RIP Rammellzee

RIP Rammellzee

30 June, 2010 | 3.21AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Videos: rammellzee

The world got a little less interesting today: Rammellzee, an icon of New York hip-hop and Afrofuturism, has passed away, according to The Daily Swarm, who cite Fab Five Freddy as a source of the news.

Rammellzee was a rapper, graffiti writer, and visual artist active since the early ‘80s. A member of the Death Comet Crew and a collaborator of Jean-Michel Basquiat, he was a key player on the Downtown scene at a time when hip-hop, punk, and performance art intermingled at venues like the famed Mudd Club. Rammellzee was featured in Charlie Ahearn’s 1982 graf film ‘Wild Style’ (get the soundtrack here) and also appeared briefly in Jim Jarmusch’s 1984 film ‘Stranger Than Paradise’.

A proponent of Afrofuturism, he was the author of cryptic statements like his “Iconic Treatise Gothic Futurism Assasin Knolwedges of the Remanipulated Square Point’s” [sic], helping to pave the way for the black sci-fi mythologies of artists like Drexciya and Dr. Octagon.

Although Rammellzee’s name is closely connected with a specific time and place, he remained active throughout the ‘00s, releasing three records on Germany’s Gomma label in 2004. Check those out here. For more on the artist and his work, see Greg Tate’s in-depth article at The Wire.

Brother from another planet, Godspeed.

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