Back Back Y'all

Saw Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn do a talk with DJ Shadow last night. The occasion, promoting his new book Yes Yes Y'all over at the Punch Gallery (which just happens to also be my office when in SF). An interesting dive into the history of Hip-Hop from an unlikely first hand observer. The show of photos is up at Punch for a while well worth checking out.

The most interesting aspect of the talk was the real sense of the flow of history. Charlie got to see and document hip hop go from an obscure ghetto party style to an international phenomena. Almost more interesting was the way the old school was shoved aside and ignored before the culture matured enough to respect its history. A bit of a dark ages for the originators in the late 80's as the young thoughts claimed their territory.

What really opened my eyes up though was a conversation I had with him the day before where he described the scene in 1973 when he moved to New York City. The world he entered was of long haired tail end hippies, shooting dope while carrying on an anti society stance. A diametrical opposite of the world of hip hop. And no one could have possibly predicted the rise hip hop culture. When Wild Style first played in Germany they thought it was science fiction. A strong reminder of just how quickly the world can change. Wonder where the next hip hop is coming from, can't wait.