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BEGiN HERE…

The images, sounds and flavours of the street have always been paramount to me. Ever since the age of eleven when I left the safety of a laid-back hippy-bippy Rudolf Steiner school and signed on at the local comp, I’ve been down with all things street. Okay so I had to deal with my first real taste of culture shock, but once I got to grips with the law of the jungle (or is that the law of the tumble?) and learned how to keep my head down at the same time as holding it high, it was a real eye-opener. I was hook, lined and sinkered. Soon, I became a Casual: Farrah slacks, Patrick trainers and Lacoste shirts were what went down, with my girlfriend (when I could get one) wearing ski-pants and an Ellesse jumper. I spent my time and money at the Haven Hotel Junior Disco each Sunday evening getting down to ‘Dr Beat’ and ‘White Lines’ (the Grandmaster Flash song - the drugs came later) and then I discovered Philip Salon’s Mud Club in Charing Cross Road and the world was my lobster. I’d get a train into town every Friday and queue up with the rest of the kids, but I soon got to know Philip and my eyes were truly opened to the club world. The music went from pop to go-go to hip hop and then to Balearic beats, and it wasn’t long before I went to the legendary Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and became one of the resident artists at the Brain Club, the most happening, creative club in London at the end of the eighties.

I am an urbanist. Okay, so I’m from the green suburbs of London but that is just the point. It’s not about where you are from it’s about what you are in to. They call it ‘crate-digging’ (a reference to record buyers going through crates of vinyl), as we are all about what we choose to take from the many influences and references that circle in the cultural ether like a 747 in the stack above LHR. And it’s about what we choose to adopt as our own, to appropriate, just like the rise of the art of sampling (other people’s records). Some people said that it wasn’t music, but to me it was something that changed my life. DJ Shadow, DJ Cam, The KLF. Say no more. Most probably the same fuckers who said the Hip Hop was just a craze, that it would pass.

We are well into the twenty-first century and we’re all down with the latest in everything. Nothing is hidden, everything is instantly accessible. Urban street culture has influenced everything you can touch, see, smell, watch, buy, wear, listen to, download, upload, TIVO, record and burn. The concept of this book is to document the influences on urban culture over the last 30 years and chart its progression from its origins to where it is today; to pay respect and give the biggest props to those people, places, social situations, music, films and images that have made a difference and helped shape the ever-changing look and feel of the movement. And to look to where it is going.

What is street culture? It is an unconscious creative collective (in the fields of art, food, music, fashion etc) that is borne from the streets of the urban environment. It has its own visual language: a multi-ethnic, multi-disciplined, multi-media, stream of consciousness that has a unique look and feel which cannot be faked. The audio/visual is god in street knowledge. As is frequently suggested, sound and image is (almost) everything, and it is an integral part of its DNA. This visual language is an ever-changing montage of retro and futuristic images. The cyclic nature of the culture means that looking back is just as important as looking forward. But to see the future you’ve got to know the past.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

To create this book I used a Canon G10 Camera, a 24-inch iMac, a Sony HC9-HDV camcorder, a notebook and a pen. I flew around the world thrice times and had the I honour of getting down with many of my heroes and a lot of seriously talented and seriously generous human beings. The reason why I’m telling you this shit is that part of my M.O. is that knowledge should be shared and not hidden. There is no secret to what I do: I’ve just worked hard for years to get to this point. Okay, so you need to be able to write and have respect for your gut feelings when you see something good, and to be interested in street culture and the world and people around you. Like the man said, you have to work hard and be nice to people.

HOT SPOTS

One of the philosophies I want to spread with this book is to turn people on to new and unknown experiences, so at the end of each city entry there is a ‘Hot Spots’ list and at the back of the book you’ll find a list of reference points, further reading or viewings to use as a starting point when planning your own adventure, on or off line. Once you’re out there you will find out that these lists are just the tip of the iceberg and the real adventure is totally one of your own creation. This is the best kind of voyage: one you and no one else owns.

Please remember that this book is just my personal view of the world of street life and obviously I can’t write about everyone who has ever had an effect on the culture, so there are going to be some people, events and happenings that I’ve not covered. I’ve tried to document the epic journey I have taken in the last 25 years of my life to present the past, present and future of street culture, looking at street art, music, fashion, film, design, the media, photography, craft, retail, street food, spots to hang out in the coolest cities, websites, events, subcultures and movements etc.

All massive hear me now! Hold tight!

Peace+Love