FABFIVEFREDDY
BIO
Fred Brathwaite, popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy emerged in the late 1970s as a NYC graffiti artist who’d soon become one of the first to exhibit his paintings internationally. Along with friends and artist contemporaries, Futura 2000, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Lee Quinones, Fab became a key player in New York Cities 1980’s downtown cultural scene. His disruptive efforts were instrumental in elevating New York graffiti into the movement that would eventually give birth to street art. Born in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, Fab's introduction to pop culture came courtesy of a name check on Blondie’s 1980 hit, “Rapture.” In addition to making art and exhibiting extensively, Fab co-produced, starred in, and composed the original music for the cult classic and first film on Hip Hop culture, Wild Style. In the late 80’s he went on to direct music videos for numerous hip-hop stars like Snoop, Nas, and Queen Latifah. During this period into the mid 90’s he hosted Yo! MTV Raps, the ground-breaking show that took Hip Hop culture global. Fab continues to exhibit his work internationally and has lectured at schools and universities around the world, published articles for publications including Vibe, XXL, and The New York Times Magazine, and written a book on hip-hop slang called Fresh Fly Flavor, Words and Phrases of the Hip-Hop Generation. Today, Fab is focused on making visual art and developing projects for film and television. His work was recently featured in New York City’s Museum of Modern Arts, “Club 57” exhibit.