SAMO AS A FLOATATION DEVICE 4 A DROWNING SOCIETY

Al Diaz  Artist

Where are you from/where did you grow up?

Al Díaz’s career spans five decades. Born and raised Puerto Rican in New York City, by age 15 he was an influential first-generation subway graffiti artist known as “BOMB-ONE.”

Why did you start your business?

His friendship and artistic collaboration with high school schoolmate Jean-Michel Basquiat on SAMO©, (a late 70s Avant-garde graffiti tag project) has been noted often in contemporary art history. Díaz later contributed percussion to numerous musical recordings and performances, including Basquiat’s historic 1983 record, “Beat Bop,” (considered to be one of the earliest hip-hop albums).

How does your work connect to Brooklyn?

Díaz currently resides in Brooklyn. He has authored multiple books including SAMO©...SINCE 1978 and CITY OF KINGS: A History of NYC Graffiti chronicling the history of graffiti’s genesis in New York from its late 1960s origin to the present, as seen through the lens of writers who started the movement.