Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement.
Fred Brathwaite, more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown underground creative scene in the late 1970s as a graffiti artist. He was the bridge between the burgeoning uptown rap scene and the downtown No Wave art scene. He was immortalized in 1981 when Debbie Harry rapped on the Blondie song "Rapture" that "Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly." In the late 1980s, Freddy became the first host of the groundbreaking hip-hop music video show Yo! MTV Raps.
Germaine Williams, better known by his stage name Canibus, is a Jamaican-American rapper. He gained fame in the 1990s for his ability to freestyle, and released his debut album Can-I-Bus in 1998. Canibus has released 13 solo studio albums, as well as multiple collaboration albums and EPs with other rappers as a member of the Four Horsemen, Refugee Camp All-Stars, Sharpshooterz, Cloak N Dagga, the Undergods and one-half of T.H.E.M.
"Rapture" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their fifth studio album Autoamerican (1980). Written by band members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and produced by Mike Chapman, the song was released as the second and final single from Autoamerican on January 12, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. Musically, "Rapture" is a combination of new wave, disco and hip hop with a rap section forming an extended coda.
Rammellzee was a visual artist, gothic futurist "graffiti writer", painter, performance artist, art theoretician, sculptor and a hip hop musician from New York City, who has been cited as "instrumental in introducing elements of the avant-garde into hip-hop culture".
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Everlast, and the first one following his departure from House of Pain. It was released on September 8, 1998, via Tommy Boy Records, a full eight years after his solo debut album Forever Everlasting and after he had a major heart attack. "Whitey Ford" in the album title refers to the New York Yankees pitcher with that name.
Eszter Balint is a Hungarian-American singer, songwriter, violinist, and actress.
Marc André Edmonds, also known by the graffiti name ALI and as J. Walter Negro, “The Playin’ Brown Rapper” was an American artist and musician. As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists' and originator of the cult of Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro, he is remembered as the lead singer/songwriter of the proto-hip-hop-rap group 'J. Walter Negro and the Loose Jointz', who had some success with their 1981 release "Shoot the Pump".
Michael Thomas Holman is a New York-based artist, writer, filmmaker and musician. He is also an early 1980s downtown scene subculturalist and creator of the Hip Hop music program Graffiti Rock. Holman is a founding member, along with Jean-Michel Basquiat, of the experimental band Gray.
Before I Self Destruct is the fourth studio album by American rapper 50 Cent, released November 9, 2009, on Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, G-Unit Records, Interscope Records and Universal Music Group. The album is his final solo release with Shady, Aftermath and Interscope excluding his 2017 Greatest Hits album Best Of. A feature film, also titled Before I Self Destruct was also made, and is available within the album packaging.
"Rock Box" is a song by the American hip hop group Run-DMC. The song was produced by Larry Smith and Russell Simmons and released by Profile Records in March 1984. Following the popularity of their previous two singles "Hard Times" (1983) and "It's Like That" (1983), Profile Records head suggested to the producers and group that they should attempt to record an album as they already had four songs ready, and releasing a few more would not hurt them. Despite speculating low sales from the label and the group not feeling that hip hop was a genre appropriate for a full-length album, they were given an advance to start recording. This led to Run-DMC members Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels going through their rhyme book to develop new songs, one of which would become "Rock Box".
Hip hop or hip-hop, also known as rap, and formerly known as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s by African Americans in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. It existed for several years prior to mainstream discovery. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. Other elements of the music included sampling beats or bass lines from records, and rhythmic beatboxing. Twenty years later, a professor of African American studies still claimed that hip hop "unequivocally" belonged to Blacks. Since then, the breakout success of artists like Eminem and Nicki Minaj circa 2000 and 2010, respectively, has proven that Whites and women can rap. The music developed as part of the broader hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
Matt Dike was an American music executive, record producer, and DJ. He co-founded the hip-hop record label Delicious Vinyl in 1987. In the 1980s, Dike was artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's studio assistant and he worked on the Beastie Boys album Paul's Boutique (1989). He co-wrote and produced the song "Bust A Move" (1989) by Young MC, and co-produced "Smart Girls" (1991) by Brian Wilson.
Malik Johnson, better known as K-Rob, is an American rapper most famous for providing vocals for "Beat Bop" with Rammellzee in 1983. He was also a graffiti artist with the tag "Crane." He released the singles "I'm a Homeboy" and "The Day K-Rob Came Back" under his own name, in 1986. Since the 1980s, however, aside from providing a verse for "Beat Bop Part 2" on 2004's Bi-Conicals of the Rammellzee, K-Rob has devoted himself more to his Muslim faith.
Street Sounds Electro 2 is the second compilation album in a series released 1983 on the StreetSounds label. The album was released on LP and cassette and contains seven electro music and old school hip hop tracks mixed by Herbie Laidley.
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including "Nunk," "Light Years Away," and "Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop era. Described as the "perfect instance of hip hop's contemporary ramifications," Warp 9 was the brainchild of writer-producers Lotti Golden and Richard Scher. The duo wrote and recorded under the moniker Warp 9, a production project at the forefront of the electro movement.
Hollywood Africans is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork is Basquiat's response to the portrayals of African Americans in the entertainment industry.
Torrick Ablack, also known as Toxic, is an American artist who was part of the graffiti movement of the early 1980s in New York City. He transitioned from street art to exhibiting his paintings in galleries and museums internationally.
Charles the First is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork is a tribute to jazz musician Charlie Parker, and it was the basis for rapper Jay-Z's 2010 song "Most Kingz."
Al Diaz is a New York-based urban artist and lecturer best known for being among the first generation of graffiti writers in the community and for co-creating the graffiti campaign SAMO© with Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1978.
