Zulu King Slone

Zulu King Slone

Zulu King Slone has been involved in graffiti culture almost from the moment of its appearance. He studied the earliest writers, and began writing in the mid 70s. Over the past forty years, Zulu King Slone did not part with this art. Graffiti became his passion and purpose in life. Today he is recognized as a classic street artist and inducted in the Graffiti Hall of Fame in Harlem. His work can also be seen in various galleries. Zulu King Slone is one of the founders of the Wizards Of The Styles Crew, numbering 275 chapters around the world!

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Tell us about yourself, your creative work and about your history in Hip Hop culture.

My life as a writer started back in 1976. While riding the J train I was 11 years old, I saw a writer tagging the inside of the train in broad day light, with people on it. He turned around and looked at me and gave a wussup look. After seeing this I was hooked I knew I wanted to be a writer as well. So my journey began learning the tricks of the trade; meeting older writers, and learning from them the rules of the game. I knew it was important to have my own style, and never to bite other writer's styles, and to respect their space never to go over any writers name. I started with doing my name in block letters slowly moving to harder lettering, like wildstyle and semi wildstyle. Improving on characters and my hand styles I soon started to understand the language of graffiti. Many years later I became part of Zulu Nation and the hip hop culture movement, even becoming a Zulu king.

My life as a writer spans 4 decades and I am still a student in the game.

You have created a truly ambitious project - WIZARDS OF THE STYLES CREW. It has 250 chapters around the world! Tell us about it.

In 1995 I founded the Wizards of the Styles Crew along with VP Tumer, at 2am in the morning. We were having fun and sketching together; so I said, "What if we created a worldwide crew that would span the globe"? We both looked at each other and laughed. I went home and then started thinking of names for the crew, and I came up with WOTS! After I came up with the name, I thought to myself this was original and different from any other name. It meant we were magical; we were amazing – so thus, "live to amaze, and amaze to live" became our motto! I started to put the best of the best writers down with the crew. It went from 5 people to 36 people, then to 116 divisions, from 20 chapters to 60, to now present day 275 chapters. I have hub were all writers worldwide could connect and share style and culture. Soon I had members in different countries. And like any other movement it exploded quickly. I had females and males down so we expanded it to bboy's and bgirl's, as well as poets, dj's, mc's, etc.

development of artists participating in the WIZARDS OF THE STYLES CREW worldwide?

It has allowed artists from around the world to be seen on global scale, and to connect and build friendships with each other. It has become a great movement for hip-hop in general, but more importantly for graffiti culture.

Sometimes, people forget that graffiti is the 1st element of hip-hop culture.

The coordination of 250 branches simultaneously is serious work. Tell us about the difficulties in this business, and how you manage to solve them.

I keep members updated via Facebook and the Wizards of the Styles homepage. Any shows and exhibitions held by crew members (myself included) are posted to these public sources. On this page they also post up the latest works and projects. I connect them with other new members of the crew so the members can handle meeting and greeting and planning of events they are posting and hosting. When there is a new change or order in the crew I post it to all the members. When a person becomes a member of the WOTS crew, we address each other as wizards. I am Wizard Slone.

Other examples are, Wizard Keiibi or Wizard Lady Champ.

It is a daunting task to manage so many members in crew like this, so I have web site, www.wizardofthestyles.com, where all the members can post daily likes and links to the works they do. I plan to create a website for the members to manage on their own soon, but this is work in progress.

You are also executive director of the Zulu Nation Visual Arts Dept World Wide. Tell us about this responsibility.

As Executive Director for the Visual Arts Dept for the Zulu Nation I am in charge of making sure no one uses our images without approval from my department; as well as protecting the rights of all our members worldwide. Members in the nation charters must submit a proposal along with the images they wish to use. A merchant card, and promoters card must be purchased to be able to sell and promote the Zulu Nation image and name. It's a great honor to have been selected by the World Council, and Supreme World Council to serve the nation on such a large scale after being a member for 22 years.

How has international relations contributed to the

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seen in galleries. But also it has become part of modern mass culture, widely used in advertising. Many graffiti writers refer to this commercialization of graffiti critically. What is your opinion on this issue?

Everything has changed now, people use graffiti in videos and marketing worldwide; some writers can make a living of what they love. As long as we can keep to the history of the movement I feel it's gotten the attention it deserved for so many years.

Tell us about exhibitions and festivals in which you participated with your work?

I have had my work animated in the 'Planet B-Boy' film.

Participated in fundraisers for the New York Yankees fund for cancer. I have taught graffiti at Columbia University. I also worked on a collaborative piece on a train door with Loud1ne (LOC Crew) for Jim Jones. I contributed to the Rebuild Project for the Hurricane Sandy Victims in Brooklyn. Writing my name in graffiti on the wall in the video. Additionally, I have been published in "Lineacurve" magazine in Spain.

Awards received include: Humanitarian Award 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award 2012 Inducted to the graffiti hall of fame 2011 Signed with House of gallery 2015 Currently on exhibit "Bomb the Line's" collection.

Another one of your affiliations is as Art Director at the magazine Dancemogul. Tell us about this magazine and your work there.

I met the director at Dancemogul magazine at an event in Philly; where we shared our ideas about the culture. Basil and his son were the founders of the magazine. This magazine was a clean publication; it featured only dancers and positive people in the culture and the movement. I thought to myself, 'wow this was a great thing only promoting the positive! So I partnered up with the magazine, and they featured me soon after I was inducted into the graffiti hall of fame. I then introduced them to the founders Zulu Nation. They became the magazine that would soon cover all of the Zulu anniversaries. They honored Afrika Bambaata and I with lifetime achievement awards on the same night. After that I was made art director for the magazine. It allows me to look for talented artists who do work that inspires people in the places they live to aspire to be published in the magazine as well.

Graffiti culture has undergone many changes throughout its history. But connoisseurs of classical style, like you, today prove that graffiti is an interesting and compelling art. What important aspect can you always appreciate in classical graffiti?

It still proves that the oldschool style is the origin of where all graffiti came from no matter what. This was never considered art to people during its growth, but years later it's in major galleries worldwide. With thousands being paid for pieces; it has finally earned its place in history.

Graffiti is an integral part of contemporary art. It can be

You starred in videos of famous rap groups, such as Dead Prez, have been published in magazines from different countries, and have received many awards.

Which of these moments was the most important, or perhaps the most desirable for you?

I feel that it's great to be honored by my peers and people who love and see the work I do. But they have a special place and moment in my heart. I have been chasing a dream for 42 years, and to finally see it all come together is the reward. I have been able to meet a lot of my heroes in the culture and been blessed to give back to a movement which has given so much to me as an artist.

You were inducted into THE GRAFFITI WRITERS HALL OF FAME. This is an important measure of recognition in the world of graffiti. Tell us about the GRAFFITI WRITERS HALL OF FAME and how your name became a part of it.

Well I had always heard of the hall of fame in Harlem, and only the greatest of the great were inducted. So my dream was always to be able to walk through the gate some day as one. I had a lot of time to put in my work as a writer, so I figured some day I would make it there. In the meantime I worked on my skills and art, readying myself to be in place to be a part of such a brotherhood and sisterhood. When I got then news I had crossed that milestone, I felt a lot of things – but most importantly, I felt accomplished. When I walked in that day, I made it my mission to use this honor to uplift and help the next generation of youth - to prove to kids that no matter what your dream is, if you have passion for something you must seek it out. It took me 39 years to reach this milestone.

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In addition to the active work in the field of graffiti, you are also recognized as a King in the Zulu Nation. Tell us how you came to the Zulu Nation, and about your activities in the organization.

I became Zulu early in my life but it was a calling I never look back on. As a Zulu king it is my role and job to inspire and encourage our members to seek greatness in themselves, and achieve the goals they set for life. I can teach and ensure the knowledge of Zulu will endure for the next generation of Zulu's. I started as a member, then after many years I became a chapter leader and then elevated to kingship. After 20 years I've now been assigned as the Executive Director of the Visual Arts Department (world wide) for the Zulu Nation.

Today many young graffiti writers around the world do not associate themselves with Hip Hop, and are not interested in its other elements. Have you such a problem in the USA? Well some artist like it, some don't. It's ok; the main thing is that art continues to change and move in the right direction.

How many graffiti writers are members in the Zulu

Nation?

I really can't say how writers are in the UZN, but whatever that number is, it will continue to grow in the future!

What projects are you working on now?

I just finished a 7' piece collection called "Bomb the Lines" for House of Art Gallery, along with Richard Beavers the gallery owner and founder. We want to recreate the trains from the 70's and 80's, so people can view how the trains looked back then. It was a lot of work, but the greatest thing about this was being able to bring this back for people to share stories with friends and family! The result was huge for me to create this for the gallery.

House of Art Gallery can be found at: 408 Marcus Garvey Blvd Brooklyn NY 11216 (347) 663-8195 contact: Richard Beavers Also I will be a part of the Harlem Arts Festival in NYC 2015 along with other artists who were selected to exhibit there. The festival dates are June 26-28 2015.

I want to thank you for giving me the honor of interviewing me for your magazine. Peace and blessings.

http://wizardsofthestyles.com http://www.harlemartsfestival.com http://www.hoagallery.com/artist/SLONE-72.html http://lineacurve.bigcartel.com/product/linea-curve-issue-04 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCGyYyjyIys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhhQACREqgY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9dNi3Y6Qp8&feature=youtu.be

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