Saturday, May 7, 2011

Good Ol Fashion NYC Fun

Living in the New York we live in today, there are not many consistencies left from the New York I love. How ever there are a few things that are still consistent and graffiti would be one of those things. Graffiti to me is one way Old New Yorkers still exist, kinda like "if your going to move me out then im not going w out a fight" attitude and thats what I love about it. I can remember in 85 moving back to NYC from L.I. and man it was an eye opener & a half. It was a sensory overload with the music I was hearing and the graffiti I was seeing. I knew nothing about it, but I knew that this was what I wanted to be apart of.

Growing up on the UWS, the first writers I met was
Kel 1st & Mare 139. It was cool because at the time I had no clue who they were. I was 10 and I had know clue what I was about to get my self into. Then I met this crazy white boy who was about 15. He was trouble from the start, but he let me roll with em and thats all I cared about. Life was fucked up with a moms always fucked up on dope and so this became my escape. So I rolled with this kid Chooch 156. Through him I met most of the 156 crew and kicked it with a few of them. Omni 156 has always been one of my favorites of all time. By the way even a true writer is a fan of some before him. Any ways, graffiti is not the same to everyone who is involved. For me it was always about going on the mission, going places and seeing things that you are not normally privileged. Through the years I have seen a lot change. When I was growing up, Your graffiti career would end by the time you finished high school, Now graffiti has become a grown mans game. Its kind ill to see where are priorities lie at the age of 35 and some niggas that still kill it are older.

If you look at the writing on the wall, you will see EASY tags, Now thats a blast from the past. This man and his crew changed the whole street bombing game for ever. Now all of a sudden outta no where EASY has taken over one more time. Seeing them EASY tags really floats my boat for the simple fact that it takes me back to the 80's and man do I love that time frame.

Over all the whole graffiti game has changed in a lot of ways, but never the less its still here and it is not going anywhere anytime soon. People even come from out of town just to paint NYC. Graffiti is definitely a staple of New York and has played a major part in shaping Old New Yorkers lives in many ways. As for me it will always be apart of my life in some shape or form. Its an addiction that cant be shaken for some.

As much as I love this shit, there is a lot of shit that I do hate about it. The respect of things and the aspect of it all is not the same. I use to love to go racking for all my shit because thats what you had to do to get supplies. This means fat caps and all that and that was part of the whole fun of it. There was no ordering that shit online like you do now or special made paint just for graffiti. You had to be crafty son, it was a trade just like a shoe repairman or a locksmith and if you was gonna succeed in this game then you had to learn & be good at it. This was all the fun for me, every thing you did leading up to your actual mission. Although it has changed, I am very happy it is still here. Its the one thing you will never get ride of. Keep bomb'n then streets son!