Come out and play! No, seriously: come out to TRILL Hip Hop Shop on February 20th and 21st because we’re bringing a piece of hip hop history right to Phoenix.
Terry Michos, who played Vermin in the 1979 cult classic film The Warriors, is rolling through for an exclusive meet and greet. Photos, conversations, and straight-up legendary vibes. This is happening, and you don’t want to miss it.
Why The Warriors Matters to Hip Hop Culture
Real talk: if you know hip hop, you know The Warriors.
This movie dropped in 1979, right when hip hop was being born in the streets of New York. Same energy, same city, same struggle. The film captured the raw, gritty reality of NYC gang culture, graffiti-tagged subway cars, and crews defending their territory. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s the exact environment where hip hop was taking its first breath.
The Warriors isn’t just a movie. It’s a time capsule of the culture that birthed everything we celebrate at TRILL. The film’s aesthetic: the vests, the colors, the crew mentality: has been referenced in countless music videos, album covers, and stage performances. Everyone from Wu-Tang Clan to Kendrick Lamar has paid homage to this flick.
The subway scenes? Pure cinema. The dialogue? Instantly quotable. “Can you dig it?” became part of the lexicon. This movie showed what it meant to be part of a crew, to represent your set, to move through the city with purpose and pride. That’s hip hop in a nutshell.
Who is Vermin?
Terry Michos played Vermin, one of the most memorable members of the Warriors crew. Vermin was the lady’s man of the group: always smooth, always with the quips, always ready to get into some trouble.
What’s Going Down at TRILL
Here’s the breakdown: February 20th and 21st, Terry Michos will be at TRILL Hip Hop Shop for meet and greets. This isn’t some sterile convention center setup. This is happening in our space: a real hip hop shop that lives and breathes the culture.
You’ll get to meet Vermin himself, take photos, hear stories from the set, and connect with someone who was part of cinematic history. Whether you’re a long-time Warriors fan or just discovering the film’s significance to hip hop, this is your chance to be part of something special.
Bring your Warriors gear, bring your questions, bring your crew. This is a community event, and everyone’s welcome. All ages. No gatekeeping. Just pure appreciation for a film that helped shape the aesthetic of hip hop culture.
The Warriors x Hip Hop: A Love Story
Let’s talk about how deep this connection goes.
Hip hop pioneers were teenagers when The Warriors hit theaters. They saw themselves in those characters: young people from different neighborhoods, different backgrounds, all trying to survive in a city that didn’t care about them. The Warriors’ journey through NYC to get back to Coney Island mirrored the journeys these young artists were taking through the boroughs, creating art on trains, battling in parks, building crews that would change music forever.
The fashion? Warriors vests became iconic. You see echoes of that crew uniform aesthetic in hip hop fashion to this day. Crews rocking matching gear, representing their set, showing unity through style: that’s straight from The Warriors playbook.
The music videos? Too many to count. Artists have recreated scenes, borrowed the color palette, used the gang meeting imagery, and sampled dialogue from the film. It’s embedded in hip hop’s DNA.
Even the concept of battles: crews facing off against each other: that’s The Warriors energy applied to rap. Instead of bats and chains, we use bars and beats. But the competitive spirit, the need to prove yourself, the pride in your crew? That’s the same fire.
Come Out and Play
Can you dig it?
Then get down to TRILL Hip Hop Shop on February 20th and 21st. Meet Vermin. Take photos. Soak up the culture. Be part of a moment that connects 1979 to 2026, that bridges film and hip hop, that brings the community together around something we all love.
The Warriors taught us that it’s not about where you’re from: it’s about your crew, your loyalty, your willingness to make the journey home. Hip hop taught us the same lessons through different means. This event celebrates both.
Visit TRILL Hip Hop Shop for more details and updates. Follow our socials so you don’t miss any announcements about timing and additional guests.
Phoenix, this is your moment. No excuse not to come out. All ages. All welcome. Come celebrate culture, connect with a legend, and show why TRILL is more than just a shop: it’s a movement.
Warriors, come out to play! See you February 20th and 21st!