Re: BALTIMORE/smalltimore
Damn, Shaken is crazy!! Back to his old tricks.
Albert
You are right...
Bmore is about handstyles, period. Piecing was developed from tag styles/letters. Unlike in NYC, Baltimore writers focused on handstyles instead of pieces. Take ZEEK for example, his hand motivated everyone and put them onto "Baltimore Style" along with help from MTC. The flow or motion from the handstyles were incorporated into piecing as years progressed. Yes, piecing in Bmore is also very dope, but it was our taggs that stood out and still due.
I don't know if you ever noticed but most oldskool writers finish their name with a letter that can be flared, i.e. "R" or "K" Not saying you had to choose a name that ended with those letters, but it was very common. Also longer tag names or adding extra letters allowed for a more complex look.
MILKSHAKEN, BOULERVERSTA, ZEKOIZ, MASKER, MONSTER/STABROCK, AREKER, KARJACKA, CHEETAH, ALCOHOL, HUSHER, ISRAEL, STYLE 2, DILLINGER... just to name a few:p