against cancer last night. R.I.P. !
Always ahead of his time, New York artist and performer Rammellzee
was born 1960 in Far Rockaway, Queens. Credited with being one of the
inventors of graffiti art in the late 1970’s as well as one of the original
hip hop artists from the New York area who introduced specific vocal
styles which date back to the early 1980s. His influence can still be
heard in contemporary artists such as The Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill
and his legendary hip-hop single “Beat Bop” with K-Rob was financed
by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and has become one of the most
sought after hip hop releases ever.
In the mid-80’s, Rammellzee became associated with a group of artists
who painted or tagged in a style known as East Village wild style. This
was an illegible, dynamic style of writing letters derived originally from
the Gothic script of Medieval manuscripts. In 1982, he appeared in the
seminal hip hop documentary Wildstyle by Charlie Ahearn, his fame in
graffiti circles was established when he painted New York subway trains
with Dondi, OU3, and Ink 76, and Doctor Revolt. Rammellzee’s graffiti
and artwork are based on his theory of Gothic Futurism, which describes
the battle between letters and their symbolic warfare against any
standardizations enforced by the rules of the alphabet; his treatise,
“Iconic Panzerisms”, details an anarchic plan by which to revise the role
and deployment of language in society.
Rammellzee’s work has been exhibited internationally. His work is in the
collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He performs in self-
designed masks and costumes of different characters of his own creation,
one featured within his board art named “Reaper Grimm”.”
