Chinese Men Who Flew Over The Bus (8/16 Bit Mixtape)

The evolution of console fighting video games during The Crack Era. From The Galaxy of Queens, New York.

Eight-bit kung fu masters and sixteen-bit ninjas protected me from crack. A league of world warriors kept me and my friends from the streets.

Before they had my back in video games, Asian superheroes dropped science in movies. There was a specific day and hour when class was in session — Saturday at three o’clock on Channel 5.

In the early 80s, that was the official time for knowledge and lessons in New York City. Outside of the grimy theaters in Times Square, Asian superheroes and their stories made their way into homes across the city.

These Asian supermen and women flew through the air, got revenge, learned secret techniques, and did it all with dragon swag. They were venoms, master killers, and some had golden arms. They did all kinds of kinds of fly kill-a-nigga-shit, making them powerful.

Young Black kids in Queens, we imitated our cinematic heroes with fake iron claws, fake iron fists, and fake flying through the air. We were young fake killers, and we wanted to get revenge using all of our fake kill-a-nigga-shit, and be powerful.

We chased Asian superheroes at the local arcade. We fought in tournaments on KARATE CHAMP…