Reaps (New York) Graffiti Writer Spotlight

What’s up everybody I write REAPS and I’m from Queens New York, born and raised. I started writing in 1989 but I took a strong liking to graffiti in the early 80s as a young kid watching the trains go by covered in spray paint, as well as seeing it in schoolyards, on garbage trucks, and hand ball courts across the city. That caused me to start writing at a very young age going through a series of wack tags and being extremely toy in the beginning. But by the time I was 11 I was already doing pieces and my tag was REAP. At that point I liked the tag but I wasn’t happy with how the R and P interacted on opposite ends so I added the S for better balance and it stuck. The crew I paint with is SHK and it consists of like minded writers that have a vast and awesome variety of style, technique, and many years of experience. I’m a big fan of writers who are versatile and have a variety of well-balanced styles. Dondi will probably be my all-time favorite, he was ahead of his time by lightyears and motivated possibly every writer throughout history as well as myself. My favorite current writer, who has been at the top on my list for well over a decade, is Totem2 from Atlanta. The true definition of a writers writer, fluent in all forms of graffiti and a true genius in the art of burning. Another all-time favorite would be DAIM. I went through a 3-D phase when that style hit back in the late 90’s and I always thought his stuff was incredible, even till this day. Not only for his 3D letter forms but his color palette and overall layout has always been on point. CES is another one on my list, his longevity in the game and sick flow from technical pieces to his creative approach towards unique out the box style pieces from these past few years have also been a strong inspiration for me. And his traditional NYC style always impresses the masses and will remain timeless in my book. I’ve also always been motivated by the current times as well, by the envelope pushers when it comes to style, the experimentalists like Sofles, RIME and the MSK crew, JURNE, DISTORT, ACRO and the AIDS crew just to name a few. Traveling outside of the box of basic graffiti and staying current or ahead of the curve also plays a big factor to me when it comes to style. Besides the writers and styles that have motivated me, my personal mood and mental state plays a big role in my art as well. I freestyle almost all my pieces on walls and rarely use a pencil for paper or canvas, I like to let my soul do the work and my hand just follows along. My range varies according to how I feel, I might do technical sharp letter forms that look dangerous to touch or go with a bright bubbly cartoon looking style with characters. I’m also a big fan of themes and productions, whether large or small scale I enjoy the energy collaborations bring, feeding off each other’s ideas to make the end result as sick as possible. The art of graffiti has been a part of my life for longer than almost anything else and will always be my first true love, both as a hobby and as a lifestyle. Thank you Bombing Science for all that you do for the graffiti community and for the opportunity to share my art and ramble on a little bit about myself, I definitely appreciate it!