Flier for a rap battle in the Bronx designed by Buddy Esquire: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A flier advertising a rap battle at the P.A.L at 183 Street and Webster Avenue in the Bronx, New York City, on May 11, 1979, designed by Buddy Esquire (Lenoin Thompson III). The flier is a vertical sheet of paper fully covered with letterblock text inside a think black border: [WE'VE COME TOGETHER... / RIGHT NOW... / AT THE [underlined] / P.A.L / 182 ST & WEBSTER AVE / WITH / THE Brothers Disco .Sisters Disco. [sideways] / D.J. BREAKOUT D.J. BARON / THE FUNKY 4 M.C.S / Sha.Rock Keith.Keith / Rahiem K.K. Rockwell / THE GRANDMASTER FLASH / AND THE RETURN OF THE... / FURIOUS IV [large font] M.C.s / .Mele.Mel Kid Creole / Keith.Keith Mr. Ness. / SPECIAL PEOPLE OF THE NITE.... / FRI, MAY 11, 1979/ 9 PM - UNTIL / HE $4.00 SHE $3.00 .. / A JAZZY DEE PRODUCTION... / 41.55.29 & 36 Buses to Webster Ave. / Buddy ESQ [illegible] L.M.F. [sideways] TO MICHELE ] The verso of the flier is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1979
• Designed by: Buddy Esquire, American, 1959 - 2014
• Subject of: Grandmaster Flash, American, born 1958
• Subject of: MC Sha-Rock, American, born 1962
• Subject of: Melle Mel, American, born 1961
• Subject of: Mr. Ness, American
• Type: fliers (printed matter)
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 14 × 8 1/2 in. (35.6 × 21.6 cm)
• Place used: Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2014.219.4
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.