LC aka MON TNT Interview @149st

LC aka MON TNT INTERVIEW

©2002, 2003 @149st Do not republish without permission.

What year did you start writing?
Well it was like 1978 or '79. I was a young cat then.

Do you have any mentors?
Yeah CUE! And not let me forget my main man BROOKS 119 AND BEO from the 6 line.

How did you get your name?
This is crazy; first name that I ever had was MED 2. Then one day this kid was crossing me out and said that it was his name. I was like "what the fu*k!" I was bombing all over my hood (Millbrook Projects, 136th Brook Avenue) Then I met this kid's brother KEL 2 at "THE BENCH" I was scared to death, they already had a strong click by then. So I said Okay 'cause I didn't want no problems from these dudes from around my way. After that we became good friends. They introduced me to the real world of graffiti. KEL, MED, BS119 AND BAN2.

List other names which you painted?
MON2, LC, KONO 135

What borough do you come from?
The Boogie Down. (Bronx)

What Lines did tag?
The 5, 2 and 6.

Who was your most successful partner?
I would have to say PHADE and SKEME. Oh yeah, HARO! (Sorry CUE.)

How did you meet CUE and PHADE?
Well, let me go back, I really can't remember, but if I'm not mistaken, I met CUE at The Bench. Yo, CUE was this nerd from uptown Bronx. He knew nothing about the Hood. He was the first cat I knew that lived in a house! I mean a nice one too, on 224th Street right off White Plains Road. We just clicked. That's how we was, the Kings of the 2 train. The lay-up was right outside is house, and not too far was the yard. We didn't mess with that until later. Because of BLADE and SEEN.

They had that locked and the white boys would kill you if they caught you past 238th Street back then. Any way Cue was like amazed that I lived in the PJs (housing projects), Like me, he never knew anybody who lived in the hood. It was like we was from two different worlds.

I'm also trying to remember PHADE. I know that I knew PHADE when he was in the High School of Art & Design on 57th Street. Unlike CUE, PHADE was in the mix. He was good friends with a lot of people I knew. My cuz was one. My cuz was terrorizing the Northeast Bronx back then Eastchester Projects, where my aunt lived. And PHADE was on that Brooklyn dressing crap too, like my cuz. Yo it's crazy I knew PHADE for over 20 years and didn't know he was Spanish until this year. Anyway PHADE introduced me to all them crazy white boys from the Upper West Side. ZEPHER, LT, man it was so many of them I can't even remember. They all went to Art & Design. They all could draw their ass off. All right that's enough! Next!

How did HARO aka EN 005 join TNT?
HARO was my best friend, man he was like the brother that I never had. He was the best thief I ever known. Man he could steal anything. He joined TNT through me. He was from Harlem. He wrote any and everywhere. He came aboard about '82. He knew everybody. That bridged the gap for TNT. Everybody loved HARO. Because he was down with us, a lot of clicks respected us, because of him. It's funny he was the only person that was with me when we got robbed on 116th street. They took our coats. HARO had just stole this goose down from Paragon; it was like a 500-dollar jacket. We got had.

Did the TNT crew have any conflicts with other crews?
TThe only one that I can remember, was the TMT crew. For a while we all just got along, then boom! Sh*t hit the fan. I don't remember what started it, but it took some neutral people to settle it. I think the beef was with CUE and Spanish KELSON aka TEEN. I never met anybody from TMT, KADE or his brother TEAN. They was a undercover crew. They would bomb like once a month, and when they did oh boy! But for the most part they respected us and we respected them.

Do you have any interesting stories from the Gun Hill Road lay-up?
Yo, this sh*t is crazy, I got two. The first one is on Gun Hill, Me, PHADE, CUE, HARO and PACER, oh yeah EC 3 was bombing the lay-up when these two DTs start chasing us. Niggers was scattering all over! We lost about fifty cans that night. I was about to do one of my first pieces that night.

The second was the best, me PHADE and CUE was at 225th Street lay up, and we was getting back on the platform when a cop was standing at the back of the platform. We was out, but one problem, we had stuck all the doors so no one can come behind us. You remember those black metal bars that held the ads up. We use to put them in the doors to stick the door. It would not open if you used your key. So we couldn't run back in the train, so CUE ran down the cat walk, me and PHADE could get through, the cop had got down on the tracks and was right behind us! We learned this little trick from BAN 2. There is a gap between the poles and the track. Me and PHADE slid down the pole into the middle of the street. I was like I'm going to jail; PHADE was a little skinny nigger. Me, I'm 6' 5"! How in the hell am I going to get down this gap? And the train started coming, PHADE was down already saying, "Come on!" The cop was signaling the train to slow down. I finally got my nerve and jumped down. The cop said, "Oh sh*t!" That's all I remember. We laughed for hours behind that. PHADE was at my house maybe last month and we laughed some more twenty years later.

Who were the best writers of era?
I got to say BLADE, SEEN, DONDI, NOC 167, BEAR 167, LEE, SLAVE, KASE 2, BUTCH 2, FUZZ ONE, BAN 2.

I was a BIG, BIG TDS FAN. I loved those guys style. I got a chance to tag with BEAR once or twice. Man he was the bomb! Everybody was scared of him he was bugged out. I heard he died it broke my heart. Oh how can I forget STAY HIGH and COOL.

When did you stop writing?
I stooped around the early '90s I was a baller, so I was playing more basketball then, Riverside Church. I was playing in so many leagues I didn't have time for that. I mean the women, the traveling I was like "Write where?" I was good friends with Walter Berry, Chris Mullin, Rod Strickland Vic and Vern Fleming and Mario Elie to name a few. I played a few years at Temple University but I failed off. Well that my story and I'm sticking to it. P.S. Any cats that remember me hit me up at: sixfour417@excite.com

God Bless.

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