Al Diaz

A key figure among New York street artists, an artist, author and musician Al Diaz's (b. 1959) career spans five decades. Born and raised in New York City, he was known by age 15 as a prolific and influential, first-generation subway graffiti artist. During the early 70s, his popular and recognized name was “BOMB-1.” He is known for his friendship with Jean-Michel Basquiat and collaboration on SAMO©..., the legendary graffiti project appearing in lower Manhattan from 1978 to 1980. The tag and text slogans became known quickly on the streets and in the local newspaper media because of their wit and sardonic humour. After high school and the SAMO©… period, Díaz focused on his musical percussion, and created recordings, including performances with seminal Downtown acts such as Liquid Liquid, Konk, Dog Eat Dog, I/S/M and he also played the percussion on the iconic hip hop record that Jean-Michel Basquiat produced for Ramellzee & K-Rob, "Beat Bob".