this is crayone,
About a little over a month ago, I was called upon by a ("guerrilla-type" marketing) agency from New York City and one the many things they do is creating Spray-can art murals around the country. The wall is located on Frank Liquors on Haight and Cole St. in San Francisco. I was to get paid half up front and the final half after the completion of the project. The store also got paid. The client asked me if there was going to be any problems with the pieces that were already on the wall from previous wall artwork. I asked him I didn't know anyone who was on that wall as of the moment and that he said to me that he’d get his people to take a digital photo of it and send it to my email.
Once I saw the photo, I knew the people on the wall. The top row was Gigs and Buter and the bottom row had King157 and Skew all from TMF/ICP crew.
I knew King157's email and from there I got everyone else's number and I proceeded to call them one by one...
I tried to call gigs, but there was no answer.
I called King157 and he said to me, that it was cool with him, but I needed to call Buter to confirm it. The same type of speech I heard from skew. Both King157 and Skew, I really respected them from their work and from their positive attitudes and the years of commitment to graffiti. They were both the coolest people to talk to.
And then I called buter.
I called buter and I had told him that I just got this gig and the wall was on Franks Liquors. And that I sorrowfully have to regret going over him and his crew's artwork created just a few weeks prior. After explaining to Buter, he said no. Okay. I even tried to tell him that I got permission from Frank himself and that the wall was just going to be used up for a short term basis like for 2 months maximum and then he can have the wall back again. Buter still said, no. All this time, buter had this maniacal voice that had an angry undertone when speaking. It seemed to me that there was no compromising with this person even though I had called him out of respect for his crew in the first place and tried to settle the matter in a professional way. I kept telling him that it wasn't personal, it's was just business. I wasn't taking the wall from him permanently. At the end of the conversation, I had told him that I would speak to the guy in New York and to see what else we can do. Buter then proceeded in demanding who this person is, and that he wanted his name and phone number. I hesitated and was surprised because my first reaction was why is he trying to steal my gig? I had told buter that I was going to call the people in New York and get back to him. I had told buter that I was going to call him back in hour or so and the last thing buter warned me is that "It's all on me..."
Saturday morning, I called to New York and they said that they could offer Buter or the ICP crew 100 Beltons as a "Peace Offering". Then he had said to me that he will call Buter and to settle the matter. My long distant conversation happened Saturday morning/afternoon. I waited all day Saturday. The Saturday I was supposed to be painting the wall. Sunday morning rolls around. I get a call from New York saying that he had tried to call Buter 3 times and that there was no answer, nor could he access any answering machine to leave a message... then he gave me the go ahead into painting the wall that Sunday morning.
Looking back I think this was THE moment where I could of helped with some things... I knew the pressure was on for the people in New York to get the work up ASAP plus I knew I could have maybe called Buter 1 more time. By then I had already cashed half the check and that once I got the go ahead, it was my responsibility to perform. I knew this mural was as legit as you can get with contracts and all from all parties. The only problem I saw was I knew I had to deal with a writer who had his ego hurt from losing a wall, plus I heard from reliable sources that Buter was unstable and as an angry a person as you could meet.
So all day when I was painting, I was keeping 1 eye open for some person to bum rush me from the side with a posses following pursuit, plus I had to stress about keeping the work as clean as possible and to go as fast as possible using mostly fat caps. After 4 hours of work, I finished. It didn't look too bad under the circumstances. I have seen other writers work from around the U.S. creating the same character and I must admit, the other writers did an outstanding job compared to mine. I was a tad bit jealous about not getting it exactly tight with the artwork, but oh well, it's not something I would of done on my own time, but I did get paid and I did use all spraypaint while others used paint brushes.
Couple of days after that, I received the final amount and was finished from the project.
2 weeks go by and the same client calls and wants another work up on the same wall. I go there with an assistant of mine who has my paints and ladder. My assistant had told me that he had to leave at 3pm, so we started as soon as possible.
I was painting between 12noon and 3pm. I started packing up my paints and headed up toward Amoeba Records several blocks down the street where I heard some Lords heads was painting there. I thought I might head up there and check out the tight pieces Lords crew was doing. When I was up there, I met some cool heads and was drinking some beer...
Then a petite/small thin man approached me. He rode in his 10-speed bike. He had clothes like what any 26-year-old high schooler would wear. All black and wearing his clothes too tight. It was that typical look, that fashionable gothic/punk wak look. He said..."Do you know me?" with eyes as big as golf balls sticking his chest out, and I said no. He said the same thing; I said the same thing back and replied with, "Am I supposed to know you? Then he said, who are you? Then I said Crayone. Then he replied "I'M BUTER NIGGA!" YEA BITCH! really loud. (I think he must of said the word "bitch" like 30 or 40 times during the so-called altercation, I wasn't counting really.) Anyway...
He proceeded to say, that he disrespected my work I had just done several blocks away and that He and his I.C.P. boys will go over my whole production in several days from now. I said back to him, that I am not afraid of you and that even if you showed up tomorrow, I will show up also, even on Monday, I will show up. Then he threatened me that he'll break both my legs if he ever he saw me near the wall. Then I replied, "you and what army". Then he wanted to fight me right then and there and that he also wanted me to go to the corner with him to fight. I had told him that I have no intention of fighting him and that even if I did, buter came looking to have a confrontation with me, who knows what kind of killing equipment he had on him or ditched somewhere/someplace, who knows if he had his friends waiting for me at the corner.
I honestly didn't know the guy personally, other than the fact he is the best mediocre writer in a mediocre crew who thought they were running the city as kings but in fact the AWR heads/Lords Crews was doing much more better work and always had way more inventive and pushing the boundaries of style/color. I give alot of respect to ICP crew in getting up a dozen or so productions in and around the city. They are up and I'm not. Being a 38 year old with a decent career and with some responsibilities will do that to you.
I think the reason why they have gotten some people to do some muscle work was because they were afraid how some crews had gotten writers who could beef/fight with the best of them, and I think icp got scared and got themselves beefed up so that they could never get punked. And if they did, they could retaliate with some non-art related activities. I understand how some non-Bay Area writers were making false accusations about dissing Frisco style/flavor and said that all the graff style/history in the Bay Area started with LA style graffiti. And that's bullshit! And it's great for icp to get together and fight off false history with a magazine and because San Francisco/Bay Area has deep graffiti history and traditions and I will always have a respect for ICP, but then Buter enters the picture. BUT WHY FIGHT OURSELVES? I might not be running in the streets like some, but I am still painting weather you like my stuff. My old shit can blow away alot of new shit! I AM A WRITER! PERIOD! YOU DISS ME, I'LL FUCKEN BATTLE YOU AND MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A FUCKEN TOY. 1 WALL, 1 OR SEVERAL DAYS, SIDE BY SIDE. AND LET THE WRITERS DECIDE WHO'S BEEN LIVING A TOYS LIFE.
All I know is that buter got kicked out of ICP for being for a troublemaker. That several times in his past he got his ass kicked by several writers. He would go to clubs sucker punching unsuspecting club patrons in the back of their heads and then running away. I don't know if this is all true, but after confronting him, it sure sounds like him. Just angry in everything he does. A child who wants everything his way or else, a child who has temper tantrums and do not know how to communicate with others. Sounds like he has a Napoleon complex. And worst of all, I heard even his own crewmembers don't even like him. They kicked him out for a year for some of the troubles he caused. To me, (I might be wrong, Buter might be a swell guy, just mis-understood, or...) buter is just out of control. And he thinks being out of control will give him noteriety and fame. Yea, norteriety and fame around toys. Buter is a thug who is pretending to be an artist. A TRUE WRITER WILL NEVER ACT THIS WAY!
Anyway, here's the spitting part. After saying mean things to me, he spat at the ground near my feet, which probably some of the spit hit my shoes anyway, big deal... (Several days later, some Lords head (which I fail to mention) is spreading rumors that buter spit at my face?! I know who you are, and good try.) All this time, I was drinking my beer and standing up against the wall this whole time with another top Lords head, wondering if I have to fight buter if he ever hit me and what were the legal consequences. After that he started walking out of the area talking shit saying things like "ICP and TMF nigga!, your reputation ain't shit! You got my number, call me Bitch!", then he rode off with his wak 10-speed tri-cycle.
As the days went by, I was trying to put together the pieces of events that led to this situation. I was also getting more upset by this whole ordeal. Buter had tried to punked me in front of other writers...He was going to pay for that one.
I go home and have a talk with my girlfriend and we talked for awhile and we both decide on giving buter/icp the wall or let Buter get the gig and do the wall himself and get paid for it if he wants it bad enough. It's really not worth fighting over for. I'm 38 years old, I don't need this shit. I have a full-time job and get spraycan art gigs handed to me once or twice a month. If he wants it bad enough, then let him have it. You would not believe what kind of response I was getting when telling a few individuals about this possible decision. I would get a bunch of comments like, "Your rewarding his reckless actions!" and others but I will not mention it here, but you get the idea.
After letting the people in New York know what had happen, they could not believe what just happened. A week goes by and I get a call from Twick who is now representing Buter. Twick now is more of a seasoned graffiti veteran and I told him I had a lot of respect for him and we exchanged acknowledgement. Twick then proceeded to tell me that now; he is suing me, my client and everyone else who was involved in the erasing of their artwork at Franks Liquors. First they wanted to break my legs and do this street style (I'm cool with that, that's how some street shit get settled), now they are going straight to the fucken pigs and trying to fuck another graffiti artist through the law? THAT'S SOME PUNK SHIT! Fair enough, I accept the challenge.
He said there were rights/copyrights involved and that artists and their mural work had rights, which I agreed, but not in this case. He also told me that he is taking me to court along with Precita Eyes by his side helping I.C.P. prosecutes the case. I know Susan Cervantes pretty well. I figured she did not know the whole perspectives on the case. I have a deep respect for Precita Eyes Mural Center in the Mission.
I then told Twick that most likely, there will be a mediation before the litigation process and that I told him he'll lose if he continues and that I have alot of respect for him, the mural community and for the arts in general and that taking Susan Cervantes and Precita Eyes people to help the icp cause will just embarrassed them. But he was so sure of himself and proceeds in the direction of the court proceedings because he felt that I did the wrong thing and he's doing the right thing. I apologized for even going this far knowing full well that I was in the right for out of respect for him and buter. I gave him the phone number to the people in New York to settle the matter.
I later get a call from New York and the people there tells me that initially Twick had threatened to go to court for the first 5 minutes of the conversation, then once my client had told Franks Liquors had a LEGAL BINDING CONTRACT, Twick started backtracking and he wanted some kind of compensation anyway. MONEY. The numbers originally was quoted as $1,000 to every member that was on the wall, plus about 2 and half grand for compensation. Then the person in New York was like telling twick, yo, why don't you just work for it. I'll gladly give you want you want, but you'll have to work for it, I'm not just going to give you the money. I got plenty of graffiti jobs flowing my way, and I'll flow it your way. The last thing I heard was that CoroICP was to finish what I started. CoroICP will probably do a better job knowing the type of work that he's known for, doing dope characters.
And that's all I knew, until, just 2 days ago, Twick calls me and tells me that I can continue to paint the mural this weekend. Huh? I never got a call from NY about any of this new info. Twick and buter is going over the buters throw-up for me to get up again. What!? buter going over his own throw up? Wow. I think ICP is getting paid! I then told Twick I wanted to handle my situation with Buter with a battle. Then Twick said he he’d try to get a wall for a CRAYONE VS. BUTER BATTLE.
Just today, I call up my contact person in NY and he said he's already paid Twick and for his ICP crew to go over the character and finish the "job" and that they've already been paid for it. I told the NY person that Twick had told me to paint it over the weekend. Smells like a double cross/setup by amatures.
In a perfect world, I would love to battle buter a 1 on 1 battle over 1 wall on the same spot, same word, so everyone can see, even video tape the fucken thing, make it a public spectacle.
hahahaha
sounds like crayone got his frisco pass took....
in other words your fat ass should stay in the east bay...
