Rammellzee, American hip hop musician and graffiti artist, has died after a long illness he was 49

Rammellzee was a visual artist, graffiti writer, performance artist, rap/hip-hop musician, art theoretician, has died after a long illness he was 49^[1]

( late 1960 – June 27, 2010)

Rammellzee's graffiti and art work are based on his theory of Gothic Futurism, which describes the battle between letters and their symbolic warfare against any standardizations enforced by the rules of the alphabet. His treatise, Iconic Panzerisms, details an anarchic plan by which to revise the role and deployment of language in society.^[3]

He has stated that his name is derived from RAM plus M for Magnitude, Sigma (Σ) the first summation operator, first L - longitude, second L - latitude, Z - z-bar, Σ, Σ - summation.

Rammellzee performed in self-designed masks and costumes of different characters which represented the "mathematical equation" that is Rammellzee. On the basis of his Gothic Futurism approach, he described his artistic work as the logical extension into a new phase which he calls Ikonoklast Panzerism. This artistic work has been shown in art galleries throughout the US and Europe. His Letter Racers, and other Noise includes artistic works by individuals mostly identified with their musical contributions.^[4]

Rammellzee was also instrumental as one of the original hip hop artists from the New York area who introduced specific vocal styles which date back to the early 1980s.^[5] His influence can still be heard in contemporary artists such as The Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill. His song Beat Bop was featured in the film Style Wars. Rammellzee makes a cameo appearance near the end of Jim Jarmusch's 1984 film Stranger Than Paradise.

Discovered by a larger audience through the 1982 cult movie Wild Style by Charlie Ahearn, his fame in graffiti circles was established when he painted New York subway trains with Dondi, OU3, and Ink 76, and doctor Revolt.^[6] Rammellzee was also a member of the Death Comet Crew, with Stewart Albright, Michael Diekmann and Shinichi Shimokawa.

In 1988, he and his band Gettovetts recorded the album Missionaries Moving. In 2003, Rammellzee performed at the Knitting Factory in New York with the newly reformed Death Comet Crew. Subsequently Troubleman Unlimited re-released recordings made by DCC between 1982 and 1984. Their single for Exterior St was featured on the compilation Anti-NY with Ike Yard, Sexual Harassment, and Vivian Goldmann, among others. In 2004, Rammellzee released his debut album Bi-Conicals of the Rammellzee, produced by Gomma Records. Rammellzee also performed at Knitting Factory with guitarist Buckethead several times.

Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York in 1960, and died there on June 27, 2010 at age 49.^[7]

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