Can't Stop, Won't Stop Chapter 9

1982, Rapture in Reagan’s America
by: Bethany Hoover and Jennifer Mowls-Hutkowski

As America became increasingly conservative with the election of President Ronald Reagan, hip-hop became even more unifying, especially in terms of the nightclub, which became a “communal sacred space” (168). Ruza Blue, later dubbed Kool Lady Blue, from London became an integral player in the diffusion of hip-hop across socioeconomic and racial lines. She started hosting her “Wheels of Steel” show at Negril, but later moved the show to a larger venue: a former roller rink that became the legendary night club Roxy. A screening of the Sex Pistols’ “Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle” helped to popularize the hip-hop form and movement amongst the punk rock community. Additionally, Afrika Bambattaa’s 1981 album “Jazzy Sensation” with the track “Planet Rock” became “hip hop’s universal invitation, a hypnotic vision of a world under one groove, beyond race, poverty, sociology, and geography.” The hip-hop culture, stricken by recession, had problems. “The Message”, a down tempo track capturing the “crash” when the dancing stopped, was “another boost for the rapper over the D.J [and] the crew itself became a dramatic casualty of rap’s realignment toward copyrights, trademarks, executives, agents, lawyers, and worldwide audiences” (178). Also, media attention, the anti-graffiti campaign, and new “bombers” created problems for graffiti artists. Artists had trouble finding space and Cap One, a new tag group, broke the rule “you didn’t go over somebody” and so the “…structure of respect collapsed and graffiti’s code of conduct unraveled” (182). The film “Wild Style” was the only piece of this time that “adequately conveys the communal thrill of merging the tide, riding with the lightning” (187).