Wild Style Turns 25

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Wild StyleIt’s been nearly 25 years since the movie Wild Style brought New York’s burgeoning hip-hop culture to a wider audience (and blew this little Nebraska boy’s mind). Now, director Charlie Ahearn has compiled a book of photographs and stories about the creation of the now-legendary film. Called, appropriately, Wild Style: The Sampler, the book features luminaries like Fab 5 Freddy and shots of their early graffiti work; check out a gallery of pictures from the book at The Guardian.

It’s kind of crazy to see all these pictures from 1983; the colorful style, nutty short-shorts and skinny ties could not be more hot right now. Where can I get a Fab 5 Freddy baseball cap?!

Anyway, here’s a clip from the original movie. Look at Grandmaster Flash go, and in the kitchen no less. As hard as I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to do that thing where you go back and forth between two records, creating a one-measure loop; it’s still awe-inspiring to watch.

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