50mm Los Angeles

Writer Spotlight: QUIK ONE NYC

Story by Jimmy Olsen
50mm staff writer

Jimmy Olsen: What do you write ?

Quik: I am most popular for the name QUIK, although I started out doing graff as STAR-X. I began as a child looking up to guys like STAR III, Star 206, SPIN, STOP and SUPERSTRUT.

Jimmy Olsen: When did you start writing?

Quik: I had been scribbling on things at school and church as early as 1970, but didnâ€™t paint my first train outside until 1972 in Queens at the 75th Ave. stop on the E & F line.

Jimmy Olsen: Were there any writers that you looked up to when you first started your writing career.?

Quik: The early 70s were so exciting when writing was new. Pioneers like Phase-2, JACE 2, SHARK 77, JUNIOR 161, ALL JIVE 161, STAYHIGH and HONDO caught everyoneâ€™s eye. I recall being a little spud (I still
am, I guess) taking notes in my school book pad of all the names I saw frequently. When my pad was full, I then realized that something BIG was going on, and I had become a part of it! That was a cool feeling,
man.

Jimmy Olsen: What writing crews did you run with>?

Quik: Crews come and go, yet I used to tag up Masters of Graffiti, SOUL ARTISTS, 3 yard Boys, The Killers, Rolling Thunder Writers, Soul Killers, WOW and a few others.

Jimmy Olsen: Tell me the about writing in NYC in the 70s and 80s when graffiti exploded?

Quik: The 70s were the innovative years, styles were developing rapidly so it seemed. Kings and different genres of becoming a â€œkingâ€ were being defined. As my man, HAZE says, â€œThere was no blueprint how to
do it!â€ everything was â€œnewâ€, this made bombing and outrunning authority thrilling. By the early 1980s when NYC styles had hit itâ€™s 2nd peak, the ins and outs of how to bomb and take over lines was well
defined. Guys like SEEN, LEE, BLADE, COMET and DONDI had mastered whole car top to bottom productions; wild style kings were well defined and recognized along with the guys (like me)who simply just fuckinâ€™ bombed!

Jimmy Olsen: Did you ever have any beef or battles you can talk about?

Quik: All popular writers who got up had beef. The way to be a king was to be the most â€œupâ€ so everybody had to be backgrounded in my eye. There are too few guys I didnâ€™t go over when I had finally hit my stride.
I would battle crews of 15-20 guys like The Deadly 4; Morris Park Crew and Crazy Writers. Eventually I stayed the most up, and they faded.

Jimmy Olsen: What do you consider the most important aspect of writing that needs to be perfected. handstyle, piecing or throws....?

Quik: What ever turns ya on, baby. I just had the need to get up! BOMB!A combination of all those things was important in many aspects of which writers you wished to receive respect from. The guys would
always urge me to do better pieces, colorful and interesting, otherwise they wouldnâ€™t want to do whole cars with me. That was alright, with me. I could do my own fuckinâ€™ ugly whole cars. But, to hang out and get down yahad to show some flavor!

Jimmy Olsen: What was your best writing experience?

Quik: Piecing with JESTER and TRUE 2 and all those initial times learning stuff in the tunnels and yards with VINNY, UNCLE JOHN, COKE 67, LIL SOUL 159, RHINO, So-FIVE and othersâ€¦

Jimmy Olsen: Your worst?

Quik: Gettingâ€™ busted, Chief!

Jimmy Olsen: When was the last time you went writing?

Quik: Huh? Uh, 1899 post Civil war!

Jimmy Olsen: Are you still an active writer?

Quik: Whatâ€™s this stuffâ€¦â€¦..? Iâ€™m old!

Jimmy Olsen: How do you feel about the graffiti scene in the 21st century?

Quik: Its kinda boring, but many superb innovative things are being down with the spray can that one couldâ€™ve never expected. If it ainâ€™t on a NYC subway train, I have too may other interests in life to get that charged up over contemporary scenes in Austrailia or fuckinâ€™ Idaho.

Jimmy Olsen: What type of projects are currently working on?

Quik: Exhibitions, books, murals, teaching, magazine columns, staying far afield from Americaâ€™s jihad, etc. I stay busy.

Jimmy Olsen: Any last thoughts, words, advice, shouts?

Quik: Donâ€™t tell people how to do stuff, suggest ways in which one can grow and realize oneâ€™s potential. The world is a scary place, and with so much negativity letâ€™s get down and spread some harmony.