Graffiti Art is Art first ! "Graffiti" in itself is a label applied to the Aerosol Art Culture and usually carries the negative connotation that Graffiti Art is not a viable art form. For sake of communication the label "graffiti" is widely used and accepted as the standard label by both practitioners and the general community (so I will use it in this context). However, to define graffiti or Aerosol Art as scribbling or scrawling on a wall, or for an artist to let his tool dictates his or her style of work is detrimental to the idea of being an artist in this art form.

I am an artist, that's all ! My medium of choice for the past thirteen years has been spray paint (Krylon brand), though I can rock with markers, watercolors, pen, pencil, acrylics, airbrush, or on a computer, whatever.

My first official crew was "Doin' Everything Funky." Now, I run with "Cleveland Skribe Tribe, Ruthless Thieveland Artists (CST/RTA)," and "We Hate All Toys (WHAT cru)." As the unofficial keeper of aerosol culture in Cleveland, I transcended from the end of the "Old-School Cleveland" era to now representing Thieveland always.

Graffiti was split into two major factions: Artists and Bombers. Bombers in general, commit quantity destruction (tags, throwys or one-liners). The idea is a little something everywhere. Artists create masterpieces (be it just letters or characters, sometimes abstract, or some type of worthwhile combination). The idea is to maintain the creative cutting edge (basically freak some ill new stuff). Currently I'm starting to notice a blurry division between Graffiti artists:

(1) As orthodox writers, who practice the art as it has been traditionally done (or they could be suckers with their heads up theirs as**s). Ex.: Some writers I've met from NYC say that you're not a "real" writer until you paint a (subway) train. VVhatever...

(2) Conceptual artists, who at every chance will try something different, then refine what they have done for the sake of pushing the cutting edge.

As for the future of this art form, I see more and more of it coming into legitimate arenas. Is this a good thing or bad thing? I am unsure!

Graffiti/Aerosol art/hip-hop culture in general isn't for everyone and it would be incredibly wack if it ever gets that diluted where everyone likes it. I appreciate the people who hate any and all forms of graffiti, those people are usually the brainwashed commercial marketing targets that made Vanilla Ice and Puffy so popular, and for that reason they are easy to identify. If we, as practitioners of a cultural art form concentrate on educating our youth in their development of skills, then aerosol art should remain intact in its original intent and cultural purpose.