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 Where and  what year did you start writing on trains?
I started writing gradually in the beginning of 1975 on train stations.
As I began meeting other writers, I became more involved.
I started hitting the #1 line because I felt more comfortable than, on the
A-Line, because I was more familiar with its'surroundings, and it was
closer to my house.

What inspired you to become involved in writing?
The euphoria of seeing my art ( tag ) moving all over the city. I saw it as a way to express my artistic ability as well as a way to defy
authority- (my mother)!



 Did you have a mentor  ?
Not any one specific. However, I was aiming at the status of the Top-Guys from those days. Guys like KT3, POT, Peace 108, Ben, CLIFF 159 (R.I.P ) .
 

Who influenced your style ?
There were 2 guys who influenced my style. The first guy was KT3 and the
second guy was POT. Later on as I became more involved in writing, I found out they were
brothers. How POT influenced me ? I loved his P. He wrote his P erected, I wrote it slanted to my
left. As KT3, his 3 caught my eyes. As time went on, I refined my tag; I made it more fluid like a leaf under water.  In addition, you usually begin a word with a capital letter, in my case, I began my tag with a small "p".

How did you come up with the name PAID 3 ?
I used to hear guys say " I wanna get pay " I though about it and I did write PAY for awhile, but I did not feel
comfortable with it. PAY was a perfect tag.  A 3 letter word. However I thought about TOYS 
copying My tag. I decided to use it in the past tense. As for the 3, I loved how KT3 wrote his 3.Later on, I began seeing the 3 on  LSD3.



Did you write under any aliases?

Before, I actually painted on the trains, I was hitting the streets Uptown
in Washington Heights. I went with the names such as GOYA, SPAM , PAY.
I did not go far under these tags because my heart was not into them.

 What borough are you originally from ?
I was originally from Washington Heights then moved to the Boogie Down
Bronx. While I lived in the Bronx, I used to hit the 1 Line as well the 4
Line. While I lived in the Bronx, I met the Salsa Crew. The crew members I was
involved with were SCHICK, KROME 100, WASP 1, FDT 56- I met him once, OZ
109- even though, he was the president of THE KILLERS ( T.K.) , he was
involved with the Salsa Crew.

 

Could you name all the train lines you have hit over the years.
 

Mainly, I hit the 1-Line .I discovered that if I hit the 1-Line, the MTA rotated the cars to the
3-Line.Therefore getting more exposure in Brooklyn. I hit the A and A-A ,  4, 6 but I concentrated on the 1-Line. This was the ONLY Line I was comfortable with.





Tell us about about your first experience hitting the trains.
I never went to a yard such as The Ghost Yard. I tried to go on the 4-Line lay-up  between Fordham and Queens Bridge.
I had a bad experience on this lay-up. I basically went to the 145th/137th Tunnel. Most of the time, I would hit the trains running from Dyckman St. to Van CourtLand. The first time I went the Tunnel, I went alone at 5:00 am on a Sunday morning. Well, most of guys used to go in on Saturday Night. These guys I considered them vandals. They went to the tunnel to drink beers, brake  light bulbs and
create a lot of noise. As a result, The Tunnel would get hot for a few hours. When I came in the morning, with my Chinese shoes, my coat inside out, my fat caps and a flash light, I would find cans. The whole tunnel would be  for myself. This is one of the reasons why I was a lonely cat most of the time. I did not have a partner like KT3 and POT.





Who were your most successful partners  ?

I never really have any partners.I hanged-out at 181st  1-Line Station with some guys to see who went over
who and check out any new guys coming into the scene. I used get together with TORCH 153, MOE , BLESS 133 to name a few, to  steal
Rustolium and the infamous Red Devil. But partners,  none. I was a lone writer for most of my career. My motto   " Why would I want to hang with guys who were careless in their craft;  You could do the craft without getting busted or chased " I never got chased, busted or caught by the 2 infamous rats- Hickey & Skie.

What crews have you written for ?
I met DEAN a.k.a. LE - -  (R.I.P ), we clicked on the spot; He gave me permission to tag BYB.
My friend MOE , knew JESTER  a.k.a. DY, DYE; Moe gave me permission to tag T.C.- ( The Crew ).
I knew OZ 109, He was the president of THE KILLERS-( T.K.). When I moved to the Bronx, I met the Salsa Crew.
Schick, who the president, gave me permission to tag SALSA. Even though, I had permission to tag all the crews, I rarely did.
At this time, the Broadway Line was overcrowded with writers. I rarely found any space for my tag, let alone the crew tags.
When I had the chance, I did give credits to the guys. Keep in mind that I tagged while the trains were in motion, most of the
time.




Did you have any problems with other writers crossing out your work.

No; I have no conflicts stories. I was a shy individual who stood on the background of crowds to listen and observe. When I used to go the Tunnel and found Pieces of guys that knew, I would go to another location. If it was dark, I would put a lightbulb and do my
thing.  I respected other guys work.  I guessed I received that as well. Preferred locations?
On the outside - on the side of the cars, hardly on windows. On the inside - anywhere I had a chance except on the windows.

Any adventures while hitting the tunnels?

            No, I have no tunnel stories. Most of the time, I used to tag alone on the inside and as well as the
outside. The guys that I used to come with me were guys that did not want to get
busted or chased out of the tunnel.



Any chase stories?
I never got caught or chased because I knew when to go and not to go to the
Tunnel. However, I used hear guys getting caught in the Tunnel by cops, as well as, ripped off by other crews. Gang members  from Brooklyn / Bronx would drop by and ripped off guys. I avoided all kinds of confrontations because I considered myself an artist not a thug.




Who were the biggest vandal cops to watch out for when you were writing ?
I used to hear 2 cops who had no mercy on writers. These cops were Hickey and Ski. They were nickname after the TV series
Starsky and Hutch. There were rumors these guys were looking for me. They could not put a face to my name. This was another reason why laid low most of the time.




Have you ever been to 149th street or any other places where writer would gather.

            I avoided 149st Concourse because Hickey & Ski used to go there to harass the
            writers and take pictures of them, which later on could be used against the writers.
The times I went there, I kept a distance from the " Bench ". The Bench was the location were you would have found the FAB5,  and
other crews. I went once with a friend who tagged MOE to Atlantic Ave. but we felt out of place because most of the guys were from Brooklyn.  I went a couple of times to the Brooklyn Bridge station- the last stop of the 6-Line. While we were hanging, AJ 161 took out a marker and began tagging. We were chased out of the station.  Perhaps, a complete picture was emerging;  these  laces  were  to be avoided unless I wanted to be singled-out, photographed by cops or picked on by tough guys.  I did.




 What made your area of the city special ?
My area was special because guys from other parts of  the city would drop by
either looking for someone, or just looking for trouble.


Who were the top writers from your area?
There were several writers. In the Street were Stitch (R.I.P.), Papo 184 (R.I.P.), C.A.T. 187. and many
others. In the inside of the subway cars were KT3, POT, and many other. Outside the cars, PEACE 108, BEN. . .
On the A-Line were, VINNY, IZ THE WIZ, TI 149, DYE  A.K.A. JESTER, TEE
And the mother of all was IN IN IN  IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN.




                   

 What writers do you feel are truly over looked.
I feel the old writers should be given more of an acknowledgement because these were the guys who started going to the tunnel, lay-up and yard. Even though their style was not as pleasant to look at. They began a new movement in the history of Graffiti.
Before they came along, writers were hitting the streets. Your tag was stationary. Where as the old writers came along in the trains, now your tag would move all over the City.







How do you feel about writing and writers today.
Today's writing is NOT underground as it was in my days. The Hip-Hop community has picked-up the calligraphy aspect of grafitti and
used it on Compact Disks covers, and clothes. Today, you have the scratching of glass. For me, this is vandalism and NOT grafitti. In the old-school graffiti, we had the culture, the commemority, a place to meet and socialized and talk about the state of what was happening at the moment in time. With the advent of the internet, The message will get to a wider audience
but it lacks the hanging out locations we used to have. Sure, a Cyber hangout, Chit Chat but never an Atlantic Ave. or a 149th ST.
You don't have the human interaction as in the old school days.


 

Why and when did you quit writing?
That's funny because that's how my mother used to refer to it.
I never saw it that way.I began the process of "quitting"  around 1979 when I began getting into
music. I kept in contact with KROME 100, WASP 1 because of music. I later found out the KAZE3 was Todd Terry- a dj, producer.

 

Any thing else you would like to close with.
I think there were vandals and artists. The artists are the one coming out of the woods. These guys are still
artists like my myself. I think these artists knew how to manipulate colors and gave depth to the
art form of calligraphy. Artists such JESTER, StayHigh 149, LSD 3, KT*3, POT, etc. Too many to mention!! I appreciate very much you providing me with the opportunity to look back at a part of subway history. A history very much alive within me.

  

Thanks - - - - - - P A I D  THREE.

~ Photo credits go to ... JEAN 13 & ZEPHYR, plus the team at Subway outlaws. ~

Should any one have photos of PAID 3's work. Please contact us MESSAGE@SUBWAYOUTLAWS.COM