Photo by Beezer
Interview by Bruce Bayleaf – Vice
Bristol today is synonymous with drum and bass and dubstep, but back in the mid-1980s it was the UK’s hip-hop heartland. Against a backdrop of Thatcherism and high unemployment, the city’s youth developed a taste for US rap and got heavily into the music, fashion and partying of that culture. The soundsystems, civil-rights demonstrations and parties that Bristol native Andy Beese (aka Beezer) documented in photos were in fact the roots of a burgeoning UK urban music scene, which, for a time, was absolutely brilliant. Then it got a bit rubbish, then it was good again, and now it’s kind of OK (well, the new Massive Attack album isn’t bad). These photos are a selection from Beezer’s book, Wild Dayz. We had a word with him about living in Britain’s very own version of Wild Style. [Read More]