USA – 1983 – 82 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY CHARLIE AHEARN
NON-THEATRICAL: AVAILABLE FOR TV, VOD & FILM FESTIVALS ONLY
WILD STYLE follows the exploits of maverick tagger Zoro (real life graffiti artist Lee Quinones), whose work attracts the attention of an East Village art fancier (Patti Astor) who commissions him to paint the stage for a giant Rapper's Convention. A documentation of the earliest days of hip-hop in the boroughs of New York, everything in WILD STYLE is authentic — the story, style, characters, and most of the actors, are drawn from the community. It features a pantheon of old-school pioneers, including Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Busy Bee, The Cold Crush Brothers and more.
In its chronicling the influential South Bronx youth culture of the day — before it became globally known — WILD STYLE shows many important hip-hop personalities in their milieu before they went on to reap national acclaim. Chief among these is Fab 5 Freddy, who hosted Yo! MTV Raps from its inception. Director Ahearn credits Freddy for the film's vision of hip-hop as a unified culture. WILD STYLE may not have been the first movie featuring rappers, but it was the first to link graffiti, break dancing, DJing, freestyle MCing and the emergence of the hip-hop nation. It culminates in one of the greatest hip-hop parties in history.