The Graffiti Artist

My life has been driven by art since i was in grade school. Sitting in math class drawing and day dreaming of how to perfect my drawings. I started with simple things like letters and cartoons. In grade school I would've even considered myself a toy. For those who don't know what a toy is. A toy is a poser someone who calls themselves a tagger or graffiti artist but has no skills what so ever. Anyways like they say practice makes perfect. So while i was toying around drawing on schoolbooks, papers, and backpacks. I never noticed that I was poor i didn't have nice shoes or clothes. I didn't even notice girls until high school. That's when my whole life began to change. Girls would clown my clothes and kicks. And schoolbooks and notepads wouldn't do my graffiti skills justice so I had to step up my game. First learning how to shoplift spray paint for tagging and cassette tapes to sell at school. But that still wasn't enough for new clothes and kicks that's when my boy Larry turned me onto selling weed. I started to see a few dollars but that sill wasn't enough, and that's when i finally got money hungry and decided that i needed to sell cocaine.

Cocaine sold like hotcakes. I was making money over fist.This one day i made like five grand in like 2 hrs. It was my boys high school football championship party. Rich football kids easy money. But it wasn't always easy money. This one time I got robbed for all my ya-yo and bout fifteen hundred. Woke up in the hospital with my mom yelling at the doctor. When i got out, my moms whooped my ass not even knowing why I was in the hospital. She was pissed that she had to go there in the first place and pissed I was hurt. That's when i decided i needed to be strapped. I went to Luke the alleyway arms dealer. That's funny he isn't a real arms dealer his uncle was but, Luke always could get his hands on guns though. He ask if I wanted a gun with bodies on it for a hundred, a gun that was legit for three hundred or a throw away for five hundred. I chose a throw away because i figured if i needed to put someone down then i would need to ditch the gun right away. It was the most beautiful gun I ever seen a Ruger 44. with two magazines. Well now that I was strapped it was time to get money again. So since I had money I had clothes, shoes, paint, a car, everything I needed for people to respect me.

I was the best tagger in the hood. I would bomb water towers, freeway ramps, brides, buildings. It didn't matter if I saw a canvas I would tag it up. My name was "JNX" King JNX and my name was everywhere. I went through so many different crew names over the time. Like HAK, Hispanic Art Kingz, KAM, Krazy Ass Mexicans or Krylon Art Masters, SOS, Society of Skills, XTC, Xotik Type Creations, EMC2, Eternal Master Clan, But ended up sticking with OTC, Only The Chosen or Original Tagging Crew. My crew were the best at bombing the scariest places. One time i was so faced and my boy Henry a.k.a BSIo. was holding a rope around my waste while i hung over a moving train. it was nuts but i was flying high so i wasn't scared at all. The piece was shit but the experience was amazing. We always talk about how stupid it was to do it. But i love sitting by the tracks watching trains go by hoping to catch a glimpse of that piece again. Keep your eyes open for the JNX train car.

Well when your a tagger and you tag other peoples neighborhoods you sometimes run into rival taggers and you have to battle for respect. Now if your not familiar with tagger battles, its simple. All you do is run through there hood crossing there name out and putting your name. or bombing right over there bombs. ( Bombs are giant murals) This one time I was in a rich neighborhood making a dope deal, and seen the most perfect blue wall to bomb. So in broad daylight I pulled off my backpack and started to go to work. I was into Elmo at that time so i painted Elmo with a painters mask flipping the bird holding a can of paint and in words wrote "Fah Q Toyz - JNX" It was perfect if i say so myself. Well when i was taking polaroids for my photo album. Four guys walked up to me and start banging on me saying "what you doing writing in our neighborhood?" I looked at dem and just laughed. Cuzwhat were these pretty boy white kids with there polo shirts really gonna do to me. Well as soon I as i started to laugh one guy hit me in the back of the head and dropped me to my knees. Since i've been in this situation before i knew exactly what to do. I reach for my bag and pulled out my cannon. These kids backed up so quick and started shaken like December. I told em " Look, I am going to let you slide this time." Then pistol whipped the kid that punched me. And continued to say " if any of you wanna battle I'm ready, but i only fight over love and money, I let my art do my fighting." The blond kid who looked like there leader stepped forward, as i put my gun back into my bag and he said to me. "Three days ten blocks most hit ups when."

I said " Bet! What dey call you?" He said "AndE" I said you know the rules, "when i win and i will i own the name AndE. And if i catch you ever writing it again dats yo ass." He replied " i know the rules JNX. Timer starts now and we will meet here in three days where you will call me King."

Well as soon as they left i called the crew jumped in my car and went to pick up the guys. I told them what happened and they laughed too. We started with the usual billboards and that took hours. i never just write my name anymore. If I'm going to tag something up its going to be perfect. Even when we went to lunch or dinner i would hit up the bathrooms. sometimes i even jumped on a bus or two just to get my name on the bus that drove through there streets. Sides of buses just everywhere i could I love to battle i love to have my name known throughout a neighborhood.

So one night i was out to dinner with my boys. The last night before our deadline. I took them to eat at a place called Ah so! a Japanese restaurant. Its one of those places like benihana where the cook the food at your table and you share the table with other people. Well at our table i saw the most gorgeous girl i have ever seen. It was absolutely love at first sight. I kicked of a conversation and she was funny and adorable. A great sense of humour we hit it of great. We even left the restaurant together and spent the entire night joking and laughing. Before i knew it, the sun was coming up and we saw the sunrise on our first date. We shared a kiss at sunrise and she said she had school like in three hours so i took her home and we said our goodbyes. I had never been in love like that before. I was surprised i fell for her so fast that's never happened.

So it was time to meet this kid andE to get my respect. So i picked up my boys and headed for the west side. We pulled up about ten minutes before them. They pulled up in a silver Mercedes and three guys got out of the car and a girl continued sitting in the passenger seat of the car. He walked up to me and asked " how the hell did you get up on the side of the hospital?" My boys just laughed. I said " cuz I'm the king bitch. Now kiss the ring and bounce kid." They turned around and were about to get back in the car when he turned to me and asked for a rematch. Winner takes all, crew name and tagger name. I told him "how can you win I'm obviously more dominate my name is everywhere, yes, you had some nice bombs but you didn't have enough." That's when he tried to correct me, " that's right I'm a better artist your just a thug with no time on his hands to do anything else." Watch your mouth son!" i told him." " All I'm saying is why don't we let the people decide. Have you ever heard of the S.U.S. underground battle in the city?" He asked. "Of course Ive heard of Styles Upon Styles Battle, But i am a street artist i don't care what people think so i've never been. If that's what you want i will never turn down a challenge." "See you there then." he responded getting into his car. And as the sunlight shined into his car i could make out the passenger in the car. It was Stella, the girl i just spent the entire night with.

To be continued....