Contact Us

Interviews

History

Stories

Canvas

Burners

Outlines

Tags

Throw-Ups

Events

BAN 2

( THIS IS MY STORY )

 ~~~~~~  OUT TO BOMB!  ~~~~~~

Started : 1976

Location : The Bronx, New York

Main lines : 4's, 3's, 2's, 5's, AA's, D's, CC's

Alias : DELI 167, DI 167, S.127, BRAVO 2, DEEN 167

Writing Groups : OTB, TOP, TDS, BYB, FAL,  TCA, TC, TBA, TC5

 

 

*************************************

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am from the Bronx county of New York City.  I started writing graffiti in 1976. I use to live next door to next to legendary NOC 167. He taught me everything there was to know about the

game. He was a wizard - he had tremendous talent, I started to hang tough with him at his crib; He would never leave his room, It was just him and his mutt dog. At his crib I met : NIC 707, KIT 17, BEAR 167 and JESTER ( aka DY 167 ) - those guys were already tearing shit back then. So I thought "damn, those cats are walking around all inked up and shit, and they're chillin.  So me being a little fish in a big pound I had to bomb. When I originally met NOC, we use to play Stick ball and Basketball and shit like that, with out either one of us knowing that we both wrote. EL MARKO 174, A-5 , COOL JEFF, CHRIS 170 and RIFF 170 had tag up and down the hood. I used to ride the 3rd Ave EL train line (an elevated subway line)

  before it was torn down.  I saw graffiti on the trains but I was too young to understand what it

was all about.  But as I went to school via subway, I saw these  names: BLADE, COMET, TRACY 168, STAYHIGH 149, BIC 149, JESTER ( aka DY 167 ), DEAN (aka KO aka LE), MICKEY ( aka TO 729) JEE II (aka JAMES TOP), HURST (aka OI), BOOTS 119, KIT 17, NIC 707, LEE, SLAVE and others. I only traveled from the Bronx to Manhattan.  I remember riding the 1 train because that train stopped at 103rd street where I used to live.  The insides were so destroyed on that line you could not even read the poster adds back then. LSD 3 and FDT 56 were killing shit back then.

 
In my early years I had a mass of idols:  JEE II, BLADE, LEE, BOO II and MITCH 77, I remember when I first met MITCH, he was the man on the 4 line. I was in the lay up when him and his boys rolled up. It was MAX 183, TEX 183, BOO 2 and the rest of the TCA crew ( THE CRAZY

ARTIST's ) He walked over to me and said " Yo you're BAN 2? Yo, Whats up!?" after our meeting we went on a few missions to the 4 yard together. " Dam that was my man! MITCH was the top dog on the on the 4 line. My quest was to be just like him,  My goal was to side with him and really make Noise! First I had to start with taking king of the insides. I used to ride the CC Flats with the straw seats and light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, When the conductor was standing between cars with the two levers that he'd press to open / close the doors. them were the days! No doubt theses Y2K cats don't know squat shit about

 that shit. . On my way to and from school all I saw was  JEE2” and “Oi” as well as “TO” and “JESTER.” They had it on lock!   I used to travel the subway with my mom until I started taking the

subway on my own. I wrote on the trains with a cheap 39 cent El marko pen. I use to ride the last car until it cleared out, then I would catch tags on the panels as much as I could before the train would reach the next station. Shit, who didn't motion tag?! If they didn't, They're full of shit! JEE 2 truly inspired me, when he would to rock the insides with his drippy uni-wide tags. After seeing this I'd move on to more professional  tools of the trade.

I first started writing BANG II, but I had a really funny way of writing the letter “G,” so I eliminated it.  After my mother found out I was writing  “BAN II,” because it was all over the building we lived in, including the elevators, I wrote DELI 167. I came up with that name because I use to work as

a messenger in mid town-town Manhattan running in and out DELI's. I had that name under cover for years, but you can't keep a secret forever. Someone is bound to see you bomb.   I wrote DEAN 167 for a little while before I modified it to DEEN 167 in respect for the original "DEAN  BYB ".  I also wrote BRAVO II which I got from the BRAVO potato chip bags that I used to carry with me to the lay ups. After that I wrote “S127.”  The “S” stands for SNOOP.  It went like this “S127tc.” those were just throw

away names, just for writers to say " who the fuck is that? Most pieces I did on the outsides of the trains were Mostly DELI pieces, because the letters for me were allot easier for me to do


I really can’t recall whom I went with to hit trains at the first lay up I’ve been to, but I think it was with NOC167. We went to the CC tunnel located under the building we lived in, at 174th Street Grand Concourse in the Bronx. I use to tell NOC " Yo, I got some cans, What's up? But he always told Not now let do it next week. So time would fly by, and that nigga was still in his crib chilling. I'd be like you its getting late, are we still going to the lay ups?! I got tired waiting for that dude and got me a key made for the IRT's, and went bombing by my self. I rode up to the lay   up and hawked shit out to see if it was cool, then POW, I did my thing. I had to get my props! To think of it, that’s almost 30 years ago!  I met FUZZ ONE around that time. Chief rocker FUZZ ONE showed me how to rack

20 cans of paint in one shot, and that shit worked. Dam! He was always down for action. I had pockets sewn in to my jacket, and we'd always go on racking missions - crashing shelves, etc. OTB-ing the racks! Duffle bagging shit up' sleeve job, and socking shit up!  We had all kinds of shit on lock. We were known killing all the racks and not leaving any paint for other writers to get busy with. ask anyone who rolled with us back then. FUZZ ONE  hooked me up with some of the biggest Flo-Master ink racks in New York city. That's my dawg!! He tought me a lot - he took me under his wing and  did every thing together. If you didn't have the skills pay at the cash at the cashier.   I represent OTB first above all other writing groups but I was a member of so many… 3YB, TOP, TB, TED, TC, BYB, CIA, MG, PIC, FAL, TCA, BYB, TBA, TS,  MAFIA, MTA, THE

 REBELS, TPA, TNT, TDS, NCB, BMB - (  BY MYSELF BOMBING, my own personal crew )  TKA and TC5- BLADE put me in that crew him self.  I put up all the crews from the Bronx and Brooklyn because we all had to get to each other through Manhattan.


I worked hard to stay real and true to myself and I devoted my time to planning before I realized that enough was enough.  I went on mission after mission to the yard to study the lines and its schedules.  I played the 4 yard so much that I got sick of going there.  The D yard was a little different because

the trains got diverted to other lines.  For example, the D train would ride on the A, E, or F line. I did work on the 4 trains that ended up on the “Grand Central to Times Square” shuttle.  On occasion, I went to the 3 yard, but that line was bombed.  I also worked the 1 tunnel, the 6 yard, and esplanade on the 5 train.  I went back to the 4 line in late 1984, early ’85.  That’s when these cats: DUEL, KEN 007 and this young kid COPE II from my area were crossing me out…soon after that I quit.

DELI 167 tag done on 116th street in Manhattan New York City 1981


The original staff of the OTB Group, which stood for ( OUT TO BOMB or ONLY THE BEST ) It was founded by NIC 707 then later handed down  to NOC 167, then he given to me. the original heads back then were:  FRITOS, NOC 167, SMILY 149, MAX 183, KONE 79, FUZZ ONE, BOO 2, MITCH 77, 2FAMOUS, DISCO 92 (aka MED 167) COSE, BEO, KEL 139, MARE 139, SPANK,

MAURICE 167, PE.FIVE, FLAME. PIC, BLUE BEARD 183, KID 56 (aka K 56), 2BAD, BRIM, KIN, AMOR, CRASH, PJAY, BS 119 (aka DUDE 7), SED 2 (aka SEDUCE 2), T KID 170, POLO, KC 3, KC 5, SATURN 2, BLIND, G-MAN, ZEPHYR, TEX 183, BOM 5, RIP7, DR. PEPPER (aka FACT), DAZE, RIM 170, MANE 167, QUIK, FROSTY, BOOM2 (aka MR. FRIDAY), REVOLT, RAM I, CRAP 2, REC 2, ARAB, TRACE, RUB5, SHAME 125, SAK I, EZO, SPAR ( aka LED 2 ) and a host of others including my OTB comrades representing

  ABROAD. I bombed with many writers, but I have to say FUZZ ONE and MITCH 77 are the two that I bombed with the most.  Otherwise, I went alone!  I took King of the insides of “4” line with RAM 1.  He was too small to piece. I did head over to Queens to hit the E's and F's ding dongs with CEY CITY and SCOP. I have also been to the city hall lay up's the J-yard and the M-yard.
Raid getaways were a bitch.  One time at the Gunhill lay up I got busy on a “top to bottom” piece with POLO TGB.  There were cops by the gate watching us put up our work.  These cops knew quite

well that I did not stand a chance at gathering all of my paint, so they pushed towards me and I ran to the end of the platform and hang jumped to the street. It must’ve been 40 to 50 feet down.  I ran four blocks or so and got stopped by cops in a patrol car.  I told them I was on my way to the store to get a quart of milk and they just let me walk off.  I guess they didn’t have the proper description.  All they knew was that they were in search of a group of graffiti boys running for their lives. I never got busted.  One time I was with RAM1, BLIND TNA, BAMO and KC 5 at the 6 lay up. We got on the train to leave sitting together. At one of the stops a cop gets on, and starts looking at us all. At the next stop, he told to get off the train, saying "all right you

 guys throw down your markers and the rest of your Graffiti shit on the ground. " and we did, but he couldn't take us in or lock us up , because it wasn't doing wrong nor were we committing  any crime. I

was so WANTED back then, I remember getting chased by the group the Magnificent 13 before they became the Garden Angels ... Suckers! Curtis Sliwa was the founder of that group. He came to my face one night and asked me " Yo, youre BAN 2 right? to this day I still wonder how in the fuck he could've  suspected that. I got raided on the 4 lay up one night.  I was doing a window bottom piece and I saw these cops walking towards me on the catwalk, I ducked low and gathered my cans of paint, put them in my backpack and slid down the pole to the elevated tracks.  I once went through a daring 4 yard raid with MITCH 77 and DISCO 92 (aka MED 167) – that kid opened up the seat inside the train and hid in there.  LOL!  Imagine  that stunt he pulled!  He came home as black as

   me! LOL!  I almost got pinched in the “D” yard too.  That was the closest a cop had ever gotten to grabbing me.  He had lunged at me and his hand just nicked me.  I got out of there after that.  The two toys (less known graffiti writers) that were already there when I arrived, started to follow me and ask me stupid questions.  I couldn’t shake these two toys off.  I dusted them and they got busted. 

    

The inside “killa” I was, I knew I had to surpass them all. BOO 2, JEE2 (aka JAMES TOP) and DEAN BYB. I had 40-something quarts of ink.  Who was going to stop me! TEAN TMT AND KADE TMT, FUZZ ONE, K56, SKEME, DONDI, LOVIN 2 (aka AERON).  All of those dudes got busy in the insides of the train. If there’s anyone who can tell it real – I can.  I 'd walk in to the "D" with 20 pints of flomaster ink, 2 pilots markers, 2 uni wide markers, 2 Niji markers, 2 Magnum 44's all flooded

 down to the rim. Jump in to the train , tear down every poster and catch all the permanent spots then hit all the panel spots. I also like hitting the ceiling as well as the ceiling fans which WASP 1 was so famous for. Occasionally they park a shuttle train in the front of the " D " yard and I'd tear that shit apart! There was no room for any one.. cats use to bug out on that shit. Real deal McCoys know the deal. MITCH 77 , RUB 5, BOO 2, TEX 183, Dr. Pepper ( aka FACT), BS 119, CRAP 2, 2 FAMOUS,  REC 2, where bombing the insides hard on the number 4 lines, But I had to be a few steps ahead of them and knew I had to smash those insides every night. I was the ultimate 20 can man!  I racked  twenty cans in one shot.  I’d walk into Martin Paints, go in and out about  three times and have about

40 cans of paint.  My boys and I had this spot in queens where we’d know this dude’s lunch schedule.   We would stake him out from across the street and wait for him to clock out for lunch and stroll out of the place, then we would go in and get busy.  I went in there with two empty shopping

bags and walked out with thirty-six cans of spray paint.  We’d cleaned out the whole paint rack. FUZZ ONE and I had a spot in Roosevelt Ave, Queens.  The black guy who worked at the shop let us rack paints (steal paints).  He didn’t ask usfor money, weed or anything.  I guess the owner probably owed him money or something like that.  I don’t want to mention the name of the store… but if that person ever reads this – thanks for the paint!  I used to rack everything and anything: sneakers, jean, caps, coffee, etc.  I used to have little spots where I would go and sell some of that stuff.  I’d make about $100 in two hours.  FUZZ ONE taught me how to steel paint by putting it in my socks.  I’d put two cans of paint in each sock.  These new cats knew

nothing about that.  The funny thing about all of this was that four years earlier I had worked in an art supply store.  It had paint, markers, ink and all that stuff.  I didn’t write at the time, but imagine if I did.  And even though I didn’t write, I still racked from there.  I just couldn’t help myself. 



That era of bombing was hard, but a buff  (cleaning of trains) came and it made it a little easier.  I remember the first time they started placing fences around the yards and how I had to cut a hole or two in the gate with bolt cutters.  And I also remember the guard dogs they kept in the yards.  But the dogs were taken out because the union opposed having the dogs there due to the safety of the transit workers.  As a writer, I had respect for other people’s work.  The only time I’d write over someone’s work was when I had no choice.  I’d walk through the yards and bypass their work knowing I could not go over it. When I had to, I would completely paint over someone’s work so it couldn’t be seen

any longer.  It was difficult but I’d get by if I did it well. I remember the beef I had going with the TMT boys.  They were all “bark and no bite.”  They used to come to the writers bench on 149th street asking around for me.  I got wind of this and I got to the bottom of it.  With these guys I had to catch them when they were alone.  TEAN 5 was tall, and KADE was short and they both couldn’t fight.  FED 2 was really the brag I had the beef with…it’s a long story…Well it used to be FUZZ ONE, NOC 167, and myself always hanging tough. Then FUZZ ONE started chilling with TEAN and KADE, so FUZZ

  said I could start putting up the TMT crew. TMT was one of the elite writing groups highly recognized at the time.  But I was still loyal to the OTB crew.  I ran into FED2 at the writer’s bench, and came up to him and confronted him!  And before he could answer, I punched him in the mouth.  TEAN had a fight with KEL 139 (aka KEL 1st).  TEAN was kicking and screaming.  In this game you had to fight for your reputation. But now we’re all cool - TEAN, KADE, FED 2 and myself. [If you read this FED, my apologies my brother.  Nothing personal, but it was business and we were young.]

In those days I wanted to fight the biggest guy …because that’s the way respect was earned. I was cool with VINE, CHAIN 3, EC 3 and FUZZ ONE.  I didn’t really have to hang with them to get exposure. Really! In that aspect there was no need for me to travel to Brooklyn to bomb the BMT’s.  Why should I risk getting busted in a neighborhood I wasn’t familiar with.  Besides, all the trains from the Bronx traveled into Brooklyn anyway!  The 4 and 5s, 2 and 3s, D, A, and Fs…    They all went to Brooklyn.

I could bomb all those trains in my own backyard. I stopped writing because I started making money and riding motorcycles.  Bombing trains was something I could not do forever.  I could get back in the game on any given day.  I already made a name for myself.  I guess you grow out of it eventually.  But you know how the old saying goes - Once a Writer, always a writer! I show up at the art show events and show love to the upcoming cats and dogs. The fun and trying times I went through just to get the name up - I don’t regret any of it.  Not one bit!  Giving it all up wasn’t the easiest thing to do.

In closing:  Through the “BAN2” and “DELI 167” era I started out a small fry but through hard work ended up a big fish. I went into yards and worked strong and hard and left dirty and smelly - the ride was one that I would cherish forever.  I gained all the friends of who’s who in the graffiti game and I didn’t let the fame go to my head.  Sure there were conflicts to deal with at times and it did get out of hand such as brothers and sisters who got into fights over writing.  That was crazy. We all represent one nation - the graffiti nation! To all the fallen comrades – may you all Rest In Peace, may God Bless you and Amen.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Should any one have any of BAN 2's work or any of the members of the O.T.B crew please contact us MESSAGE@SUBWAYOUTLAWS.COM  Photo credits go to BAN 2, ZEPHYR, TRACY 168, BLADE and @ 149th Street.