Words and photos by Streets Dept Lead Contributor Eric Dale.

If you’ve been in Philly the last three years, you know the name REW. It’s written on buildings, bridges, smoke stacks, water tanks, billboards, trains, and highways. The huge, colorful letters demand your attention—but it’s often their placement that catches the eye even more than their style. That’s because the graffiti artist who writes REW is on the forefront of a technique that has only recently made a big splash in Philadelphia.

If you’ve seen graffiti like this and wondered “how on Earth did they paint that?” prepare to have your mind blown: it’s painted by rappelling down from the roof. It’s easy to understand the appeal—by rappelling onto the middle of a wall, you gain access to completely new and highly visible spots to paint. And it’s no coincidence that what previously made those spots inaccessible even to graffiti writers now also makes them extremely difficult to buff.

REW is one of several writers in the Philly area who has been taking rappelling to new heights—literally. But like many writers before him, including ones he mentions as inspirations, he’s also now looking to legitimize himself to some extent so that he can build a career in art. For that reason, he DMed me on Instagram recently to let me know about a solo show he was having at an art gallery, and when I realized who was behind the private account that sent the message, I immediately asked for an interview.

I don’t care what your personal opinion on graffiti is—you can’t deny that REW is shaping the look of Philadelphia. I mean, he told me that at one point, he painted the largest piece of rappel graffiti in the world—on a 27-story building in Center City. It was triple wide, requiring him to rappel down from three anchor points over two nights. In my opinion, REW is a living legend in Philly’s graffiti world, so I had to interview him.

Streets Dept Lead Contributor Eric Dale: When did you start writing?

REW: I would say I really started writing probably 2007, 2008. Kind of later compared to everyone else I know.

SD: Really!

REW: Yeah, I mean by then, my one brother, he had been writing for a couple years; and the majority of my friends, through skateboarding, they all were writing together. I used to make fun of them, like you fuckin’ nerds, dude. They all got arrested one time way before I started writing, and I was like you guys are idiots, dude, like look at you guys! And now none of them write and I’m out here still frickin’ writing. I can’t stop.

SD: What finally got you to start?

REW: I just wanted to be bad, I guess. My friends were doing it, and I just wanted to do hood rat shit with my friends. I wanted to scribble on stuff. I’ve always been somewhat artistically inclined, ever since I was younger—and yeah, at first I just wanted to write to vandalize stuff, I guess. But also, it’s always been an inner competition between my friends. They’re better than me? Then I’m gonna push myself to get better. I think that’s what got me into it more than just wanting to vandalize.

SD: And so what keeps you doing it, then?

REW: Right now? Sanity. It’s saved me—like, when I started painting heavy this last run, dude, my mom got diagnosed with cancer and passed away, and it was like… I would go through the whole day, all day long, during the day at work and stuff, just in my head, just miserable, and then I would get out at night, and as soon as I would spray that first can, it was like my mind would shut off, dude, and I was like ahhh and it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could fuckin’ breath. And then the rest of the night I would just be focused on what’s in front of me, and it was such a huge relief. I was like oh my god, this is great. And then the sun would come up and I would have to go to work and it’d be oh fuck, here we go again.

I’m passionate about it… I love doing it… I’m sick in the head I guess? I can’t stop. There’s a bunch of different reasons. But I love it.

SD: Well I’m sorry to hear about your mom.

REW: Thank you. But yeah, it brings me peace; it brings me calm; it keeps me out of other trouble.

SD: That’s funny, ‘cause it’s still trouble.

REW: Yeah, yeah, it is. I gotta have some kind of trouble. I need some chaos in my life. The other chaoses I used to be involved in—drugs and shit like that—not worth it.

SD: How did you choose the name REW?

REW: So when I was younger, the skating rink I played hockey at, they had a mascot called Skateroo. I had written other names prior, and I had to change them up through getting arrested and stuff, and it dwindled down to where I was writing the word NEW. But the R—I liked the R for some reason, and just from hearing “roo” my whole life, I switched the R with the N and just liked it way better, and just stuck with it. And now when I started doing the plays on words, I love it even more—Rewster, Rewski, Rewger… there’s so many, dude, I love it. It’s so much fun.

SD: What’s your favorite style of graffiti?

REW: I like big, bold, in-your-face. Don’t get me wrong—I love seeing cool, technical stuff too, that you can’t read. But when you’re driving down the road and you see something from a distance or a train drives by and there’s a bunch of panels, what’s going to stand out to you? It’s going to be the big, bold thing—holy fuck. Especially like KAZ and GUS—when I first met them; they were like nah, dude, we’re gonna do this shit on the side of the ROAD right here. And I’m like oh shit. I mean you can’t help but see it, dude. That’s what I love and really enjoy doing.

SD: Well that ties into my next question, because I would say the average person doesn’t know the names of any graffiti writers—and here in Philly, they probably can’t even read most tags! But you’ve risen to an unusual level, in that there are definitely Philadelphians who know the letters R-E-W—

REW: I’ve had people’s moms and parents and shit—

SD: Yeah, even though they don’t know anything else about graffiti! And then in graffiti circles, I’m sure you’re like a household name! So I’m just wondering how does that feel? How do you feel about your level?

REW: Ah, fuck, it’s weird, man. I hate compliments. I get all fuckin’ awkward. I always want to be humble, man, ‘cause first off, I was told you don’t want to meet your idols. There’s a lot of egos. I’m a selfish, self-centered dude when it comes to the core. That’s like my fuckin’ default. I wake up like what’s REW wanna do today? But I always want to stay humble, man, especially when younger kids and people come up to me to sign their book or whatever, even though I hate signing books—I feel like I have terrible hands compared to most kids in Philly—I’m like I don’t want to fuckin do this, dude, this is embarassing! But I was that kid. I always looked up to these people. And who the fuck am I to not be a good dude to these guys?

And at the end of the day, it’s fuckin’ graffiti. When you look at it on paper, it’s dumb. Everything about it is dumb. Nothing good comes out of it. I’ve never gotten a girl from graffiti. You’re risking going to jail; you’re spending your nights—I don’t sleep! There’s nothing positive about it, for the most part. Besides hhgh, dude, look what I did! So at the end of the day, when you think about it, it’s like who am I to get an ego over something that really is stupid. I’m pushing 40 almost. It’s like grow up, dude. I can’t meet girls my age like you wanna see something cool? [They’d be like] you’re a loser, dude, go home! So yeah.

But it feels good—it feels good to be recognized, ‘cause on the other hand, with graffiti, a lot of time I’m by myself or just my two or three friends and we paint and that’s it, and that’s really the end of it. You don’t realize how many people see it until people come up and approach you and say it. And so it definitely feels good to be known, ‘cause, like, I fuckin’ bust my ass, and I’ve been in some pretty close situations, like almost getting hurt. Whatever you can think of, I’ve been through with it for the most part, and to have that payoff; just to have some dude like dude, I saw that; it’s awesome. I’m like cool, man—someone saw it; I guess it’s working.

SD: So I’m sure you’re going to be modest about this, but is it fair to say that you’re all city?

REW: No.

SD: It feels like it!

REW: No, ZEBO’s king, not me.

SD: ZEBO! Fair.

REW: All hail king ZEBO.

SD: Real quick before we get any further, I do want to shout out GUS and KAZ, who I feel are at that same level as you—it’s just that this interview happens to be with you! Anything you want to say about painting with them?

REW: I’ll tell you this story. Before I ever met ‘em, I was painting a billboard on Broad Street by myself, and I see this car go by. I knew the area that they were from, ‘cause they’re from out of state, and I see this little car go by, missing a hubcap, and these two dudes are creeping; looking up at me. And I’m like fuck, they saw me, but they keep going, and I saw the license plate, and I was like I wonder if that’s those dudes! ‘Cause they’re the only two people out here painting like I am right now—like, a lot, you know? And I see it go by again. And a third time. This is fucking weird. I don’t know if it’s them or not, but this car is definitely scoping me.

Then all of a sudden I see the car go by but there’s only one person in it. And then on the other side of Broad Street, I see some dude walking down the street, like all slow and hunched over like he’s nodded out. But I’m looking at him like that is not a homeless person, dude! But this dude tried to kind of sneak up and he was sitting on some steps across the street, like, trying to be inconspicuous, but I’ve seen him the whole time! I’m like what the heck, dude? And then eventually they disappeared.

But a couple weeks later, I was meeting up with DZEL—it was the first time I was meeting DZEL—and GUS happened to pull up and he pulls up in that car, and I’m like was that you dudes? They’re like oh my god, you knew? I was like yeah, dude, I knew it had to be you guys! It was just so strange.

But yeah, those guys, from the time we met, I felt like we just linked well, like we meshed. Some people don’t work well together, but we blended very well. There wasn’t much talk—we just all worked well. It’s fun. Those two love to bust balls like I do so we just have a good time. Them twos just try to tag up on me and I just give it to ‘em—let ‘em know who’s the BOSS. Haha! No they’re just good dudes, man, they’re really good guys.

SD: So from a relatively outsider perspective, I’d say that there are three things that have led to the level of recognition that you’re at now: your insane spots, the amount of ground you cover, and your readability. Am I overlooking anything?

REW: My good looks.

SD: Haha!

REW: No, I mean, yeah, I try to get spots that look fun to me. I don’t know.

SD: You have insane spots!

REW: No, OBABE—he’s got insane spots. Dudes like OBABE, and then there was SAVI, when he was out here—those dudes inspired me a lot to start looking at shit differently, ‘cause those dudes pick spots that I would never even look at. And they run, too—they’re, like, limber to get these spots. I’m like damn, dude! So I never met either of those guys, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot from them spot-wise, just ‘cause they made me open my eyes up to different things now. You see this crazy OBABE ledge and you’re like oh man!

SD: I gotta ask: how did you do that one on the power plant at the South Street Bridge?

REW: Oh, by Grays Ferry area? Oh, that one I had a jet pack.

SD: Haha!

REW: Yeah, I just jet packed up there… Nah, it was a mission. And it was a wiiiiiindy night too. It was insane. Yeah, just stalked it for a little bit, me and a friend, then made the climb. A lot of climbing! And being creative, really. I probably spent a night or so by myself one night kind of scouring around the outsides just looking at stuff. A lot of just fuckin’ sheer willpower. I’m fuckin’ doing this. Especially when I’m committed, and I’m starting the process of breaking laws, I’m like I’m here now, dude, I’m fucking gettin’ it. And the crazy thing is we got all the way to the top, come to find out there’s a door that goes all the way down.

SD: Nice.

REW: No, not nice, dude, ‘cause 75% of the climb up—we got to cut out on the way down—but we could have easily just taken the steps up!

SD: Well at least you got them to take down!

REW: No, you’re right—glass half full. But there was once or twice where, between me and the person I was with, there was almost tragic slips and falls, you know? 

SD: So was getting to a really recognized level an explicit goal? Did you have a strategy that you’ve been implementing or did this just happen because you’re passionate?

REW: Definitely never was a goal. Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it…

I’m just competitive in my own sense, like, I want to be the best I can at whatever I do. If I’m doing something, I do it to the extreme, no matter what. I got into gardening a couple years ago and I got a fuckin’ pretty big ass garden right now, you know? So yeah, whatever I do, I just do it to the max.

And then, my peers—I got lucky to come across a lot of good fuckin’ writers and they became my friends, you know? And just being around them and learning from them—they help with a lot of shit, whether motivating me to go paint more, or just learning skills from ‘em.

So no, it was never a goal, it’s just what I like doing. I’m in the moment for the most part.

SD: Let’s talk about the rappelling! Can you just describe what that means to those who aren’t familiar with rappelling in a graffiti context?

REW: Nope, can’t tell ya. It’s a secret. It’s a big ol’ secret. You gotta find out on your own.

SD: Alright, I’ll just put a link to Google for what rappelling is haha!

REW: There’s plenty of videos on YouTube. But I’m not telling any secrets.

SD: No, I’m not looking for secrets! I just mean that there are people who will read this who didn’t know that graffiti is being done through rappelling.

REW: Yeah, and I like that! I like people not knowing.

SD: Ok, I’ll cut this.

REW: No no no, you can leave it, I just in general like the idea of stuff being anonymous, in a sense. I’ve been around people, and it’s a REW thing up there, and they don’t know that I’m REW, and they’re like how the fuck did they do that? And I’m like I don’t know, dude, it’s wild, dude.

SD: How did you get into rappelling?

REW: Fuckin’ wanted to beat GUS. That’s what it was, dude. He had the ups on me! I felt like we’d always talk shit—we’d always have a friendly competition, like we’d hit a wall and walk away and someone would be like damn, I burned you on that. —I killed it. —No, I killed it! I mean, there was one point in time where KAZ hit that huge big white blockbuster right at the base of the Spring Garden Street El stop, like, right in the middle of the highway. He did “KAZEU” all spelled out. So he was talkin’ I have the biggest thing on the highway. And he did, at the time. For a little bit—until I stepped up there. I did an ol’ “REWGER,” but from the picture, I could count—’cause there’s like fences above to keep you from climbing over onto the train tracks—and I could count how many fence lengths he went. So I was like I need to go at least two more than him, so I went and did mine maybe a couple weeks or a month later, and I went two lengths longer than him. That’s that competition.

So at first, I didn’t really have any desire [to do rappelling]. MANIK, in our crew chat, had been talking about wanting to do it for a while. Couple people had—I just wasn’t really interested, I don’t know, I was content with what we were doing. But then GUS got the gear, and me, GUS, and KAZ would link up to go paint, and he’d go have his [rappel] spot—we’d drop him off; we’d go do our stuff; when he’s done, he’d call; we’d go pick him up, and then go about it.

Then there was one he did on that building down by, like, Broad and Lehigh. He did a rappel on it, and we picked him up afterwards, and I just looked up and I’m like wow, that’s fuckin cool. And in my mind, I’m like dude, I’ll never hear the end of this! He’s already got like three or four up on me, dude. He’s gonna talk shit to me. I can’t let him one up me like this.

The next time we linked up and he was gonna go [rappel], I was like dude, I’m coming with you. He’s like naw, man. He was completely against it. I was like no, I’m coming with you! He said well you don’t have gear! I’m like I’m gonna use yours! He was like, no, dude, you gotta learn about it and stuff, you gotta like watch videos and study this stuff. And he was 100% right ‘cause it’s very dangerous. But I was like yeah, I am—I’m gonna watch you do it, and then I’m gonna use your stuff. Dude, you’re not stopping me. I’m fucking doing it. That night, I did my first one, and I literally had no clue what the stuff was called or anything. We did the one at Spring Garden where we’re stacked above each other.

After that, my homie ENOK—he’s had gear for a while—he had this big master plan where he was mapping out his own little world. He was like I’m gonna get GUS and REW to start rappeling, and then they’re gonna be the ones from Philly to take over. And once he saw GUS start to do it, and then I did it, he hit me up. So we went out and did one together, and then he sent me videos, and made me watch these videos, and quizzed me the next day. Thank god I watched the videos. But that’s how I started learning.

SD: So rappelling is relatively new to graffiti, like, globally, but it’s super new to Philly! Why is pushing the envelope important to you?

REW: I don’t know man, it gets me excited. To me, that’s just the type of stuff I like looking at. When I’m walking down the street and I see somebody hit some crazy ledge spot, I’m like oh my god! I just remember being younger and not knowing—that same thing, like how do they do that? How do they get there?

I like the whole mission of it—plotting, finding a spot and going how am I gonna get to that spot? And that might take me some time—I might have to come back to the building and look around, maybe leave and come back another day and kind of get a second look and hope I see something different. I feel like most people, they look at spots and if there’s not that one go-to way to get up, they just move on, and they don’t take the time. Slow down a second, maybe take a second loop and look at something differently. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

SD: What’s the biggest difference between painting on the ground and painting while you’re on a rope?

REW: To me, how vulnerable you are. Once you’re hanging from the rope, you’re there. If anyone sees you, there he is! ‘Cause it takes time if you’re gonna climb back up, or rappel down to the ground and leave your gear and go. But for the most part, there’s a very slim chance of you being able to get away. Whereas on the ground, you know, you’re pretty much in control, for the most part, of having a chance of getting away—as long as you’re paying attention and you’re not just being dumb.

SD: Is part of the appeal of rappel graffiti the inability of the buff to reach it?

REW: That’s what I thought, but I’ve had over a dozen buffed in Philadelphia.

SD: No!

REW: Yup.

SD: Wow, that is dedication on their part.

REW: Some spots were re-hits—I went back and did them multiple times. But yeah, ideally!

SD: But it tends to ride longer, right?

REW: Yeah, especially in Philadelphia, the way the buff is here now, dude, I mean I painted something last night and it’s probably gone already. It was a regular wall on the ground. They’re on a roll right now. Fuckin’ respect to them, dude.

SD: They’re getting up more than you are!

REW: They’re fuckin’ killing it, dude! They got me fuckin’ painting freight trains all the time.

SD: Yeah you also paint a lot of trains—how did you get started with that?

REW: From my dumbass friends. I hated freights for a long time. I hated trains. And, like, I just happened to be around friends that liked painting freights, like PYNEZ and MANIK—they were into it.

So when I first came and started painting in Philly a lot, me and CRES painted a boxcar together. It was my first ever and his first ever, like, legit panel, where we did end to end, we matched, did a real nice background and everything. First legit real nice car I did. And I did it here in the city, and it disappeared—you know, they drive off!

And so I was like man these trains are a waste of time, dude. They leave, I don’t see ‘em ever again, no one’s ever gonna see ‘em again, they’re gone. It’s pointless. And then like two years later, I just happened to, for the very first time ever, I [searched] #REW on Instagram. I’m illiterate when it comes to technology, so I was like oh shit, you can do this? And that train, two years later, had been flicked three separate times. Once in Canada, once in Mexico, and once in New Mexico. In two years, that car has traveled more of the continent than I ever have and probably every will! I was like dude, these things really do travel, and people do see ‘em! And so I was like oh man, there is something to this. So I started doing it with those guys.

SD: MANIK and PYNEZ?

REW: Yeah. I’m not from Philadelphia—I live outside the city, so I found spots that were around where I was living, but out of respect—I knew other guys had been painting that spot. Guys I respected—I hadn’t ever met ‘em, but I reached out on Instagram, like yo, these are the spots I’ve come across. I’ve been painting trains and I’m planning on continuing to paint trains, and these spots are close to me, and I plan on painting ‘em, but I’m hoping it’s not a problem for you. Cause it was MECRO.

SD: Oh! Haha.

REW: Yeah, you gotta respect the king. So I was like I was hoping maybe you could help me with it? I was all new to it. Especially certain spots, there’s information you need to know to successfully pull these spots off—continuously, ‘cause you want to go back and not fuckin’ blow the spots. And it was this timing where dudes that he was painting with in his crew were like not really painting, and he was just like my dudes aren’t painting right now, so we could link up and I’ll take you to the spot. And we just ended up being close to each other where we were living, and started hitting spots together.

It was him, and then it snowballed to where SEXES—which, he’s taught me so much, dude. Like, everyone thinks the drips letters [are] a MECRO thing. But SEXES taught me first! I painted more with MECRO, but the first time I learned the [drips] technique was SEXES teaching me how to do it. He would teach me shit, and then MECRO—how can you not be inspired painting next to this guy? You’re painting and he’s doin’ swiss cheese next to you!

Both of those dudes—those guys paint super good and super fast. Like, when I first started painting freights with them, I was trying to keep up. And I realized, dude you don’t even have a chance. They’re gonna paint five panels tonight, and you’ll do three if you’re lucky. Don’t worry about it, ‘cause if you try to keep up with them, your shit’s just gonna come out sloppy. Just focus on what you’re doing, make yours look as best they can.

SD: I’ve seen both of them paint in person and it’s crazy.

REW: It’s insane, dude, it’s insane. Just the creativity. But even without physically teaching, they push you to wanna do better. It’s like how the fuck am I gonna paint next to this guy and not do at least half decent? But yeah, I just got lucky to fall into place, where I was allowed into it, this world and these local spots by me.

SD: When and how did you join the STD crew?

REW: Well you have to get chlamydia first, bud! No, uh, so when I was in my first crew, my one homie that I grew up with, his mom moved out to Sedgely Ave., like two doors down from SOWEN. And at that time, this one dude CHOKE—he’s passed away now—but me, CHOKE, another dude FOAM that I’d write with; we’d go out there and we’d hang out, smoke weed, play video games until it got late, then we’d go out, walk around, and paint a little bit. But at that point in time I started getting into drugs real bad. And so I fell off and stopped writing, ‘cause, you know, it’s hard to get paint when you wanna buy heroin all the time. It’s like I got responsibilities to take care of—and heroin’s the most important thing, so everything went downhill. So those dudes stayed painting, and got close to SOWEN, and they got put down in STD years before I ever did.

So then I got off drugs, and started painting again, and then actually KEECH, I met randomly, and he invited me out, like come out to this spot in Chester, I’m painting at this event in a school. And I get there and meet ENTRO, who at the time was STD. And then we go back to this school a second time, and that’s when CRES comes, and then SOWEN walks in, and I hadn’t seen SOWEN in years, and I had FOAM with me. So FOAM was already STD, CRES was STD, and CRES’s two older brothers, they were original members of STD—they both overdosed and passed. But it was like this big circle of people I had met, on my own, organically, and then had FOAM with me who was one of my best friends, and we all knew SOWEN… So then they asked me to be in it. It makes sense more than anything. We’ve all known each other for so long. In my mind, it’s what a crew’s supposed to be: your friends. The guys that you hang out with.

SD: Have you had any legal troubles while painting?

REW: Yeah yeah yeah. I was jailed three times. But it’s been a while. The longest was for almost a month in Bucks County. No fun. Especially ‘cause when I was doing drugs, getting high and stuff, for the most part I did it on my own, so all my friends I would hang out with, they weren’t and they didn’t know I was, so when a group of us got arrested together, and we were in Bucks County together, I’m in there just kickin’ sick, but I can’t tell them. I gotta act like I’m fine, but I’m miserable in there, ‘cause I’m dopesick… and also in jail. It’s just not fun.

SD: Do you see graffiti as an art form? Self expression? Vandalism? Performance? Like how do you see the larger context of your work?

REW: I don’t know, man. I never— I don’t—

SD: I’m overthinking it?

REW: No no no, you’re not. That’s a valid question; I’m just a fuckin’ dumbdumb, dude. I’m just… what’s in front of me? And what’s in front of me is, like, I guess, vandalism. I don’t know, it’s fun to me! Can it be artistic? Fuck yeah, dude. You know, MECRO; EASY from Delaware; SZ from here; ENEM—these guys paint shit and you’re like what?! The techniques they use? There’s an art to it.

But in the purest sense of graffiti, it’s vandalism. In the sense of graffiti graffiti, to the purest form, where you’re writing your name—and especially in Philadelphia, the handstyles—it’s vandalism. I don’t know, I think it could be a little bit of everything. I don’t know. I don’t like fuckin’ anyone telling me what I can and can’t do, and so when it comes to things I’m passionately doing, I don’t like to label it either, in a sense. It just is what it is, for me. To me, it’s my fuckin’ lifeline right now. I don’t think it needs to be under any label.

SD: I get that answer a lot when I ask people why do you do this or what keeps you going. So many people are like it keeps me sane, it’s saved my life.

REW: It is, very much. When I’m painting, I’m in the meditative state. [When my mom passed and I would go paint], my brain would shut off and I was just there in the moment, now, and I was relaxed. I could BREATHE finally. ‘Cause the rest of the day I felt like I had so much weight on my shoulders; my chest. I was just holding my breath just to get through the day. And it was like *sigh* thank god, dude.

It’s almost a similar feeling I got when I would be dopesick and then I’d finally shoot dope in my arm—I would get that fuzzy pins and needles feeling and all that pain would go away. And all the craziness in my head would just shut off for a little bit, and I would just be high. [Graffiti] is a very similar kind of feeling to that, in a way. And essentially that’s what I was doing. I had some serious shit going on in my life, and I was just numbing myself. ‘Cause I knew it wasn’t gonna fix my problems, but for the time being it fuckin’ made me feel better. But I wasn’t killing myself internally, like I was before.

SD: I want to get a little meta—why did you agree to this interview? Because I’m kind of surprised!

REW: Because I’m… ugh, how do I say this? Because I’m trying to venture out into different avenues, artistically, in a sense. I’m trying to meet different people, do new things, and really put myself out there; find a voice so I can start putting my artwork out. I’d like to be doing art full time, so I’ve been doing things different. I had a solo gallery show recently, and tomorrow’s the end of another gallery show I was in. Trying to get out there and network.

So I was talking with ol’ Zerbesaroni [John C. Zerbe] and I was unsure, ‘cause I haven’t done anything like this, really. He was like nah dude, they’re good people and it’s a good opportunity. He’s been my guidance on trying to get into the art world. I met my first Philly Mural Arts program muralist through him. Prior to that, I had zero respect for Mural Arts. I didn’t think about it. If there was a wall that I wanted to paint and their mural was there, I’m like well, I guess they’re gonna have to fuckin’ fix their mural, ‘cause I’m painting it. And I met him, and not only did I like the guy, I found out some of the murals he’s painted—he does a lot of the sports ones—so, I’m, like damn, I’m a fan of him too! And he’s a super funny guy—he told me these two jokes that were fuckin’ FILTHY! And I loved it, dude. ‘Cause you wouldn’t expect it from him. He’s a nice clean-cut looking guy, a little older, but he’s a funny guy, just a down-to-earth person. It made me open my eyes.

So I’m just trying to network and meet new people. It’s all new to me. It’s weird. Trying to branch out into The Art World and stuff, dude? People at that gallery show were coming up to me like oh, what was your inspiration for that? And I was like I don’t know, not fuckin’ dying, dude? I don’t know, I didn’t want to kill myself? And they’re like what the fuck’s wrong with this dude? But it’s cool. I like meeting people in general.

SD: Well I appreciate you taking an early step towards that with me.

REW: I didn’t like meeting you too much, though.

SD: I mean, this is one of my worst interviews ever, so I get it.

REW: Yeah, I would hope so. No, I appreciate this. This was better than I thought! I liked the way you did it, compared to other people who’ve asked me to do interviews.

SD: How can people acquire a piece of your work?

REW: On Instagram, it’s @cock_a_doodle_doo01. Or I have work at Vizion Gallery, which is Zerbe’s gallery, and in West Philly, at Art Dojo Design and Studio. I have stuff at both those galleries right now. And if not, on Instagram.

Or come find me out on these streets, dawg. How ‘bout dat?

SD: Haha! Any shoutouts?

REW: Fuck no, I hate everybody. Haha, no, just ol’ Jamo, that’s it. Just Jamo.

SD: How do you spell that?

REW: J-A-M-O, like the liquor. Jamison whiskey? Let’s get a shot of Jamo. Yo, Jamo! ‘Cause there’s too many people otherwise.

SD: Yeah, no, I get it. Thanks for doing this.

REW: Thank you, dude.

Thank you to Tattooed Mom for hosting this conversation, and many thanks to John C. Zerbe for apparently giving REW the thumbs up on doing this interview!