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FARGO.1

STARTED : 1973

AREA : Brooklyn . N.Y.

ALIAS : BASE 353, SKYLAB 2, ROB 1, JAM 1,

WRITING GROUP'S : GND, BGA .

LINES HIT : M's, N's, D's, B's, HH, RR's, F's, EE's.

 

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1) When did you start writing and what part of the city did you grow up?

 I STARTED  IN THE SUMMER OF 1973, WHEN I FIRST BECAME AWARE OF A GUY FROM MY NEIGHBORHOOD IN BROOKLYN WHO WAS WRITING THE NAME "PART 2".

 

2) What writers did you look up to when you started?

 GUYS LIKE FLINT... , SPARKY 747, SUPER STRUT- TASS, JACE 2, A-TRAIN, CASPER ONE, THOSE WERE JUST SOME OF THE NAMES I WOULD SEE AND GO….DAMN!!! I HAVE TO GET DOWN WITH THIS!!!

 

3) When was the first time you went bombing and who were the writers you were with?

  

 

 

 THE FIRST TIME I WENT INTO A YARD WAS THE SUMMER OF 1973, I WENT WITH PART 2, I HAD TWO CANS OF RED DEVIL ONE PINK AND ONE BLACK, I WOUND UP SQUEEZING TWO PIECES OUT OF THOSE CANS…ONE ON AN "M" TRAIN AND ONE ON A "B" TRAIN…WE WENT TO CONEY ISLAND YARD BEHIND JOHN DEWEY HIGH SCHOOL, WHICH EVENTUALLY BECAME MY MAIN YARD FOR WRITING BECAUSE OF THE EASE OF GETTING IN AND OUT. PART 2 DIDN'T LAST LONG AND EVENTUALLY FOUND OTHER WRITERS TO BOMB DEWY WITH.  I ALSO ENJOYED BOMBING CHERRY HILL HOME TURF OF THE G.N.D CREW.

 

4) What yards or lay up's did hit the most and can you tell us your system on going about hitting them as well as what writers you would meet while there?

 

LIKE I SAID, CONEY ISLAND YARD WAS MY MAIN STOMPING GROUND, BUT I WENT TO OCEAN PARKWAY WHERE I DID MY FIRST TOP TO BOTTOM, RIGHT ON THE PLATFORM, I OFTEN MET OTHER WRITERS IN THE YARD, GUYS LIKE SCAR 36, CASPER ONE, SWISS, MOSTLY GUYS FROM OTHER PARTS OF BROOKLYN WOULD VENTURE DOWN TO MY NECK OF THE WOODS BECAUSE FOR THE MOST PART CONEY ISLAND
  

 

HELD A LOT OF TRAINS AND BECAUSE OF THE VASTNESS OF THE YARD ITSELF…YOU SEE,TRAINS HAD A HABIT OF BEING SWAPPED FROM LINE TO LINE, SO A "RR" WOULD BE SWITCHED TO AN "M" TRAIN AN "F" TRAIN COULD EASILY BE SWITCHED TO AN "E" TRAIN ONCE IT HIT QUEENS A "D" TO  "B" SO ON AND SO FORTH…I ONCE RAN INTO CLIFF 159 AND CHI-CHI 133 CASING OUT MY YARD,  I GAVE THEM THE 4-1-1 AND TOLD THEM THEY WERE WELCOME ANYTIME!!!

  

 

 

5) What are all the names you wrote under and what name do you feel got up the most?

 

I STARTED OUT WRITING FARGO 1 BUT I ALSO HAD A FEW OTHERS, JAM 1, SKYLAB 2,  BASE 353 EXP, ROB 131, BUT I DROPPED THE 131 AND JUST WROTE ROB 1…I PROBABLY GOT UP THE MOST WITH FARGO 1 ALTHOUGH I DID A LOT DAMAGE WITH ROB 1 ALSO.
  

 

 

6) Can you tell us all the writers you wrote with and what writer do you feel was your true partner?

 

I CAN'T REALLY SAY I HAD A REAL TRUE PARTNER, BUT I CAN SAY THAT DID REALLY ENJOY WITH WRITING WITH THE GUYS FROM GND…GRAFFITI NEVER DIES…ONE WRITER IN PARTICULAR, " BIG D" COMES TO MIND, HE WAS VERY VERY GOOD, GREAT STYLE, CLASSIC TAG STYLE ALSO, BUT THERE A LOT OF WRITERS I WISH I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WRITE WITH.

 

 

  

 

 

7) Would you have any raid stories you could tell us?

 

RAID STORIES….ONE OF THE FEW TIMES I DID VENTURE OVER TO IRT's, I WENT WITH MR AL, PRIEST 310, ALL 1, AND A BUNCH OF OTHER WRITERS, WE WENT TO KINGSTON AVE LAY-UPS, WHICH IF YOU KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT WRITING BACK IN THOSE DAYS WAS A PRETTY HOT LAY-UP, MEANING COPS WERE ALWAYS WATCHING IT, ANYWAY, WE WERE PIECING AND ALL OF A SUDDEN SOMEONE LET`S GO…I HAD TAKEN OFF MY JACKET AND HUNG IT ON THE END OF THE CAR I WAS PIECING ON…WE ALL JETTED UP AN EMERGENCY  EXIT LEADING DIRECTLY TO THE STREET ABOVE ON
  

 

 

 EASTERN PARKWAY…OF COURSE I LEFT MY JACKET HANGING ON THE END OF THE TRAIN,,, LATER ON THAT AFTERNOON WE WERE WATCHING TRAINS AT ATLANTIC AVE,,, THAT WAS THE BROOKLYN WRITERS BENCH BACK IN THOSE DAYS, AND AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, IN COMES A TRAIN WITH MY JACKET HANGING IN BETWEEN THE CARS FLAPPING IN THE BREEZE…BY THE WAY, I GOT MY DAMN JACKET BACK!!!!

 

8) Can you tell us all the train lines you hit and did you ever hit IRT's?

 

 
  

 

I DID VENTURE OVER TO THE IRT's A FEW TIMES BUT ALWAYS AT THE KINGSTON AVE LAY-UPS…FOR THE MOST PART, I HIT RR's, M's, B's, D's, N's, F's, E's… LIKE I SAID PREVIOUSLY, YOU COULD STICK TO BOMBING A CERTAIN LINE BECAUSE THOSE TRAINS WOULD BE SWAPPED AROUND SO FREQUENTLY, SO IF YOU HIT M's AND RR's YOU AUTOMATICALLY HAD J's AND LL's.

 

 

 

9) Can you tell us all the writing group's you were a member of?

 

THE FIRST GROUP I WROTE FOR WAS "GND"…I MET THEM AT THE SHEEP'S HEAD

 

 

BAY LAY-UP…AND ONCE IT GOT TOO WINDY TO GO TO OUTSIDE LAY-UPS I TOLD THEM I KNEW ABOUT AN UNDERGROUND LAY-UP IN BAY RIDGE AT 45th ST 4th AVE WHERE THEY LAID UP RR's…WE STARTED GOING THERE ALMOST EVERY SATURDAY AFTERNOON…THEY ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO JOIN GND AND I SAID SURE…I ALSO WROTE FOR B.G.A. ( BROOKLYN GRAFFITI ACTION ), WHICH MR AL WAS PRESIDENT OF.

 

 

10) The inside of the trains are truly over looked, What writer of your generation truly shined in the insides and what one writer do you feel had  the best hand style?

 

WOW…THERE SO MANY,,, I DO REMEMBER THAT BLADE 1 WAS KILLING THE INSIDES OF THE 2's WITH A WHITE OPAQUE MARKER FOR AWHILE AND HE HAD IT ON LOCKDOWN…ANOTHER GUY WHO DID A LOT OF INSIDES WAS STOP 700…BUT THE ONE GUY WHO STICKS OUT IN MY MIND WAS A LITTLE KNOWN WRITER WHO I HAD THE PLEASURE OF INTRODUCING TO THE WORLD OF GRAFF…HIS NAME WAS "SNAP 2"…I SHOWED HIM HOW TO MAKE A MARKER OUT OF A CIGARETTE LIGHTER, THE FLIP TOP ONE WITH THE BIG PIECE OF FELT ON THE INSIDE…ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS TAKE OUT THE WORKING PORTION OF THE LIGHTER AND LEAVE THE FELT IN, INK IT UP AND START WRITING…HE BECAME VERY ADEPT AT IT AND EVENTUALLY IN MY MIND WAS KING OF THE INSIDES AT LEAST ON THE N's AND B's ANYWAY…PLUS HE HAD A FUNKY STYLE FOR TAGGING AND WAS VERY QUICK AT IT TOO!!!

 

11) Can you tell us your favorite places to rack paint and would you have and racking stories?

 

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO RACK PAINT WAS PATHMARK, THEY USED TO SELL RUSTOLEUM AND WETLOOK AND IT WAS PRETTY EASY TO RACK THEM, PLUS IT WAS RIGHT NEAR CONEY ISLAND YARD, SO IT DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER THAN THAT…BUT I DID FIND ONE STORE THAT I BECAME ESPECIALLY FOND OF, IT WAS A LITTLE HARDWARE ON CANAL ST OVER ON THE WEST SIDE, IT HAD THE WEIRDEST THING I HAD EVER SEEN…RUSTOLEUM IN SIX PACKS!!! AND THEY HAD THE NERVE TO KEEP THEM BY DOOR THE AS YOU ENTERED THE STORE, NEEDLESS TO SAY, I WAS HITTING THAT STORE ON A REGULAR BASIS…AS FOR RACKING STORIES, NOTHING TO MENTION, I FOUND THAT WHEN YOU RACKED BY YOURSELF, YOU GOT BETTER RESULTS AND YOUR STORES STAYED YOUR STORES!!!

 

12) Have you ever been to the writers bench on 149th street in the Bronx or to others else where and would you have any stories to tell us about your experiences there?

 

 I HAD BEEN TO 149th QUITE A FEW TIMES, MET ALOT OF UPTOWN WRITERS ON A ONE TIME BASIS…GUYS LIKE STAFF 161 AND HIS BROTHER AJ 161, JIVE 3, STICK 1, CHECKER 170, BUT WE HAD A BENCH IN BROOKLYN SO I MOSTLY HUNG OUT THERE, BUT QUEENS ALSO HAD A BENCH AT PARSONS BLVD, WHERE I MET SKATE 1, UNCLE JOHN 178, TEAR 2 AND A FEW OTHERS. WE ALWAYS HAD FUN AT THE BENCH IN BROOKLYN MEETING GIRLS COMING FROM SCHOOL AND WATCHING OUR NAMES GO BY, SETTLING MINOR BEEFS, PLANNING OUR NEXT MISSION, MEETING NEW WRITERS, GUYS YOU HAD NEVER MET BUT HAD ALWAYS SEEN THEIR NAME.

 

 

13) What writers from your generation do you feel are over looked and why?

 

 THREE WRITERS WHO I FEEL WERE OVERLOOKED WERE…SUPER STRUT, T.J. 159 AND BIG D…THE REASON I THINK SUPER STRUT WAS OVERLOOKED WAS BECAUSE HE WENT OVER A LOT OTHER WRITERS PIECES…PIECES THAT PEOPLE TOOK BIG CHANCES TO DO, SO FOR THAT REASON I DO BELIEVE HE IS OVERLOOKED, BUT FOR THE MOST PART HE WAS A VERY GOOD WRITER…AS FOR T.J. 159 AND BIG D…I THINK THEY QUIT TOO SOON FOR THEIR ON PERSONAL REASONS I GUESS, BUT I`LL NEVER FORGET THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE GAME!!!

 

14) When was the last time you hit the trains and why did you stop?

 

 
THE LAST TIME I HIT A TRAIN WAS 1976 AT LEAST ON THE OUTSIDE ANYWAY… I QUIT BECAUSE, I WAS JUST TOO AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT AT MY AGE.
  

 

 

  

 
 

 15) would you have any closing words.

 

CLOSING WORDS…..IT`S REALLY GOOD TO GET BACK INTO THE GAME, MEETING ALL THE OLD TIMERS, PLUS GUYS I DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO MEET THE FIRST TIME AROUND, I HAVE TO FIRST AND FOREMOST THANK MY MAN DANGER 59 FOR BRING  ME BACK INTO THE GAME AND FOR BRINGING  TOGETHER SOME OF THE TRUE

 

 

PIONEERS OF GRAFF… BACK WHEN WE WERE ALL WRITING FOR DIFFERENT  CREWS. OUR PATHS WOULD CROSS FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT NOW THANKS TO HIM, WE'RE ALL ONE CREW…THE OLD SCHOOL KINGS AND RIGHTFULLY SO, BECAUSE WE'RE ALL KING IN THIS GRAFF GAME NO MATTER HOW MUCH OR HOW LITTLE YOU GOT UP… IF YOU'VE EVER EXPERIENCED THE FEELING OF JUMPING DOWN ON THE TRACKS OR CLIMBING OVER A FENCE INTO THE UNFORBIDDEN

TERRITORY OF A TRAIN YARD,,, SNAPPING THE TOP OFF A CAN OF RUSTO OR RED DEVIL, SHAKING IT UP, SWITCHING THE CAP WITH A JIFFOAM  OR SCOTCH GUARD FAT-CAP, HEARING THE SOUND THAT THE TRAINS MAKE, AND THE SOUND OF THAT PAINT SPRAYING ON THAT METAL, KNOWING THAT YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING THAT THE WHOLE CITY IS GOING TO SEE…YOU WERE A WRITER!!!

 

~  THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES ~

 
 
 
                                                              PEACE, FARGO 1