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Presently I live in Manhattan but I am
originally from Ridgewood, Queens. I took an interest in writing when I was
about 10 years old in 1977 because my older brother and my cousin started doing
it so I followed behind them. My brother wrote Sane (not the original) and my
cousin wrote Daze. I left them behind a year later in 1978 when I started going
to the M - yards by myself. Being that I was only 10 years old most of the
writers that I was aware of lived around my neighborhood. SIKO had tags and
outlines everywhere in Ridgewood and Glendale the two neighborhoods that I hung
out in. There was also KIK and Rust aka CR (Crazy Rust) and some dude that
actually wrote HAM. This guy HAM had tags on every street corner that you turned
on. Then there was Aero who actually helped me with my tagging style. My
original tags were not very pretty!!!!
When I started checking out the M line which ran through Ridgewood I recall
seeing a lot of UN 1 pieces as well as SARO, JR 3, HULK, IZ, and SIKO throw ups.
I actually started out writing this toy name Astro, but that did not last long
because my brother and Aero informed me that it was toy and not a cool name. I
remember hanging out in front of my cousin's apartment building one night on
Fresh Pond Road after playing some softball and seeing a Saro throw up for the
first time. I remember thinking how cool a name that seemed to be. I pronounced
it "sorrow" and I thought that if I was going to write I would come up with a
name as cool as that. So I started scripting letters that were easier for me to
write and that flowed together. POET just came to me in the process.
The first time I ever went to the yards was with my brother (Sane) and my cousin
(Daze). We were on our way to the M-yards at Fresh Pond Road early on a Saturday
morning. I remember how scared I was of getting caught because my father was a
cop and I knew he would kick my ass if I was found out. We actually never made
it into the yard that day because we saw a worker by the trains and got the hell
out of there. The first time I ever wrote on a train I was by myself in the
M-Yards. I figured that it was safer to go alone than with a group. It was a
marker tag on the outsides. After awhile of doing this I ran into SIKO and he
told me that I shouldn't be tagging on the outsides with a marker because my
tag would show up through paint if someone did a piece. I have to admit I had a
lot to learn at this point.
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In the early years when I was getting some more style I went to the yards
by myself mostly. One of my best
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Friends at the time was a guy who wrote BERN. But we mainly just did a lot of
neighborhood bombing and occasionally he would go to the yards with me. I used
to scope out all the clean insides that ran during the day skip out of school
and hit them when they layed back up in the
M-Yard after rush hour. I also went a lot on weeknights by myself which was
quieter. At the time I had come across an original key ( by way of another
writer) so I always had access. When it rained was also a great time to go
because there would never be anybody around. I continued going by myself until I
met KIK in 1979, When I first met KIK he was 20 years old with a full time job
and I was just a kid. We became fast friends and
he then later introduced me to MIDG. When I started hanging out later at
night and venturing further from my |
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neighborhood
I met NEL, DUSTAR and a kid who wrote SOR. I used to go writng with these
guys as well. I mainly went to the M-Yard. Being that I was so young I guess I
stayed with what was familiar to me. I knew that yard inside and out. I
also hit the Halsey street lay-up on occasion and the 7's when they were layed
up overnight on the
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middle tracks. So I guess it would be the M line. I was told by a newer
writer named POES who I met years later through MIDG that I still had some
insides running in 1983 and I had stopped in the summer of 1981. I did not
get chased very much. I went by myself most of the times and I was
careful.
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As
far as writing groups go, I mostly tagged up POET- NSG.. Non Stop
Graffiti. This was KIK's crew and he put me down and eventually made me Vice
Prez. He also put me down with TKC. There was a time when Min aka NE was living
with Midg and he put me down with RTW.
I wrote with MIDG, KIK, NEL 106, DUSTAR,
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SOR, BERN, and AERO. I would have to
say that I did not really have a partner. I was really just starting to meet a
lot of other writers when I stopped in 1981 and they were all very much older
than me. I stopped when I was 14 years old. I would have to say that hanging
with KIK who really looked out for me and SIKO were the most influential though.
KIK was like 6 foot 5 and nobody fucked with him. MIDG was most certainly the
most talented. He was blessed with the most artistic talent. SIKO and KIK were
the kings of the insides of the M's and were all over the buses in my area
of ridge wood Queens as well. I can recall a night I was hitting the M
yard and walk in to the inside of the train to find all the car had been
painted, this was during a time they started doing massive cleaning on the
M's. I bombed every car leaving no room for any one.
The next day SIKO came looking for me complaining why didn't I come look
for him to go hitting that night. I can't
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remember the names of the Graffiti cops that were looking for us at the
time. There was always mention of two guys named Curly and Ferrari but I
never met up with them nor was I ever busted for writing. I was often told
that they were after me because I used to totally destroy any clean
insides that I came across. I do not have much of an opinion on that.
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All I know is that it was easier
to get ink and markers for me than it was paint. I used to bomb all insides with
a uni then a mini then a marvy until there was no space left for anyone else. I
used to catch a lot of shit about that. When I did have paint I did throw ups
and outlines especially on the ridgies they used to run. P13, OE 3 CUSTOM, SMAC
and SES were the biggest inside killers that I can remember. There are so many
writers who do not get the total recognition they deserve.
I
would have to put a plug in for SIKO, KIK, JR 3, CRAZY RUST, OP 2, SARO aka RP
3, IZ THE WIZ, PEO, PG 3,
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MIDG aka. LIL BANDIT, ZEPHYR , LADY PINK and
some crazy bastard who wrote Chris 217.I used to see his tag all over the city.
Initially when I saw the segment on your site that read KOOL ASS POET 1, I
thought it was about me. But when I read it I obviously knew it was an imposter.
First of all I never looked up to RISCO or JOKA or anyone really. I was just
doing my thing. You should really take that down because it is not true. That's
why I contacted the site. I never passed the name onto him or anyone else. If
you post the pictures I sent you MIDG and I are in them. I am certainly not
looking for any accolades just setting the story straight. My last piece
was the whole car I did with MIDG in the summer of 1981. I stopped because I was
on my way to high school and a rather talented baseball player back then. I was
playing in so many leagues that I really had no time for anything else except
the girls.
First let me say that I am impressed with your site. The best one out
there in my opinion alongside @149th Street. It has been fun to think back on
the old days. Crazy that 25 years has passed so quickly. I am still waiting for
that next brave soul to bomb the lines just one more time.
A quick hello to all the writers that I have met....KIK, MIDG aka. LB, SIKO aka
BAD TEK,
OP2, CRAZY RUST, JR 3, DUSTAR, NEL, RISCO aka MT 193, JOKA 2, MIN aka. NE, EKO, KB, KN, P13,
OE, QUIK, JEE 2 aka JAMES TOP, AERO, SOR, BERN, SANE, DAZE, TK 2, PT aka. PERT and
IZ THE WIZ
All the best,
POET ONE aka. PROPHET....TES 2
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