Michael Holman isn’t a name in the spotlights which you normally see associated with the global movement called hip-hop, but he is a true pioneer and innovator. His impeccable credentials in the earliest days of the phenomenon attest to his permanent place in its history. Co-founder of the band Grey with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, film-maker and documentarian, friend and collaborator with legendary DJs and presenters like Fab 5 Freddy, Holman created and hosted—only one time—the first hip-hop television show, Grafitti Rock, in 1984. The one-hour show featured Run DMC, Kool Moe Dee and Special K of the Treacherous Three, the New York City Breakers, and a studio dance crowd that included actors Vincent Gallo and Debi Mazar.
Thirty years later, Holman’s offering a crowdsourcing opportunity to present the show in a special remastered edition on DVD for the digital era, sponsor a documentary about the making of Graffiti Rock and—depending on your level of support—accompanied by a bevy of cool commemorative premiums, invitations, not to mention glory.
The media are already on top of this one, with a front-page article in The New York Times. You can do your part in making hip-hop history by visiting Holman’s Kickstarter page, www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelholman/graffiti-rock-30th-anniversary.—Stanley Moss, Travel Editor
Top Michael Holman in 1982. Above Holman and the New York City Breakers posed with Andy Warhol.
You may also like
Vincent Gallo is my favorite artist of all time. Interesting life he has had. From hip hop to directing the best American film ever, The Brown Bunny and the second best Buffalo 66