GRAB

1:What do you write , how long have you been writing for (year started), and why did you get involved in it ? I write Grab ZEE WKT BOOYAH and I've been writing for 25 years. I started painting in 1998 and I really started painting because I was around the hip-hop scene as a b-boy battling at shows across NM. I had always been into drawing and letters so graffiti was the perfect fit.

2:How did you get your name? I don't really know why I chose that name. I just really liked those 4 letters and decided to keep writing it. My first name was BustOne from b-boying but I didn't like those letters. I later found out that my real name in the bible means "The Grabber".

3: Who were your biggest influences and why? I'd have to say AROE (SBF), BLES (AWR), KOVE (PIGS), And CASKET (H2) . These guys had the dope original styles when I was coming up and stayed pretty active even to this day. I've had the honor of painting with most of these guys too.

4: What's your Favorite type of graffiti?

My favorite type of graffiti is throw ups because it's the true essence of graffiti and I honestly suck at them. Most of my crew mates have the dopest throws especially the bay heads who live by them. I like some of the old school gangster styles too.

5: Do you consider graffiti Hip Hop? and if not where did you pick it up from and what group do you think it falls in?

I used to think graffiti was hip-hop because I came from that scene, but now that I've met a lot of different writers from all over who aren't even into hip-hop, I now see that graffiti today is its own culture with heads from many different backgrounds. Hip-hop in the early 90s to 2000s influenced a lot of graffiti writers because a lot of the guys who b-boy'd also wrote graffiti.

6: What's your favorite type of music?

My favorite type of music today is oldies, country, and 90's classic hip-hop. Today's music is trash. I can't get into this mumble rap now and I don't ever think I will.

7: What's the difference between Graffiti and Gang graffiti to you?

Gangs put their set up for the same reasons we as writers put our names and set up. Beef is a little different because writers aren't really out trying to shoot other writers, it's mostly just capping their stuff and fighting. Styles and names have remained the same with gang garffiti. There really isn't more to what gangs paint other than tags and cholo block letters. they hardly do fill-ins and rarely hit fr8s.

8: Fruity pebbles or coco pebbles?

Fruity Pebbles especially the boot leg ones in the big bag.

9: Are you in your prime as of right now? And if not, when do you think your prime was?

I'm definitely not in my prime right now. I'd say my prime was 2014 - 2019 when I got clean and painted about 4 times a week. Drugs and addiction set me back a few years. I stay pretty active with scribes and stickers, but I may have a mid-life crisis like most of these writers do and make an epic come back.

10: What's your favorite city that you have painted and why is it your favorite?

My favorite city to paint was Kansas City because the scene is mind blowing. There's a lot of history and a lot of trains there. Some of graffiti's best have come from that city and it was dope to see stuff still running from years back.

11: What do you think of people getting jail time for graffiti ?

I've been to jail for graffiti and I say it sucks. The justice system is ass backwards. I know a lot of heads who have been caught with petty charges like putting stickers up and catching tags and paying hefty fines and doing lots of jail time.

12: Do you still drink 40’s and if so what's your favorite brand to drink?

I don't drink 40s anymore because that lifestyle is what almost landed me six feet under.

13: How do you feel about the graffiti trend and as well as being used for everything now a days (clothing,lunch boxes , hats , etc…..)

As far as the graffiti trend and heads using it to promote themselves, I'm kind of up in the air about. I've bought HO scales, shirts, hats, etc. from other writers, but only because I like their stuff and I wanted to support them. On the other hand you have writers sellingout to big company's and I think graffiti belongs on the streets where its always been. People will always find a way to exploit different cultures for money.

14: Do you have a chase story that people would like to hear one that you almost shit your self during?

One night shine, Irish and myself were painting a the back of a billboard in the middle of the city. I was in the car as a lookout and shine and Irish were on the billboard. All I saw from the passenger side of shines car was them jumping off the roof that the billboard was on, and them waving there hands at me. I didn't even think twice because I heard a car peeling out around the corner and hopped over the wall in the near by neighborhood. I forgot that the keys were still in the car just as the cops pulled around the corner of the alley we were parked in. We were hiding in the trees where it was dark when the officer got on his microphone and said " I can see you guys" we then started running even deeper in through the houses and yards while being chased by dogs and cops. We ended in a yard with a small garage, where we hid while watching them search through all the surrounding houses. I got so nervous we were gonna get caught I had to take a shit by the slide in the back yard. I didn't have TP so I had to make a "sockrafice" we stayed hidden in that garage for a couple of hours until we didn't hear the cops. By that time the sun was coming up so we called a buddy to pick us up. As we walked out the side gate to the front of the house we saw an undercover unit parked in the driveway and we thought we were done. It just happened that we were hiding in the back of a detectives house and that's why the cops never checked that yard. We got picked up and waited to go back to shines car until mid day because he was scared. His spare key was an hour away in another town so I had to drive him to get it. When we finally got back to his car, the cops had tagged his seats with dicks and sprayed over the speedometer. They also broke all of his CDs and went through the glove box while leaving finger prints from the spray paint all over everything. He waited a few weeks and nothing ever happened even to this day. We also got lucky because the new chopper the city had just bought, was in the shop for maintance.