R.I.P. FLITE TDS
In 1984, When I was a freshman at Music & Art high school on 137th Street, I was just starting to write my name on the number 1 train at the 225th street lay-up in the Bronx. As fate would have it, one day after school there was a local gang of Ball-Busters who were approaching people outside of school, asking “Who’s West!?” They had canes and baseball bats and were randomly robbing students for their black books and art supplies. My friends at the time told me to hide out, but they came back the next day, and the next after that. On the third day, I finally fessed-up and approached them, and that’s when I met Flite for the first time. I didn’t know what the problem was, but Flite said that unless I came with him to meet his boy “Spook” and get to the bottom of it, my friends and I would not be safe in that neighborhood. So I left the crowd outside of my school with twelve or so Ball-Busters to go meet Spook in front of his building on 135th street. Once we talked it was clear that there had been a misunderstanding, and it wasn’t me they were really looking for. Flite said “You want to go bombing with me later?” I met him that night at 145th Street and entered that tunnel for the first time. We hung out all that week, and one of those nights he helped me do my first West piece on a school yard wall on 137th street where Airborne and Tack used to practice. In the months after that Flite showed me how to piece on trains, how to master spray paint, and gave me a simple-style alphabet to practice on my own. He introduced me to all of the great writers and crews on the number 1 line at the time and showed me the do’s and dont’s of the tunnels. He made it a point to tell me that if I ever had any problems with anyone in the train yards, at school, or anywhere else, to come get him.
Here is Flite and I a few months after we met, on the 125th Street platform in front of a quick scrap piece he did with Sha-Man. Me, a goofy kid, and him, the King of the 1’s.
We lost the great Jim Prigoff this week, one of the foundational documentarians of Graffiti art and culture. His book with @henrychalfant , Spray Can Art, was a game-changer and a bible to a whole generation of writers from all over the world. Jim took these photos in 1985 on a visit to my neighborhood along with Henry where I met him for the first time. I reconnected with him years later in LA and reminded him of this encounter and he said “of course I remember you, how could I forget WEST from the Upper West Side” Rest In Peace Jim!
Happy Birthday to Brick City’s own @tamerdizzle ! In the mid 80’s Tame and Ber would come from NJ to roam with us at the 145th Street tunnels. In 1994 @mr_brueroc@zuluw and I were commissioned to do Graffiti animation for Artifacts “Wrong Side of The Tracks” Single. Originally there were supposed to be three pieces that said “Fame” “City” and “Kings”, but the budget got cut and we were left with just "City Kings". Peace Tame! To many more journeys around the Sun!
