COS 207 Interview @149st

COS 207 INTERVIEW

©2000, 2003 @149st Do not republish without permission.

Where and when did you start (on trains)?
Actually I started on buses. I used to hang out with CHINO MALO, 2SWIFT,and most of the MTA crew. I would bomb the West Farms Depot, which is not there anymore. I drive by there all the time and remember those times. First time I hit the trains was to do insides. I learned how to make my own skeleton keys and went bombing with SHY on the 6 layups. This must've been around 75, 76. We did a few pieces but we didn't really start doing them more frequently until I came back from California.

Did you have a particular inspiration or mentor(s)?
Every writer that ever got up was an inspiration and as far as mentors KEL and I fed off each other.

What lines have you hit?
What lines have you hit? I hit most of the lines because I lived right down the block from the 207 yard, but mostly I hit the 1s,2s,5', and 6s.

What borough are you originally from?
I split my loyalty between two boroughs. The Bronx where I grew up until I was 15 and Manhattan in the Inwood section where the Ghost yard was one of my playgrounds.

What crews have you written for?
TDS(I was in the same art class with KOOL139 at JFK high school).CIA,TVS.

Who was your most successful partner?
I had two of the greatest partners SHY147 and KEL139. SHY showed me the way of the streets and Kel and I were the left and right side of the brain. When we were together there was no stopping us. We would spit out so many ideas it was impossible to get them all up.

Who were your rivals?
Ballbusters. I hated those fucks. I caught a beating one time by them.

How did you get your name
My original name was DRAKE because I use to see TAKE5 pieces on the 6. COS 207 started out as COSMIC 2001 around 76. In 78 when I came back from California I shortened it to COS and added the 207 because we had just moved to that area and that was my stop on the 1 and A.

List all the other names under which you are known?
DRAKE,COSROC,PELTOO(at the time I took this name I was unaware of another writer named PEL).

While many writers focus more attention on pieces. Your pieces were frequently complimented with equally detailed illustrations. What was the motivation behind it?
BODE of course. I lived and breathed BODE. His work just flowed so perfectly with graffiti. What also motivated me was my collection of HEAVY METAL mags and California airbrush art on cars.Any Fantasy art I could get my hands on I would try to incorporate in my work.

What painting(s) are you most proud of?
DAMN!! Where do I begin. Even though I don't think I had a large body of work there are a couple that stand out. There is the COS KEL LOVE IS...FANTASY IS...whole car(remind me to tell you the story of that night).SHY COS with the BODE frogs.The eyes would follow you as that car went by. window COS with a K with a hot pink outline.Then there are the TOTAL CONTROL cars. Those were the ones done while I was dusted.These were done mostly in the Ghost yard with Kel and the TVS crew(SHOCK123,RIN,BOOZER).My mind is muddled when it comes to those days.The Taking of Pelham cars were cool too. Those were mostly KEL and I.

Do you have any interesting 149th st. bench memories?
It was one of those days when everybody was at the bench and I was hanging out with SMILEY149 that day and we show up at the bench with a couple of bags of cheba. Just about everybody that was there came to the last staircase on the overpass on the uptown side because we were rolling and started smoking. before you knew it people were pulling out joints(pre-blunt days) and we had the biggest Chicago going around. No lie, there must've been about 20 writers just passing around joints. The smoke was so thick you could get high just standing back there and breathing.

Do you have any good raid stories?
One summer day we went piecing up in the Esplande layups and I took a break to see everything was cool. I looked through one of the cars and saw a cop on the platform. Before we knew it there was the raid train and cops coming out of everywhere. We all start running down the tracks to the overhead bridge that crosses the street when I realize that I left behind my moms camera and if i didn't bring it back that was my ass. You see she didn't know I had taken it. By some miracle I went back through all those cops got my camera plus all the paint we left behind. On my way out I was spotted and chased again. Try running with bags of paint it ain't easy. Anyway I make it back to the bridge trow the paint over the fence,climb over, meanwhile all this time I see the cops coming closer and closer. The cop missed my leg by inches,grabbed my shit and disappeared. The one and only time I ever got busted for graffiti though was so stupid. SHY and I got busted for motion tagging. Go figure.

How do you feel about having influenced newer generations of writers across the globe?
Honestly, I didn't know that I have because since '86 I have not followed graffiti very closely and didn't feel that my work was that influential.

Any closing words on your work?
My work could have been crisper even though I feel I was getting there in 1980 and early '81 but I cut my writing days short by joining the Marines in May of '81.

Are you involved in any form of art currently?
No, I'm just another case of wasted talent. All jokes aside, those will always be the best days ever! There will never be another time like this and I'm just glad that I was in the thick of it. What I do now is purchasing for a computer reseller in Long Island City.

SHY 147 RIP
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