Burners

Arts & Photography

Henry Chalfant

History & Criticism

From Here to Fame

Hip hop culture emerged from an environment of extreme deprivation and decay in the South Bronx, New York City. The concept of pure invention-of creating something from nothing-was in full effect at the end of the 1970s as graffiti ("borrowed" spray paint), breaking (cardboard as dance floor), and outdoor jams (electricity source: the base of street lights) captured the attention of urban youth, coalescing into new forms of artistic expression. Fortunately, photographer Martha Cooper was at the right place at the right time to document the people that created the music, dance, and art that became known worldwide. Cooper followed people who would one day become icons: the Rock Steady Crew, Fab 5 Freddy, DURO and DONDI, LADY PINK, and Afrika Bambaataa, to name a few. Now, Martha Cooper has the reputation of being the first and foremost photographer of hip hop culture in New York City. While the publication of Cooper's photographs in the early 80s disseminated the culture both at home and abroad, her new book, Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984, makes a significant part of her extensive and unique archive accessible for the first time. From 1999 to 2003, the German hip hop head and music publisher Akim Walta tracked down the subjects in Cooper's legendary shots and conducted numerous interviews obtaining insightful quotes and statements to accompany and add voices to the photographs. Other members of the early hip hop scene, including ZEPHYR, Charlie Ahearn, FABEL, and Patti Astor, contribute text and essays, adding fresh data to the growing body of hip hop history. "Marty's pictures capture the exact moment when hip hop traveled from the Bronx uptown, downtown to the Manhattan nightclub and gallery scene. The photos and movies were suddenly in the works and (through her pictures) "discovered" by the press and then seen by the rest of the world." (Charlie Ahearn)

Hip Hop Files: Photographs, 1979-1984

Cooper, Martha

Zephyr

Charlie Ahearn

Akim Walta

FABEL

Patti Astor

Photography & Video

Hip hop culture emerged from an environment of extreme deprivation and decay in the South Bronx, New York City. The concept of pure invention-of creating something from nothing-was in full effect at the end of the 1970s as graffiti ("borrowed" spray paint), breaking (cardboard as dance floor), and outdoor jams (electricity source: the base of street lights) captured the attention of urban youth, coalescing into new forms of artistic expression. Fortunately, photographer Martha Cooper was at the right place at the right time to document the people that created the music, dance, and art that became known worldwide. Cooper followed people who would one day become icons: the Rock Steady Crew, Fab 5 Freddy, DURO and DONDI, LADY PINK, and Afrika Bambaataa, to name a few. Now, Martha Cooper has the reputation of being the first and foremost photographer of hip hop culture in New York City. While the publication of Cooper's photographs in the early 80s disseminated the culture both at home and abroad, her new book, Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984, makes a significant part of her extensive and unique archive accessible for the first time. From 1999 to 2003, the German hip hop head and music publisher Akim Walta tracked down the subjects in Cooper's legendary shots and conducted numerous interviews obtaining insightful quotes and statements to accompany and add voices to the photographs. Other members of the early hip hop scene, including ZEPHYR, Charlie Ahearn, FABEL, and Patti Astor, contribute text and essays, adding fresh data to the growing body of hip hop history. "Marty's pictures capture the exact moment when hip hop traveled from the Bronx uptown, downtown to the Manhattan nightclub and gallery scene. The photos and movies were suddenly in the works and (through her pictures) "discovered" by the press and then seen by the rest of the world." (Charlie Ahearn)

Hip Hop Files : Photographs 1979-1984

HIP HOP FILES

Literature & Fiction

Faith47, South Africa's first lady of graffiti, is well versed in the art of getting up. She rolls with the hardcore, but touches the hearts of the masses. With a combination of street art and traditional graffiti styles, she creates thought-provoking artwork that crosses artistic and cultural boundaries. Delicate yet raw, joyful yet dark, her work reflects the contradicting nature of society and the environment in which she grew up. She condemns injustice, inequality and society's failings in a series of heartfelt characters and eloquent phrases in fitting locations. Despite the harsh themes expressed, you can sense her celebration of life and hope for the future.

Faith 47 (On The Run Books)

From Here To Fame Publishing

Individual Artists

The Nasty Terrible T-KID 170 is the autobiography of graffiti writer Julius Cavero aka T-KID 170. This autobiography chronicles the life of a gang member, turned graffiti artist and style mentor for urban youth an uncensored Bronx Hip Hop story. During a gang shoot-out in a local park, Julius Cavero suffered three shots to the leg, one nearly severing his major artery, left for dead by gang rivals and so-called comrades. T-Kid survived the ordeal only to come face-to-face with 3 weeks of intensive surgical procedures. In those three weeks, Julius Cavero sketched, endlessly. It was then that he chose to become T-KID 170 T for the tall and skinny look he had, and KID just because that s what so many people called him. At that moment, Julius Cavero gave up gang life for a new vocation. T-Kid would now focus on art, specifically street art: GRAFFITTI. The Nasty Terrible T-KID 170 retraces his life from the early 1960s to 2005 through his written accounts and artwork, including images of painted trains, walls, canvases, drawings, and sketches produced over the last thirty years. Few artists today can tell a tale like T-KID s a ghetto childhood, gangbanging, and daring feats of graffiti. Many who lived in such times either left their lives or their art behind. T-KID, who won fame early on, lives to tell the tale and withstood the test of time.

The Nasty Terrible T-kid 170

Last, First

Biographies & Memoirs

Martha Cooper s photos take us through the Alphabet City of the late 70 s as the area was about to undergo extensive urban renewal a process that is still continuing today. At the time, the neighborhood had more than its share of drug dealers and petty criminals, and the landscape seemed ugly and forbidding. But to the children who grew up there, the abandoned buildings and rubble-strewn lots made perfect playgrounds, providing raw materials and open space for unsupervised play. A crumbling tenement housed a secret clubhouse, rooftops became private aviaries, and a pile of trash might be a source for treasure.

Street Play

Martha Cooper s photos take us through the Alphabet City of the late 70 s as the area was about to undergo extensive urban renewal a process that is still continuing today. At the time, the neighborhood had more than its share of drug dealers and petty criminals, and the landscape seemed ugly and forbidding. But to the children who grew up there, the abandoned buildings and rubble-strewn lots made perfect playgrounds, providing raw materials and open space for unsupervised play. A crumbling tenement housed a secret clubhouse, rooftops became private aviaries, and a pile of trash might be a source for treasure.

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Books by From Here to Fame