Graffiti & Hip Hop Culture

As mentioned in previous posts, Graffiti is and was the famous type of art of Hip Hop culture. So lets take a look at what kind of role it really took on.

Graffiti can be described as an urban art form with first sightings in the 1950s but flourishing in the 1970s. Graffiti quickly became popular in Hip Hop culture. It became a way for someone to "tag" their crew or gang. In the early 1970s, they were mostly seen on New York City subway trains, but then eventually evolved and were seen on buildings and walls.

The first types of graffiti were quick spray painted works, which usually cited a person or a crew. This evolved into elaborate artwork with different font work, multiple colors and even effects. Many different hip hop crews made a name of themselves through their graffiti work.

At first, as most new things in American culture, graffiti was viewed negatively. It was associated with gangs, violence, drugs and crime. Although these traits are what brought a lot of the passion in Hip Hop artists' work, this was not the purpose of graffiti.

What is quite interesting about Graffiti, is that is was done by all ethnicities. They were often young, even teenagers, which is also the age group that hip hop and even popular music targeted. Graffiti was solely based on ability, not on skin color, religion, age, etc. People just saw the artwork and were able to appreciate it. Graffiti is multicultural, which truly represented the city in which it evolved, New York City.

Check out some current Graffiti work below

Photo: http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~dbb27/hhgraffiti.html

Here is the cite that aided this article:

http://www.hiphoparea.com/graffiti/hip-hop-culture-and-graffiti-today.html

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