All language subtitles for Style.Wars.1983.DVDRip.XviD.AC3.iNTERNAL-AEROHOLiCS

( Wagnerian orchestral
music plays )

Dispatcher:
Brown and Walker, bring
the train out from 16 track.

* If you're feeling all right,
and you think you're on *

* Somebody let me know *

* Everybody in the place put
a whistle in your face *

* Scream it out and say,
yol Hit itl *

* You don't stop
the rocking rhythm that makes
your fingers pop *

* I said hip-hop, now,
thanks a lot *

* Come on, everybody,
give me what you got *

* I'm going
to tell you a little story
about the Sugar Hill Gang *

* With the pow-pow boogie,
the big bang-bang. *

Narrator:
They call themselves "writers"
because that's what they do.

They write their names,
among other things,
everywhere--

names they've been given
or have chosen for themselves.

Most of all,
they write in and on
subway trains

which carry their names
from one end of the city
to the other.

It's called, "bombing, "

and it has equally assertive
counterparts

in rap music
and break dancing.

* Scream it out and say,
"I aml" *

* I aml *

- * Somebodyl *
- * Somebodyl *

Graffiti writing
in New York is a vocation.

Its traditions are handed down

from one youthful generation
to the next.

To some, it's art.
To most people, however,

it is a plague
that never ends,

a symbol that
we've lost control.

I'm Detective Bernie Jacobs.

I, in conjunction
with my partner

Detective Jim McHugh,
are the crime prevention
coordinators

for the New York City
Transit Police Department.

Graffiti,
as the name itself,

is not an art.

Graffiti is the application

of a medium to a surface.

I will show you graffiti,

such as the letters
on the end

of that car directly
in back of me.

Is that an art form?
I don't know.

I'm not an art crimin--
critic,

but I can sure as hell
tell you that that's a crime.

At the Grand Concourse
149th Street station
in the Bronx,

graffiti writers gather

at what they call,
"The Writers' Bench. "

SE3:
They're saying that
the kids run the subways,

that the system
is out of control,

that 15- or 16-year-old kids
are running the system

and that graffiti
is the symbol of that.

No, I ain't running the system,
I'm bombing the system.

They're trying to make it look
like graffiti writers break
windows and everything.

- It ain't like that.
- You know who be doin' that?

Niggers who be high
when they come from school
are the ones.

And it's in
the graffiti artists' favor

to be as cool,
calm and collected

about putting his art
on the train as he can.

You know,
he wants to get in

and get out without even
being noticed,

except for the work
that's going to come out
to the public,

you know, that Monday.

CES:
Yeah, we gotta start to rock
some straight letters.

- This one came out all right.
- Yeah, that's the first.

That's about
the third "Skeme" piece
I did this year.

And that's the Tick-Tack
I did in Gun Hill.

What did you do
last night, man?

We did two whole cars.
It was me, Dez and Mean 3.

And in the first car,
in small letters, it said,

"All you see is"

and then big block
silver letters, it said,

- "Crime in the city, " right?
- It took up the whole car?

Yeah, it was a whole car,
and it was a scroll-like,

you know,
one of them scrolls?

In the next car it was a Skeme
that had a cop character.

You know, a police nigger

with a stick, you know,
and a badge--

Barbara Andalcio:
Society should go down
in the subway and lock them up,

because they don't have
any business down there.

It is dangerous down there.

People that work down there
25 and 30 years...

have accidents.

But his contention is
that he's immortal, I guess,

like most 17-year olds
are immortal, right?

It's a matter of getting
a tag on each line
and each division.

You know, it's called,
"going all-city."

People see your tags in Queens,
Uptown, Downtown-- all over.

( laughing )

Really, I can only laugh
to keep from crying,

because what happens
is that he really--

I don't really think he knows
how silly that sounds.

He's going all-city.
I mean, to what end?

And when I ask him,
he says to me,

"Well, just so people see it
and they know who I am."

Nobody knows who he is
and so they see it--

No, it's not a matter of,
"So they know who I am."

So they see it.
And after they see it,
so what?

It's a matter of bombing,
knowing that I can do it.

Every time I get into a train,
almost every day I see my name.

I say, "Yeah, you know it.
I was there, I bombed it."

It's for me.
It's not for nobody else to see.

I don't care--
I don't care about
nobody else seeing it,

or the fact
if they can read it or not.

It's for me
and other graffiti writers,
that we can read it.

These other people
who don't write,
they're excluded.

I don't care about them,
you know?

They don't matter to me.
It's for us.

Iz the Wiz:
"CC" starboard bowl

Quik:
Slow it down. Slow it down.

Min:
What is it? You tell me.

- Nice and slow.
- Iz: This is itl

This is itl

This is itl

( yelling )

Here we go!
Here we go!

This is it!
This is it!

Give me that towel!
Give me that towel!

That "Cathy" came out nice.
That y wasn't wack.

( Quik applauds )

( starts and stops music )

rapping and breaking became
the prime expressions

of a new young people's
subculture called "hip-hop. "

Graffiti is the written word.

There is the spoken word
of rap music...

( rap music playing )

and then there's
the acrobatic body language
of dances like "breaking. "

Frosty Freeze:
It started in the Bronx
and part of Harlem.

It started
in Freeze's house.

His mom used to break.

Don't be talking
about my mother, now.

Just don't talk
about my mother.

Boy, you're acting
stupid now.

Breaking is when you don't
have nothing to do,

everybody just standing around
and getting high.

You make up your own freezes.

You got names for them.

- Like what?
- Like the baby.

That's the baby.

A dead freeze, like this.

Crazy Legs:
That's one of them old,
ancient--

That ain't one of the old,
'cause I was the first one
to do it.

How ancient can you get?

- The one when you go like this?
- It's called the hump.

- The headache.
- No, that's the headache.

And the other one
is the hump.

When you got a headache,
you go like that, you know?

When you hump,
you go like that.

Yo, man,
this place is bombed.

Iz:
This is the transit system.

They don't like it
to be defaced.

They will, at times,
try and...

go to the extreme in trying
to apprehend you.

The subway system is
a very old one

and I've personally explored
some tunnels

and I've found rooms with maps
that were so old,

might have been like
the first train line that
New York City had.

Call it what you want,

it's just a lot of rock,
a lot of steel,'

it's a tomb, a dungeon,
under the city.

A lot of trains,
a lot of fun.

A lot of art.
Art that's going to be

a part of New York City's
history forever.

Sach:
Oh, wowl Check it out,
a whole carl

Check it out, man!
Sach, quick.

Look at that!

A lot of writers
have been down here.
You can tell.

Graffiti all over
the place.

Years ago,
it was pretty much
a secret.

It was secretly done.
People wondered and wished
they could do it.

Now, most people do it.

When all the toys
are home sleeping...

cuddling to their pillows.

They usually have curfews.
Come down...

in the wee hours
of the night after
the workers done their job,

the sweepers did the sweeping
they had to do...

I just take my time
and be creative.

Dondi:
I think it's something you can
never recapture again

once you experience it.

You have, like,
live third rails,

and like, crazy cops who come
and chase you out.

Even the smell you get
when you first smell trains

in a yard, it's like...

it's a good smell to, like,

a dedicated graffiti writer,
I guess.

When you're first against
a train,

everything seems so big,
like...

wow! It's like you're
in a yard of metal giants.

I mean,
everything is so hard,

and so steel,
you're just there.

You're like a little dude
in the midst of all this metal,

and like, you're here
to produce something.

Well, you're here to try
to produce something.

Well, I've seen
comparable graffiti.

Not necessarily
these particular ones.

Each of these costs us
a million dollars, in a sense,

because others went out
and tried to copy.

It isn't worth it.

Well, it is one
of the quality-of-life offenses.

And you can't just take one
of those quality-of-life
offenses;

it's like three-card-monte

and pickpocketing
and shoplifting

and graffiti defacing
our public and private walls.

They're all in the same area
of destroying our lifestyle

and making it difficult
to enjoy life.

And I think it has
to be responded to.

So I've told you the response
that I think a repeater,

three-time repeater,
should get would be
five days in jail.

Now, obviously, a murderer,

if you believe
in the death penalty as I do,

you want to have the option
of executing a murderer.

You wouldn't do that
to a graffiti writer.

Man:
I saw you at work over here

and I just want to find out
what you're filming.

Interviewer:
We're making a film on
subway graffiti in New York.

Why did you take this
particular neighborhood here?

What's unusual?

Is there more graffiti here
than other places?

I hope not.

We're here because
one of the best

graffiti writers
lives around here.

He writes "Seen. "

- What is it?
- S-E-E-N.

( "The Wanderer" plays )

- That's his name?
- Yes, that's what he writes.

- Or is it a nom de plume?
- It is a nom de plume.

I see. You wouldn't tell me
his real name?

- No.
- Why not?

Would he get in trouble,
or wouldn't he be
glorified by it?

* Oh, I'm the type of guy
who'll never settle down *

* Where pretty girls are,
well, you know that
I'm around *

* I kiss 'em
and I love 'em *

* 'Cause to me
they're all the same *

* I hug 'em
and I squeeze 'em *

* They don't even know
my name *

* Yeah, I'm a wanderer *

* Yeah, I'm a wanderer *

* I roam around, around,
around, around *

* Yeah, go ahead and go *

( saxophone solo plays )

* 'Cause I'm a wanderer *

* Yeah, I'm a wanderer *

* I roam around, around,
around, around, around *

* 'Cause I'm a wanderer *

* Yeah, I'm a wanderer. *

Seen:
All right, there's about four
numerous reasons why...

I ain't painting right now.

To make a long story short,

I'm on what they call
a six-month probation.

I call it a six-month vacation,
never mind probation.

Now they got a graffiti squad
on this line,

which there really was never,
really.

Since they come on this line,
it's been harder to piece.

It ain't like the old days
when the train pulled into
the yard on a Friday night,

that train wouldn't pull out
until Monday morning.

Now, when you go
to piece a train,

you put an outline on the train
and you can say goodbye,

the train pulls out
10 minutes later.

Or, if you're ready to put
an outline,

you gotta chase
the train down the track to put
an outline on the piece.

It just ain't the same anymore.
They don't know what they're
doing no more.

Late, as usual.

But I'm here.
I show up, though.

I show up.
Let me see.

Well, why don't you do this one
on that side of the wall?

- You know
what I'm saying?
- These two?

- No. This one--
- It's going to be crowded.

We're going to have
plenty of room.

- The bottom of the piece?
- The bottom of the piece,
I say, about here.

"The United Artists" will go
a little bit below the top,

'cause you're going
to have it on a wave.
Big letters.

I want you
to start from about here.
Maybe even here.

Start it from here.
Listen to me. From here.

You understand
what I'm saying to you?

( paint spraying )

I still think
it's too big.

Now, your first outline
is needed, always needed.

This way you know
what you're filling in.

No matter how good you are,
you can't just go on in

and just start filling in--
in the air.

You've got to have
your first outline.

Once your first outline
is done, then your fill-in,

that takes away
your first outline.

You don't need
your first because
now you got your fill-in.

From your fill-in,
you put your colors
and then your 3-D.

If you want background,
you put your cloud or whatever.

How's this, Nick?
I'm throwing a few
connections here.

I'm going to make it
look like yours.

What do you think?
I'll make a few bits.

All right. Huh?

Bits. Bits. I don't know.
Little doodads here and there.

Yeah, now it's shaping up.

I have about a hundred outlines,
but I've shaped it up.

Nicky, Nicky, come onl

You gonna save me room
or what?

I didn't do that to yours.
Get out of there! Go on!

Woman:
He's making a mess
in this house.

He cannot sit down without,

you know, doing graffiti
on something.

- All right--
- He really can't.

When you're talking
on the phone,

you don't doodle
on the paper?

- I don't doodle.
- Yes, you do.

- I do not doodle.
- You do doodle on the paper.

I just write my name
while I'm talking on the phone.
What's that?

I'm just writing something.

You're telling me that
you write your name while
you're talking on the phone.

In the meantime,
you have destroyed
your room.

- You have destroyed your room.
- Testing out my paints.

You have no respect
for anything.

Don't tell me
about testing out
your paints.

Ain't we putting red,
yellow, or red, orange
and yellow here?

No, the brown's
got to be brown.

I ain't putting
no browns there.
Ain't no way.

Red, orange and yellow.
You want it to stand out.

The whole thing.
Around the whole works--
red, orange, yellow.

Remember how I did
the "Mad Seen" with the wall

and the color went
all around the thing?

The "Mad Seen,"
the one on the 5s?

With the walls all falling down.
The one I did myself.

- No.
- All right.

Let me explain.

Yellow, orange
and a little bit of red--

yellow and orange around
the whole thing and then,

we'll put browns and beiges
in the 3-D. Believe me.

I'll show you.
Not around the fade.

Fade into the yellow,
but a trim over it--

a cheap trim.
I'll show you after.

I'll show you after.
All right?

I'll never
steer you wrong, Nick.

Rustoleum, Krylon,
Wet-Iook,

Epoxy, Red Devil...

When you hold a can
of Rustoleum in your hand,

it's like holding three other
shit brands in your hand.

It lasts, it covers,

and it's not aerosol
like Krylon.

It just comes out in a mist.
This comes out like paint.

Mayor Koch:
The schools have
courses in art.

How about the mothers
and fathers of this city

saying to the kids,
"That's the wrong thing to do"?

You listen to them talk,
they sound ridiculous.

He's king
of the yakkety-yak yard.

Who died and left him king
of any yard?

He owns nothing
in the subway, you know?

( laughs )

I love robbing paint.

I know, you know,
everybody knows how you rob it.

He gets me souped up
and sometimes I'll go and get

15 cans at a time, you know.

Stuffing it in your coat,
in your shirt,

down the back of your pants.
It's mainly with the big coat

and like 15 cans,

you figure it out,
it's like over $50.

You're going into stores--

we could go one day and get
100 cans at a time.

It's easy.
For me, anyway.

It's harder on black kids

or Spanish kids,
'cause everybody thinks

a graffiti writer is black
and Puerto Rican,

and that's, you know,
it's wrong.

A lot of white people
are writin'.

What you've got is
a whole miserable subculture.

Zephyr:
I was raised on the Upper
East Side of Manhattan.

I went to a sort
of strict prep school
in the Bronx, right?

Riverdale Country School.

In attending that school,

I had to walk past
the 1 yard

on 242nd Street
every day.

From where I stood, I'd watch
the trains pull in and out.

I thought,
"How could a human being

have his name
on every car?"

You know, that these guys

must either live in there,
be allowed to live in there,

or just be...

allowed to go off
like that, right?

They're trespassing it;
they're beating the system;

they're getting
their names up, right?

We've drenched the city
with our names, right?

We're trying our damndest.

( lengthy instrumental intro )

* Pump, pump, pump me up *

* Like the man
with the super "S"
on his cape *

* Jump through the pump
and do great *

* I'm DJ Rockin'
and I can pass the test *

* Get down rappers
from east to west *

* This party, please,
that party, please *

* I'll pump them
with the greatest of ease *

* This is DJ Rockin'
with the master beat *

* With the boogie and the sound
that moves the feet *

- * Somebody say-- *
- Get upl Get upl

- * Somebody say-- *
- Get upl Get upl

* You party good
you're going down *

* You compliment
this funky sound *

* Pump-pump-pump-pump me upl *

We caught...

a freshly painted...

"Double-R,"

and we spent about
three hours in it.

- That's impossible.
- No, it's not.

We were tagging
with the "Unis,"

then the "Minis,"
then the "Marvies,"

then the "Pilots,"
then the "Flo-pens"

and we were doing clouds

around the tags
and 3-Ds on the tags--

for the Double-Rs,
to have a clean car back then,

it was...
we just had an orgasm.

* Pump-pump-pump me upl *

Narrator:
1970--

the idea of getting
your name up,

not just in your neighborhood,
but everywhere,

was invented by a kid
named Taki,

who lived on 183rd Street
in Washington Heights.

Taki 183.

As soon as everybody understood
that it was a name,

they realized that Taki
was famous.

Wasp:
Taki 183 was the first guy.

Even though they say Julio 204
started before him.

But he was the one
who made it famous.

Then, after him, in them times,
it was Papo 184.

Then came out Junior 161,

Cay 161,
they were bombing, too.

Stitch came out
around 1971.

He was all-city, too.

Barbara, Eva 62,
they were girls.

Everybody was writing.

That was what everybody
was talking in them days.

- * Somebody say-- *
- Get upl Get upl

- * Somebody say... *
- Get upl Get upl

I got into graffiti,
just like riding the trains,
when I was younger.

You know, looking at
the old writers' shit, you know?

A lot of new writers around,

you talk to them about a lot
of old writers,

they don't know
what you're talking about.

I started in 1973
or 1974,

during very...

early years...

of initial bombing,

very important years
of graffiti bombing.

If it wasn't
for those years,

I don't think we would
get where we are today.

That was the life back then.
That was happening.

Everybody was pioneering
back then.

That's when all
your developing happened--
your bubble letters,

all that kind of stuff.
Your wild styles.

* Pump-pump-pump-pump me upl *

Crash:
The wild styles.

Noc:
You don't have to do
straight letters to have style.

Anything that comes in
your imagination

adds onto your own
individual style.

The arrow.

Everybody's got
their own arrow.

I like that, though.

Various arrow some guys have
on-the-letter arrow--

that was like connection.

Some people had
different arrows

just going right through
their pieces.

* The funk is here
so you can go groove *

* We want to make
your body move *

* Pump-pump-pump-pump me upl *

Colors, designs, style,
technical advanced...

- Get loose.
- Get loose.

Cartoons, everything.

And when they see you got
a vicious style,

they be wanting
to get loose about it,

and that's what keep it going.

- That's what sparks graffiti.
- Keep sparkin' it.

You know, I know a lot
of good writers,

and all the writers
that I knew,

they used to get up,
so they used to tell me,

"Trap, why don't you get up?"

And I started getting up
with them,

we started doing pieces.

Then I met Dez--

One day, I came to the Bench
and I seen him sitting there,

looking at the pieces.

You could tell a writer,
you know?

You go to the Bench
and you see him

as the trains go by,
he be going like this,

you know,
he have ink stains
on his clothes.

He gave me outlines
and stuff to practice--

I can't let him go
for at least five minutes,

or he'll destroy the piece.

You know? I turn around,

"Trap, what you doing?
I want to do my own piece."

I said, "Yeah, but, you know,
follow the outline."

Russ, Russ!

What's up, man?

You know it.
Chillin', man!

Slick Rick!
Slick Rick!

And the Acey Base!

For about two and a half years
I was upstate

from like the beginning
of 1970 to '72.

What's up?
Hey, what's up?

When I came home,
I ain't know nothing about

no writing, no graffiti,
'cause I wasn't about it.

All right, you know it.

What's up, man?

So, when I got home,
I seen writing on the train.

I said,
"What's this stuff here?

Those niggers doing
their names big."

Said, "Let me do one
at least."

'Cause I was down
with art already.

And I did me a piece
for people in general

to get to know who I am.

I said,
"Oh, that looks all right.

I'm'a go every Sunday now."

Next thing I know,
I started getting better
and better.

And as I realized,
I knew to get better,
I said, "Oh, man,

I'm going to bring out
the computer rock."

And then that's when
I really got loose,

'cause then niggers was saying,
"Yo, who's that guy?"

Then one day,
these news reporters people
was on train station--

we was going by
and we seen them.

We seen them filming
our whole car.

We went up to them,
and I remember, I said,

"Who you think probably done
that right there?"

Just to be curious
to see what they'd say.

And they say, "I don't know,
but whoever done it,

that's remarkable talent.

I ain't never seen nothing
like this before. "

I said, "If I told you I did it,
would you believe me?"

He say, "I don't know.
I can't say,

but I believe so,
'cause you don't know

what you can believe
these days."

I said, "I did."
And then he said,

"I don't believe that.
You only got one arm."

I said,
"That don't mean nothing.

I do things that people don't
realize I can do with this.

Being that I'm like this,
you know?"

And then he said,
"I hear you there, sonny."

And I say,
"I ain't no sonny.

I just was asking you
a question, sir,

that's all I wanted to know,
to see your feelings about it."

( whistling )

* Do you want to dance? *

What's up?

You getting some candy?

Ain't getting nothing?

Gimme some candy, man.
Ain't got no candy?

Hey, Gigolo!
Whatcha know?

Gigolo!

Where that nigger at?

Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I can dig it.

We goin'
on the other side, right?

Word.

Wha-wha-wha--
gigolo.

- What happpenin'?
- The Beastmaster.

* Do you want to dance? *

* Are you willing
to take a chance? *

- Look at that eye.
- Word.

Look at that eagle.
Word.

I said look at that eye.

You know where he got
that from, right?

From Vaughn Bode and who?
Frank Frazetta!

The Beastmaster.

The letters
is breakin' out.

"The epic adventures
of a new kind of hero."

That's what we're going to be.
The extraterrestrial brothers.

You know what I'm saying?
Extra terrest!

Knowing we the best.
Know what I'm sayin'?

( train whistle blowing )

* It's a Dezzy Dez
and a Kasey Kase *

* And D-5, we're going
to rock the place *

* And if you're based
in the place *

* You will get disgraced,
because we are the crew *

* That we got the place *

* Rock-sock-it,
rock-it-in-a-pocket *

* A sock-sock-it,
rock-it-in-a-pocket *

* I say, pushed that girl
in front of the train *

* Took her to the doctor,
sewed her arm on again *

* Stabbed that man
right in his heart *

* Gave him a transplant
for a brand new start *

* Can't cut through
the park *

* 'Cause it's crazy
after dark *

* Keep my hand on my gun,
they got me on the run *

* I feel like a outlaw
broke my last glass jaw *

* Hear them say,
"You want some more?"
Living on a seesaw *

* Broken glass everywhere,
people pissing on the stairs *

* You know,
they just don't care,
I can't take the smell *

* Can't take the noise,
got no money to move out,
I guess I got no choice *

* Rats in the front room,
roaches in the back *

* Junkies in the alley
with a baseball bat *

* I tried to get away
but I couldn't get far *

* 'Cause a man with a tow-truck
repossessed my car *

* Don't push me
'cause I'm close to the edge *

* I'm trying not
to lose my head *

* Ha-ha-ha! *

Kase:
Well, I know one thing
about graffiti, man.

Niggers say it played out,
niggers say this,
niggers say that.

But, it's going
to keep going on.

'Cause I might be old and quit,
but you coming up,

younger niggers is coming up,
it's going to keep going and
keep going, you know?

'Cause you going to be a king
soon, too, you know?

Dez:
He's like a son to me,
in a way, you know.

I look out for him
and he looks out for me.

I won't let nothing happen
to him, you know?

He won't let nothing happen
to me if he could help it.

I know for his age,

he's 14 now,

and I'm 16.

About the time he get
my age,

he be one of the best
people out.

If he continues
to go on in the years,

he can be
another Picasso.

( laughs )

* Get funky in the place *

* Get funky in the place *

* Life ain't no more a joke,
it's a serious thing *

* When you're dealing
with the answers that
you can't explain *

* It's the funky beat
and there's the funky beat *

* And there's the funk,
the funk and the funky beat *

* E-yah *

* Like a little jelly bean
I'm a sweet like a candy cane *

* I make you get down
this is number one stain *

* On the train just groovin'
like a seesaw *

* They're a-breakin' up,
yeah, yeah... *

Narrator:
The idea of style
and competing

for the best style is the key
to all forms of rocking.

* He can own the freak
a-like a little deak-deak *

* You're rockin' on *

With the rap M.C.,
it's rocking the mike...

for the B-boys, it's rocking
your body in break dancing.

Or for writers,
rocking the city with
your name on a train.

* Get funky in the place *

* Get funky in the place... *

( boombox playing )

Lennie Len:
Right now, he's doing
the footwork

when original breaking
came out.

There he's doing the baby
and the turtle.

- The back bridge.
- Yeah.

He did the head spin
and then just went up.

I got a certain backspin
that I made up.

Want me to show you it?

I started off
doing like this...

and landing like that.

So, then, I just...

decided not to do the freeze
and keep on spinning.

So it goes like this.

I put my arm right here
and it's easy.

And I push my arm
and swing my left leg--

my right leg--
both of 'em around.

Other crews, they're not
as good as us,

'cause we have
the breaking form.

- Crazy Legs: Original style.
- Yeah, original style.

Other crews like
"Dynamic Rockers,"

- they bite, usually--
- Yeah, they bite!

Let me tell you
about these people,
Dynamic Rockers.

MC:
One-two-one-two.

One-two-one.
Party people in the placel

Rock Steady
against Dynamic Rockersl

Rock on till
the break of dawnl

Crazy Legs in the housel

Crazy Legs:
This goes back...

when I used to go
to the roller-skating rink,

United Skates of America
in Queens, right?

I used to go over there
to break against all of them
and take them all out.

You know, burn 'em,
make 'em look stupid.

And they had no kind
of style at all.

They was beginners.

I been breaking
way before them.

MC:
* A-rock-on the kid
the Crazy Legs... *

Frosty Freeze:
We started doing better
routines than they were.

They got to a point
where they got mad at us

because we was taking them out
with our moves.

Then, that started
getting out of hand,

because they had the crowd
and we didn't.

MC:
Yol Whoever ain't
in Rock Steady or Dynamic,

get behind the barriersl

Yol Both rockin' crews,
can you please listen?

Nobody's listening to me.

We're not going to start
until you move.

Rockers, get ready.

( music playing )

Frosty Freeze:
Up-rock is just like
humiliating.

Doing things in peoples'
faces and all that.

And down-rocking,
as you know,

is trying to see
who can compete against
whose moves on the floor.

MC rapping:
* I was lookin' out
on the 33rd floor *

* All of the sudden,
there was a knock on my door *

* It was "Son of Sam"
with a .44 *

* He blew a hole
straight through my door *

* So I went to the back
to get the gun *

* I was out two bullets,
had only one *

* I shoot the shit,
I shot him in his eye *

* Never saw a white man
jump so high. *

MC:
So who won
the rocking contest?

( crowd chants )
Rock Steady! Rock Steady!

You all know who took
them out right?

Put it this way,
we're out of sight
and they bite.

They bit my turtle
into a hop--

Oh, man. I could've cried
when I seen that.

You know, that faggot
that was flying around there

with his funny legs
and shit?

- He's in gymnastics.
- So what? So what?

That's not even breaking.
That's all fairy flying.

I call that fairy flying.

MC:
Who goes for Rock Steady?

( crowd cheering )

The Dynamic Rockers?

( heightened cheering )

Hold it. Hold it down.

It was a tie.
It was a tie.

* Ahh...yes...well *

* Are we back for more? *

* They're here *

- * D-L-B *
- * Ha-ha-ha-ha *

- * Tito! *
- * Ha-ha-ha-ha *

- * Mike Cee *
- * Hey girll Hey girll *

- * Pesol *
- * D-L-BI *

* Rockin' it, rockin' it
yes, he is rockin' it *

* Tito is rockin' it
yes, he is rockin' it *

* Mike Cee,
yes, he is rockin' it *

* Peso, rockin' it
yes, he is rockin' it *

* We're all rockin' it,
you should be rockin' it *

* Rockin' it, rockin' it. *

Woman:
How do you fill up
a train like that?

You can't do it overnight.

Do you wait
for the same train

coming back into
the same station?

No, you get
the parked train,
and you just---

- Oh, you mean you go
to the subway yard.
- Yeah.

Does your mother wonder
why you come home with that
all over your face?

No, she knows I write
the graffiti.

I told her,
I say I'm going up
on the trains.

I'm gonna go write
some graffiti.

- Does she worry
you might get caught?
- Yeah.

She says "If the cops call,
don't come running to me."

Um...

I never realized it meant
so much to them.

I just thought
they were writing...

just writing anything.

But I guess it has
a deep meaning.

- Huh?
- What kind
of deep meaning?

Well, like he said...

he's writing
his girlfriends' name.

He's Dust,
whatever that means.

What is Dust supposed
to mean?

It's just a name.
It's a word, you know.

See, it's a game.

They give you a name,
and they say,

"Here, take this name
and do something with it."

Like, he got
the name Seen.

He can walk around, just say,
"My name is Seen,"

and say,
"Yeah, I seen that there.
I seen it there."

It's a name.
It's just like...

I'll give you a name
and you say,

"How big could you get
this name up? How high?"

( train noise )

Trains are routinely washed,

but because
of the graffiti problem,

we have to use
a graffiti removal solution,

which, at best,
is detrimental

to the physical make-up
of the train itself.

This is what I'm assigned.

The car wash.

8:00 a.m., Jamaica Yard.
Hold your nose.

Detective Jacobs:
We spend a lot of money

replacing broken
and damaged side windows.

We cannot use...

acrylic plastic windows
in the train,

because the same
graffiti removal solution

fogs the windows.

Richard Ravitch:
The problem often is,

that often it doesn't produce
a sparkling clean car,

but rather,
a sort of vomitous color,

which some of the graffiti
artists argue

is less attractive
than what they consider
to be their artwork.

So, it's altogether sort of
an unsatisfactory result.

Motorman:
Watch out.
You might get wet now.

Watch your shoes.

It's not the best
smelling stuff,

but so far,
it hasn't hurt me.

You know,
it hasn't bothered me.

Some fellows, it bothers.

( motorman coughs )

That's my money
that's being diverted

from providing me
with good,

safe, secure,
rapid transit.

Look at this junk.
Graffiti doesn't make
your life better;

it just makes
your neighborhood look worse.

You know how
I made something
out of my life?

- By using my hands.
- But only in the ring.

Don't use them to mess up
the walls with graffiti.

I've practiced all my life
to make moves like that.

And I worked every day
to be a singer.

So, if you really want to make
something out of your life,

- Use your head.
- Or your voice.

But don't waste your time
making a mess.

Harold Levine:
Make your mark in society,
not on society.

This happens to be
a poster that is...

the first in a series.

It's going to be used
in New York City's subways
and buses,

where we've used
Hector Camacho who's a boxer,

North American
lightweight champ,

and Alex Ramos, boxer,
leading middleweight contender.

"Take it from the champs,

graffiti is for chumps.

Make your mark in society,
not on society."

It's really very clever.

"Put your mark on society,

in doing something
in society."

I've screwed it up
a little bit,

but, nevertheless,
you got the message.

Reporter:
Realistically,
do you think it will work?

You say realistically,
I'm hopeful that it will work.

Nobody thought that
we would be as successful
as we were

in the campaign
against the drought
and water conservation;

nevertheless, that worked.

I'm hopeful we will have
equal success here.

Time will tell.

Mr. Mayor,
are those posters
graffiti-proof?

Time will tell.

( laughter )

What you doing, B?
Fresh?

- It's fresh.
- One of my little
signature series.

Word. Lord, you getting
fresh on a nigger, man.

That nigger's still got
the touch, boy.

Butchy-butch,
with the tiger skinl

I see you did the "Kase"
with a "C" this time.

Yeah, he know who I am,
though, anyway.

The king of what?
The king of style.

Sure, I got styles already
that's more complex

that nobody know about.

I mean,
super-duty tough work.

See, this is just semi-like,
what I would call it.

But, if I really get into it
and start camouflaging it,

I don't think you even be able
to read it.

* Don't go nowhere... *

Throw a little
semi thing here.

It wasn't no
severely bad accident,

just that I got burnt
by wires, that's all.

A long time ago.
Electrical wires.

And then they rushed me
to the hospital

and they just had
to amputate,

'cause my tissues
and muscles was burnt bad.

And I was young,
I was playing and I wasn't,

you know, too sure--
I knew what I was doing,

but I just didn't know
should I grab the wire or not,

I don't know
if I grabbed it or not,

but I know I just,
you know, got hurt.

'Cause it had knocked me out,
so I didn't remember.

But that don't mean nothing
in general.

I'm okay.

It's just, that was a bad thing
to happen at the time.

But that's why people
are amazed about me now,

'cause of going through that,
and then dealing with what
I'm dealing with,

even though it's common
littery bull-crap in a way.

People look at a person,
"What, you write on trains?

Oh, you vandalism,"
and all that.

Yeah, I vandalism.
All right.

But still, in general,
I know what I'm doing.

I did something to make
your eyes open up, right?

So why are you talking
about it for?

( slow Latin funk music
playing )

Cap:
From here up...

nobody goes but me.

It's my lay-ups.
Definitely.

'Cause this is a beautiful spot
to do pieces on.

Ain't hardly no writers
know about this place.

My spot.

Niggers know.
Believe it.

Niggers know.
Heh-heh-heh.

Yo. Here.
Take the cans.

I am not
a graffiti artist.

I'm a graffiti bomber.

There's two styles
of graffiti that are trying to,

you know, co-exist
with each other.

But it ain't gonna work
like that.

Blood wars, buddy.
Blood wars.

Min:
That's why graffiti's ruined.

That Cap ruined the 2s
and 5s.

the 2s and 5s used
to go to the 2 yard.

It would be a masterpiece
art gallery of burners

from all these dudes
from the Bronx and Brooklyn

with def wild styles.

Now you go to the 2 yard,
it's all destroyed.

This guy named Cap
with his Lucille Ball hairdo

is going over
all your burners.

Hey, what's up, Shy?

I've seen your new pieces
on the 2s and 5s.

They went over that.

- That Shy-Min.
- Yeah, I know.

- Cap.
- Cap.

I wouldn't have minded
if he would've went over
one of my old cars,

but that was fresh.
It was a brand new burner.

It only ran for two days,
you know?

He didn't give it a chance
to run on the line.

Just like... powl

They went over it,
and now I feel...

that hurt me, you know?

and Seen was with him,
and PJ,

and then I called Seen up
and he denied it.

I can't afford
to get involved.

There's a war going on,
as you should know...

PJ and Cap--

against everybody.

He just crossed me
out anyway.

I don't know why.

Brand new car, too,
he wasted.

Let's say this,
I stand behind them,

if they had a good cause
for the situation.

as far as it is now...

they have no cause
behind it.

They're just doing it
for the hell of it...

which that ain't me,
because I wouldn't want
people to go over my pieces,

so I wouldn't
go over them.

Shy:
He's disrespecting
the line,

which no other guy was doing
that years ago.

All he does is silver
throw-ups.

You got fresh colored pieces,
full top-to-bottoms.

And he'll just laugh at you.
"It's just a throw-up.

I've got a million
of 'em running."

He's a jealous toy, that's all,
'cause he can't do a burner.

- He can't do shit.
- He can't even do
a straight letter.

- He went over this?
- Yeah.

He did a Cap up over me
and a MPC over this,

and wrote war next
to Fat Albert.

Oh, shit.

You can't never make up
for that.

That's never forgive
action.

If you're a toy,
you gotta be stopped.

This guy's a toy
and he's big

and he's still
gotta be stopped.

Gotta break his arms.

But how come we waited
all this long?

How come there's
so many writers that
he went over

and we're not in his
neighborhood with crews?

Because nobody wants
to get united.

We gotta get together, bro'.

Everybody that says,
"We're gonna get down," right?

But nobody comes, man.

What we gotta do
is meet everybody

on 149th Street at the Bench.
At the Grand Concourse.

We should forget
our bullshit worries that
we got with each other,

unite and get this toy,
'cause he's dogging everybody...

( echoes )
...everybody.

Cap, I don't know,
some big white boy.

I don't know him,
I don't want to know him.

Yeah, that's why he's doing.

He's trying to get attention
and revenge,

'cause people
go over his throw-ups.
People who do burners--

you see a throw-up,
you're going to go over it.

Who thinks Cap's throw-ups
are worth being on a train?

( together )
Nobody!

- Pistol: What you write, bro'?
- I write Mare, man.

Pistol:
Mear, M-E-A-R?

M-A-R-E.

- M-A-R-E, Mar?
- Yeah.

Mare.

Mar is M-A-R.

But no, seriously,
you gotta kill them dudes
for doing that.

Who's Cap?
Cap is right here?

( together )
No!

Cap:
People don't know
what I look like until now.

Till they start going
to the movies.

They're going to see my face.
Big deal.

Anybody tries to screw around
with me and my friends,

I go over everything
they got forever.

Everybody, from Brooklyn
to Manhattan. Everybody.

And that's the way it is.

Especially with me.
The object is more.

Not the biggest
and the beautifullest,
but more.

It's like a little piece
on every car...

is what counts.

Not one whole car on every

30 cars that goes by.

Once you start
going over someone,
you can't stop.

So, I'm gonna live.

Dust started pulling
some shit with me.

I'm telling you,

he's lucky we didn't catch him
by that wall.

If we would've been there,
even if you was shooting
the movie,

it would've just been
boom-boom-boom!

And that's the way
it would've went.

It's gonna get crossed off,
I guarantee, by tomorrow,

once they find out it's here.

Help me with the 3-D, Nicky.
Come on.

The piece has got a lot
of colors to go in there yet.

But with the color,
we could do that
with no problem.

I could do it before
it gets dark.

No problem.
Colors, colors, colors!

Cap:
That was a beautiful wall.

I really liked that.

People like that,
they deserve getting

everything they got
crossed out...

forever.

Man:
For the past 20 years,

there really hasn't been
anything hot.

There have been no movements
since Pop Art.

Any retailer,
and let's face it,

a gallery is indeed
a retailer,

they're always looking
for something hot that
they can merchandise

and sell to the public.

It's almost as though

these pieces were peeled off
the train and put onto canvas,

so you have the same energy,
you have the same coloring,

you have the same intensity
and the same big piece

that you would see
on a train.

The real subway graffiti
that's done on the trains

is slowly dying out,
and this is taking its place.

The lifespan
of an average piece today

only lasts a few months.

This is something
that could last a lifetime.

Woman:
"Blondie" seems to be
an important figure within

the graffiti art style.

Caine has used her
in a very photographic way.

Noc, shows her...

expressionistically.

I'm a colorist myself.
I'm an artist.

And it's exciting.

The color is exciting,
the movement is exciting.

It combines all kinds
of movement.

Man:
We had ABC-TV.

We had CBS here tonight.

We're going to be
on the news tonight at 11:00.

National Public Radio.

Do it up, baby.

I love it.

I'm Ron Powers.
I'm a reporter with
the Associated Press.

- How long would it take you
to do something like this?
- On a train?

Depends on what
your schedule is.

I can't let my mother know
that I'm going to the trains,

so I have to be back early.

Woman:
But I did meet a guy here

who's an art critic
from the news,

and he says he gets
so goddamn mad

every time he sees this,

that he walked up
to one of the artist

at the show tonight
and said,

"How would you feel
if I took a can

and wrote
on your graffiti?"

And the artist said to him,
"I kill you, man."

As an investment,

I feel so strongly that

if you get in on the bottom
of anything,

it's got to be
a good investment.

This is definitely
going someplace.

But I think that graffiti
on the subway cars

were a symbol of New York

for foreign people,

especially French people.

And I think
it's a little sad

if graffiti is going
to be only

on canvas,
and not anymore on trains.

Forget about the trains.

Who wants to be dirty
and hot at the same time?

That's right.
I'm into making money.

It feels good.

You go to school
and the teacher says,

"It's not
worth anything.

You don't make
any money from graffiti."

And you tell them,
"When was the last time

you made $2,000
in a month, huh?"

And you go, "Okay,
now you failed."

All right, the thought
has crossed my mind,

if something should happen,
I'll go along with it,

but if it doesn't,
it's no thing to me,

because that's not
what I'm out here for.

I'm out here to bomb, period.
That's what I started for.

I didn't start writing
to go Paris.

I didn't start writing
to do canvases.

I started writing to bomb.
To destroy all lines.

- That's what I'm doing.
- How long do you think
you'll do it?

Till I'm finished.

Now that you've heard that,
you understand what
I'm saying to you

when I say
I don't understand him.

He's out there to bomb,
destroy all lines.

What have the lines
ever done to him?

They made me pay 75�.

- When do you pay 75�?
- Never but--

I don't even know
what you're talking about.

( cheering, music playing )

We're on
the Staten Island Ferry.

This is the New York Harbor.

This is to signify
we're leaving New York

with this package
of artists

to go out
and play at places

where, individually,
they never would play.

It will be in Washington DC,
Pittsburgh, Chicago, Madison,

Minneapolis, Iowa City,
Detroit and Toronto.

Being professional,
what does that mean?

Getting paid for what you do.
Professional.

Frosty Freeze:
Having your own style.

Kippy Dee:
Doing your own moves.

Don't let nobody else
bite your moves.

Doing it for a long time.
Being the best.

- * Special-K *
- * Sunshine *

* Kool Mo-Dee *

* All time feel
the heartbeat *

* Feel the heartbeat
we're the treacherous three *

* We got a new heartbeat *

* Get loose, get loose
Mo-Dee get loose *

* Just one heartbeat
show 'em you got juice *

- * Have fun *
- * Have fun *

- * Have fun *
- * Ha-ha-have fun *

* Party people got
a brand new treat *

* Off the well known tune
we call heartbeat *

* But we jazzed it up
and we broke it down *

* And came out with a brand new
funky sound *

* Now, I came here to get
this straight *

* Our heartbeat's not on
a normal break *

* 'Cause when we get excited
our adrenaline flows *

* And this is the way
our heartbeat goes *

* A hop-skip-and-a-jump
but I play no bump *

* Bump-bump-bump-bump
bumpety-bump *

* It's a brand new treat
and it sounds so sweet *

* The rapping, the music
our new heartbeat *

* So feel the heartbeat,
so feel the heartbeat *

* We're the treacherous three,
we got a new heartbeat *

* Hahl *

Consider us
the professionals.

Woman:
I think it's about time
the politicians came down

and looked and saw
what is on these trains.

It is just awful.

It shouldn't be that way.

It should be cleaned,
and the ones that are caught,

they should clean it--
the ones they catch doing that.

What's the sense
of paying 75�

when you have to ride
graffiti trains, you know?

It gives a terrible
impression of the city.

And if you think
the outside is bad--

I've been riding them,
like I say, for 40 years--

the inside
is just unbelievable.

It's a violation
of public property.

I think it's disgusting.

They should get somebody
to clean up the place.

We move three and a half
million people a day.

They have rights, too.

( train screeching to stop )

The people see
the outside of the cars

when the trains are going--
pull into the station,

or when they're passing
on the express track.

And then
it's generally a blur.

But I don't think
the public finds that nearly

as intrusive and ugly

as they do
the inside graffiti.

- He hates the insides.
- Yeah, he hates the insides.

He said if there's
any possible way

of we giving him
some kind

of suggestion of how
to get rid of the inside,

he said there might
be a chance of "negogiading"

with the outside.

- "Negogiading?"
- Something like that.

I met with a group
of them one day.

More out
of intellectual curiosity

as to who they were
and what made them tick.

I found them
surprisingly articulate.

They expressed a strong sense

that if their outside
paintings

were left untouched,

that the public
would be impressed.

We came up to him
with a proposal to paint

10 cars inside and out

and let it run
in the major stations.

And let people vote on it,
let's say a two-week period,

and after the two-week period,

they'll have the results
in the paper,

and I think the MTA
will be embarrassed.

I thought there
was no basis whatsoever

in which it was proper

for anyone to touch
our property

in an unauthorized fashion.

They got guys out there
that are mugging people
in the subways,

stabbing people,
throwing people onto
the tracks and all that,

and they're wasting
their bullshit money
trying to get us.

With all respect,
I think you are close

to falling into the trap

of the 1960s culture,

which says
this society has left

these kids
with not enough to do.

If the kids have energy
and want to do something,

we'll give them all brooms,

we'll give them all sponges,

and they can do something that
is publicly productive,

useful and that would earn
for them the respect

and approbation
of their fellow citizens.

It isn't the energy
that is misplaced,

it's the value system
that is misplaced.

( Wagnerian orchestral
music plays )

I think it's great
for the riding public

to be up on the station,
one cold and dreary day

and see a nice white,

shiny car come pulling up
to the station.

The public has knocked us
for so long,

that we are doing nothing.
It couldn't be done.

We proved that we done it.

We painted 409 cars
in approximately eight weeks.

24 hours a day,
seven days a week

and not one day did we miss
that production schedule.

Our personal pride was hurt.

A lot of people been knocking
the transit authority,

and we wanted to show them
that we could do something.

If the Japanese can do it,
we can do it.

Man:
The stuff is like
razor blades--

about two inches long
and there's one of these
every two inches.

There's really not too much
protective clothing

you can wear to prevent
yourself from getting cut.

And once you do fall into it,

it's so structured that
it collapses upon you

and the more you try to move,
the worse off you become.

It's like in the movies,
like in "Apocalypse Now,"

they used it
to protect their lines
and their barricades.

They want to hold back
the enemy from destroying
our trains.

Mayor Koch:
About three years ago,

I decided to suggest

to Dick Ravitch

that they put a dog

in the yard to keep

the graffiti vandals out.

The MTA rejected it

and they said,

no, that if you put
a dog in the yard,

the dog would step
on the third rail.

Now, I don't happen
to think that dogs step
on the third rail,

but I said in response
to that,

"If you think the dog will
step on the third rail,

then build two fences
and have the dog run between

the two fences
and that will keep people out

and protect the dog from
stepping on the third rail. "

And the response was,
"Maybe somebody will climb

over the fence and the dog
will bite them."

I said, "I thought that was
what the dog was for."

But if you're afraid of having
the dog bite such a vandal,

and here I called upon
my prodigious memory, I said,

"What you should do then,
instead of using a dog,

is to use a wolf,
and have a wolf

run between
the two fences.

Because there is
no recorded case in history

where a wolf
has ever attacked

a human being unless
the wolf were rabid-- mad."

As a result of telling
that story

innumerable times,

I embarrassed the MTA
into building the fence

around the first
of 19 yards.

And it was so successful

they now claim it
as their own idea

and they're building
18 more fences.

( Wagnerian orchestral
music plays )

Iz:
I think it's stupid.

The idea of having
all this barbed wire

and fences
and protection.

Trains are still going
to get written on.

They invented
the white elephant.

It's still got--

well, they weren't bombed,

but they had
little mosquito bites.
call it what you want.

They were still written on.

They're still not spotless,
completely.

"Dump Koch."
Well, there you go.

That is the highest praise
imaginable because,

obviously,
I'm getting to them.

There always will be graffiti.
It's a part of New York.

It'll be there forever.

Someone will always want
to jump down on the track,

or while the train's moving
and just take out

a can of paint or a marker
and put up their initial.

He still shows me
all his things,

which I don't
even want to see.

But we still talk.

He tells me just about
everything that goes on.

Other than that,
I wouldn't really be able
to tell you so much.

And, sometimes--
knowing all this,

it just really only makes me
that much more fearful for him.

I felt that I just had
to let her know,

'cause sometimes when it's time
to go bombing,

you got to go late--
in the middle of the night.

You've got to leave
the house at 2:00

just to go bombing
so you don't get caught.

You know, she got
to know where I'm going,

can't just say I'm going
to a party.

No party's going
to start at 2:00.

Not every kid would tell
his mother where he's going.

Yeah, well, I'd rather let
my mother know what's going on,

you know, than keep
her in the dark.

If I get busted,
cops call,

"Excuse me,
we have your son
for graffiti."

And I'd rather
let her know that
I was doing it

so she's prepared
to come and get me out.

But, I'm never
getting busted,

so we don't have
to worry about that.

Dondi:
I mean, an adult,

I just couldn't see
an adult ever

putting that much energy
into something that

isn't going to pay,
or is going to risk their life

or have the possibility
of them getting arrested.

I see myself eventually
growing out of graf

and getting married

and living the lifestyle,
you know,

and making good money,
like that.

And when life is at its best,

you don't really want
to run around in the trains.

I'm sure I'll come back
every now and then,

just to let people know
I'm still around.

Oh, no. When I come back,
I take over.

And that's it.
After that.

- And after that--
- You want the prince
of the 6s?

I'm king right here.
I'm the prince of the 6s.

He's later. You know,
he's one of the has-beens--

I'm what they call a has-been,
and he's a wannabe.

A wannabe?

- So they consider you a king?
- Put it this way:

I am a king.
I could say--

King of what?

I want to tell you,
I am the king of bombing.

You got to be able to take over
a line with insides,

take it over with throw-ups,
top-to-bottoms,

you got to do everything.

If you specialize
in one thing,

you really can't call yourself
an all-out king.

Who's king?
You're looking at him,
right here.

The original.
Know what I'm saying?

Kingdom Islam;
Nation god,

for I'm the one
that rocks so far.

Always rocking
the jazziest car,
know what I'm saying?

The only and the original
Magnetic King,

and that's the one
that's still sitting here
doing his thing.

You know it.
We all alive.

This is the original
old master killer

of the "Manila Thrilla,"
right here

that you're looking at.
The original king and love
to do his thing.

Don't shout, don't run,
don't hide, don't sky.

This is me coming to you
natural and live.

On CB...whatever.

Ha, Ha!
CB without the mike.

* Get funky in the place *

* Get funky in the place *

* Like a little jelly bean,
I'm a sweet like a candy cane *

* I make you get down,
just a number one stain
on the train *

* Just groovin' like
a sage y'all *

* Just breakin' up,
yeah, yeah, stage all *

* Like a rollercoaster ride
that can make ya bump *

* Just groovin' with the rhythm
as you shake your rump *

* You got the rock rock
you don't stop *

* Yo baby, yo, ya got it
rockin'you don't stop *

* Just hip-hop the day down
doobie doo *

* Yeah, scoobie do,
what you gonna do, crew? *

* Just freak out, yeah, baby *

* Just freak up, yeah, baby *

* Drink it up, dear
I know, my dear *

* I can rock you out
this atmosphere *

* Like gangster prankster,
number one banker *

* Got the much cash
to make you thank you *

* Rock on into
the break of dawn *

* Break of dawn,
keep it on, keep it on *

* I know ZZ
that can rock quick *

* Like the iconoclast
panzerhythm to the stick *

* Just 'a rock on
like a finger lick *

* Finger poppin', hop poppin'
that don't stop *

* Bunny rock, bunny rock,
you don't stop *

* This is the mellow
they call the Ramel *

* That rocks with rhythm
that'd shock your spell *

* When the shake up kid that
wakes you up in the morning *

* Gotta wake with the rhythm
like a number one wrote it *

* M.C. quick just to make
your fingerbutter *

* Shock with the rhythm *

* I'm the number one
undercover *

* Break it up,
just shake it up ro-di-o-ah. *