2010 NYC Style Wars! (BY SADE)

2010 NYC Style Wars!

2010 New York City Style Wars
A Burner- is a term that in the early days of the NYC modern day graffiti described a “piece” or composition consisting of an elaborate rendition of a writer’s name meant to “burn” the opposition or declare a writers status in style. It was meant to communicate the notion, “I’m better than you!” But it did not mean, “I’m better than you” as a person or in life, but that I’m better than you with my graffiti style.

During the train days battling was the rule amongst piecers. Competition was always the rule. Its how the techniques evolved and how styles were established. It was “style wars”. Every piecer that considered himself a style master only rocked burners! In the 80’s it was understood that when you were rockin outsides and rockin whole cars that it was always a battle. This was encouraged by the fact that there was this notion that there could only by one “king” of style. Every writer wanted to be king and in the case of piecers as KASE 2 said, KING OF STYLES”! Whether it was with your own crew, other crews or by yourself, the goal of any true piecer was to burn the best…it was always a battle! It kept the progression and drove the evolution of all the established old school styles today that so many try to emulate!
In today’s modern era we have to buy our paint and paint legally. To writers this goes against our basic instincts. But what we can preserve is the notion of the battle, this competitive notion that creates elevation amongst participants When you battle you know you can’t rest on your past victories, your fame or your style. If you show up to a battle and rock your same old style you’ve done hundreds of times expect to get “burned”.

Battlin is about two or more names side by side, bring what you got and leave it all on the wall…to decide who burnt who. Doesn’t matter whose stronger, faster, the better fighter, richest, poorest or most popular…all that matters is CAN YOU BURN and CAN YOU BURN YOUR OPPONENT! For the sport…

The Battle Panel- consists of established NYC writers. Whether train era or not, it does not matter. What matters is that their seasoned, well-respected writers that can burn. Their purpose is weigh in on any debatable issues or declare a NO BATTLE in the case of disagreements. Votes are always based on majority; 2 out of 3, 3 out of 5, 5 out of 7 etc…voter crew affiliation must always be less than the majority. In other words if there’s 3 judging on an issue then 2 cannot belong to the same crew. Votes do not count without video documentation. Any given judge’s status must be agreed upon and confirmed by the majority on the vote in question.

Rules of the Battle
1. If you want to battle someone you should get at that person personally. Find and email, a number or Social site. Invite them to battle. If they say no then ITS NOT A BATTLE! PERIOD! Someone that refuses to battle does not automatically loose a battle. It means nothing. There’s nothing to judge in a NO BATTLE. Once participating parties agree then a neutral documentation process must be decided on. NO YOUR MOTHER CAN NOT FILM THE BATTLE…if all the footage is biased towards one writer more than any other then it’s a NO BATTLE!

2. The battle is about the moment. It doesn’t matter who you are or the status you have as a writer. In a battle it means nothing. All that matters is who “burns” whom on the wall, on that day, in that battle. There can never be an all time “best”. There can only be someone who wins a lot of battles. Whether you’re an old school writer, a legend or a new school writer it doesn’t matter…you walk into the battle with a blank slate…what you bring to a battle is what you rock on the painting surface.

3. Talking smack is a part of the battle. But keep it graff. Personal attacks on people are not encouraged. If you’re sensitive and can’t take someone calling your style wack or calling you a toy THEN STAY HOME! FIGHTING is an automatic forfeit.

4. Location will be decided by the participants ahead of time but will not be announced. Date, time and place should remain anonymous as much as possible. A battle is not about how many supporters you can bring to the battle. If they’re not painting tell them to stay home.

5. Battle results will consist of a 48 hour period of public voting. All photos, pics and video will go up at one time on youtube.com or whatyouwrite.com. This will keep double-voting to a minimum. In the case of no clear winner then it’s an automatic draw. A rematch is called for.

6. If the battle is not thoroughly documented and all sides equally represented on video or photos then IT WAS NOT A BATTLE.

7. Just cause you can paint doesn’t mean you can battle. If you know damn well there’s no chance in hell you can compete in the battle you’re claiming then that’s disrespectful and you will be looked as a toy trying to “buy” your fame at the cost of the next man.

8. If you want to battle then you have to come to the mecca, NY. If you can’t make that trip….then there’s NO BATTLE. We encourage people to battle everywhere and to keep this notion of Style Wars alive. No offense but keep in mind that those battles are not these NYC Style Wars.


Above all, keep it clean, keep it graff and let your style speak for itself! Come to battle or stay home…earn your fame like the old school way!! STYLE WARS!