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TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA :: The BBOE Interview

TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA :: The BBOE Interview

They call him BBOE—a product of Los Angeles through and through. A member of the infamous Drunk Bums Crew, BBOE’s name is etched into the city’s veins, not just on walls and freeways, but in the memory of anyone who’s ever been stuck on the 101 and caught a lyric staring back at them.  Influenced by his father’s hand-lettered banners and the chaos and culture of LA itself, BBOE’s work captures the unfiltered essence of Los Angeles: beautiful, dangerous, and never anything less than real. 

Los Angeles is one of one. When you’re here, you can go to the beach, the desert, the forest, and end up at a fancy rooftop dinner in downtown all in one day. We have the best weather and weed. Despite its beauty, it can get ugly real quick based on how you conduct yourself,” BBOE tells us.

His work lives as part of the city’s ever-evolving gallery, continuing the legacy of LA street art. We caught up with BBOE ahead of our collaboration to talk about how the LA graffiti scene has changed over time, his influences, and his love for the City of Angels.

Sandy Moqsueda: Who are you, and where did you grow up?

BBOE: They call me BBOE from the infamous Drunk Bums Crew of Los Angeles, CA. 

Were you always into art growing up? Who were your biggest influences when it came to art?

I was always into art growing up, but I got into graffiti through skateboarding & hip hop. My biggest influence was the city that raised me, along with some of the OG’s that paved the way. Seeing graffiti in video games, movies, and magazines, and connecting it to my life, made me want to do it too. 

Within that same time period, my dad also used to make hand-drawn birthday banners, which heavily influenced my style of lettering. 

You mentioned that there were some video games, movies, and magazines that inspired you to do graffiti. Any that you can name from the top of your head?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The warriors, Juice, Kids, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Juxtapose magazine, Frank 151, Vice, Fat Beats record shop on Melrose, Amoeba on Sunset, and seeing all the album cover art. Seeing the tags everywhere on and around the shops.

Why the freeways? What draws you to that specific canvas?

I hit the freeways because it’s full of traffic during rush hour. Anywhere you are in Los Angeles from 4-7 weekdays, you’re hitting traffic. The freeways are so congested at those times that you’re stuck, got nothing but time, so you might start looking around and most likely listening to music on your way to the next stop. I know if I hit the freeway, everyone stuck in traffic will see it.  Everybody takes the freeway.

What’s your relationship with danger or adrenaline when you’re painting?

I move through trial and error and have become immune to all the bullshit that comes with the risks of painting. 

How do you choose the song lyrics that you tag?

A lot of the time, it’s spontaneous, and I do it out of impulse. Most of it comes from my own nostalgia. 

How long have you been tagging?

I’ve been painting lyrics for the last 2 years, but I’ve been doing graffiti since 2002.

How has the city changed since you started painting, and do you see any of that crossing over to the tagging scene?

I grew up in the tag-banging era. Nowadays, anyone can do it. Graffiti has also evolved along with all the technology nowadays. 

What’s your opinion on that? Do you think there’s a lost art or sub-cultural training that was left with the tag-banging era that people who do graffiti now don’t see?

Tag-banging was a thing back when I started writing. Me and my crew just wanted to skate everywhere and we started writing on shit, leaving our mark.  We never called ourselves tag bangers. The streets did that. We got tested all the time, but never backed down. Then that gangster shit became inevitable. We were just mobbing through the city.  Hated by gangsters and cops. During those times, there was a green light on taggers. Meaning if you ever got caught for tagging and get locked up, you’re running all the fades and risk of maybe getting stabbed up a couple times. That’s where the term “fuck taggers” came from.

Nowadays, anybody can tag, then post about it on social media. But the risks ain’t as high anymore. Real street credit used to be earned, and your work would show. Either people would see it physically or hear about it by word of mouth. Graffiti itself was its own form of social media through black books and the streets when social media wasn’t really a thing yet.

It was frowned upon a lot more before it went mainstream.

How would you describe the city of LA to someone who has never been here?

Los Angeles is one of one. When you’re here, you can go to the beach, the desert, the forest, and end up at a fancy rooftop dinner in downtown all in one day. We have the best weather and weed. Despite its beauty, it can get ugly real quick based on how you conduct yourself. In LA, you don’t gotta be a gang member to be a G. It’s one of the most wildest cities in the world, the gang capital. No warning shots, shoot to kill. ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS.

The city of angels, my home, and the city that made me.

LOS ANGELES

The Hundreds by BBOE releases on Wednesday, April 23 at 9 PM PST on TheHundreds.com.

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