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![RAMMΣLLZΣΣ (1960-2010)
In 1985 he told me, “Rammellzee is a military function formation… I am ramming the knowledge to an elevation and I am understanding the knowledge behind the Zee. Since we are dealing with Roman letters, we have to go back to the day when the Romans were using the ram to break down doors. Our situation today is to break down a door of knowledge hidden behind society. We’re going to work our way around it instead of breaking it straight up. Whereas before you’d be trying to break through and you would be on the bottom of the pile. We’re talking about where graffiti originated, where hardcore war went down, with markers against markers and letters against letters. You think war is always shooting and beating everybody up, but no, we had the letters fight for us.” — Greg Tate (Rammellzee: The Ikonoklast Samurai, The Wire #242, 2004)
Rammellzee was a visual artist, graffiti writer, performance artist, hip hop musician, art theoretician and sculptor from New York. He was instrumental as one of the original hip hop artists from the NY area who introduced specific vocal styles which date back to the early 1980s. His influence can still be heard in contemporary artists such as the Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill. [1]
He was an eccentric, outsize figure almost never photographed without wearing one of the elaborate science-fiction inspired masks and costumes that he made along with the sculpture and paintings that became the mainstays of his career in later years. He fashioned himself as an urban philosopher, whose overarching theory, which he called Gothic Futurism, posited that graffiti writers were trying to liberate the mystical power of letters from the strictures of modern alphabetical standardization, and had inherited this mission in part from medieval monks. [2]
He was obsessed with the notion of sonic sound wars and the historical struggles between the “letter” and the “number.” Rammellzee fought chaos with chaos, creating his own strain of Afro-futurism, inhabiting a galaxy populated only by George Clinton, Sun Ra and Lee Perry. [3]
It remains unclear whether he was born 600 years too early or 600 years too late. We probably won’t know for another 60. But right now, it’s evident that no style was wilder than Rammellzee’s. [4]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la0nip5YmJ1qdrib8o1_500.jpg)
RAMMΣLLZΣΣ (1960-2010)
In 1985 he told me, “Rammellzee is a military function formation… I am ramming the knowledge to an elevation and I am understanding the knowledge behind the Zee. Since we are dealing with Roman letters, we have to go back to the day when the Romans were using the ram to break down doors. Our situation today is to break down a door of knowledge hidden behind society. We’re going to work our way around it instead of breaking it straight up. Whereas before you’d be trying to break through and you would be on the bottom of the pile. We’re talking about where graffiti originated, where hardcore war went down, with markers against markers and letters against letters. You think war is always shooting and beating everybody up, but no, we had the letters fight for us.” — Greg Tate (Rammellzee: The Ikonoklast Samurai, The Wire #242, 2004)
Rammellzee was a visual artist, graffiti writer, performance artist, hip hop musician, art theoretician and sculptor from New York. He was instrumental as one of the original hip hop artists from the NY area who introduced specific vocal styles which date back to the early 1980s. His influence can still be heard in contemporary artists such as the Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill. [1]
He was an eccentric, outsize figure almost never photographed without wearing one of the elaborate science-fiction inspired masks and costumes that he made along with the sculpture and paintings that became the mainstays of his career in later years. He fashioned himself as an urban philosopher, whose overarching theory, which he called Gothic Futurism, posited that graffiti writers were trying to liberate the mystical power of letters from the strictures of modern alphabetical standardization, and had inherited this mission in part from medieval monks. [2]
He was obsessed with the notion of sonic sound wars and the historical struggles between the “letter” and the “number.” Rammellzee fought chaos with chaos, creating his own strain of Afro-futurism, inhabiting a galaxy populated only by George Clinton, Sun Ra and Lee Perry. [3]
It remains unclear whether he was born 600 years too early or 600 years too late. We probably won’t know for another 60. But right now, it’s evident that no style was wilder than Rammellzee’s. [4]
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The Pan African Space Station will be in orbit again from Sunday, September 12 - October 12, 2010. Now in its third year, PASS continues its cross-cultural and cyber-spatial exploration, bringing together diverse pan-African sounds from ancient techno to future roots.
Space I: 30 days of cutting edge music streamed live online from the PASS Studio at 44 Long Street, Cape Town and the satellite studio in Limbe, Cameroon.
Space II: performances by Doctor Philip Tabane & Malombo, Kyle Sheperd Trio, Brice Wassy Trio, Imperial Tiger Orchestra, Endress Hassen, Thandiswa Mazwai, Mbuso T, Theo Parrish and many others.
Space III: audio-visual public art installation by artist Douglas Gimberg and architecht Greer Valley.
For the full line-up, info on how to get onboard the Space Station, and much more, go to http://www.panafricanspacestation.org.za
There are other worlds out there they never told you about.
(Photo: Cindy Blackman, PASS I, 2008)
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A rare interview with James Stinson of Drexciya, the Underground Resistance aquatic assault unit, by Liz Copeland on WDET-FM, May 2002.
Drexciya combined a faceless, underground, anti-mainstream media stance with mythological, sci-fi narratives, to help heighten the dramatic effect of their music. Inspired in part by Lovecraftian images of ante-diluvian fishmen and other maritime myths, Drexciya refers both to the recording artists themselves and to planet from which the aquatic Drexciyan species, and its technologically advanced underwater civilisation, originates. [1]
The majority of Drexciya’s releases were in the style of harsh, dancefloor oriented Electro, punctuated with elements of retro, 1980s Detroit Techno, with occasional excursions into the Ambient and Industrial genres. Tracks are mostly centered around the TR-808 drum machine, with bass, melodies, and synth textures ebbing and flowing in time. [2]
For deeper insight, visit the Drexciya Research Lab.
Rest in peace, Mr. Stinson.
You must face the power of the black wave of Lardossa before you can become a Drexciyan Wavejumper.
