why write?

One of my first memories is at my moms house finding spray cans and tagging up the back of her shed. I was probably 4 or 5 and i had never seen or heard of graf. This is before the ball got rolling where i live. She scolded me but it must have left a strong imprint on me. This probably isnt such a great thread topic but i went back to the house i grew up in and that shit is still running on the back of the shed. I wrote my name and drew a poor rendition of Oscar the Grouch. Its mad faded but still there. A few months ago a friend of mine posed a difficult question to me. As simple as it sounds i couldnt really nail down a solid answer; the question, why do you write grafitti? I suppose its a combination of a bunch of different things. When i answered i couldnt find the right words to express my position. My response aparantly sounded real stupid. The fact of the matter is that its become somewhat of a habit. Just like a smoker needs a cigarette. Every so often i need to go hit a lick. Like a coke head needs that blow for his adrenaline fix. Its like old people that shoplift for the thrill. Who are financially secure enought to afford what they steal. The fact of the matter is that i need to write or i feel like something is missing. When i tried to explain this she was looking at me like i had 2 heads. I write because i like driving down the road and seeing my shit. I like the fact that on any given day a half a million people look upon my shit with disgust or admiration. I do it for rush hour traffic jams. I draw it every day. I do it because i dont have shit better to do at 12:30 AM when i cant sleep. Its been in my blood for so long that its stuck there. Is anybody else like this? Sometimes i feel like i need to grow the fuck up but if i wasnt writing what the fuck else would i be doing, weaving baskets, collecting stamps? Its a difficult question to answer while sounding reasonably intelligent.

"why do you write?" because i like fucking shit up, because its my chosen way of expressing myself. I guess i dont really know why i write. Its simply something i do & nothing i should have to justify to anybody but myself.

Why write?

The fame is a big thing here, I go out of my way to hit radio stations, tv stations and news paper buildings. Im actually the only one in my city to do it - as well as hitting two running city busses.

Second...

My city that I reside in (Wont name) has a small ratio of graffiti writers. (About seven really serious writers) - and getting more ups will influence kids to start up and within five years i'll be some sort of "OG" in the graffiti game here. Stablizing a foundation is good.

Why write?

Now, i dont know. I have no excuse for it. I just do it, its hard to explain. When i first started writing it was because my older cousins and their friends used to do it and i was like 8 and they were like 16,17 and i used to want hang out with them and "tag it up." Ive been doing it so long thats its an instinct to carry a scribe when i go to a fancy ass restaurant with my girl and catch a tag on the mirror. For those who know what im talking about.

well, lets see... i was always drawing and stuff then one one of my friends, freshman year, whas like "you tag" i was like "no" then he said i should start, then i started and it's something that's been apart of me since. it's fun, that's all, fame is a bonus in my mind.

<insert lame answer written in mix of number and letters here>

i write, simply because its fun.

Originally posted by sneak@Mar 14 2005, 03:09 PM

i write, simply because its fun.

Quoted post

he said it

...

wait, you claim to live in detroit, right?

if you're so addicted, why has no one ever heard of you?

i understand your enthusiasm, we were all that way once, but before you go filling up the board with all these great epiphanies of yours, take a second to remember that graff has been around for 30+ years. everything you think has been thought, everything you say has been said, and every thread you make here, has been made 7 times. if you still need to say what you want, go dig up one of the other umpteen threads and add to that.

thanks.