FLINT… CONNECTING THE DOTS

  Before beginning I would like to address a point about FLINT… and Flint 707, that I should have included in Part 1. There is no comparison between the two. Both are vitally important to the movement in very different ways.  Flint 707 was a Brooklyn style master who transformed his awesome tag into a blueprint for piecing then topped it off with a 3D color scheme that revolutionized lettering perspectives and fill-in techniques for those that followed. His color sense and presence on the BMT’s made him a legend and easy choice for UGA membership. Comparing him to FLINT… is an apples to oranges equation. FLINT… wasn’t playing the same game. The two met back in the day and almost fought when Flint 707 took offense to FLINT…‘s use of the name they shared , but cooler heads prevailed. Both Flint’s appear in the pages of my book Graffiti 365 along with photos and bios.

HMMM? ONLY ONE DOT?

  FLINT…‘s approach didn’t include piecing and his tag style remained deliberately plain to communicate with the everyman not just other writers. The photos he took capturing the heavyweights of his era include : Tracy 168, LSD OM , FDT 56,Bomb 1, Shadow, Dime 139, Krome 100, MICO, Dino Nod, Chopper 13, Scooter, Hoy 56, Sonny 107, SJK 171, Bama /AMRL, his neighbor Flip 1 SSB and too many others to recall. 

UP IN THE BRONX WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE FRESH (1973 Grand Concourse Wall)

    In early 1973 LSD OM didn’t know any writers , although he’d been writing LSD OM for a while and CHAD prior to that. A social breakthrough occurred when he met FDT 56 around his block. LSD OM considers this meeting the key to getting socialized into the ranks of the culture’s movers and shakers as FDT 56 would provide him with intros to a who’s who list of writing luminaries .

CAN YOU SAY LEGENDS? TWICE! (FDT 56 and LSD OM TAKING A BREAK.)

Soon, LSD OM ventured to The High School Of Art and Design , a hotbed for writers and a style laboratory of sorts. He met FLINT… there and told him he had admired his sayings approach to writing. The two formed an instant friendship that was based on mutual respect for one another’s work. LSD OM recalls: “When we went writing together FLINT… amazed me , because he always carried around this little spiral note pad filled with those sayings he’d write”. FLINT… addresses this by stating: “For Those Who Dare was an easy one to remember, but after that , after all the weed I was smoking I had to carry the book around because my memory was shot.”    The amazing thing about writing in the early 70’s was the visual communication that existed between boroughs . Cats from the Bronx knew who was who from Brooklyn and Manhattan. This phenomenon expanded socially as Bronx cats ventured out to Brooklyn and vice versa. LSD OM soon found himself hanging in Brooklyn with Dino Nod ,Scooter and the Ex Vandals posse and FLINT.. would often chill in a Grand Concourse playground near Yankee Stadium with FDT 56, Hoy 56 and others… a cultural exchange program of sorts.

LSD OM IN THE BRONX WITH STITCH 1 R.I.P. and C. A. T. 87 TAGS

  FLINT.. always brought his camera and states that he has always had a dialogue with photography.  “Ever since I was a little kid, we’re talking grammar school now, I always had an innate sense on how to take a complete picture. Nobody’s head ever got chopped out of one of my photos.    In the winter of ‘73 LSD OM , after a partnership between he and FLINT… had been forged, LSD OM wanted to form a crew of their own ,but couldn’t think of a good crew name. One day LSD OM who often planned bombing strategies for the duo , devised a plan to hit insides on the Coney Island station. His theory being that several lines passed through the spot and they could bomb several lines simultaneously. While doing their thing they encountered another like minded individual, a little blonde kid several years their junior. The kid turned out to be Rebel 3 and already had developed a nasty tag style. A light bulb went off in LSD OM’s head and he knew he’d found a fitting moniker for a crew, THE REBELS. FLINT… and LSD OM founded the crew and put REBEL 3 in as the first member. Rebel dropped the 3 from his tag and rocked insides with one of the freshest tag styles of his day. Other early members included SE 3 aka HAZE, an early protege of LSD OM’s and the first band-shell oriented cat to be inducted , HOY 56 and later Queens king ROGER .   

MOTORMAN AND APPRECIATIVE PASSENGER TAKE IN A BICENTENNIAL WHOLE CAR PRODUCTION BY CRAZY DIKE, KINDO 2 and JAY 159

Photography became just as important of a mode for creativity and expression as writing did for FLINT… who states: “At one point I honestly didn’t know if I was a writer or a photographer.”  Almost 40 years later the culture we can be very thankful that he decided to wear both hats.