Interview with SEN 1, Part 1
Title
Interview with SEN 1, Part 1
Description
Part 1 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on May 23, 2022 with SEN-1, who got his start as an original member of the IBM Crew (Incredible Bombing Masters) and has become a world-renowned artist commissioned by the likes of Michelle Obama, Fabolous, and Rita Ora.
In this first part of his oral history SEN-1 speaks about growing up in Lower Harlem (now refashioned as the northern part of the Upper West Side) and his peak activity as a graffiti writer. He shares his family's history, his own experiences in various public and private elementary schools, the presence of street organizations like Sandman and La Familia in the neighborhood immediately south of W. 96th Street, local skateboarders like his brother who were founding members of Zoo York, attending Joan of Arc Junior High School and the explosion of the various aspects of hip hop culture at the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, how he got his tag and the process of forming the IBM Crew, IBM's activity along the 1 line and the crew's tension with the Ballbusters (a Dominican drug crew along the 1 line), joining up with La Familia, and much more.
The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there.
In this first part of his oral history SEN-1 speaks about growing up in Lower Harlem (now refashioned as the northern part of the Upper West Side) and his peak activity as a graffiti writer. He shares his family's history, his own experiences in various public and private elementary schools, the presence of street organizations like Sandman and La Familia in the neighborhood immediately south of W. 96th Street, local skateboarders like his brother who were founding members of Zoo York, attending Joan of Arc Junior High School and the explosion of the various aspects of hip hop culture at the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, how he got his tag and the process of forming the IBM Crew, IBM's activity along the 1 line and the crew's tension with the Ballbusters (a Dominican drug crew along the 1 line), joining up with La Familia, and much more.
The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there.
Date
2022.05.23
Language
English
Identifier
OH-BAADP.20220523
Original Format
MP4
Duration
2:52:59
Interviewee
Location
The Bronx, NY
OHMS Object
Interview Format
Video
Collection
Citation
Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, “Interview with SEN 1, Part 1,” Bronx History Online, accessed June 2, 2024, https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/OH-BAADP/OH-BAADP.20220523.
Geolocation
Position: 28 (29 views)