Lee Quiñones
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| - | '''''Wild Style''''' is an American 1983 hip hop film directed and produced by [[Charlie Ahearn]]. Released theatrically in September 1982 by [[First Run Features]] and later re-released for home video by [[Rhino Home Video]], it is regarded as the first hip hop motion picture. The film included seminal figures such as [[Fab Five Freddy]], [[Lee Quiñones]], [[Sandra Fabara|Lady Pink]], [[The Rock Steady Crew]], [[The Cold Crush Brothers]], Queen Lisa Lee of [[Universal Zulu Nation|Zulu Nation]], [[Grandmaster Flash]] and Zephyr. The protagonist "Zoro" is played by New York graffiti artist "Lee" George Quiñones. | ||
| - | 2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the film. Producers proposed a 2013 Blu-ray edition that would include additional interviews and features. | + | '''George Lee Quiñones''' (born 1960) is a [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] [[artist]] and [[actor]]. He is known for his New York City subway [[graffiti]]. |
| - | ==Background== | + | Quiñones' style is rooted in popular culture, often with political messages. |
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| - | An early version of the ''Wild Style'' logo appeared in 1981 when Charlie Ahearn hired graffiti writer [[Dondi White|Dondi]] to paint the 'window down' subway car piece that appears in the film. The [[DONDI|Dondi]] piece was the inspiration for the animated title sequence designed by the artist, Zephyr and animated by Joey Ahlbum in 1982. The ''Wild Style'' mural was painted by Zephyr, Revolt and Sharp in 1983. Charlie Ahearn and Fab 5 Freddy began working on the film on late 1981. The approach was a hybrid of a narrative musical and documentary, having the real hip hop pioneers play themselves in a loosely scripted story shot entirely in the South Bronx, the Lower East Side and MTA subway yards. | + | |
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| - | ==Plot== | + | |
| - | ''Wild Style'' takes place in 1981 in New York and centers around graffiti artists, Zoro (played by Lee Quiñones) and his encounters with an uptown journalist named, Virginia (played by Patti Astor). More so than its story, however, the film is notable for featuring several prominent figures from early hip hop culture such as [[Busy Bee Starski]], [[Fab Five Freddy]], [[The Cold Crush Brothers]] and [[Grandmaster Flash]]. Throughout the movie there are scenes depicting activities common in the early days of hip hop. These include MCing, turntablism, graffiti and b-boying. The film demonstrates the interconnections between music, dance and art in the development of hip hop culture. | + | |
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| - | ==Reception== | + | |
| - | Review aggregate website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 88% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 17 reviews. A review from [[The Guardian]] noted that despite the low production values, 'nothing else comes close to capturing the atmosphere of the early days of hip-hop and spraycan art...' | + | |
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| - | == Impact == | + | |
| - | The film has received a large cult following over the years after its initial release. Highly regarded hip hop albums such as ''[[Illmatic]]'' by [[Nas]], ''[[Midnight Marauders]]'' by [[A Tribe Called Quest]], ''[[Black Sunday (Cypress Hill album)|Black Sunday]]'' by [[Cypress Hill]], ''[[Resurrection (Common album)|Resurrection]]'' by [[Common (rapper)|Common]], ''[[Big Shots (album)|Big Shots]]'' by [[Charizma]], ''[[Operation: Doomsday]]'' by [[MF Doom]], ''[[Check Your Head]]'' by [[Beastie Boys]], ''[[Beat Konducta]]'' by [[Madlib]], ''[[Jay Stay Paid]]'' by [[J Dilla]] and ''[[Quality Control (album)|Quality Control]]'' by [[Jurassic 5]] have used samples from the film. In 2007, the [[VH1]] [[Hip Hop Honors]] paid tribute to ''Wild Style'' in recognition of its influence upon the culture. The film was also voted as one of the top ten rock and roll films of all time by the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]. The film has been exhibited as part of a 1980s art retrospective at the [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago]] and the [[Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston]]. | + | |
| - | == Soundtrack == | + | |
| - | The original soundtrack consists of 17 tracks recorded by various artists included in the film. The album has been described by [[Allmusic]] as "one of the key records of early 1980s hip-hop". | + | |
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| - | == See also == | + | |
| - | * ''[[Style Wars]]'' | + | |
| - | * ''[[Beat Street]]'' | + | |
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George Lee Quiñones (born 1960) is a Puerto Rican artist and actor. He is known for his New York City subway graffiti.
Quiñones' style is rooted in popular culture, often with political messages.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Lee Quiñones" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
