When someone mentions Kansas City, the thought of sports teams and bomb BBQ joints comes to mind not graffiti and production walls. After this weekend, KC put themselves on the map for graffiti by hosting a city wide event called the “Master Piece” put on by Years and the KE Crew. It featured about 40 production walls, there was a viewing of the CBS graff movie “Cant be Stopped”, Ruins Pub held a hip hop show, a lowrider show and plenty of other things goin on to keep you entertained.
There were a handful of heavy hitter crews invited to the event that were expected to make your jaw drop at what they can create with a spray can. But don’t think they were the only ones grabbing your attention. Years, the mastermind behind the event, scouted out a handful of up and coming crews to throw down some flava as well. He took an interesting approach by mixing levels of crews within the same neighborhood. This allowed spectators to judge for themselves who REALLY threw down.
Writers drove/flew in from all parts of the states. They even had someone come in from Hawaii….what up Rets!!
This 3 day event was open to the public and was about giving back to the community. They went into neighborhoods that never had legal walls before. Once everything was said and done, they were lucky enough to be blessed by the graff heads that rolled thru town.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Years, the man responsible for the Master Piece, here’s what he hadta say:
Where did the idea of having an event of this caliber in KC come from?
Well Phever CBS came out to paint a few months ago. He was impressed by the amount of wall space and opportunity in the city. So that conversation kinda planted the seed and I continued to think about it. Until one day, I decided to host the Master Piece.
Was it hard to convince business owners to donate walls?
Not really, I showed em walls that we did. And basically told em I have a buncha friends coming out to paint at the same time. And they were cool with it.
Will you and your crew host the Master Piece again next year?
Im in! Every writer came up to me asking “will this happen again”? As long as there’s no slack from the city. Everybody showed respect to me and my crew and was there to have a good time.
Who’s wall were you most impressed with? Care to give a nod?
Everybody came correct! There isn’t one bad wall! Every crew shined, including the underdogs. I’m incredibly proud of everyone that came out. And myself and the KE Crew wanna say thank you for making it a success!
Speaking of having a successful event. I thought I’d get a few writers point of views on what they got out of the weekend.
What did you like about the Master Piece?
“I thought it was a good opportunity for a bunch of artists to come together to beautify an area” Ankor YPN/GL
“It was great that the walls were spread out thru the town. I thought all the walls came out sikk!” Rank KE/ADS/FR
“Being able to network and meet new people. You were able to walk around and see people do their wall and knowing you have your own production to work on.” Sad YPN
For more event coverage check out @kansascity_master_piece or @kansascity_streetart on Instagram
To be considered for next year’s lineup contact Years @stuck_in_da_90s on Instagram
Thanks to Years, Ankor, Rank and Sad for taking the time out to chat with me. And an extra huge thanks to @dadofmojo @voiceonearts for shooting some incredible flics from the event.
Words by attng3tr
Photos by dadofMOJO and voiceonearts
