10. Pel

Alias: Dime 2

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1972-1978

Pel was one of those rare artists who had a chance to compete with two generations - the 1974 Phase 2 era and the 1977/78 TDS era. His style was a favorite of the TDS crew, and they credit him with many style innovations.

9. Billy 167

Alias: Satan

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1972-1977

Billy 167 didn't start to peak until 1975/1976. When he did peak, he became a master at what is now known as the swirl style of piecing, a legacy he would pass on to Seen UA.

8. King 2

Alias: Kool Hodgee 1

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1970-1975

King 2 was another artist that wrote with Tracy 168 and Pnut 2. He was an excellent stylist, although the strength of his work was in the camouflage designs he used in his letters.

7. Pnut 2

Alias: An 2

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1971-1977

Pnut 2 was a writing partner of Tracy 168 - while he wasn't as prolific a writer, he was still considered to be one of the top stylists of his generation. He achieved the ultimate pop culture fame when his name appeared on a train during the opening of Welcome Back Kotter.

6. Tracy 168

Aliases: Hawaii, Lovester 1

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1970-1977

Tracy 168 was one of those rare all-around talents. He was prolific with tags and throw-ups but was most famous for his artistic ability. Tracy became famous for being the first writer to synthesize characters with names, a staple of the graffiti movement.

5. Superkool 223

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1971-1974

Superkool 223 was one of the first great taggers from the Bronx. More importantly, he's credited with doing the first graffiti masterpiece; it wasn't pretty, but he's the one we

4. Riff 170

Aliases: Worm, Cash 2, Stax, Peal, Crunch.Boy 170, Conan, Mr.6, Dove 2, Flip 6, Crash 2, 2 Bad

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1972-1976

Riff was notorious for pulling pop culture imagery into the movement. He was bored easily with the letters of his own name and became famous for inventing a host of different names.

3. Phase 2

Alias: Cad

Neighborhood: The Bronx

Years Active: 1971-1974

As single hits gave way to piecing, Phase 2 emerged as the leading stylist of his day; perhaps more importantly, he handed out styles to hundreds of writers at the bench at 149th street, making the entire subway movement look better then it was.

2. Stayhigh 149

Alias: Voice of the Ghetto

Neighborhood: All-city King

Years Active: 1970-1975

If Taki was the first All-city King, then Stayhigh 149 was the first to do it with style.

1. Taki 183

Neighborhood: Upper West Side of Manhattan

Years Active: 1969-1972

While there were writers before Taki, he was the first to turn it into a 24 hour a day job; he was rewarded with media coverage - the ultimate "fame."

[SreK ZypheR]