Delancey Street on the Lower East Side. He was featured in the influential hip hop film Wild Style....
  15. Down By Law
    Down by Law

    Down by Law may refer to:* Down by Law , a 1986 film by Jim Jarmusch* Down by Law , an American punk rock band** Down by Law , their debut album...
     - Fab 5 Freddy (Previously Unreleased)
  16. Wild Style Theme Rap 1 - Grand Master Caz/Chris Stein (Charlie Chase Scratch Mix, Bonus Track)
  17. Wild Style Subway Rap 2 - Grand Master Caz/Chris Stein (Charlie Chase Scratch Mix, Bonus Track)


See also

  • Style Wars
    Style Wars

    Style Wars is an early documentary on hip hop culture, made by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant, made in New York City in 1983. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although breakdancing and rapping are covered to a lesser extent....
     (1983 hip hop documentary film)
  • Beat Street
    Beat Street

    Beat Street is a 1984 in film mainstream hip hop dramatic feature film, and the third following Wild Style and Breakin. It is set in New York City during the rise of hip hop culture in the early 1980s....


External links