"4 elements" fans are usually the "hip hop vs rap" dudes...
.. It's pretty obvious that it all coalesced at the same time in New York with many people like Herc, Caz, Rammelzee, Kay Slay, Phase 2 & even then, Masta Ase, Krs, Fat Joe, Tame One, etc.... all doing graff. Denying that would be a overreaching for an non-existent argument. It all makes perfect sense...
But that's just not the truth bro. That's why many folks on here kind of snicker at the four elements protectors, a lot of times it's as you said, kids with a revisionist idea of how things are or were over here. The graf movement is so much bigger, more diverse, and downright different in its attitudes, aims, styles, and customs here than just hip-hop or burners or whatever. Most four-elements folk pretend that graf was only ever on trains or hall of fames, legal walls, big colorful burners, shit don't burn.... bitten styles from Giant, Erni, Dream, TATS, and so on. No respect given for the smashing of gates, heavens, freeways, the style of the throwup, the idea of destruction versus artistic "cultural expression", I mean all of this is what the graf scene is. Many of the most up writers, from the dopest style-wise to the dudes who just smash the fuck out, have not one thing to do with hip-hop, and that has ALWAYS been the case. OF COURSE, there is a lot of cross polination and graffiti was/is important to hip-hop. BUT! Graffiti does not BELONG to hip-hop.
So yeah man, it's cool to see kids internationally do something positive and be inspired by the music and the culture but it is embarassing to see dudes basically rewrite or revise the history of American culture meanwhile looking and talking down to Americans because they don't meet the preconceived notion of "keeping it true".
NOW, COME SEE ME IN THE B-BOYING VERSUS HIP-HOP DANCING THREAD... PHILL BETTER COME OFF THE BENCH FOR THIS!
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But that's just not the truth bro. That's why many folks on here kind of snicker at the four elements protectors, a lot of times it's as you said, kids with a revisionist idea of how things are or were over here. The graf movement is so much bigger, more diverse, and downright different in its attitudes, aims, styles, and customs here than just hip-hop or burners or whatever. Most four-elements folk pretend that graf was only ever on trains or hall of fames, legal walls, big colorful burners, shit don't burn.... bitten styles from Giant, Erni, Dream, TATS, and so on. No respect given for the smashing of gates, heavens, freeways, the style of the throwup, the idea of destruction versus artistic "cultural expression", I mean all of this is what the graf scene is. Many of the most up writers, from the dopest style-wise to the dudes who just smash the fuck out, have not one thing to do with hip-hop, and that has ALWAYS been the case. OF COURSE, there is a lot of cross polination and graffiti was/is important to hip-hop. BUT! Graffiti does not BELONG to hip-hop.
So yeah man, it's cool to see kids internationally do something positive and be inspired by the music and the culture but it is embarassing to see dudes basically rewrite or revise the history of American culture meanwhile looking and talking down to Americans because they don't meet the preconceived notion of "keeping it true".
NOW, COME SEE ME IN THE B-BOYING VERSUS HIP-HOP DANCING THREAD... PHILL BETTER COME OFF THE BENCH FOR THIS!
Talk about "here today gone tommorrow". I forgot about this shit.
KRS has them locked up in the basement of his temple, ala Knights Templar style.