How did Tats Cru, a group of writers located in the South Bronx in the 1980s, become world renowned muralists, and what were their ties to the birth of hip-hop?

Following the story of graffiti from its inception in 1970s Washington Heights, to the Golden Age in 1980s South Bronx, author and artist Christine DeFazio explores the development of street art from bombing and inter-borough competition, to painting walls, and the crack down on train graffiti.

Through a series of interviews with writers such as COSE TDS, and DELTA2 Graffiti and the Birth of Street Art in the Bronx illuminates the social conditions of the area, and how collaboration with hip-hop artists helped to cement the art forms as central to the identity of the South Bronx.

Highlighting the continued importance of the presence of Tats Cru in the community as it undergoes gentrification, this book is ideal reading for students of Art and Design, Art History, Music, Cultural Studies, and American Studies, as well as street artists and musicians.

Christine DeFazio is an art historian, art educator, artist and curator working in the South Bronx.