Wild Style tells the story of street artists in the South Bronx who put on a large outdoor performance to showcase their unique talents: graffiti, hip hop, and break dancing. The plot concerns the tension between graffiti artist Zoro's passion for his art, and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow graffiti artist, Rose.

A screen adaptation of the dramatic events in the life of a "B-Girl," Barbara Graham, a vagrant prostitute and fast-living party girl, which led to a sensational murder trial and afterwards, her execution in the gas chamber despite growing doubts about her guilt. The background music is made up in its entirety of progressive jazz.