COCO 144
DATE OF INTERVIEW:
September 15th, 2006
1- NAMES USED:
COCO144
2- YEAR STARTED WRITING?
I started writing at home, practicing on a couple of things like my brothers timbale case and a cardboard box that had some of my mothers things in 1969 with some stencils I made before I attempted going in the streets.
YEAR RETIRED?
1972 when I joined UGA.
3- AGE WHEN YOU STARTED WRITING?
I was 13 years young
4- WHERE IN NYC?
In Manhattan (upper west harlem)144 st bway/amsterdam
5- WHY DID YOU START WRITING?
It's hard to say...for many reasons...one was to be known.
6- WHO WERE YOUR WRITING PARTNERS (IF ANY) ? STILL IN TOUCH WITH THEM
TODAY?
Writing parners were TAN144, ACE137, LUIS 1, I continue to stay in touch with TAN
7- WRITING GROUPS YOU FOUNDED OR CO-FOUNDED?
UGA
8- WRITING GROUPS YOU BELONGED TO?
none
9- YOU WROTE YOUR FIRST TIME ON A WALL, BUS, TRAIN OR TRUCK?
Wall
10- YOUR FIRST HIT EVER - WHICH MEDIUM DID YOU USE, i.e. MARKER, SPRAY PAINT, PEN, ETC.?
marker
11- WHERE DID YOUR WRITING NAME COME FROM?
COCO is a nickname given to me at a very young age
12- WHICH WAS THE FIRST SUBWAY LINE YOU HIT? (IF YOU HIT SUBWAYS)
The #1 IRT broadway line
12A- WHAT OTHER SUBWAY LINES DID YOU HIT?
A,RR,Q, and N
14- WHAT YARDS & LAYUPS DID YOU WORK AT?
Broadway at 137st
15- WHERE YOU 'KING' OF ANY PARTICULAR SUBWAY LINE(S)?
#1 IRT
16- WHO WAS YOUR MENTOR? (IF APPLICABLE) DID YOU MENTOR ANY OTHER WRITERS?
I feel all the writers in general of that time 1970-1972 , and I feel that my contribution on the subways,mentored others
17- WHICH WRITERS DID YOU LOOK UP TO? WHY?
JOE182, JOE136, BABYFACE86,
because they were just killing shit
18- DID YOU INTRODUCE ANYTHING NEW TO THE WRITING MOVEMENT?
IF 'YES,' WHAT WAS IT? WHAT YEAR?
YES!!! the first stencil,(an idea I had created years before) I believe in late 71 or early 72
19- HOW LONG WOULD YOU GUESSTIMATE THAT EACH GENERATION OF WRITERS LASTED?
for me it was about every 6 months
20- WHICH WERE YOUR FAVORITE COLORS TO WORK WITH?
the only one I could get my hands on most of the time...FLAME(red devil)
21- WHICH BRAND OF SPRAY PAINT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TO WORK WITH?
red devil,wet look
22- WHICH MARKER WAS YOUR FAVORITE?
dri marker, pilots
23- WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE SPOT TO HIT YOUR NAME AT IN THE SUBWAY SYSTEM? (IF APPLICABLE)
inside end panels
24- DO YOU HAVE IN MEMORY A "FAVORITE" MASTERPIECE THAT YOU DID? IF 'YES,' WHICH ONE? WHEN? WHERE? WHY?
just one multi color outline the rest were hits(tags)
25- WERE YOU EVER ARRESTED FOR WRITING? IF 'YES,' WHEN? WHERE? WITH WHOM? BY WHOM?
yeah, by myself and I was sentenced to buff a station on a saturday with some other writers
26- WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO 'RACK UP' AT?
the 5&10 otherwise known as woolworth's
27- WHICH IS THE CORRECT NAME FOR THIS ART FORM:
GRAFFITI ART? AEROSOL ART? WRITING? GRAFFITI? WHY?
I'm having a hard time with naming this movement
28- ARE YOU STILL WRITING/PAINTING TODAY? IF YOU USE CANVAS, YOUR FEELINGS ON STEEL -VS- CANVAS?
on everytihing mentioned and more
29- *WHY* DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT AFTER ALL THE EVOLUTION THAT WRITING HAS EXPERIENCED SINCE ITS BEGINNINGS IN ' 69-' 70, EVOLUTION THAT INCLUDES ACCEPTANCE AND ADAPTATION BY YOUTH WORLDWIDE, EVEN ACCEPTANCE BY SOME GOVERNMENTS OUTSIDE THE U.S., THE POWERS THAT BE IN THE U.S. STILL CONSIDER THIS CULTURE AS ONLY AN EYESORE? IS RACISM TO BLAME? CLASSISM? OR BOTH?
because some folks in this country are slow
30- DO YOU CONSIDER WRITING AN "ART FORM"?
I rather say an expression
31- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF 'SCRACHITTI'?
due to the climate currently, I feel that writers are expressing themselves by any means necessary and tools availible.
32- WHAT DO YOU DO PROFESSIONALLY TODAY?
I defy energy...
33- ANY ADVICE TO YOUNG WRITERS WORLDWIDE TODAY?
follow your heart...
34- ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?
I will say more on another venue soon...
35- YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION?
none for now
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Yo COCO,
you forgot to mention the Sheepshead Bay / Neck Rd. layups in Brooklyn. I remember the night that MANI, others and I went there to bomb and found the paint still wet on your outside hits on the RR's. We must have missed you niggs by minutes... Those were the days. - MICO
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