Graffiti Writers & Their Egos
Certain writers, once they develop a certain level of skill & reputation, are sure to have a ridiculously-huge egos for the most part. Not every single writer I’ve ever met, but in my experience more than a few.
This is understandable. You possess a skillset that many people would pay to have, especially people who have been writing for years, decades even. You’ve earned the right to run your mouth and shit on certain people, we get it.
But some of these cats are just too full of themselves. Some go the extra mile to broadcast how great and wonderful they are with a can of paint. Also understandable to an extent, but when all you do is brag about how magnificent you are and how you paint with all the baddest, illest, most talented writers in the game, people get tired of your mouth. Some people might crack you over the head with a brick or bottle because they’re tired of hearing you talk about the same shit over & over. Then there’s the haters and jealous weirdos that hate you just because you have skills they wish they possessed.
Patience Is A Virtue
Now just to be clear, I do not piece or do productions or burners. The most I’ll take the time to do is a throwie or two. Mainly because I am not very patient, and I am very critical of my own work so I really try to stick to bombing. If it takes longer than a minute or two it’s not for me. I like to bomb, period. Markers, mops, cans, stickers, whatever. The quick tags & handstyles that, once they get buffed by the city, won’t have me feeling like I wasted a ton of time and money on paint. Besides, I just like handstyles, the letters, the never-ending variety or letters and styles, the smell of the xylene in the ink.
Now I’m not shitting on pieces or burners. I wish I had the patience and skills to rock some tuff walls like alot of guys I know do. I also have no time for anything, let alone spending four to six hours painting, but like anything else, if you really want it you can make time for it. Therefore I have no ego for the most part, at least from painting/writing.
Not What I Expected, Mostly
Now I’ve had the pleasure of painting a few chill spots with a few writers whose names will not be mentioned, but are well-known all over the place for painting. I thought I was gonna end up rumblin’ a few of these guys based off of what other writers had said about them & how they act. It turned out those writers were the most humble bastards I’ve ever met. No egos that made you wanna stab them twenty times then set the body on fire, no cornball-ass remarks about how my piece was trash and nowhere near theirs. They were just chill-ass dudes that I’m still friends with to this day. No egos, no clowning, just cool cats. Then there’s the sadly-misguided assholes that think that their mediocre pieces are the equivalent to brain surgery. Just nasty, not-yet-housebroken bums. You know, the type that’s been everywhere, knows everybody and has everything. Noodles is what they are, straight noodles. Nobody likes a know-it-all, especially when they can’t stop talking shit.
Besides the cool & not-so-cool guys that I’ve met over the years, I’ve come across writers before who think that everywhere they go someone should roll a red carpet out simply because they showed up. Straight clowns. “I’m the king of this & the king of that” is what they try to remind you of every 15-20 minutes or so and it gets old really fast.
Now these are the cats whose work is decent, but nowhere near the level it should be for them to be talking all crazy with the ego. If any of you types of writers are reading this pay close attention to these words: you, my friend, are a jerkoff. Nobody can stand you and everyone is tired of hearing how great you are. When it comes down to it, you spray paint on a wall. That’s it. You ain’t a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist or a friggin’ movie star. Stop acting like a giant asshole. It’s a bad look.
Industry Folks
Being in the actual “industry” since 2006 I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some incredibly-talented, world-renowned writers and artists and the one thing that always had me fucked up was, for the most part, the bigger and more well-known alot of these cats are the more humble they are. I’ve met & chilled with cats who I thought would be the biggest egomaniac-assholes on earth and they turned out to be the coolest people ever. Then I’ve met those types of writers who, because they have a 5-square block radius in their neighborhood on smash, they wanna constantly talk about how they run shit and they’re the king and how the planet would stop spinning if they stopped writing.
The actual “industry folks”, the people who own the shops and websites that sell all the graffiti supplies, many of them are snakes. Not all, but more than half, at least the ones I’ve had the displeasure of meeting in person. Many like to copy & bite too. They see you doing or selling something nobody else is and they immediately copy the whole blueprint. That’s corny as hell and one of the main reasons I try to stay away from graffiti-related events and meetings. I know myself and at times I can be quick to choke the shit out of somebody who is disrespectful and ignorant towards others, so I’m better off staying away.
Ego Warriors
Social media, mainly Facebook, is infamous for this type of nut shit. I see it every day. Someone who is really putting in work, trying their hardest to become better at writing posts some flicks of their new work and some asshole will chime in about how shitty the work is and how they would burn their shit with ease. You know what I’m talking about right? There’s 40-50 comments like “keep up the good work” or “looks great” then some clown adds their two cents and says it looks like shit or how much of a toy they are. Alot of beef starts over the internet and, at least here in Philly, it can and has turned extremely violent at times. It is satisfying when you hear so-and-so, someone who constantly talked down to other writers, got their ass beat & all their paint stolen. But that’s all extra bullshit nobody really wants to deal with.
Just to be clear, I’ve never heard of any writers that just woke up one morning and was suddenly the meanest, baddest motherfucker to ever hold a can of spraypaint. It takes years to develop can control, years to develop your own style, years to get your work picture-perfect. So all these noodles who shit on people trying their hardest are suckers. If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. Pay no attention to those jerkoffs and keep doin’ your thing. All the illest writers and artists sucked at one point in time and that’s just how it goes.
Entertainment Value
It is funny though, comical for real. It makes for good entertainment. Especially the dudes who just do one handstyle or one style of letters over & over & over & over and talk that goofy shit about being the king. When I was taught I was told “you can’t be the king unless you do everything perfectly, you can’t just be great at one thing or one part of this game”. In the words of the late, great King Razz “you can’t self-proclaim”. Let that sink in kids.
So that pretty much wraps up this rant for now. This wasn’t directed at any one person in particular. I’m just tired of seeing assholes talk to and treat other people like shit over graffiti. If this post offend you in any way then you, my friend, are probably one of these egomaniac jerkoffs whose friends all laugh at you behind your back at how ridiculous you sound & how they can’t stand you. Like DJ Khaled says “your playin’ yourself” lmao. I’m not saying not to flex or put a sucker in their place when the time calls for it, I’m just saying there’s no need to run your mouth. When your that good you already know it and that’s what matters.
