It’s sad that most contemporary hip-hop consumers don’t realize that graffiti was once as big a part of the culture as bling bling and wack lyrics are today. When NY Mayor, Ed Koch was in office, “the buff,”a chemical wash that dissolved the paint off of trains, forever changed the art form. In fact, it’s widely accepted that the buff’s effectiveness in removing the art off of subway cars is the primary reason that the city’s moving canvases no longer exist. Fortunately enough, NY is still blessed with a speckle of random jewels. Props to Swagger for the fresh art.

Adding fuel to the urban legend that Walt Disney was a Nazi-sympathizer and that his most popular characters were created to perpetuate racist stereotypes is a finding by William Hakvaag, the director of a war museum in northern Norway. Hakvaag claims to have discovered sketches of Snow White characters Bashful and Doc and of Pinocchio drawn by Adolf Hitler. Although it’s well known that Hitler was an artist before his rise to power, many discoveries of Nazi-era art have been the result of a hoax. Despite this fact, so-called “Hitler art” continues to sell at various auctions. Read article here.

“Don’t show this shit to nobody cause this is underground economics…Seriously”

-Mos Def

First in a series of DJ Dirt Hollywood, BRAIN BULLY and MOS DEF Collaborations. Drive Bys Volume 1. with Mos Def.

From the good people at Chesing

It’s crazy when you realize that as recent as June 2006, “The Flag Burning Amendment”, a proposal to make the physical desecration of the American flag unconstitutional, failed in the Senate by only one vote. Luckily, I’m not the only one who wants the right to shit on the flag. Peep Brazilian artist Icaro Doria’s take on the situation. Doria gives new meaning to the colors of the flags, matching them with actual data taken from Amnesty International and the UNO. Hot shit. Check it out.

Continuing to keep the spirit of Dr. King alive, check out this photo essay by Camilo José Vergara of the NY Times.