In the early 1980s, art and writing labeled as graffiti transitioned from New York City walls and subway trains onto canvas and into art galleries. Young artists who freely sampled from their urban experiences and their largely black, Latino and immigrant histories infused the downtown art scene with expressionist, pop and graffiti-inspired compositions.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was among the best known of these emerging artists. He and his fellow creators – including A-One, Fab Five Freddy, Futura, Keith Haring, Kool Koor, LA2, Lady Pink, Lee Quiñones, Rammellzee and Toxic – became avant-garde leaders infiltrating and reshaping the predominantly white art world. This book captures the energy, inventiveness, and resistance unleashed when hip-hop went ‘all city’.