ADRIAN MA, HOST:
As a young man in 1979 New York City, Fred Brathwaite dreamed of making his mark on the world or more specifically on the side of a subway car.
FRED BRATHWAITE: New York graffiti was a thing that had been going on and developing, and the subways were one of the major platforms, if you will - no pun intended (laughter). Part of that time and a part of that, like, just crazy explosion of teenage energy is at the core of it.
MA: So one December night, he and a friend snuck into the yard where the subway trains were parked. And on the side of one car, they spray painted several giant Campbell soup cans, an homage to one of Fred's favorite artists, Andy Warhol.
BRATHWAITE: It was sort of a manifesto as a way to explain and show people that we are artists, and we are aware of the history of art and this connection to pop art.
MA: Now, that piece was short lived, washed away by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. But that crazy explosion of teenage energy, that stuck around. And Fred Brathwaite, better known today as Fab 5 Freddy, he played a huge role in bringing this budding culture to new audiences, and that's even before it became collectively known as hip-hop. He connected creative people of all sorts. He introduced rappers and deejays to emerging rock bands like Blondie.
BRATHWAITE: Everybody's fly comes from what I told Blondie, and it's the opening part of the rap in "Rapture," actually. So that's, you know, Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RAPTURE")
BLONDIE: (Rapping) Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly. DJ spinnin' - I said my, my.
MA: He brought the dancing and the music to new audiences through TV, music videos and feature film. And he fought for critical respect for street artists like himself. The story of how he did all this is the focus of his new memoir, "Everybody's Fly." When I spoke to him recently, I started by asking him what motivated him to take what were then underground art forms like graffiti, deejaying, breaking and rapping, and surface them for more people.
BRATHWAITE: My main focus personally was, you know, being a painter, being an artist and figuring out how do we navigate and get into this world, which - you know, I didn't go to, you know, an expensive art school or anything like that. But I felt confident that what was going on was something real, something raw. I was also looking at what was going on with the new wave and the punk scene, which was really shaking up, like, you know, what the rock and roll scene had been. And these bands, like, the Sex Pistols, The Clash, the Ramones, Blondie - it was just this energy that was shaking it up. And so when I did connect with these people, it was incredible. It was just a lot of love, and they became - you know, like, became partners in crime, so to speak, and coconspirators and - 'cause it was a similar energy.
MA: So graffiti writing was one of your early passions. And it started off - as you put it - in a sort of vandalistic way. But then you sort of turn it into a business where people are paying you for your art, and then you get your art exhibited in Rome.
BRATHWAITE: Yeah.
MA: What did it mean to you at the time to be getting this sort of attention for, I guess, what some might consider, like, a renegade art form?
BRATHWAITE: Yeah. Well, I was blown away. I mean, I had connected with people, and that was some of the first publicity that we got. It was a piece in the Village Voice about us as artists. It was me trying to say, here's who we are, here's what we're doing, and our services are available. You can commission us to do a mural for $5 a square foot. So it was, like, an affordable way to engage with people. And this Italian art dealer from a very prestigious gallery, gallery of La Medusa in Rome, he had been coming to New York seeing the graffiti and thinking similar things. Like, this is an amazing form of expression, like, what a - oh. And then he was able to connect and reached out to us. And so it was really kind of surprising that it would be a gallery in - like, in Europe, you know, like, where the Renaissance - or Italy specifically, where the Renaissance was actually born, would get this and want to show us. It was incredible (laughter). Amazing.
MA: Jumping forward in time a little bit, another way that you raised the visibility of hip-hop culture was through a film that you conceived and helped produce called "Wild Style."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WILD STYLE")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Graffiti writer is taking the chances and taking the risk, taking, like, all the arguments from the transit, from the police, from your own moms - ah, you're vandalizing all those trains.
BRATHWAITE: Yes.
MA: This was released in the early '80s, and it features sort of all of the foundational elements of hip-hop culture - graffiti, deejaying, rapping. Can you talk about why it was important to you to get that film made?
BRATHWAITE: Well, in the course of trying to paint a picture of this vision that I had, if you will, one of the best ways to do it would be to make a film and - while working with Lee Quiñones and really beginning to put these initial ideas in place to really showcase who we really are.
MA: And Lee, he was a graffiti writer and a good friend of yours.
BRATHWAITE: Well, yeah, he was the most important graffiti artist in New York City, and I connected with him, reached out, found him. It was a crazy story at a detail (ph). He actually thinks I'm the police coming to bust him maybe because I show up. I just felt like a film would be a great way to tell our story. And I was able to connect with a filmmaker that made that happen. And it was just great that other people went and saw all of this and understood it. Of course, our target audience knew, but it was remarkable how well it translated around the world. It was just mind-blowing.
MA: Of course, it didn't stop with that. You continue to sort of earn your hip-hop ambassador credentials when you become the host of "Yo! MTV Raps"...
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "YO! MTV RAPS")
BRATHWAITE: It's Fab 5 Freddy, and you're watching my show, "Yo! MTV Raps." I got something...
Yeah, that was wild.
MA: ...The first nationally televised show dedicated to hip-hop. And just to give some context to this time period when "Yo! MTV Raps" debuts, it's around 1988.
BRATHWAITE: Yeah.
MA: Like, how did you see your role as the host of "Yo! MTV Raps"?
BRATHWAITE: When I got asked to do that, they actually asked me - you know, the producer, who actually was a good friend, he said, well, how would you want to do it? I said, well, I don't want to be cooped up in that studio. I want to be able to connect with the artists in the street, in their basement, wherever they're making their music. And so that became, like, the way we would do the show. I would travel, go to other cities, other - you know, go to South Central and interview N.W.A. for the first time or Luke in Miami or Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, you know, Will Smith, in Philly. And that just worked. I mean, when the show debuted, MTV thought that the Nielsen system was broken because it worked so effectively. And it just was crazy. So this is when radio wasn't even playing this music.
MA: You're saying when "MTV Raps" came on, the radio wasn't really playing rap.
BRATHWAITE: No. That's what I mean. So the show had an incredible impact, and that helped more people jump on board, actually, and demand their MTV. It was funny. So I remember Ice-T telling me how he knew about people in neighborhoods that were like, man, we - I need my MTV. I got to see this show.
MA: Ice-T the rapper, I assume...
BRATHWAITE: Yeah, yeah.
MA: ...And not iced tea the drink.
BRATHWAITE: Ice-T the rapper (laughter), the actor and rapper from Los Angeles.
MA: OK. As a pioneer of hip-hop culture, I am really curious to hear your thoughts on the current state of hip-hop.
BRATHWAITE: It's amazing that we've had so much hip-hop. Literally, just a couple of years ago was the 50th anniversary, so to speak. I'm still surprised and amazed at the different ways the culture still exists and mutates. It's definitely not going to be like what it was, and I'm kind of cool with that. I mean, there's still countries around the world where somebody can make a rap, post it on YouTube, and it could affect elections and politics in these different countries. Those stories are so fascinating, that people use the form to - in its truest - in its most impactful way, is to really say some things that can affect people. That blows me away.
MA: Well, there you go. Fab 5 Freddy, pioneer of hip-hop, still voraciously consuming the culture, and you can read more about it in his new memoir, "Everybody's Fly." Fab 5, Triple F, thank you for taking the time.
BRATHWAITE: Thanks so much for having me, man. It was a blast. Everybody's fly, y'all. Come on, and get with it (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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