It is difficult to historize the beginnings of Hip-Hop, lacking written traces. However, it seems that the first outbursts were expressed through graffiti. Initially carried by teenagers, its illegal character gave it all the substance of rebellion that its practitioners were looking for. Thus we see the first traces in Brussels in 1985, especially in the neighborhoods of Schaerbeek, Marolles, but also in Liege and Charleroi.
To be distinguished from graffiti, the tag is the signature of the artist. It is the witness of his style, his gesture, the forms and the tracings that he favors. In short, it is his “touch”. Thus, the graffiti were predisposed to become signed works, testimonies of an artistic intention, so much so that they became more and more sophisticated, calligraphied, displaying contours and particular forms. Enlarged, accompanied by characters, graffiti will gradually become an art in its own right, cultivated by its renowned figures. In the capital, Shake, Zone, Tras, Roel, are part of collectives – the Posses – such as RAB, CNN, ROC, BH34. The movement starts to move.