08/17/2025
What What, we got a double feature this Tuesday, 8/19 with Wild Style AND Style Wars, both released in 1983.
“Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style is a fun snapshot of the South Bronx during the ‘80s featuring legendary DJs like Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Caz, and Fab 5 Freddy alongside now-renowned graffiti artist Lee Quiñones in the lead role.
At the heart of Wild Style is the story of Raymond, a Puerto Rican graffiti artist who goes by “Zoro,” a nod to both the famous masked swordsman and Quiñones’ own reputation as a hard-to-find “underground Picasso.” Having shot in 1981, Ahearn’s film engages with hip-hop (meaning graffiti, MC-ing, breakdancing, and DJ-ing) as a burgeoning popular phenomenon, facing the difficult decision between keeping its spirit local and subversive, or letting itself slip into the mainstream and surrender its edge.”
- Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer
Style Wars chronicles an amazing epoch of youthful creativity and civic controversy. Teenage graffiti artists made New York City’s ramshackle subway system their public playground, battleground and canvas. Opposing them were Mayor Ed Koch, the police, and the Transit Authority. As MCs and DJs rocked the city with new sounds, street corner B-boy breakdance battles became performance art.
It was a TIME! Come check it.
