STORY / ID 4922
Wild Style (1983): The First Hip-Hop Feature Film
Wild Style is a 1982 American hip hop film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Ahearn, starring Lee Quiñones, Fab Five Freddy, Patti Astor and Lady Pink. Filmed in 1981 on a budget of about $500,000, it premiered in Nov 1982 at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal ahead of its US theatrical release on Nov 23, 1983.
Wild Style is a 1982 American hip hop film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Ahearn. Its cast includes Lee Quiñones, Fab Five Freddy, Patti Astor, and Lady Pink. The film was shot in 1981 and completed in 1982, on a budget of about $500,000.
It premiered in November 1982 at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal, followed by a US theatrical release on Nov 23, 1983. The film later reached home audiences through a VHS release in 1997, a 25th anniversary DVD in 2007, and a 30th anniversary Blu-ray in 2012.
Music for Wild Style was composed by Fab Five Freddy and Chris Stein of Blondie, and a soundtrack album followed in 1983 on Animal Records.
Critical response was generally favorable, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 90% and a Metacritic score of 63. The film has since been sampled by numerous hip-hop albums, was honored by VH1 Hip Hop Honors in 2007, was ranked No.1 hip-hop film by Billboard in 2012, and has been screened at major museums.