Wednesday, September 22, 2010

MSK and Friends!

Here is another RGastman compilation; called Los Angeles Graffiti, it's basically a picture book that includes an interview with the homie POWER CBS.  The name is a bit of a misnomer, since this book only really spotlights a dwarf's handful of crews.  That's chill I guess, but a book entitled LAGraff ought to encompass Los Angeles Graffiti.  I don't know, that's just what I would think... LA has a rich and colorful, prideful and HEATED history, one enormous in the scope of Land Mass, not to mention the sheer amount of heads that have taken to the sport.
First up to bat- the Power Interview..And then  there is a spread that's completely Revok. Six flicks, 1 pic,2 pics,3 pics, right down both pages.  Cool, Revok deserves shine, so that's chill. Turn the page.
Another spread, 6 images of Revok pieces... Well OooohKay, whatever.
Turn the page. Action shot, Rime rocking out, turn the page and ther's a Pic of that piece. The following 2 spreads are pretty much dedicated to Rime.  Then we get a breather... the next page only has one MSK piece, Augor(although the piece is mislabeled Zugor), and otherwise is occupied by a couple freeway shots and a CBS roller under an overpass.  Well well well, it seems we have a little pattern showing up: this is an AWR, tho moreover an MSK tribute.  Almost without exception, from anywhere in the book, yous cain't go 2 pages either way without there being an MSK piece.  So am I hating on MSK, AWR, Revok, Rime?  Hell nah, I'm only reportin' the facts, ma'am.  I do propose in the next printing ought to change the name to LA Graff: MSK and Friends! It could be a series!
Regardless, there are a couple other crews repp'd here, and a couple other Writers spotlighted.  Fishe KOG catches props with some spreads; PDB gets rep, with Ruets hittn the most available space.  Hmm...the evidence shows: Buket and TLok catchin wreck, there are a few pages dedicated to them.  Overall, the fact is-if I were from Alaska or Mississippi or some other graff ignorant place, this book wouldn't actually convey what is implied in the title.  I bet a whole helluva lot of Peeps would hate on this book, not because of the layout, or the flicks, or the size__NAH-they'd simply be upset that this book is named Los Angeles Graffiti.  I can feel that.
Personally, I have no idea why only certain crews, writers, and photos, were presented in this book.  But it's not my place to speculate, only to investigate-and report'ulate to the homies reading this.
This is not a large book by any means, maybe a lttle bigger then a notebook, and with only about 130 pages.  That's not a plus as far as I'm concerned,  the book seems thin and lackluster, but Retna's hand is sick, and the Los Angeles on the cover in the title of the book compels one to grab this up.
THIS IS NOT A BAD BOOK.  It's just not a good rep of LA. It will be a good addition to anyone's collect if they are into Revok, or MSK in general.  Props on so many Pysa flicks...We've all seen most of the Ewok flicks in this book, but Big ups for including them anyway.
The Power interview is worth reading.  If you see this on the rack, well, it's worth THAT much at least. Swoop it up on Amazon if you can get at least 25% off,  unless you are a Hardcore Revok/Rime/TLok fan, then maybe grab it at 15% off.
I think I've hammered in the point, so don't get upset@me when you crack the spine and find only a fraction of LA vandalism within.
Mark Batty Publisher put this book out.  MBP drops some illy Graff/Street Art books out.  Check their website and you'll forgive them for this particular one.
PEACE
fS

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Wild Style...It's a way of Life

The Nasty Terrible T-Kid 170. That's the real.
Wild Style. That's the way of Life.
From the Jump: This is required reading for writers; if you don't have a copy, hit up the library, order it online, ask yer bookstore to order it for you.
Get it.
This book is serious. T-Kid's narration is deep.  The stories, numerous stories, are told in a suspenseful and hurried style that allows you to read them quickly and move on to the next. The work presented in the book walks through his evolving career as a writer; it also tells the fascinating story of an 11 yr old Kid, out on the streets of 1972 New York City, living to be a 40 year old Legend still innovating and killing it on the regular. That story, and the whole boat in between.
That is the Bronx to be exact, and them streets in '72 were cold and hard. This boy, writing King13(not yet T-Kid), gets jumped into a gang, leaves that gang to become a Renegade and starts painting trains. Gettn into fights that involve all matter of weapon, including his body; he'll roundhouse kick a fool in the chest, and dropkicks his foes, all during fistfights galore.  The knives, the pistols, and the shotties too...huge gang fights Warriors style. Wild Style. From shooting and stabbing enemies, to gettn shot and stabbed, to the drugs, and drug addiction-thru prison time and fights fights fights. Sometimes he's a stick up kid just vampin' people and leaving a trail full of vics in his wake.
This book is just short of 200 pages, printed in Europe(ed: Printed and bound in Germany).  O'er there they put the title on the spine upside down-just like Phase2's Style Writing from the Underground.  BoOOoooOo on that. On the cover, sans dj, there is a beautiful, gold, Terrible T-Kid 170 tag, ala the On The Run steez. The pages are that OTR style too, heavy quality, top notch.  There is so much to mention about this book, lemme just point out things they'll cover:
  •  From Julius Cavero to T-Kid
  • Being a writer, being a father, and being a Style Master
  • A quick, pre-Julius family history
  • His personal relationships
  • The crews, the beef, the gangs, the heat
  • From his first piece on a train, and throughout his European trips, to this day, his styles are shown
  • back in the days from the trains to the walls
  • a'course Flicks Flicks Flicks, the book Kills it with the flicks, sketches, and T-Kid's writings
  • Plus-all the decadent things a teenager could get into in NYC in the 70's.
 T-kid did it ALL.  Whole Trains, conquered Europe before it was a requirement, brought next centuries styles to reality last century. Back in the Cap days. . T-Kid's style, @the very least, influenced generations of European writers; his technique, to this day, is a readily used, mad loved, and deeply respected style.
Those heads know who to emulate.
Those styles, the 3ds, the abstracts, and then T-Kid's simples? Yo, his simples got more style than other jacks whole graff careers  My favorite style of T-Kids? His Ribbon Style...he pulls that style off and kills it.
I could yip yap about this book for pages, but the point is-The Nasty Terrible T-Kid 170 is a book that writers need to own.  So many stories, real emotions, and the straight truth, this book will be utilized in order to try to reconstruct the writing culture after all the world goes fuckd.
This is Wild Style to the fullest.
Don't get vic'd in the meantime.
fS 
98% of writers out there will never experience this type of lifestyle; it was a time in New York that begged these ways. Anyways, this is an account of a hardcore writers life, and a book to make one do a double take.
I wouldn't recommend this to any Fam or other people who'd like to learn about the culture.  This book is a blueprint of chaos, a manual of practical insanity... No, I wouldn't recommend this book to Mom or Pop, they might decide to lock you up.