Wild Style was the first hip hop motion picture. Released independently in 1982 by First Run Features and later re-released for home video by Rhino Home Video, the movie featured actors like Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quinones, the Rock Steady Crew, The Cold Crush Brothers, Patti Astor, Sandra Fabara and Grandmaster Flash. The protagonist is the legendary New York graffiti artist “Lee” George Quinones as “Zoro”. The “Wild Style” logo originally designed by TRACY168 on the film’s cover was copied and applied by scenic painters Zephyr, Revolt and Sharp.
The film itself is very unique in that the actors play roles that were designed to show exactly how they were in real life. The movie was given a loose storyline as a means of commercializing it, but the story is not the reason it is so highly regarded. It’s the culmination of legendary hip hop icons being filmed in their emergence along with a profound documentation of a new budding sub-culture that draws people to this film.
Soundtrack
- Military Cut – Grand Wizard Theodore/Kevie Kev Rockwell (Scratch Mix)
- MC Battle – Busy Bee/Lil Rodney Cee/DJ Grand Wizard Theodore
- Basketball Throwdown – Cold Crush Brothers/Fantastic Freaks
- Fantastic Freaks At The Dixie – Fantastic Freaks/ DJ Kevie Kev Rockwell
- Subway Theme – DJ Grand Wizard Theodore (Previously Unreleased)
- Cold Crush Brothers At The Dixie – Cold Crush Brothers
- Cuckoo Clocking – (previously unreleased)
- Stoop Rap – Double Trouble
- Double Trouble At The Amphitheatre – Double Trouble (KK Rockwell & Rodney C)/DJ Stevie Steve
- South Bronx Subway Rap – Grandmaster Caz (Original Mix)
- Street Rap – Busy Bee (Previously Unreleased)
- Chief Rocker Busy Bee, DJ AJ At The Amphitheatre – Busy Bee/ DJ A.J.
- Gangbusters – Grand Wizard Theodore/Kevie Kev Rockwell (Scratch Mix)
- Rammellzee and Shock Dell At The Amphitheatre – Rammellzee & Shock Dell/The Grand Mixer D.St
- Down By Law – Fab 5 Freddy (Previously Unreleased)
- Wild Style Theme Rap 1 – Grand Master Caz/Chris Stein (Charlie Chase Scratch Mix, Bonus Track)
- Wild Style Subway Rap 2 – Grand Master Caz/Chris Stein (Charlie Chase Scratch Mix, Bonus Track)