In the 1980s hip hop exploded. Born on the streets of New York City, hip hop was an eruption of joy in ‘fear city‘. Scratching, rapping, DJing, graffiti and breaking reset the tone before the big money rolled in. The likes of Afrika Bambaata, Kool Herc, Shack Crew, Treacherous Three, the Cold Crush Brothers, b-boys like The Rock Steady Crew, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys gave the city an electric vibrancy. Janette Beckman, a British photographer from London, recalls: “Back then, there was not one thought in my mind hip-hop would become this massive thing…You just didn’t know what it was back then. In a way, it was sort of like punk. It was coming out a bad economy, people didn’t have jobs, they were frustrated and they wanted to express that.” Back then you could book LL Cool J to play your school disco for a few hundred dollars.
Hip Hop pioneers Eric B & Rakim in New York, circa 1989 – Crossing 14th Street by Michael Ochs
Hip Hop guru LL Cool J, with Cut Creator, E Love and B-Rock , Manhattan 1987 – by Janette Beckman
JDL dancing at the Bronx’s legendary Skatin’ Palace – by Joe Conzo
“I loved shooting my people in the Bronx — the people I grew up with… [It was] before the record companies got involved, before the real money got involved. It was a time of young kids doing what they wanted to do – an innocent time. The fact that I documented it along with these other photographers, and that it’s being documented in this museum, is just phenomenal.”
– Joe Conzo
Busta Rhymes – by Janette Beckman
The Rock Steady Crew at the Venue in London, 1982, featuring Wayne ‘Frosty Freeze’ Frost mid-air. By David Corio
“It was like punk, in a way. It came out of a bad economy, and people had to make stuff up, create. It was very fresh and exciting. It wasn’t driven by money – not like today, which seems driven by the cult of celebrity. It came out of people’s neighbourhoods and it had a lot more heart.”
– Janette Beckman
Beastie Boys and Run DMC in Los Angeles, 1987 – Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
BDP Scott La Rock and KRS1 – NYC – 1987 – by Janette Beckman
Big Daddy Kane – NYC – 1988 by Janette Beckman
Rammellzee and hip hop legend Fab 5 Freddie – 1982 by Janette Beckman
EPMD photographed in Babylon, Long Island in 1989. © Janette Beckman
Rakim and Eric B NYC 1987 – by Janette Beckman
Flava Flav of Public Enemy NYC 1987 – by Janette Beckman
“The first question people usually ask me is, ‘What made you photograph Hip Hop?’ My answer is that the words “Hip Hop” were not even in use in the late 70s when I began this project. From 1977 to 1980, I was a staff photographer for the New York Post. One day I discovered a boy who showed me drawings of his nickname that he painted on walls. After I saw that these kids were more graphic designers than vandals, I became hooked on graffiti. My idea while documenting subway graffiti was to attempt to show the paintings within the context of the culture that created them.”
“In 1980, while on another Post assignment, I happened upon some kids breakdancing in Washington Heights. They explained how they battled each other with dance and I began to document that. The next thing I knew, there was a cultural revolution going on. It included music, dance, and art, and I was standing in the middle of it! In 1982, the words “Hip Hop” appeared in print for the first time. I thought I was photographing a specifically New York phenomenon. Never did I imagine Hip Hop would spread like wildfire to every country in the world.”
– Martha Cooper
By Martha Cooper
Chuck D of Public Enemy NYC 1987 – by Janette Beckman
JDL and Caz – by Joe Conzo
Almighty KG – by Joe Conzo
Tony Tone and Kool Herc by Joe Conzo
Busta Rhymes – by Janette Beckman
Stetsasonic in Brooklyn, 1988. “I spent the day with Stetsasonic photographing them for the album cover for In Full Gear,” says Beckman. “I knew about the Stetson poster in Brooklyn. It was covered in graffiti, including a tag by the legendary Chino, who 25 years later would reinterpret this photo as part of my Mashup series, drawing over his own work’
Photograph: Janette Beckman
Queen Latifah in New York, 1990 – Photograph: Janette Beckman
Biz Markie in London, 1988
‘He was a real ham,’ says Corio. ‘Jumping on to cars, constantly making faces – it made him easy to photograph. I asked to hold one of his rope chain necklaces: they were totally hollow and hardly weighed anything’ – David Corio
Breakdancing in New York, 1984 – Photograph: Michael Ochs/Getty Images
Run DMC and friends, in Queens, 1984
In 1984, Janette Beckman got an assignment from the Face to photograph ‘a new group called Run DMC’. She says: ‘I called the number they gave me, Jam Master Jay’s mum’s house. We met at the Hollis subway station and Jay walked me to the street where they lived. The group were hanging out with friends, I started to take photos – this was maybe my second shot. Seems like a moment in time, they looked perfect in their Kangols, Cazals and Adidas’
Photograph: Janette Beckman
Run DMC at Hammersmith Odeon in London, 1986. Photograph: David Corio
Public Enemy in Hyde Park, London, 1987
“Public Enemy were the support act on a bill with LL Cool J and Eric B & Rakim,” says Corio. “This was their first morning in a foggy London and I persuaded them to go to the park. Their main concern was that they hadn’t seen any McDonald’s on their way from the airport so were worried about what they were going to eat. Without me asking, they started posing and making Black Power signs, which somewhat bemused the old ladies walking their dogs that were passing by”
Photograph: David Corio
Afrika Bambataa 1980s NYC – by Janette Beckman
Via: The Guardian; BJP; HIP-HOP REVOLUTION: Photographs by Janette Beckman, Joe Conzo and Martha Cooper at the Museum of the City of New York City; and Beat Positive at Getty Images Gallery, London.
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