DREAM DAY 1O: Honoring the Life & Legacy of Mike "Dream" Francisco

"Dream Day" Celebrating the life and legacy of Mike "Dream" Francisco
February 5th, 2010

@ The New Parish
579 18th St. @ San Pablo Ave

Oakland, California
Art Reception  5pm-9pm, All Ages, Free
Showtime 9pm-2am, $10 (dontations accepted) All Ages (with parent)

Art exhibition by TDK crew + more

Music by DJs: Apollo, ShortKut, Sake One, Fuze, Myke One, Platurn, Namane, and Willie Maze. Live drums by:  Big G of the 808 Band

Performances by:  Equipto, F.A.M.E. and The Bangerz.

The Bay Area's best DJs and Artists have assembled to pay tribute to life and legacy of Oakland's beloved Graffiti King and Bay Area legend, Mike "DREAM" Francisco. Recognized worldwide as a style master, Dream's graffiti established the visual aesthetic of Oakland's Hip Hop culture, and put The Town on the map in what is now the fastest growing art movement in human history.

This event marks ten years since Dream was tragically murdered in a robbery on February 17, 2000. All DJs, Performers, and organizers will be donating their skills to benefit Akil Francisco, Dream's only son (now 10 years old) who also just lost his mother to breast cancer in January.

 

Mike Dream’s use of a temporary and renegade art form created a lasting legacy of radical education, social justice, speaking truth, and creative self expression. His life and work continue to inspire thousands and bring pride to his community. The TDK crew is also proud to announce the forthcoming book on Dream's art and life: “The Title of My Book Reads: Advanced Vandalism.”  

If you are unable to attend and want to support, please make checks out to:  The Dream Trust Fund, or Akil Francisco.
Checks can be  mailed to:

Irene Francisco-Ancheta
427 Central Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501

Thank you,
-TDK CrewFamilyMassive

DIGITAL BLACKBOOK

The Future looks pretty damn cool right about now...

Graffiti Analysis 2.0: Digital Blackbook from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

Graff eye candy as we gear up for Dream Day 2010, honoring the life and legacy of Oakland/The Bay's undisputed graffiti style master, Mike "Dream" Francisco. Many posts to follow about DREAM DAY, its Super dope line-up of Graff Artists, performers, DJ's and other goodies... hold tight. 

DREAM DAY
Feb. 5th, 2010
6pm-2am
The New Parish
579 18th Street @ San Pablo Ave.
Oakland, Ca

Mark sure you're there!

MTN MUTE BUTTON

Big up Photoshop for the redux... 


The release of the MTN MUTE button has a lot of writers like myself hollerin' GENIUS. Apparently after talking to my yout MIGUEL he was like, "yeah, i usually just use grab a magnet from wherever." *Bubble bursts* Guess the real genius is marketing it! Coming soon to a distributor near you... remember, real killers move in silence!

UPDATE: I was informed that citizens may not know what the fuck this means, so *for the non-writer* The agitator (metal ball)that mixes the spraypaint is held in place and kept quitet by this nifty magnet you can buy from your local montana retailer, or just take a powerful joint off your ‘Fridge and voila… happy hissing sound with no pesky rattle.

Get yours at MTN COLORS South (SF) City!

In the meantime, enjoy this dope KING BRITT graff anthem off of When The Funk Hits The Fan. Got it off his blog, reassuring to know the DJ/Graff connection is still strong. Philly, I see yawl.

King Britt - Taggin' & Braggin' feat. Capitol A

 

Dezzy Dez [Video Interview] Circa 1983

Amazing footage I've never seen! Dezzy Dez (aka. Kay Slay The Drama King) breaks it down...



...Dez's interview gives you a good look at the foundation of graffiti culture, the words we live and die by.

So much of what is expressed here was what I learned at Oakland's famed 23rd Street Yards(R.I.P.) on the other side of the country; under Maestros like Dream TDK, Poem HS, Vogue QMC, Krash BSK, and Spie TMC to name a few. Now that 23rd is defunkt (paint yeah, hang out, no) there's a void in the tradition that hundreds, maybe thousands of writers were schooled, made mistakes and proved themselves one way or another. I wonder where the Bay's new frontline of writers are getting put up on what this Writing thing is all about and how the game goes. I came into Graffiti writing about 8 years after this interview was given, and seeing it now, I can definitely say it was carried almost exactly to the letter (no pun intended)... It remains to be seen what the effect the internet has on todays new guard. Time will tell.

-W.Maze

Big up Ket and 12 Oz. Prophet who's dope blog I caught this on.

Estria Graffiti Battle 2009 (Update)

Vogue TDK ?CREW 2009 Estria Graffiti Battle National Champion

Congratulations to Vogue TDK/?Crew on winning the 3rd Annual Estria Graffiti Battle! (Katch of Hawaii took 2nd)! Last Saturday, 20 graff writers from across the country came out to Lil' Bobby Hutton Park, aka Defermery Park in West Oakland to paint for the National finals of this now annual community event. The graff battle is a part of the Life is Living festival which featured Dj Sake One, performances by Kev Choice, Pharoah Monch, The Mighty 4 B-Boy Battle, and Town Park Skatejam. Yeah, it was a zoo!
Each writer was given 13 cans (Montana 94) to paint an 8'X8' canvas stretched on wooden cubes strewn across the park which was packed with community people on a really good vibe. Writers were given the word "Grow" to freestyle, manifiest, and inspire the community that's watching and interacting during the 5 hour time limit to complete work (it was tough for people like me who are from Oakland, stopping every 30 seconds to hit up a kids blackbook or give pounds and hugs to the fam). Every painter went went super hard this year, making this year's throwdown one for the books!

Since I didn't get to leave the confines of my cube, I'm glad my patna Scott LaRockwell did a bang-up job documenting the day, CHECK IT OUT. Some good shots in the SF Weekley blog too.

Refa TNS's piece was extra dope!

Big thanks to Estria/Bamuthi/Crew and all the volunteers for bringing it all together! This has quickly become my favorite annual community event! Stay up!

IZ THE WIZ - REST IN PIECE

"THIS IS IIIIIIIIIIIT, THIS IS IIIIIIIIIIIITTT!!!!" -IZ THE WIZ


Filmed 5 days before his passing into LEGEND.

I have been working with Frisco Graffiti's Spie One TMC/TDK/FC on the "DREAM TDK" book project this week, today he informed me that another King has passed on to join the ancestors. Our thoughts and prayers go out to IZ, his family and friends. IZ the WIZ was as central character to the foundation of Graffiti, not to mention the "Style Wars" Documentary which was a huge influence in my upbringing and thousands of other writers around the world.

The Roots - Act Too (Love Of My Life)


When the TDK crew put an held a memorial artshow to raise funds for DREAM's son and to fund a book/documentary of DREAM's work, IZ THE WIZ was there, sending original artwork to be auctioned off to support the cause. We will always remember IZ THE WIZ with honor and the utmost respect as a true Graffiti King and bad mother fucker.

“A lotta trains, a lotta fun…a lot of art”. -IZ THE WIZ. [MORE VIDEO CLIPS]

I have spent some time recently with the TDKids, the children of my TDK brethren. This generation will grow up with graffiti in there lives from day one. Had our lives been the slightest bit different, these beautiful little mammals might not exist... who knows? It all might not go down the same without Legends like IZ THE WIZ that inspired us to get up... REST IN POWER. We've got another sprit on our shoulders to lookout for us.

Go hit up IZ if you LOVE THIS GRAFF SHIT!

BIG UP NAH RIGHT for suma the links

Wii Spray

The photo above and video below are prototypes of a Wii Spray can controller for a new Sony video game. The video game industry is hella crazy right now... it seems that no sub culture is safe from the desire of the introvert inside the millions of gamers who want to catharticly experience that which a musician, Graff artist, and dj's (DJ Hero) sacrifice thousands of hours and hard work to become great. The possiblity presented by the Wii spray can is distinctly different than the dynamics of Guitar hero because if the can is built right, the user can actually learn to paint whereas a "Guitar Hero" can't play shit after mastering it. As a writer, I can see the learning curve getting shorter and shorter without the elements of danger, expense and potential jail time. The part of me that wants to "keep it real" is at odds with the possiblity of a future where we will have to be even better at our craft to hold the crown. So be it.

WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

The users in this video suck, but the potential in the Wii Spray is there. In the end, who's on your team?

• Graff writer who learned to paint on the street? Or...
  
• Wii Graff painter who learned in the comfort of they living room?

Graffiti could potentially have a Rap vs. Internet Rapper momenet really soon... ugh.

p.s. Serato allowed in the DMC competition? You ain't heard that from me...

AMOEBA warehouse Party = BURGER TIME!

Burger Time update1!

A work in progress... painting while sick sucks!

MAKE SURE YOU KICK THE BURGER!

Graffiti Rock(!) for Amoeba Music Party!

Amoeba Music , easily one of my favorite spots to dig for vinyl, is throwing a warehouse party ala "Warhol 60's" steez... Guess who is gonna paint the walls? A Montana Cans sponsorship lured a dope crew of Graff Writers to paint... unconfirmed invitees are Buder TMF, Keb ICP, Wand TM7, Mike Giant, Meut TDK, Coro, PI= 3.14... Big up to Buder for working his magic, think I'll pass out when is see how many cans of Montana Gold we're working with... check back for sidekick photos and updates on the walls! Oh yeah, the party is free so come thru!

In antcipation I thought I'd share some shit witcha... I was peeping DJ ICEWATER's aka. DJ Pinoy Noir's AWESOME blog The Source Pages and was floored by the GRAFFITI ROCK episode that had me all nostalgic and laughing. Enjoy! Thanks Icewater! "Just check out THIS!"

Graffiti Rock from DJ Pinoy Noir on Vimeo.

Seeing corny productions of "hip hop" in its commercial infancy is dope when you think of all it's latter day manifestations... it's a long way from the f'n billion dollar circus that comes to mind nowadays... yowza.

The ILLEST jewler EVER! DMD METAL

Sup Fam?! Meet my dude Derek of DMD METAL. Derek and I have been painting walls together for a while now. He's a SICK painter, but also the ILLEST jeweler EVER. He created the GRAFFILTHY HOOPS which i bought for my lady.... a sick Funk Style alphabet makes an accessory basic make a DOPE piece of art. Peep...
People literally can't stop complimenting them, neither can I. It's such a hot idea, that he made a piece for dudes that is arguably more Hip-Hop than the four finger ring... check out the GRAFFILTHY RING...Derek HELLA outdoes himself on his signature piece... the TRAIN HOOPS ... these shits are f'n unbelieveably detailed. Once again, a variation of a fashion staple, the hoop/name plate but with a mini subway train bombin' scene that is CUSTOMIZABLE. Wholly shit... he can bust a handstyle, throw-up, or burner with your/your girls name or whatever on the train... WTF?! Game over!In the Graff world Derek is bonafide, ask somebody... as a jeweler, a total professional. All Derek's work is done by hand, so if you love graffiti, stylin', and craftmanship holler at D!... You can find these and more dope stuff for your fam at Derek's ETSY STORE. (He's too humble about pricing in my opinion... get yours!)

"Bay Area Graffiti" Book Release Party!

Q-Tip - Gettin Up
Welcome to your NVR OVR read-along storybook...Graffiti Slanguistics 101... (please forgive if you already know)... Gettin up:  "Writin my name in graffiti on the wall."  push play and read along!

Bay Area Graffiti book release party and art opening this Friday, Feb. 6th, 5pm-9pm @ 111 Minna, SFC! It's free to get in and still leaves enough time to get a burrito before you hit the club... 

Bay Area Graffiti is a brand spankin' new graffiti book chronicling getting up in the Bay Area.  I got a preview during an Oscar Grant rally in Oakland last month...  It's fucking AWESOME!  The layout is clever and striking where other books can overwhelm and insult.  The choices of what is in or out were made by one of our own, Chris Brennan of Unaesthetic who is not only one of the fam, but imbedded in the culture from which this book explodes.  

For real yall, in the days when  "the buff" (graffiti removal fucks) seems to be winning and graff art is a scapegoat every election cycle, Bay Area Graffiti  is an excellent document of the dope shit that lies dormant under a half assed city sponsored paint job, and by all counts, should put the Bay where it belongs as a world class graffiti city. Hopefully this book will inspire another wave of art and artists, here and around the world. To any and all that feel left out cuz you didn't get in, hey... there are only so many pages, but the canvas is endless!  

More info and photos... get clicky:
Bay Area Graffiti information page from our publisher
Order on Amazon.com
Review in Juxtapoz magazine
Interview with co-author Steve on San Francisco Graffiti site sfgraf.com
Bay Area Graffiti page on unaesthetic

See yall Friday at 111 Minna from 5pm-9pm... Willie Maze be spinning with the Look Out Weekend crew! Copies of the book will be available for $30, ($45 in stores) cop one and get it signed by the artists in the book! 

Eric B and Rakim - My Melody

Q-Tip - Renaissance Rap (Remix feat. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, & Lil Wayne)
Finally, well you just need to hear this... Dope posse cut in the tradition of "The Symphony"

Lower Haight! (Updated)

Listen to this on repeat till your ears bleed....

Lil Wayne feat. Pharrell- Yes

This wall is wall 2 of the 2walls in 2days run. It was hella fun to paint with yall! The last 2 posts were directly from my sidekick, so apologies for the low rez (no pun intended) and lack of context. These are from the first day of painting, like Buder TMF/189says "it's like a party painting at this spot." So he came back and lit it up! I'll repost with the final shot with saucy megapixels...

This is Lil' Mohammed in front of my piece. His pops owns the store. This dude is a G, he just stood and watched us paint and guarded our gear/paint so the sketchy Haight St. types couldn't violate. I rocked a pager code with my "MT" since Buder repped 189 crew.

Buder has been painting O'looney's liquor store on Haight and Steiner in the SFC for years through the homies at Lower Hater who are across the street from the sto'. I've rocked with him on this wall a couple of times, but unfortunately wasn't able to come back the second and third nights in which a magical unicorn pegasus appeared my little pony steez. He also hit up the homies in Lower on the wall which I thought was a hot idea since the whole hood comes thru to say hey and spread love. Check back for the shot of the wall!

Big up to Mohammed and lil' Mohammed for holdin' us down!
-wm

NEW GRAFFITI IN THE SFC! (Updated!)

Wall 1 of 2walls in 2days... the corner of Valencia and Duboce in SF, on the side of Pizza Zone. This is phase 1, burners. We came back on day 2 after painting O'looneys in Lower Haight and hooked up the background. Again, apologies for the low rez imagery, shot of the finished wall to come soon!

above: Mike Giant was one of the first writers I met after I started writing for real. He was hella good to me and taught me "whatever you can draw, you can paint" which I now tell youngsters. He is duly recognized as a great artist and is blowin' the fuck up! He's got his own Sharpie model. Damn! That's official!

above: Keb, GM5 Killin' it, wait till you see the background laced up just right!

above: Buter, TMF So ill he's decrepid and falling off the wall... This man's hustle is flawless! Keep you eyes peeled, more to come fa sho!

above: Wand, TM7 Tall, white and sick widdit! His gargantuan final letter forced me to be creative. Thanks buddy!

above: Little dude infront of Meut, TDK's abreviated styles. He and his brother were like 10 and 11, just started writing and just got caught by their dad for having paint. Think this dude wrote "Toxic" haha.

above: Chief is always one of my favorite writers. Don't call it a come back!

above: SF O.G. Cuba... a worker asked, "no sketch?" to which he replied "I been doin' this for 30 years, I don't need one." Word!

above: Pi = 3.14159265 gets ill with scraps and borrowed paint.You've seen him up... pleez buhleev!

Guardians of the wall were painted on the rooftop by Buter. The spot is visible from across the street at Zeitgeist. I HELLA love painting! FUCK YEAH! Thanks to all the homies, well wishers and all who rocked the wall of fuckin Pizza Zone!

TDK: The Dream Khronicles

"THIS IS IIIIIIIIIT! THIS IS IIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!"
-IZ the Wiz, Style Wars, (Tony Silver, 1983, 70 minutes, color/b&w, 16mm)

If you haven't seen Style Wars, you should as soon as humanly possible. Back in the day, we usta have to dig like fuck just to find a VHS copy all fuzzy from being a 8th generation copy... nevertheless an integral part of a young writer's development... yall know.

Subway Theme from Wild Style
Start this track and click play on the video!

Big up to the TDK CrewFamilyMassive... The pieces as they appear in the video are KING 157, DYL by Dylska, JASE, STASH, MEUT, GYRO, AMEND, SPIE, DONE, VOGUE, KRASH, MERX and PAK by Spie. The "OAKLAND WALL OF FAME" is by Krash with background by Done (dope! and easier to see in person).

The overall theme of the Oakland contribution to the wall, "THE DREAM KHRONICLES" is a dedication to the TDK brothers in the spirit world. KURL, PAK ONE, PLAN BEE 11-5, Mike DREAM TDK who all called 23rd St. yard home and BURNED this wall with the some of the dopest styles west of the Mississippi. The Background is all renderings of photos from Mike Dream's flick box throughout the lifetime of the 23rd St. Yard(they came out HELLA fresh)... The pieces rocked are a testament to the style and heart put into a culture we made in an ignored corner of a ghetto you know the name of.

I wouldn't trade my time in that yard for anything. In a world gone mad, nothing means as much as the alliances we choose.


T.D.K. The DREAM Khronicles from Willie Maze on Vimeo.

THE DREAM KONTINUESThe future of TDK... Sir Jahar, Prince Akil(Dream's son), and Princess Bella B at Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival 2007.

"DOWN BY LAW" Oakland Wall of Fame Prequel

Krash TDK's dedication to Dream of the 23rd Yard... pressure washed to remove all the layers of paint that were peeling off.

Fab 5 Freddy- Down By Law

I'm hella excited about the 23rd Yard "Oakland Wall of Fame" being completed, I can't wait to get down there and take connector photos and video of the entire wall. The taped together 4"x6" prints alone will be at least about 20 feet long. In anticipation of full completion, check these photos and video i took of the wall the day before production began. It was an honor to see the wall stripped down to the bone revealing how much time, energy, and love went into the wall so many of us called home. For me, it literally was home, I grew up on the other side of the big shady wall at 23rd, and painted my first toy pieces on the shorty wall. I usta throw rocks at bottles in the Yard before I ever thought I would be painting alongside the masters I watched develop while taking the shortcut home so I could watch cartoons. In later days, after school I was there every day painting, meeting writers, hanging out, and watching kings paint. Chances are I seen almost every piece that makes up each layer, and that each layer I made is in my blood (literally, i don't think the toxins ever leave)... In the video below, one of my Maestros talks about the wall and what a trip it is to see all the layers down to the bricks over 20 years later. Also discusses his process for laying out pieces on the 23rd Yard Wall... take notes!

23rd Interview 2 from Willie Maze on Vimeo.


Burner by Buter TMF dedicated to King Dream TDK...

The Photo above is a rough layout of the wall plan Krash TDK made. Didn't quite work out like that but it's a cool document. This is just the Bay Area sampling of the wall. Some of the Nation's best writers from across the country came out to rock the Oakland Wall of Fame. Big up Krash for bringing it all together, this shit is a monumental task to say the least!

In the video below, another OG writer discusses his anticipation of what's to come on this wall...

23rdYard Interview 1. from Willie Maze on Vimeo.

Looking forward to showing you all that and more soon...