Good reads

 There have been a number of books written to document the way that graffiti and hip hop interconnect and transcend their own boundaries. these are some of them...

Gotta get to The Mecca

 



 Hip-hop has become such an integral part of our society...so accepted as an art form like any other...that it even has its own projected facility. There are colleges where one can earn an accredited degree in hip-hop. Google Maps even has a function that will direct you to some of the most influential sites in New York that hip-hop has to offer. The streets have made their way into galleries, showrooms in Las Vegas and even The White House.

Across the Pond

Britain

   Hip-hop culture and graffiti spanned not only decades of successful integration here in the U.S., it also was able to span the globe. All around the world, young people gravitated to the art forms rooted in the streets and were captivated by the sights and sounds afforded to them by The Four Elements.

Canada

   There was no border that the culture failed to knock down. Even some of the most staid regimes were forced to deal with the hip-hop/graffiti phenomenon.

ChinaKorea

The Four Elements

   The reason I am so intent on linking hip-hop to graffiti is because of the influence this cultural shift had on my life. As a young teenager, I was overwhelmed by the vitality and intensity of hip-hop. I could sense that it was a social upheaval connected to art...kind of like jazz music in it's hey-day. I knew that it was not a flash in the pan (as many claimed it was) and that it would change the world. And it did.

   The fact that many of The Elements have become legitimized gives you some perspective on the strength of the culture itself. Although graffiti was an entity unto itself before being co-opted by hip-hop, it did receive notoriety like never before once it became an Element. You can hear the music in other artists compositions, on every radio station and in the commercials.The fashion is making its way back into the lexicon. If you want a DJ to entertain at your event, you'd better expect him to show up with two turntables and a microphone. All of the tenets of the hip-hop have made it into the modern era and graffiti is a foundational part of that.

Fat Caps (Pt II)

   Altering the look of your bombing by changing caps became common practice early on in the game. As this video shows, the look of the paint line could be altered from the standard factory look with the simple switch of a cap. There are a number of variables that have to be considered...whether you need a male/female cap to fit the can you're using, what type of piece you're putting up, the surface the paint will be on. A huge piece will be better served by using mostly fat caps, a quick bomb might use a skinny cap, etc.

   The equipment used in any endeavor is just as important as the operator. Graffiti is no different. 

Fat Caps (Pt.I)

   When a graffiti artist decides to go out to bomb, a whole horde of factors come into play. One of the most important factors is the paint.The way the paint appears on the surface is controlled in a number of ways...the talent of the artist, the surface itself and the flow of the paint from the can. That's what we're gonna talk about for these next couple of blogs.

   Early on, graffiti artists wanted a cleaner, broader flow of paint to come from the can. The factory caps were built to spread paint over a wide surface so, in order to get a good line, you had to hold the can closer to the wall and try to control the flow by steady, medium pressure. This was a drag.
   The way to counteract this was stumbled across fairly early. Taking the caps off of other spray cans...oven cleaner, deodorant, spray glue...and putting them on the spray paint cans was an easy fix.

Once this method of adjusting the flow of the paint became standard, all types of adjustments could be made to the appearance of the paint flow. All the skills that were developed before cap flipping came into play could be applied to even further change the way that bombers could make their art look. There were no parameters to the effects that could be accomplished once the flow of paint could be controlled with equipment.