IBEAM

1:What do you write , how long have you been writing for (year started), and why did you get involved in it ?

I write IBEAM. I have been drawing graffiti my whole life. I caught my first spray tag in the street in middle school 2008. Writing came second nature to me, on the edges of my paper in elementary I was drawing block letters. 1st grade shit. Skateboarding played a role as well but that came later on.

2:How did you get your name?

My word came to me through the trial and tribulation of research on Flickr. All in all I guess you could say because I come from a family of builders I chose IBEAM, or even knew of the word in the first place.

3: Who were your biggest influences and why?

My biggest influences early on were JEANS DOGS GOOL AERUB ERGE ERUPTO SNIDE and a bunch of other dudes I’d see up in my neighborhood and on my bus routes. Later on I was influenced by the cutty tags of dudes like KIDS REVEL BLER POE RETSOL WHORE24 USUCK. All cutty kings IMO.

4: What's your Favorite type of graffiti?

I love tags and throws. I love bombing. Quick, simple, and if you can’t do it you ain’t shit. Piecing styles can be passed down, straight letters and fonts can be mimicked, true style comes from your signature. The original form of this craft. I won’t limit myself to any medium, but to me the best to do it have tags and throws on lock. I’m still learning a lot myself and branching into learning to piece. It takes time and I’m never skipping steps. True knowledge will beget wisdom and understanding. Style and flavor.

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?

If you ask me, graff is still a pillar of Hip-hop. It’s recently evolved into a different community so much past that as well. Graffiti sets the individual apart from society. We don’t make money off it, people aren’t making tv shows about us, we go to jail and the public forget we exist. I did breakdance in middle school and have always loved rap and hip hop music. It flows through us & the heart of this culture. Not everyone shares my sentiment today, graffiti is it’s own subculture. We cannot forget our past though. Once upon a time the term graffiti was always uttered in the same sentence as Djing, Breaking & Emceeing.

6: What's your favorite type of music?

I listen to a lot of different music, my largest playlist is fairly rap centric. listen to punk, emo, country, reggae & corridos tumbados as well. I also still heavily slap slept on songs and artists from Seattle, a forever underground scene that is near impossible to break out of.

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

To me graffiti is artistic in its own right, all the same we are staking claim to whatever surface we spray. Gang graffiti often has less effort put into it & is neighborhood oriented. A lot of us writers are gang affiliated and that hardly plays a role in our writing. We want to own the whole city/world, not just the neighborhood we stay in. Gang graffiti is something I appreciate heavily. Hood strike ups are a different language every writer should understand and respect. To me every bit of graffiti is sick whether it’s a scribe in a bathroom or a whole car. Every tag counts.

8: Fruity pebbles or coco pebbles?

I hella don’t eat cereal. I eat tacos.

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

Shit I’m supposed to be in my prime age wise… but I got some city miles on me. Broke a lot of bones & been in a lot of chases. I’ll be back on top soon enough. In the meantime I want to buy another house, take care of my kids, and further my career as a tattooist.

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

New Orleans got this weird kind of choke hold on my heart. I think it may be because every time I have visited it’s a transition period in my life. Or it’s the culture, street life, history, maybe the drinking. I’ve painted in most major cities in the US but Nola takes it for a spray-cation destination. Seattle would be my favorite but I feel I'm biased because I’m born and raised there. And by born and raised I mean Seattle public school system since 1st grade, not some other neighboring suburban city. And painting Seattle nowadays is nothing like it was pre pandemic. RIP the city I grew up in.

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

Jail for graff is a joke, it’s hardly a crime and we aren’t hurting anyone. Although it wouldn’t be the game without the chase. The fear of getting caught is what makes it fun. But at the end of the day It’s a victimless crime. I’m not out here tagging your car, or your house. Cry about it. It’s unfortunate people go down for graff, but it’s part of the game all the same.

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

I do not drink any beer. I got that young celiacs. Hence the name Seltzerism. Early high-school before I found out my allergy shit it was Old E all day, throw that sunny D in there too. In high-school we used to make this bev called sidewalk slammers, that consists of a 40 with a 4loko poured into it… like I said some city miles on me.

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

Our art form has been used and perverted since the beginning for the benefit of the big brands. I respect it if they are paying a real writer who puts in the work for their designs and knowledge. Anything else is trash. Shit there’s a bunch of writers who own their own brands including myself. Support your home boy not NIKE. Writers and boosters also create clothing trends far before the general public even catches on. I damn near don’t even wanna wear arcteryx no more y’all made shit corny.

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

I’ve had a lot of chases, a notable recent one was in Nashville I was painting a train overpass walk out. 12 passed below me and my lookouts gave a yell. He doubled back as I was shimmying to solid ground. I had already hopped up on the tracks and hit the deck by the time he hit his second u-turn. I knew he had seen me, it was go time…

Some backstory, I had a few drinks that night and me and the boys had already hit a few spots. It was our last night in town and I just seen this 1 banger spot I had to catch before we went back to the camper.

So I ran, and I walked the tracks. I'm on the phone non stop with my boys. Every time I’d get close to a road access I’d see 2-3 Nashville PD posted. I went back and forth for around 40 minutes, seeing 10-15-maybe 20 squad cars. I decided the tracks wouldn’t be safe forever. I ditched my hat and paint and jumped into someone’s back yard to hide. My boys had left and got tailed for over 20 minutes till they hit the freeway. It had been about 2 hours at this point and I didn’t think I was going to make it back to Georgia the next day. The sun would come up in a couple hours and my thoughts were racing as I’m trying to control my breath. My boys eventually switched out the cars and came back for me. Hail Mary mission.

I walked out of the driveway right past people's windows. Heart pounding like a drum, I’m praying no one hears me. Nonchalantly I get into the car. I lay down in the back, freezing, paranoid, and thankful as we drive away. I don’t think anyone took a breath in that car for a solid 10 minutes. We had a long drive back and the mood didn’t shift to normal till the next morning.