This is considered a no-no and is lookedĭown upon, even though writers often borrow imagery from cartoons and comics.īLOCKBUSTER Big, square letters, often tilted back and forth and in (usually) twoĬolors. Jaw, the losing crew has to stop writing their name, etc., etc.īITE To copy another writer's style. Negotiated by the crews involved and can be payment in paint, pot, a sock in the The terms of losing and winning are usually For both kinds of battle, an outside crew A getting-up battle is when the writers take a certain area of aĬity and whichever crew can get up the most in that area within a certain amount Time period (usually a day or a few hours) and whoever does the best piece is A skills battle is when two writers piece a wall within a certain The battle can take two forms: skills battle or getting up - essentially quality Also can refer toīATTLE This is done when two writers or two crews have some sort of disagreement. Piece to make it stand out from the wall or train.īACK TO BACK A wall that is pieced from end to end all the way across. That make the piece hard to discern the color or design painted behind the

The piece stand out from all the tags and assorted scribbling on a subway car Also a hip-hop/rap term.īACKGROUND Originated on the subways out of neccessity. Can also referīACK IN THE DAY Refers to the 'old days', old school, or when a writer first Many people can be 'up',īut only a select few could be considered 'all city'. Term implies more status than being just 'up'. Origins and its current application to graffiti culture.ĪLL CITY What a writer is considered to be when he/she is 'up', but this The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls'-Simon andĪn effort has been made to keep to some of the history of each word, its A newer glossary has been compiled by 149th Street. So terms in use in your area may well be different. Note that this list is quite dated and somewhat NYC-centric. Subway Art by Henry Chalfant for basic infoĪnd references. Thanks to RaskeL & Celtic (for info on homemades and Griffin shoe dye), Also in Japanese! and a new one: translated by Takuya HiramotoĬhad with help from Schmoo.

Tagger letters