VICE Meets the Graffiti Godfathers - Miami Style Gods

All across Miami, you’ll find countless tags done by MSG-the Miami Style Gods, a graffiti crew that’s been around since the early 90s. And two decades later, they’re still bombing as many walls, highway signs, bridges, billboards, and abandoned buildings as they can find.
VICE met up with members of the crew-who believe their trade is vandalism, not art-to find out why they’re so dedicated to a trade that makes no money and is often dangerous, from altercations with the cops to dangling over busy highways.
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[@aaronburratwood.6957]

No, street art & graffiti are two totally different things.

[@toast_2375]

street art is usually hired and permitted by the ones who own that area; getting the okay to make art there. graffiti is illegal and not permitted; not getting permission by those who asked.

[@toast_2375]

i feel as if graffiti is acceptable if it's in a "chill zone" (back of highway walls, abandoned buildings, waterways, and sometimes alleys).

[@asim3147]

"I just like writing on other people's shit" Well that's reasonable.

[@thedirtybubble9613]

Miami graffiti was in it's prime from 1985-2005ish. Even the hoods were still lively in that time frame. After about 2010 it became "hip" in Wynwood. If you ask anybody from Miami the best time to be alive in that city was 1985 - 2005. Downtown Miami was still just office towers so the only people who went Downtown after work hours were bombers. It was the pre-gentrification years too so if you saw something bombed up with graffiti you knew it was legit.

[@69Emoji]

used to ride down their and spend the night getitng up around miami almost every weekend in the summers between 02-08. Best times of my life. Crazy how life changes in the blink of an eye. Miss the good days. I even miss the fights lol

[@waynejordan7473]

The crazy thing is if you were a kid in Miami in the 90s and you did graffiti then crook and Crome were legends to you .them two had and still have a huge influence over young writers they planted the seed to express yourself and bomb the city

[@julessantiago1256]

Did this episode already air a few months ago ?

[@F3bzer]

Jules Santiago yes but to vice USA

[@MrRed9zz]

Yeah, you can find it in VICE's account

[@soowoonj]

The closest thing I've ever seen to this Is PK and kid from New Jersey and New York they do some crazy stuff look it up

[@amongus-yn3sx]

Yea

[@velocitc1352]

kid pk is one from writer bro

[@niggaasscheek8608]

@@velocitc1352 Kid and Pk were actually 2 kids running streets together till one of them died but the other one still writes the others name/tag

[@kingjsolomon]

It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to call what you do art, some people want to call smoking meth medicating lmao... it is an art form you’re just a vandal it’s okay bro.

[@yungfrenchfry1]

Wdym?

[@delukze]

@@yungfrenchfry1 Graffiti is an art form

[@unnatisahu853]

They are LITERALLY the person who thrive for thrill in their 30s. . . . WOW

[@ferniebird5643]

Lol guiltyyyy

[@ButterBallTheOpossum]

I'd love to go spray paint their cars and houses and ask them if its still cool

[@onlinefriend3889]

So you're going against the graffiti philosophy to prove what point?

[@J3RK75]

So 004 never crossed vice’s mind

[@nastynockinsonofficial9023]

My favorite coming out of miami now is atomic. My camera roll is full of that big ass orange 😂😂

[@David5.56]

Part 2???

[@cheman579]

Wait this is on Vice Asia...

[@ZimbabwayZ]

Reupload

[@acehoward5917]

Much respect to these guys but I dont think they can be called Style Gods, some of the pieces shown around the city were of much higher quality than the ones made by them. Much respect tho

[@ballsofstealful]

That eson throwie at 6:17 is wack , look at 5:31 and tell me that guys style has developed , gotta be the late 90s / early 00s so the ‘renowned’ writer eson hasn’t changed his shit in like 20 yrs. Toy behaviour if u ask me. Defo picked toys to portray graffiti as ugly. Not terrible tho , love to see all the butthurt normies in the comments just saw someone say that tagging must be the work of Satan lmao

[@unknown9891]

didnt you see that eson piece at 8:04 ?

[@unknown9891]

@@ballsofstealful the throwies not wack, its a throwie it takes a couple minutes plus he did it on a fucking highway sign what more do you want from him

[@bluestrips3z]

3:50 hes writing nothing

[@spooge4569]

either hes cleaning a room to write again or hes priming

[@chrisperez7852]

My dad is does tattoo to

[@spazzymcgee1416]

This video is a very narrow scope of something much larger than just these dudes. While they might do it just to fuck shit up there's a much larger of community of writers that are in it for the art form and the vandalism is just a byproduct of the art. So don't base you're opinion on writers just on these guys.

[@coolcarl271]

That catwalk by my house

[@kingindustries7880]

"Do thou warn thy People before there comes to them a grievous Penalty.""

[@AlexGarcia-sq8dn]

I like that shit ese arrival la raza

[@nosferatusleepaid3159]

Rip Ynot

[@alexrims1892]

Братья, это охуенно! Вы настоящие люди с большой буквы! Вы делаете реальные вещи в этом бессмысленном мире!

[@PHARRAOH]

I remember back in 1993 in AZ a guy who I went to school with's brother ln law was drunk driving and doing about 80 on the freeway, zoned out and took out 3 dudes vandalizing the walls with their little paint cans. did he do time, negative! Courts fined him and took his licence for 2 years and he had dui and classes but the courts said, those vandals had no place being on the freeway to begin with. oh well.

[@sirlevi405]

Bullshit.

[@bracketbasher]

Touch one!

[@robertmartello9882]

I was with you till you defaced the sign on 95. How could traveles read the signs if they're all painted over?

[@deepinthestreets5351]

Mandela effect

[@magico5314]

These guys are toys. .... Freek Dam crew is the real god.

[@nostovatia]

SERGIO ESPINOSA stfu pussy

[@magico5314]

@@nostovatia pussy boyyyy

[@waynejordan7473]

You are not from Miami these dudes are legends

[@Smokinondeadpalms]

@@waynejordan7473 I seen there tags around my spot but they are not tbh lol they can't even do straight letters they just do throw ups and tags

[@waynejordan7473]

@@Smokinondeadpalms crook and crome have productions with fx crew

[@robertmartello9882]

So you're a vandal artist, right?

[@diostopo7338]

First

[@joseph-the-seventh]

These guys aren't gods, they are chumps with not much going on. I used to write graffiti in my teenage years and 20's... so I know these types of losers.

[@1indefinitetruth]

Yeah... “let’s cover up road & direction traffic signs, especially in busy cities” ...just screams intelligence 😒😤

[@eliabrahamson7255]

learn your city or use google maps dumbass

[@spermchef2731]

Its still dumb to cover up the signs. It takes away some convenience

[@Smokinondeadpalms]

Those are called heaven spots

[@thedirtybubble9613]

As long as the signs are on the freeway it's okay.