APEX ON TAGGING

One of the most informative and interesting interviews on tagging we've ever seen.

From Whitewalls

APEX gives a great interview on hand style for The Infamous magazine issue #4 in this video produced by Montana Colors. APEX started writing in third grade, and he’s not just seen, but he’s been a part of what makes San Francisco hand styles. The city’s style, he explains, is based on buses, on speed, the ability to tag quick but make it look good before a driver could notice. Part of this bus hopping style is the one flow- getting writing down without letting up on the paint can or the marker.

APEX mentions when he first saw Downtown style come around- a cleaner, more legible script, marking a distinction between bus hopping and bombing. While speed is always a pressing issue with tagging, he notes that the determining factor of whether a hand style is “dope” or not is if all the letters are uniform; if a kid doesn’t understand the style he’s trying to throw up, or rushes through a stylistic element like a flare, it’s not going to look good. APEX clearly understands and respects the traditional hand style of San Francisco. Without writing, tagging, bombing, he says, he wouldn’t have picked up the can control he has now, and he wouldn’t have been able to start his superburner series.

Watch the video for more of APEX’s thoughts on hands and catch his current show Indigo at White Walls, showing until June 4th!