Rest In Peace King Kase2 The King Of Styyyyyyyyyyyyle

I woke up this morning to find that Kase 2 had passed away.

I thought it would only be appropriate to take the time to explain Kase 2's importance to graffiti and to me personally. For those of you who read Super Duty Tough Work and are not familiar with graffiti or the documentary Style Wars the actual phrase "super duty tough work" comes from one of Kase2's numerous quotes in the film. You could even argue that Kase2 IS that movie. His quotes and scenes are what made "Style Wars" so entertaining. In a close second place would be Cap with his "N*ggas know" line, but that line ain't even close to touching any of Kase's superb quoteables.

Kase2 did more for the sub-culture of graffiti and style writing in that film than a lot of people realize. Probably the most obvious being that he made the viewer want to BE a graffiti writer. I'm sorry if that statement sounds lame to you, but that is the truth. You read any interview from some of the best writers in history and usually their story starts with something along the lines of "My friend showed me 'Style Wars' on vhs," or "I saw 'Style Wars' on PBS one night and that's when I wanted to start writing," that is how nearly every one of their writing careers starts. So if "Style Wars" is the point of entry for most writers and Kase2 is the stand out writer within the film then you could say that Kase2 is probably a starting point or style catalyst for decades of writers. Obviously, that is not the case for every great writer, but the logic is solid none the less.

Out of all his famous quotes I think the best is when he succinctly summed up THE reason why people write graffiti:

"People look at a person, what you write on trains? Oh, you vandalism and all that. Yeah I vandalism alright, but still in general I know what I'm doin. I did somethin' to make yo eyes open up. Right? So why is you talking bout it for?"

Boom.

And there is the quintessential definition of why people do it.

He is simply saying "Yes, I vandalize, but I know what I am doing. I did something that made you look. That is why I did it."

There are a lot of personalities within the sub-culture that is graffiti, but there was only one Kase2. I never met him, but I knew many that had and thankfully he was documented on film so that future writers can continue to be inspired by his style and maybe even more importantly his gift of gab.

The Upsetter : The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry

I went and saw this last night with my old lady. It was about as good as a documentary about Lee Scratch Perry can be.

Hearing some songs of his on a proper sound system was probably the best part.

If it is playing in your city go check it out and if it isn't you can buy it from the site.

THEUPSETTERMOVIE

"Waiting For Superman" Trailer

America is dumb and apparently we are only getting dumber.

Check the trailer:

Watch Here

Up There Documentary

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.

My buddy Charlie Pratt is featured in this short documentary called "Up There". It documents the dying business of hand painted building ads. Vinyl ads have made their business nearly obsolete with the exception of major markets like New York and LA.

It is only 12 minutes, but the cinematography and score are amazing.

Gone are the days of specialization and craftsmanship.

Fucking robots, man.

Those motherfuckers are gonna take over.

Stussy's Dilla Documentary

These have been posted on a lot of blogs, but I think that is because J Dilla's legacy deserves the attention.

Watch all three parts:

Dilla Doc

Chris Rock's "Good Hair"

This one looks pretty funny.

"This would last Prince about a month."

Watch the trailer:

HERE

Transcendent Man: Trailer

I've learned to not buy into any documentary at face value. I remember feeling like an idiot after buying into the hype "Bowling for Columbine" only to find out later about all the inconsistencies with Michael Moore's edits. After that little lesson I sort of made some rules to go by in regards to the validity of documentaries.

1.) There is always an agenda. Someone wants you to think about something whether it is good or bad.

2.) It's edited. You are shown what they want you to see. It's still a film at the end of the day.

3.) Just enjoy it for what it is. There is no need to become an outraged advocate over night.

Transcendent Man already looks like a documentary that is going to have people jumping to conclusions and I expect there will be plenty of you blogging all about it when it comes out.

Everyone went off the deep end when the "Obama Deception" came out. C'mon people. Do you really think it's that easy to thwart a "New World Order"?

Like some filmmaker just figured out the plan to "take over the world" in a few months?

Really? I doubt it. Is there corruption in politics, the economy, and in the justice system? Yeah, of course, but don't think because some filmmaker edits together a "convincing" film that means you just figured out the f*ckin Matrix from watching a movie.

Let's not go plunging off the cliff because of a youtube clip.

Inside/Outside Documentary

Another new graffiti documentary called Inside Outside.

Apparently, it is only available to buy on dvd in Japan, but I'm sure it will available stateside soon.