Graffiti and Claimin' Space

A major part of Borderland Hip Hop, and the Hip Hop ethos in general, is claimin' and marking one's space.  Whether this "space" constitutes a street, a block, a neighborhood, a state, a region, a clique, or a family, the claimin' and naming of one's space is central in many instances.  In artists such as Lil' Rob, Capone, South Park Mexican, Chingo Bling, and Cypress Hill, we can see the importance of claimin' and defendin' one's space.  This can be seen in references to "H-town," "Cypress Hill," South Park," "El Barrio" and "La Raza," just to name a few.

Beyond lyrically claimin' one's space, marking one's territory is also a big part of Borderland Hip Hop.  This comes as no surprise to those who know the history of Hip Hop.  Graffiti has been a hallmark of Hip Hop culture since its inception in the late 1970s and continues to be a part of the culture.  While not all graffiti artists or "taggers" are part of Hip Hop culture, there is no denying that graffiti has always been part of Hip Hop.

As with the linguistic and cultural aspects, graffiti serves as a counter-hegemonic discourse and challenges traditional texts.  It is usually unwanted, painted or sprayed, text that is seen as serving no purpose in the "important" realms of society.  It is labeled as an eye-soar and criminalized.

Below are pictures I took of some graffiti in the El Paso area, with some commentary.

The graffiti can be "artistic" space, serving as a display of talent for an artist, or artists...

and more commonly, it serves as a tool to display and claim space for a group/clique or gang.

It can also serve as a place of textual-visual confrontation.

Whatever the case, graffit exists in the margins, in the alleys of society, as a reminder to the subcultures that exist in every society, and of the fact that there will always be those who try to claim a space for themselves--a space counter to the forces in power.

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