"Urban Styles: Graffiti In New York Hardcore" is a subterranean adventure back to a time when subcultures and underground movements blended seamlessly and went largely unnoticed by the mainstream world. "Urban Styles" deftly straddles the seemingly incongruent worlds of graffiti culture and the hardcore punk scene of the 1980s to tell the story of a unique moment in time when crossover between the two outlaw cultures was a common, if not heralded, occurrence. A number of illuminating stories and examinations of culture are told by NYHC veterans like Chaka Malik, Mackie Jayson, Lord Ezec, Sacha Jenkins and a host of others who populated the NYHC scene of the 1980s and '90s. Crews and members are represented as well, along with the first writers who played in bands. There is a plethora of exclusive images, most never seen before and some done specifically for the book. It is a history culled from record and demo tape covers, flyers, t-shirts and paintings that celebrates the union of these two uniquely New York street cultures and shines a spotlight on two artistic movements that have gone on to have world-wide influence on todays mainstream culture.
