I've seen this debate pop up from time to time. Graffiti is an element of hip hop, graffiti is separate from hip hop, graffiti pre-dated hip hop, etc. Some say that graffiti has just as strong of ties to punk rock as it does to hip hop.
When referring to graffiti, I'm talking about our version of it. Picking a name and writing it with style on shit, to oversimplify it. Obviously, you can say graffiti has been happening for thousands of years from cave paintings to Viking graffiti, Roman graffiti, Kilroy was here, even bathroom scribbles, and people writing their favorite bands on walls long before we picked it up.
I've also met a lot of writers over the years that feel no connection to hip hop and are about rock, punk, hardcore, etc. and a lot that do feel connected to it.
I honestly don't think there is a definitive answer one way or the other. All of this came together through a series of events involving many people over long periods of time. Is it even possible to answer this one way or the other, or is it subjective from one person to the next?
2 comments
lenny chesson
hip hop is part of the 80’s NYC….IM A SUBWAY WRITER FROM BROOKLYN , WHEN WE WROTE THERE WAS NO HIP HOP ,,,BUT REMEMBER IT STARTED IN NYC FIRST,,, SO YOU CANT MAKE SHIT UP IF YOU LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE…I WROTE IN 1973… RISE ONE SSB TK
AND IM 66 YEARS OLD …YOUNGIN
The illest Shogun
Although I think hip hop in its purest form INCLUDES graff I don’t believe it goes the other way. Graff IMHO is essential to hip hop. You can be a writer without being a hip hop head though.