3 Kings – Style Writing Battle

Written by Nicole Misfitx

Style writing, more widely known as graffiti, began as a language. It was a signature, a tag, wildly written across buildings, trains, billboards, and freeways in major U.S. cities with the duality of anonymity and prolific status achieved the more it’s up. The public scrutinized these indecipherable messages. City officials launched aggressive anti-graffiti initiatives, labeling it vandalism and gang-related. The evolution of Graffiti and street art culture is American folklore. It’s passed down through generations of writers; the beginnings, the legends, the ingenuity, the crackdowns, the rise alongside hip-hop and breakdancing, the fallen, and memories not documented by history books. These clandestine crews of writers formed a new art movement, a new culture that spread and developed globally. 

The Three Kings Graffiti Battle [3KB] was created as a celebration of graffiti, street art, and hip-hop culture featuring Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. This epic battle brought the raw talent of 22 graffiti writers to Back of The Yards, Chicago on July 20th and 21st. The two day-event created a beautiful display across a sprawling wall under the CTA Orange Line Western stop including hip-hop music, local vendors, and painting activities for the youth. 

“You can almost always tell if a writer is from the East Coast, West Coast or Midwest by their style. All writers still possess their own individual nuances in their work but their roots always show,” said Damo of Catch Wreck, one of the organizers. Catch Wreck Creatives promotes graffiti and hip-hop culture through community events, apparel, and graffiti supplies. 

Before the 3K Battle, Catch Wreck partnered with Boone Avenue Walls to bring a Chicago vs. NYC battle to New York in 2023. The battle brought out Chicago writers: TASK2, YOKI, FLASK, DIEMS, HATEK, SERK, USEM, SIPS, TRIXTER, ROGUE (RAWFA), ZORE64. As well as New York Writers: BG183, BIO, BLAME, NICER, JEW, RATH, KINGBEE, OVIE, WEN, SUCH, PASE. 

This garnered attention from Los Angeles graffiti shop LA Unplugged, who partnered with Catch Wreck, and Carlos from Loop Colors USA to bring a CHI VS LA battle to LA in January 2024. The Chicago writers for that battle were: EAST, ENIME, JOOS, NEEN, HASTE, ROGUE, SERK, SIPS, SPADE, STUK. The LA writers were: CRE8ONE, CRIE, EUPHORIC, FDUBS, GO8ER, MONEY, PLEK, SKANE, VOKEM, XUME. Both epic battles created productions by the most talented writers in cities with roots in Graffiti culture, some writers’ backgrounds spanning decades. The organizers wanted to take it to the next level to showcase the culture and influence of all three cities in a battle. 

“You can almost always tell if a writer is from the East Coast, West Coast or Midwest by their style. All writers still possess their own individual nuances in their work but their roots always show,”

“Three Kings Battle is not just any ol’ mural event – it will have a nationwide impact on the public art scene by bringing the best of the best to fight with color, skill, and creativity like you’ve never seen before,” said BboyB, an OG writer from the 80s of one of Chicago’s first crews, Artistic Bombing Crew (ABC), a hip hop historian, and certified olympic breakdancing judge.

Catch Wreck collaborated with OG graff writers BboyB [CHI], Havoc [NYC] and Carlos [LA] of Loop Colors. Along with M.A.D., [Musically Assured Destruction] which creates events featuring emerging local underground artists combined with graffiti and street art. And ROF Chi, [Renegades of Funk] who plays a central role in preserving hip hop and breakdancing culture in Chicago with events for decades. 

“People look down on it because it’s done illegally, and if you look across our beautiful city you can see a lot of hidden mad talent on trains, walls, water towers, bridges, etc,” said Freddy of M.A.D.

Though titled a battle, it’s a friendly competition and doesn’t include a formal judging process or declared winner. The core of the event is a celebration of the craft, artistry and community. “We are not here to reward individuals or crews, we are here to foster camaraderie and teamwork to individuals or crews that don’t or won’t normally work together, well… to work together for the greater good and to represent your city’s best of the best,” said BboyB. 

“Three Kings Battle is not just any ol’ mural event – it will have a nationwide impact on the public art scene by bringing the best of the best to fight with color, skill, and creativity like you’ve never seen before,”

He mentioned another important aspect of the event, local community, “As part of our mission, we aim to inspire inner-city youths and make a real impact in the communities we touch. We’re ready to make waves and leave a lasting mark by teaming up with local leaders and businesses in Chicago!” The event was sponsored by Loop Colors USA, Chicago Reader, Vienna Beef, Daze Off, Topo Chico and Modern Capital Concepts. The local vendors included ROF CHI, Catch Wreck, Back 2 the Vintage, Daze Off, Luna Sol Esthetics, Royal Reset, Quirky Kitch, Hunch Punch, VolumeOne Mag, The Printing Works, Nobles Drip, Kustom Kreations, Topo Chico, Midwest Masters, and Shorty’s 312. Performances by DJ Halo, Billie dee Boodah, Prophecy Footwork Crew, Mackinto, A.M. Early Morning, and hosted by Al Tamper. 

The wall stretching down 49th street has a deep connection to graffiti culture as well the event made sure to honor. At one end you will find a beautifully written dedication to DOER, done by OBE [CMK]. “DOER was such a great person. I wanted to personally show thanks to him from myself and Chicago for his great impact in the graffiti community. We love you brother and you shall always be remembered, “ said OBE. 

“DOER [SFA] was a good friend, Family man, community organizer/activist, Graffiti artist, House music lover and all-around great guy. DOER lived up to his name organizing graffiti and community events like clothing and school supply giveaways and  “Battle for the Midway”, just to name a few.  He made a great impact on our city especially in the Back of the Yards neighborhood where the 3 Kings event took place. He will forever live on through his children and his contributions to the Chicago HipHop culture,” said Damo of Catch Wreck. Miss Chea of Catch Wreck added, “Before his passing, he held a big event at the same 49th walls-called battle for the Midway. DOER was a fellow graffiti artist and loved how it brought people together. The 3KB event would’ve been something he’d enjoy a lot.” 

“We are not here to reward individuals or crews, we are here to foster camaraderie and teamwork to individuals or crews that don’t or won’t normally work together, well… to work together for the greater good and to represent your city’s best of the best,”

The wall continues to honor all the legendary writers, graffiti’s history, and community. Here is a breakdown of the end result of the legendary productions created by Chicago, LA, and NYC. 

CHICAGO

“We formed our All-Star team through consensus…We carefully chose a delegation of Writers that represented every side of the city, every age range (old-school to now-school), and made sure we had almost all major crew representation,” said BboyB on the selection process. 

“LabRat (CTA) is our main team leader and Yolocone is the All-Star team’s art director. But all decisions are made by group consensus during team meetings. The leaders of the Delegation team are Haste and BboyB, we do the behind the scenes work, such as procuring the wall, getting paint, fundraising, permit process, logistics, marketing, travel, hotel stay, paperwork, etc…” said BboyB. 

Writers: 

Sponsor wall section done by MEXS and DAMO.

LA

Los Angeles decided to forgo a team leader and go with a collaborative approach. The team curator for the west coast talent was Carlos, of Loop Colors USA. “I grew up in the West Los Angeles and Inglewood area.  I was a teenager in the 90’s, so I got to experience the mid 90’s graffiti scene in LA.  It was wild, exciting, dangerous, and fun, all mixed into one. The party crew scene was also in full effect.  We got to party and explore different parts of LA and surrounding cities/counties because of that scene, and of course write everywhere we went,” said Carlos of Loop Colors USA.

Writers: 

NYC

“All the writers represent the Bronx borough…Ovie One is our team leader. Ovie has been writing since the 1990s. His graffiti career spans over 3 decades and includes being an all city bomber, including every train line in NYC,” said Havoc. He is the curator of the NYC team, a native to Chicago who moved to New York in the mid-80’s and began writing.

Writers: 

Next Events:

IG: ROFchi

IG: Boone Avenue Walls

  • [Chicago, IL] TBD: 3rd Heavy Weights Graffiti fest by Catch Wreck, 20+ writers painting a 500” mural at Crawford Steel Mill Walls, music performances, vendors, and more.
  •  [Chicago, IL] TBD: 3rd Creative Circle Gallery show by Catch Wreck, art show featuring work by some of the best graffiti artists in the city, music, an interactive  “Be Creative Station,” and vendors.

Nicole Misfitx is a writer and photographer passionate about documenting art, graffiti, and street art in Chicago. Her love of writing led her to receive a degree in Creative Writing and Journalism from schooling at Columbia College Chicago and SNHU. She then combined her love of documenting art, photography, and writing to showcase various art, artists, and important social topics. Her drive for writing is to give exposure to lesser-known artists and the overall street art and graffiti scene in Chicago. In addition, she enjoys nature, travel, movies, all things spooky, and fashion.

Instagram: @misfitxphotos