CLAIM 2 FAME

The Story of Peril & Paris / Australian Hip Hop & Graffiti Art 1984+

When traditional New York graffiti got exported through books and movies worldwide in the early and mid 1980s it landed as one hip hop pack in countless cities around the globe. While several publications spotlighted the history and first generations around Europe with CLAIM 2 FAME we are invited to check out how it landed down under.

The Melbourne based duo PERIL and PARIS are in focus of the recently published 272-paged hardcover by PUZLE. Starting out in 1984 the book meticulously traces how both writers made the first naïve attempts but soon developed an iconic local style always keeping the tradition of the founding fathers.

“As some of Melbourne’s pioneering Hip Hop practitioners, they had honed their craft. Their lines were clean, their fills complex, their shapes above all else funky. And they understood exactly where it came from – New York City.”

In more than 600 images the twosome presents high quality legal and illegal activities under several aliases: sketches, train line burners, newspaper clippings, trains as early as 1986, blackbook insights and posse shots. In many texts both writers and contemporaries share stories on selected events like the 1988 visit by DAZE and PHASE2 or their trip to New York in 1990. Although a few works from the 90s and 2000s are included the book’s core subject are the 1980s with countless outstanding examples of top-notch stylewriting.

We managed to import some copies for you from Australia of this beautiful produced publication which comes in a printed cardboard case.

272 pages, 22,2 x 28,5 cm, hardcover, comes in printed cardboard case
Language: English
Release date: March 2026
ISBN: 978-0-646-72892-6
Publisher: PuzlePress