From Big Hank’s Superman references on hip-hop’s first chart-topping single “Rapper’s Delight” to Onyx rapper Sticky Fingaz playing Blade in the vampiric antihero TV series, to 50 Cent adapting his New York Times best-seller The 50th Law into a graphic novel, hip-hop and comic books have been inseparable for over 40 years. Lyrical references, artist stage names, album artwork, soundtrack curation — the two now share an elemental blood-force.
So, without anyone noticing, did comic books join MCing, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti, and knowledge as the sixth element of hip-hop? Furthermore, how could comic books exist as an element of hip-hop if they’re so common outside of the culture?
First, we must consider the back-drop of hip-hop’s origin story in the Bronx. Marginalized African-American and Latin-American youth who were clutching spray-cans, microphones, mixers or cardboard mats often buried their noses in comic books. In the colorful pages of the “funny papers,” the likes of Grandmaster Caz, Melle Mel, Spoonie G, and Kool Moe Dee would escape the harsh realities of their circumstances and be whisked away into worlds of superheroes and vigilantes fighting injustice. For proof, just press play on any of their earliest works.
Revisit seminal hip-hop film Wild Style (1982) and you’ll see comic book influences…
