Marc André Edmonds (1956 – April 18, 1994), also known by the
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
name ALI and as J. Walter Negro,
“The Playin’ Brown Rapper”
was an American artist and musician. As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists'
and originator of the cult of
Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro (a
cynical
Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of "others". A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic ...
take-off on the arch-commercialist
J. Walter Thompson
J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...
advertising agency), he is remembered as the lead singer/
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
of the proto-
hip-hop-rap group 'J. Walter Negro and the Loose Jointz', who had some success with their 1981 release "Shoot the Pump".
Career
Born in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in 1956 to an
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
father and
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
mother, ALI attended public school on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
with future noted graffiti artists SAMO (
Jean-Michel Basquiat),
Futura 2000
Leonard Hilton McGurr (born November 17, 1955), known as Futura, and formerly known as Futura 2000, is an American graffiti artist.
Biography
He started to paint illegally on New York City's subway in the early 1970s, working with other artist ...
(Lenny McGurr), and COCA 82 (Pablo Calogero). He began street-tagging in 1970, and with his younger brother Michael, founded the early crew The Underground (UND). He went on to found The Soul Artists (SA)
several years later, and became a respected subway artist well before the advent of “
wildstyle” graffiti art. ALI influenced and inspired fellow SA and UND member BILROCK-161 who started The Rolling Thunder Writers in 1976. (RTW went on to become one of the most famed and prolific of all of the
New York City Subway graffiti clubs. RTW membership included some of the best-known artists such as REVOLT, ZEPHYR, MIN-ONE, QUIK, CRUNCH, RICH2, PADE, REGAL 192, BOE, SACH, KEL 139, EL 3, IZ THE WIZ, and HAZE.)
ALI's works often contained a humorous
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
message, a trend which led to his establishing and publishing the
comic-oriented “Zoo York Magazine” in the early 1980s (The premier issue, was first published in May 1979).
Tunnel Fire
Late one night in the early 1970s, while ALI and Futura 2000 were “bombing”
IRT traincars in the lay-up tunnel between the 137th and 145th Street stations under
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, a number of
spray-paint
Spray painting is a painting technique in which a device sprays coating material (paint, ink, varnish, etc.) through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas—usually air—to atomize and direct the paint particles.
...
cans, lined up along what was mistaken to be a “dead”
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...
, suddenly exploded, enveloping ALI in flames. Futura got him out and to a local hospital, where he was laid up with severe burns for months. The fire left scars on his neck and jaw-line, but ALI's wrists and hands took the worst damage. Doctors advised that his hands would have to be
amputate
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...
d, but his
Native American mother told them that he was an artist, and he would live or die with his hands attached. So shocking were his burns that a number of early writers were said to have "laid up their cans" after visiting him in the hospital; but ALI recovered completely, though he carried scars from that night for the rest of his life.
"Zoo York"
A cynical social observer with a quick wit, ALI coined the term "
Zoo York"
to describe the absurdity displayed in the attitudes of New Yorkers during what he called the "Sick Seventies." It was the name he gave to a
subway tunnel being built underneath the
Central Park Zoo at the time, which became a haunt of early "old school" graffiti writers in the early 1970s. The tunnel's naming occurred one autumn night in 1975. Several members of The Underground, ALI, FINE, and
CRUNCH, had just attended a showing of a new
musical-
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
review called National Lampoon Lemmings at the
Village Gate
The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structu ...
downtown. The show (which starred future comic notables
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...
,
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
and
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...
) lampooned the
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquar ...
, which had taken place upstate two years earlier, calling it "
Woodchuck
The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.
The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through m ...
" and equating the entire
hippie generation with
lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
bent on self-destruction. The crew of
teenagers
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...
made similar comparisons between themselves and the residents of the nearby city zoo. Marvelling at the perversities of contemporary urban psychology, ALI proclaimed
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
itself "not ''New,'' but a ''Zoo!''"
"Shoot the Pump"
A decade later, in 1981, “
hip-hop” was just emerging as a new style of street music, and "
rapping" was a phenomenon not yet recognized outside major U.S. cities. ALI formed a band named “J. Walter Negro and the Loose Jointz”.
Their first single, "Shoot the Pump," was released first under
John Hammond's "Zoo York" imprint, and was later produced overseas on
Island Records. A wild conglomeration of rap, hip-hop,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
funk, and
disco rock, the song features ALI as “Negro,” vocalizing about opening up a
fire hydrant
A fire hydrant, waterplug, or firecock (archaic) is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection. Underground fire hydrants have been used in Europe and Asia since at least t ...
with a
monkey wrench
The monkey wrench is a type of adjustable wrench, a 19th century American refinement of 18th-century English coach wrenches. It was widely used in the 19th and early 20th century. It is of interest as an antique among tool collectors and is sti ...
, directing the water blast with a hollowed-out spray-paint can, and soaking passers-by "shooting the pump" at them. Cops arrive, see him reaching for something and "shoot the punk" – then close the hydrant and flee the scene of their crime. But crafty Negro lives, thanks to a
bullet-proof vest
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. ...
, and he heads off to “shoot the pump” again.... They opened for
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.[Talki ...](_blank)
,
Blondie, and
Kid Creole
Thomas August Darnell Browder (born August 12, 1950), known professionally as August Darnell and under the stage name Kid Creole, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He co-founded Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and subsequently f ...
at The
Peppermint Lounge The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965, although a new one was opened in 1980. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s. Many claim ...
and The
Mudd Club
The Mudd Club was a nightclub located at 77 White Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It operated from 1978 to 1983 as a venue for underground music and counterculture events. It was opened by Steve Maas, Die ...
. (The Loose Jointz had an occasional
celebrity
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
guest in
Jean-Michel Basquiat; Pablo Calogero, co-writer of "Shoot the Pump,” would go on to record music for the soundtrack of Basquiat's film,
New York Beat Movie Downtown 81
''Downtown 81'' is a 2000 American film that was shot in 1980-1981. The film was directed by Edo Bertoglio and written and produced by Glenn O'Brien and Patrick Montgomery, with post-production in 1999-2000 by Glenn O'Brien and Maripol. It is a r ...
.)
Death
Edmonds died while suffering from
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...
in Arizona on April 18, 1994.
References
External links
J. Walter Negro & Nicky Tesco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali
1956 births
1994 deaths
20th-century African-American painters
20th-century American painters
American graffiti artists
American male painters
American people of Cherokee descent
Painters from New York City
Cocaine-related deaths in Arizona
People from Manhattan
20th-century American male artists