"SAMO as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics and bogus philosophy."

In Tricia Rose's essay on the Post-Industrial culture and Hip-Hop she mentions the three central forms that have developed: graffiti, breakdancing, and rap music. With trends moving away from manufacturing and more towards technological fields, many cities were forced to restructure. This resulted in a terrible income decline for the 20 percent of people who already were at the lower end of the pay scale.

The Puerto Ricans and African-Americans of New York, and particularly the South Bronx, were hit the hardest.

Thus, from the rubble was born the hip hop culture, partly motivated politically and fueled by a desire for urban renewal.

Jean Michel Basquiat, fellow artist and friend of Andy Warhol, was a unique poineer in the hip hop culture. He was born in 1960 to a Puerto Rican woman and a Haitian immigrant. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York and had a rough childhood. His mother was bipolar and deemed unfit to care for him and so he stayed with his father who was known to be a violent alcoholic.  He ran away from home at the age of 15 and lived on the streets of New York city surviving by selling drugs, panhandling, and by creating homeade postcards and tee shirts.

He quickly gained recognition for his designs on post cards as well as for his graffiti that covered the streets of lower Manhattan.  He signed his graffiti with the psydeudonym "SAMO"... perhaps meaning "same old shit"

His work on the streets became so popular that the "Village Voice" did an article on him.

Basquiat's art was raw and urban. While he insisted that his work stood for no political purpose, it is apparent by some of the writing in his murals are representative of his dissatisfaction with the state of things.

Alot of his art also can be traced back to his heritage. One painting, titled "History of the Black People" is said to reclaim Egyptian's African descent. He makes a mockery out of how historians have conviently forgotten or ignored the fact that, technically, Egyptians are just as Black as any other African.

Jean Michel Basquiat's work was ironic, non-sensical, and urban. It was something that the street kids could relate to. He represented his culture, as well as his socio-economic struggles through his work and was a central figure in early hip hop development.