Introduction

It's 1995 and the Hip-hop and hardcore scenes have had a major influence on mainstream culture. The Old School has made a come back and faded out (to some of us). The underground will always stay true to the game. This zine is dedicated to those of us who live the lifestyle; those of us who have died for the art form and the writers worldwide who live to keep the art form active.

It's been two decades and the Graffiti Art Counterculture has spawned across the globe from the big cities to the suburbs on to our inter-state highways and into our own backyards. To some, Graffiti is an eyesore, to others it is a form of communication, expression and art.

Why?, the unenlightened members of society ask. In my opinion - I say this..... Graffiti, in its symbolic form, is the identity of our youth. It is the silent voice which lets society know that the person behind the name exists. In the last 30-40 years our nation has neglected its children! Education, Social programs and Youth Organizations are failing to keep our youth focused and guided in the right direction. The truth is - there is a low self esteem and a lack of respect which runs rampant in our youth today. Poverty, violence, and drugs have infected our inner-cities. The concrete jungles have turned into war zones. Genocide, hate, and broken families have taken a toll on our communities. The result is a massive deterioration in our children - the most precious resource in the world.

I remember about two years ago a good friend of mine gave me a flyer. She said that it was a little something to keep the tag-bangin' in check! The headline said "The Evolution of a Writer". There was a passage in it that captured my attention. It said, "It's a cold world and Graffiti is my blanket". The writer who said this feels the same way most of us do. When I see a freshly painted piece, it's like a deep breath of air in this suffocating society. Pieces are more than a simple statement. Piecin' is a state of mind. Pieces express Freedom as in any other art form. Piecin' is a revolutionary tool in this lock -down society............... the art form will survive!

History

Stay high 149,Taki 183 and Barbara are the names that started it all back in the mid 1970's in New York. Just like any other writer, it starts like this: tagging your name around time city to gain fame and progressing to bigger and bolder venues. Learning how to piece is the advanced state of writing a name on the wall. Graffiti existed long before the New York Graffiti scene. The cave men etched their mark on the world before we were here. To this day, the marks remain as a symbol of those men and their surroundings. Today, nothing has changed in this regard. Graffiti is an expression of it's artists and their environments. Writers practice the art form to keep this vital scene alive.

Writing is inseparably connected to music. Hip hop, punk and hardcore rock have influenced this progressive art form. The real writers love the Art and practice it passionately. Those who don't have the desire to progress from tagging to piecing cannot call themselves Graffiti Artists.

In 1984, I started writing my name on the local ice cream trucks in my neighborhood. When I noticed Graffiti popping up in the city, it was something that I wanted to be a part of. I knew it was wrong to vandalize personal property, but it was more than vandalism - it was  also recognition amongst my friends.
Being raised in the mid-city area, gangs were a part of everyday life. Either you were in one, or you weren't. I wanted to be different - an individual. I wanted to stand out from the rest just like the different Graffiti I was seeing. So I went and picked up copy of Subway Art and started on my journey as a writer.

By 1985/1986 my friends and I would read and draw characters out of comic books. Soon we were off to find a yard to see what was going on. At this time L.A. had 5 yards: Belmont, Jeff-La Cienega, W.C. Tracks, Panic-Zone, Venice Pit and random activity in and around my neighborhood - Pico & Arlington. The rapid transit system was my ticket and my canvas in exploring the city.

Like most writers I started tagging a dozen different names before I felt comfortable with the one I have now. Because there can only be so many names like Maze,Cane and Spin - All writers start somewhere...... in the heart!

By 1987 the L.A. scene had progressed into a subculture that grew and spread rapidly out of the L.A. area and into the Valleys, East L.A. and Long Beach . Permission walls were granted to those Artists who could produce and provide a sample of their work . People started to recognize Graffiti as an Art Form. Graffiti was viewed by some as a positive outlet and alternative to the negative influences in and around our communities. In 1988, All-City Writers started their own crews. The L.A. Photo Center held a convention for writers to exhibit the essence of Graffiti Art to the mainstream public.

The awareness of Graffiti as a form of Art was solidified. Simultaneously, a new generation of young writers were being conceived. The result was the birth of a new era of underground talent. 1988 fueled the new generation of writers and crews that came up in 1989.

1989 became a new era in Graffiti Art. Graffiti Art was popping up all over the globe. The L.A. scene expanded and grew in popularity with the Art and everything that came with it. City officials and newly created local anti-graffiti organizations were determined to close down the legal yards where the writers bombed their Art. Spray paint was placed under lock and key in stores, and stiff penalties were levied against those writers who were caught in the act. The Art and act of Graffiti writing had become completely criminalized. Writers, at this point, were being viewed by the establishment as criminals. This view caused the die hard Graffiti Artists to go further into the underground and stick together all that much more closely.