Gallery: 50 Classic Hip-Hop Fliers

Words: Jef Tate, Editor-In-Chief, Words.Beats.Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

When hip-hop jams left the parks and descended into bars and club scene of NYC, new dimensions and opportunities also blossomed with the change of scenery. Djs were now able to better monetize their services, parties were no longer dependent on mother nature's cooperation and writers (graf) were able to get some steady checks by designing promo fliers. This list is a nod to some of those writers and designers who were dedicated to the art of getting butts in the building, the Ad Men of early hip-hop. No disrespect to the new era of flier designers, but the fliers within these pages were created by artisans - no copy/paste, illustrator or photoshop business here. Propers to Buddy Esquire and Phase 2. [Note: The "proper" spelling is flier, but we all know that shit is flyer.] 

And without further ado, we count down 50 of our favorite classic hip-hop fliers.