Fab 5 Freddy’s 'Everybody’s Fly' is a backstage pass to NYC’s new wave hip hop scene

Fred Brathwaite — aka ‘Fab 5 Freddy’ — is a pioneering multimedia artist credited with bringing hip hop to the mainstream in the 1980s. His new memoir Everybody’s Fly looks back at Brathwaite’s life in New York, beginning when art forms like rap, graffiti, breakdance, and DJ remained mostly underground. In today’s episode, Brathwaite joins NPR’s Adrian Ma to discuss his inspiration behind the memoir, and how his widespread artistic collaborations throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s synthesized culture and propelled it forward.

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