Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Legend Thursday Graffiti Podcast

From a legend himself, COUPE dives in and discusses a range of topics with well known and accomplished graffiti writers.  Check out their website where they list their podcasts by date or by artist.  Just looking at the list of artists, Legend Thursday was a good name!  We are a subscriber and have enjoyed many of the releases.

Legend Thursday Graffiti Podcast

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

We won't rate our own video.. however we did want to share it on here.  Hope you enjoy!

Monday, September 12, 2016

Indecline in New Jersey

They just don't stop as they hit a billboard in New Jersey with an upside down flag.  Their logo replaced the stars.  Seems to be some kind of a statement surrounds 9-11 as they used hashtag #neverforget.  Lovem or hatem, they get up and provide thought provoking material and not just random hipster shit!

thisisindecline.com

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

#RIPbonesFUA

Clean isn't a enough of a word to describe how this dude painted.  The FUA Krew is PACKED with talented artists from TASTE to MEK to RANGE to OZ.  Every artist in that squad brings something to the table.  Their productions were full and always complete!  Standing back and looking at such a massive wall, there was always one style that stood out which was BONES.  His graffiti style was so unique I don't think it'll ever be recreated.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and his crew!

Rest In Peace Bones (FUA)

Monday, September 5, 2016

#RIPbonesFUA

Still doesn't feel true that BONES is no longer with us.  We hope he's Resting In Paint above!  He was a real burner and had a simple but complex style that is difficult to bite.

He was a freight king! He didn't earn that by tags, throwies and whatevers... he did full burners and killed it every time!

RIP bones FUA

Sunday, August 28, 2016

BONES (FUA)

We learned today that the graffiti lost a piece of itself when BONES (FUA) passed away over night.  He was a real innovator and a good dude.  We always enjoyed meeting up with him at graffiti events and catching up.  We even had the pleasure to paint with him a couple times.  Our thoughts are prayers go out to his family and the FUA Krew.

We will be taking off the next week but we will be back!

#RIPBONESFUA

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

MILLION DOLLAR HOUSES WILL SOON BE UNDERWATER


We wish we knew who the artist was who did this because they definitely deserve the credit!  "South Beach residents woke up to a grim prediction painted in neat block letters across the top of the old abandoned South Shore Hospital: “YOUR MILLION DOLLAR HOUSES WILL SOON BE UNDERWATER"  Needless to say the owner of the building which is under construction was a little pissed.  Have you ever been to South Beach and/or Miami?  If you don't know, the prosperity gap is very large there and a sign like this comes as no surprise.

Mystery graffiti with grim message appears on abandoned SoBe tower

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

Terror in the Burbs

A hardcore soundtrack was the best thing about this video. It was ok with an original concept but lacked and needed quicker action scenes, I mean there's only so long you can watch someone else paint and be entertained. It did showcase some dope writers and some dope pieces but lagged at times but otherwise was just ok.

(4.5 out of 10)

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

We met TASTE a few years back and he's a real nice dude who is amazingly talented!  This Molotow train car has been painted by only the best!  This piece is pure fire and nothing less than what you'd expect.  We appreciate the commentary that TASTE gives and can't believe he doens't use a sketch.  Shows how truly talented he is that he can do such dope burners off the top of his head.  He describes that the name should already be in your blood which should ring true on any real writer.

(10 out of 10)

Monday, August 15, 2016

Train Hopping

Have you seen the videos we uploaded last month?  Check out our YouTube Page where we have posted several new videos.  Part 1-4 of our Train Hopping series is up and gaining views!  Like and follow us and help support as we grow and try and bring you more content!

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

...honestly, what can we say about this video, ha-ha!  We are not about to express any political opinions, however, you have to have a good sense of humor during this crazy political season.  It's very clear how the people of Indecline will be voting this November.  Even if you strongly disagree with Indecline and their thoughts on Trump... you can't deny they kill it and is funny at the same time.

(8 out of 10)

Friday, August 5, 2016

Freight Friday

Today's Freight trains are still being ran on the backs of an infrastructure build several generations ago!  Enjoy the weekend and stay safe!

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

Relatively a new upload featuring live bombing in Oakland, California.  Mainly featuring night time bombing but a few day time spots which is fresh!  An interesting choice of music as it changes up genres but is a good mix.  Black and white throughout which doesn't hurt or help.  Pemex, Sori, Ideal are the only artists feature and look like they killed the city!  Decent video, worth a few minutes to watch.

(6 out of 10)

MTA Rejects Graffiti Style Ad

....then you come across articles like this and realize how far off any hopes are that one day graffiti and MTA can share space.  We have not read this book, please let us know what you think!

MTA Rejects Advertising for Looking Too Much Like Graffiti

Monday, August 1, 2016

Clean Trains

Perhaps we are extremely biased but we wish the MTA would work with writers to allow some kind of art collaboration.  They at times cover whole cars with ads that are just too much.  Why they refuse to embrace a culture that has helped to define the city is beyond us.  However, again, that could just be our biased of love for the art form.  We enjoy anytime we come across clean trains getting burned down to the ground!

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Wu Wednesday's

Its time for #WuWednesday again!  We are a huge fan of Atmosphere, slug is what's left of real hip-hop.  This song is about as close as you can get to a graffiti writers night in the yards and a cop comes up on you.  As much as writers hope the ending rings true in every chase but it's not likely so don't be planning on it! Ha-ha!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

We review Teenagers from Uranus last June.  However we can't help to point out a skit they did.  This has us rolling on the floor laughing our asses off.  This is some pre-9-11 shit and it's awesome they were able to get away with it!

This clip gets,
(9 out of 10)

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

Quality of Life 
An indie film that really tries to bring the audience into the life of a graffiti artist and the subculture. It was really well done, professional and cinematic. This is the first graffiti themed indie film that I've seen that is done right. We thought that both of the main characters, 'Heir' and 'Vain' really capture your average writers personal lives and evolution of their graffiti career with one taking his talent somewhere while the other kind of bums around. The ending was a little over dramatic but helped to complete the movie. We did enjoy watching a graffiti themed movie and recommend this for anyone who is tired of poorly put together documentary and just want to watch a straight movie.


(4 out of 10)

Friday, July 15, 2016

Freight Friday

It's Friday... many lay ups sit silent and cold even on hot nights.  You're either a writer thats all about freights or you don't get it and are about the bombing and piecing.  Whatever your drug of choice, stay safe this weekend!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Website Update

We may have been on vacation last month however that doesn't mean we were sleeping and sipping drinks the whole time.  We have been working on our website vigorously and there's a light at the end of the tunnel!  We are excited for the next few months and hopefully this fall we will have it completed!  Stay patient and stay with us!


Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Wu Wednesday's

We can't remember if we've features Mac Miller on the blog or not.  Anyways, he's pretty fresh and reminds us some ol school 90s flow that has been updated... if that makes sense.  This song isn't particularly our favorite but it's a good summer song.


Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Tuesdays Underground Lowdown

This isn't our typical review of a full production video.  However this is a video we came across and as far as benching videos go... this is alright!  We respect the fact that putting together ANY video takes a lot of time and effort.  At the same time, benching freights isnt as easy as setting up a camera and recording for a few hours.  Well, sometimes if youre lucky.  However, most benching videos is usually cherry picked to one's own liking of certain styles, etc.  This video seems to be a little unbiased and isn't shaky or bad angles.  Shot up in Canada, a lot of rolling stock with a decent soundtrack throughout!  Enjoy!

(8 out of 10)

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Wu Wednesday's

We-Are-Back!!!  We are kicking it off with Wu Wednesday with a rapper we stumbled across in recent months.  This dude is kind of fresh and when compared to today's rap, he's straight fire!  Token is from North of Boston and is only 17.  Regardless what you think about his style, he is going places.  
#WuWednesday

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Vacation

We will be MIA for the month of June but promise to return in July!  


Saturday, May 28, 2016

UTAH & ETHER Interview

From Acclaim Magazine, an interview with UTAH & ETHER.  We have picked out some of the highlights, you can read the rest here,
acclaimmag.com/arts/issue-28-en-route-feature-utah-ether-mul#1


How did you guys meet initially?

UTAH: I was going on this road trip with a former friend and at the last minute he had to ditch out on it. He didn’t want me to go by myself and he was like “Oh my friends really want to go”. Well his friends were Ether and this other guy. I thought Ether was a total fucking weirdo. It was a six-hour drive to where we were going and he just slept the whole way. When we got there he woke up, we painted a train, then he went back to sleep the entire way back. I thought this kid was kinda weird but he had gas money, so that was pretty cool [laughs].

So when did you start painting together? Was it from that first time?

U: We didn’t really start painting a lot together until ’06. We went to Toronto for New Years, and painted a load of Metros there. Then we came back and painted in New York and did a whole East Coast tour.

E: Around that time was when the train-painting renaissance was going on in America. At the time there were a lot of people trying to do that sort of stuff. Not a lot of people really knew what they were doing though, so we were at the forefront of traveling and figuring out systems that hadn’t been hit hard.

Where there any systems that you wanted to paint, but didn’t get a chance to?

E: We’ve got a few works in progress.

Have you got any good travel stories for us?

E: Well it’s a typical lame graff story but we were painting an underground yard in Paris and we ended up getting spotted by a driver. There was only one way in or out aside from this emergency hatch that we’d never used before.

U: We go to duck out this emergency exit and there’s this dude sitting there with a German Shepard, a Canine Unit.

E: He didn’t know we were there; we totally caught him off guard. He hadn’t got a call yet and he didn’t know that we’d been painting right below him.

U: It’s mayhem. The dog is barking, this guy is yelling at me and I’m screaming back at him. Ether is trying to get out of the hatch and the hatch isn’t opening. We’re in this underground hallway pinned in a corner between the hatch and the tracks.

E: He’s this big dude with a German Shepard and it’s a really small hallway and I’m thinking I’ll just sort of push past him and be like “We didn’t do anything. It’s okay. Just chill” and this dude does some ninja bullshit and kicks me. So I approach again and I’m like “Nah nah man, it’s cool” and he kicks me in the balls.

U: I’m looking over at Ether and I’m like “Okay do you want to just do this?” Because we’re either getting racked or we’re just blowing past this dude and fucking him up if we have to. The guy is getting pissed off because we’re talking in English, so we both got up and Ether is walking towards him and he takes the muzzle off the dog.

E: I’m going in to give the guy a jab and he lets go of the dog, which I don’t even see. Before I know it there’s this German Shepard dragging me by my leg back down the hallway. But it works because he pulls me back past the exit and down into the yard. At first the security guard is just happy that I’m getting bitten by the dog, so I’m hitting it and trying to gouge its eyes.

U: I’m screaming just to be loud and hectic, and then I’m like “No for real, what do you want me to do?” and Ether is saying “I got this, just go”. It’s just a hot mess and Ether is like “Really, get the fuck out of here”. I really didn’t want to leave him, but it was at the point where there wasn’t much I could do to help. So I was like “You know what, I’m a get the fuck out of here”. I ran down the tracks and off the platform right into a station where all these people were. As I go up the stairs to exit, all these SWAT team looking cops are coming down and I’m like “Later”.

E: Eventually the guy gets the dog off me and he’s holding me. I’m still like “Fuck this. I’m going to get up and dip on him”. I’m thinking sure, I’m bit by a dog but I’ll still be able to run, so I get up to go and I just collapse. I had no idea; those things will really fuck you up. It took probably 45 minutes for anybody else to come and while we’re waiting he has got his phone and he’s gesturing to me with his hand and saying “Last night, you paint here also”. He pulls up these photos of the panels that we’d painted there the night before with about 10 security guards posing in front of this Hunchback of Notre Dame character that I did. He’s saying “Really good, Really good! I love it”. I’m just like “No, not me”. Finally the guys come and they’re going to take me to the hospital and then the police station.

They take my bag and Utah’s bag, as well as my camera. They load me into the ambulance and a security guard gets in the back with me and they take me to this gated hospital, there’s just no point where I can escape. They take me into the ER and stitch me up with no anesthesia or anything. So security has gone to get the car and I’m sitting there waiting for them to come back for maybe five minutes when I was like “What am I doing here?” I’m not cuffed at all – I’m not sure why – they were so slipping. I just get up and grab the two bags of paint and the camera and walk out. I’m hobbling around and after this maze of all these doors I finally make it out. I end up in the parking lot right next to a police van while they’re all inside looking for me. I’m still locked in because all the cars have to come in through a gate in the lot, and my stitches are breaking out so I’m bleeding again. I was hiding behind the van and eventually another ambulance comes in and I just hobbled out in front of the security guy at the gate and waved at him, I guess he thought everything was cool.

 Did you ever go back to Paris?

U: Yeah, Paris is the shit. They love us in Paris.

Friday, May 27, 2016

#feelgoodfriday

We cant start the weekend with all of that... enjoy your weekend!



Not so #feelgoodfriday - UTAH & ETHER edition (Continued)

To continue with the Debby Downer of news, it was reported earlier this month that ETHER was arrested in Australia.   He is accused of causing almost A$2,500 worth of damage when he allegedly defaced trains at Bayswater, Williamstown, Kensington and Pakenham.  He also was accused of trying to steal a phone from someone, who he allegedly punched, and with possessing a controlled weapon.

In all, he faces eight charges. Harper did not apply for bail when he was charged last Thursday. He was remanded in custody, and is to reappear in court this week.  We don't know what extradition laws are for Australia but we wish him the best of luck.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/31528539/alleged-us-graffiti-man-in-vic-custody/

Not so #feelgoodfriday - UTAH & ETHER edition

Yea, for most of us, we missed out.  Like an ex you cant stand while you were dating, It's just one of those things that you don't know what you have until it's gone.  The limited edition signed copies of Probation Vacation went quick.  Kudos to you if you were able to grab one but to the rest of us, we slept.  We will still pick up a copy.

You can find at the following link, https://shop.thegrifters.org/

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Thursday's Underground Lowdwon - UTAH & ETHER week

Dope video of UTAH & ETHER's #probationvacation Lost in Asia.  This video was episode 6 in their installment but this time they were in the Philippines.  Like the rest, this short video doesn't disappoint.  We're not sure what it is but you definitely feel the rush as you watch these.  Perhaps its knowing that in most of these places if you get caught you hope a few hundred lashings all you get. 'Probation Vacation' has been entertaining as hell to watch.

UTAH & ETHER - PROBATION VACATION: LOST IN ASIA (Episode 6 - Philippines) from The Grifters on Vimeo.


(7 out of 10)

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Beef - UTAH & ETHER

If you've been around long enough, you have either heard good or bad things about COPE2.  The good is always about his long career and the New York City MTA trains he hit for years.  The canvas work he has done and the galleries they've been hung in around the world.  The bad, ...well, lets just say they're all really bad.  Without getting into specifics, we've heard from being a long time informant for the NYPD to being inappropriate to women.  The incident from last year between COPE2 and HOW (TATS Cru) is a total he said she said.
http://www.boweryboogie.com/2015/09/cope2-responds-to-the-altercation-and-arrest-at-the-bowery-graffiti-wall/

We aren't going to weigh in with this or that because as of now, its just shit talking.  However, the beef is real and some of the most popular besides CAP in Style Wars surrounds COPE2 and UTAH & ETHER.







Friday, May 20, 2016

#feelgoodfriday


It's been a long road... long... patient... road.  However we never gave up and even when we were standing still we kept our eyes forward and hearts in it.  We have a lot to come, stay with us for more!

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

Piece By Piece was not like any other graffiti video we've seen.  A really well organized video on the history of graffiti in San Francisco that goes back to the early 80's. This is a true documentary and entertaining with the professionalism that could be comparable to the classic film, Style Wars.

You don't have to be from or live in the bay area to appreciate or be entertained by this documentary. From the interviews of the artists who lived it; it was really informative and gave it to you straight. The directors really did do a good job at capturing the graffiti mentality and stayed structured in the different eras within the bay area's graffiti subculture. This is a pretty ill video for any writer or just someone who's interested in this criminal but highly artistic art form.


(9 out of 10)

Friday, May 13, 2016

A Mixed Bag

Todays a mix of #feelgoodfriday and Freight Fridays Feature Fix.  You might remember reading the book called, The Boxcar Children in school.  Personally I was always disappointed because I wanted it to be about boxcar's and trains but that was never the case.  I guess it's true, you can never judge a book by its cover, or name.  We stumbled upon this hilarious twitter account, called Paperback Paradise.

https://twitter.com/paprbckparadise

Here is one of our favorites from The Boxcar Children.  We put one more in for good measure from Highlights.  Definitely check out their twitter account and the books they've created.  It's hilarious!!!  Enjoy the weekend!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Tuesday's Underground Lowdown

This spotlight video with Jesusaves and put together by Bazookafilms77 is pretty dope.  Short quick video, just over three minutes but its about quality not quantity right?  Awesome action shots on a rooftop then hitting a freight hopper.  Bazookafilms77 do a good job putting together their videos and we've posted them on our Tuesday Underground Lowdown before.  We just had one question, where's the daytime shot of the rooftop?

Music by Post Malone which is pretty good and fits this video.

(7.5 out of 10)

Monday, May 9, 2016

Mondaze Feature Writer

Dude is just nasty, SMUG1 from Europe kills every mural.  Characters are beyond fire, a true master at his craft.  We've featured a couple of his works on our facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/graffinctrades/ and our own instagram https://www.instagram.com/graffinctrades/

Don't forget to look at our site,
www.graffinctrades.com

Give him a follow on Instagram!

https://www.instagram.com/smugone








Friday, May 6, 2016

#feelgoodfriday

We're not going to use this for Tuesday's Underground Lowdown simply because it's kind of bootleg.  All images are stolen and the music... well, just mute it and watch.   Enjoy the weekend!

Freight Fridays Feature Fix

 Short story behind this image is that the top image was benched by us summer 2014. The bottom image was later spotted by us on the internet last year. We would learn later that the writer wasn't able to finish the piece but the car rolled back to their spot and finished it... what are the chances?! Dope piece on this excess height BNSF boxcar by KEEPS

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Wu Wednesday's

Shes hot and we love the shirt... If you've been following our blog for a while now, you should be able to see that we're not big fans of today's music.  Who cares though, the internet is great for discovering underground artists and your own style and flavor.  What are some of your favorite hidden artist?  Send us their soundcloud or youtube and we might give them a shout out on our #WuWednesdays

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Fighting Fire with Fire

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/nyregion/a-case-for-using-street-art-to-clean-up-dreary-stretches-of-the-bronx.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=0

An interesting article about using graffiti art to battle uninvited graffiti.  Something we have always tried to explain and would hope more cities would adopt.

“They really are amazing,” said Robert Bieder, the owner of a plumbing supply business who has recommended Mr. Beltran to other landlords. “We’ve seen people from all over the world coming to admire this work. I had no idea there was such a great following for this kind of artwork.”

"While his list of walls is growing, he is stumped why some landlords won’t entertain his ideas, yet continue to allow their walls to be covered with random tags that reappear almost as soon as they are painted over."  This is definitely not a full proof magic bullet to stop illegal tagging and graffiti but it does help.  There will always be that one writer doing damage just to get fame, just look what dudes did to SABER (MSK, AWR) work on LA River.

Monday, May 2, 2016

We've Been Busy

Just because we've been quiet, there has been a lot going on behind the scene.  We are in the final stretch and getting excited.  Sneak peek... Stay tuned!!!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Tuesdays Underground Lowdown

We found this as a draft, something we started last September... Dont remember why this was never completed but here it is.  A video put together by Oink Art and their Fresh Paint featuring ANEMAL.  Some awesome and serious action footage.  A short video of ANEMAL and friends going HARD!

Anemal X Fresh Paint #4 from Oink Art LTD on Vimeo.

(8.5 out of 10)

Thursday, April 21, 2016

The 90s


Apparently we're on some 90's shit this week and to continue with that theme, we're going to check out two dudes who took over South Florida.  Miami in the early 90's was NYC in the early 80s as it was a free for all.  It was so bad that the state attorney wanted a 1 million dollar bond on CROOK and CROME. 


Check out this link and listen to the sound cloud link.



Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Wu Wednesday's


Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA has said what we're all thinking... If you're not brain dead, have a sense of style and can think for yourself, then you already have heard today's "rap" music and cry a little.  Not to sound like our parents use to say in the 90's but it has to be said.  Yes it is what they use to say but after you read this article and read what GZA has to say, well.. it speaks for itself.  Things are different and it sucks!  Thank goodness for spotify and other new technologies where you can listen to this old school hip hop.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/02/wu-tang-clan-gza-lyricism-gone-from-modern-rap

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Tuesday Underground Lowdown

Just some classic 90s footage of New York City's MTA Scrapyard.  Classics like, IZ the Wiz, Revolt, Cycle, Skeme, Zephyr and more!  Dope inside and outside footage of just bombed out cars.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Tuesday Underground Lowdown

Fresh look at what we have recently stumbled upon as a thing.  We all want to go into the tunnels like those of the 70s and 80s and paint panels and whole cars.  However with the improvement of todays technology, capturing the look and feel of the MTA tunnels is something else.





Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Wu Wednesday's

This artist is just straight nasty!  We've checked out his work and besides this dope Wu Tang image, the rest is straight fire as well.  You can CLICK HERE to view the rest of his work on Instagram (we recommend you do).

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Wu Wednesday's

Fresh freestyle by A$AP FERG over Wu Tang beat.  We've heard better but still with a share and listen.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Tuesday Underground Lowdown

If youre in the graffiti scene and you've never seen this head character than you've got to get out from under your rock.  This is a good video from the head legend himself and his British accent? ha-ha... It's entertaining as hell especially to anyone who values hearing wise words from the horses mouth  graffinctrades.com is still in talks with JABER about collaborating and the only hold up is the shopping cart.

Friday, February 12, 2016

#feelgoodfriday

We like to believe that we are more than just a grimy graffiti company.  We appreciate all forms of art work (well not including street art).  When you combine art work and a subway system, well, how can you not appreciate it.  After seeing this video we can't wait to get there and take flicks of our own!  This is just some awesome work in a dope transit system to help with a #feelgoodfriday