The 25 Greatest Chicago Graffiti Writers

Image via Complex Original

Next up in our ongoing series of city-centric graffiti lists is Chicago. The Windy City has produced some of America's finest writers. We enlisted Wdata, contributor Roger Gastman's massive The History of American Graffiti book, and he selected the greatest painters of the last 30 years.

It would be easy to pick 25 writers from the early 80’s alone. If thats what your looking for; just pick up a history book my friend. This list was made with all personal issues and agendas aside, and it was made from the birds eye view of a longtime fan.

I know this list of my opinions will bring plenty of hate, but I gotta say it was fun. It took way too much time, and major emphasis was put on being honest and realistic.

Style, quantity, originality, fame, and longevity were all considered while determining the all-time 25 greatest graffiti writers from Chicago. In no particular order...

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25. KC ONE

A notorious bomber and one of the biggest names in the 1990’s clean train movement, KC is the face of the 1st post-buff generation of Chicago writers.

24. Temper

Temper is a relentless all-city bomber who founded the KYM crew and seemingly never stopped painting. He heavily crushed streets, trains, and train line spots for years after all of his peers from the early 1990’s had faded away from actively bombing.

23. Zore

The founder of Ice Pack crew which later became SB, Zore and his crew’s technical skills have been seen on piece walls and trains everywhere from Chicago’s South side to California for decades.

22. Agent

Agent/Ages is the most memorable all around bomber from the late 80’s to early 90‘s; Chicago’s golden age of graffiti. He is the co-founder of DTE crew, and is also a member of the COD and AWR crews. His style translated very well outside of Chicago, and he is commonly known as Chicago’s Graffiti Ambassador.

21. Greve

Greve led the MUL crew to worldwide fame. Ever since he began writing in the early 1990‘s, he has remained active and is known for pushing the technical envelope on clean trains and walls with pieces and characters.

20. DC5 (Kane, Cove, Shred, Rude, Jash, Pose, Awol, etc...)

DC5 crew was started in the early 1990’s by Rude and quickly rose to the top of Chicago’s elite piecing crews. DC5 would go on to produce some of the best writers and productions that Chicago has ever had.

19. Lone

Lone was your favorite writer’s favorite writer of the 1990’s. A pioneer of Chicago’s clean train movement and a founder of the infamous J4F crew, Lone probably still has tags in every CTA train yard and CTA tunnel.

18. Pose

I could have not put Pose on this list because everyone already knows he is one of the greatest writers from Chicago. With original renditions of classic style and cutting-edge techniques, Pose puts Chicago on his back everywhere he travels and could easily make the World’s greatest 25 writers list.

17. Orko

One of the pioneers of what came to be known as Chicago style, Orko was a Chicago great from the 1980‘s who eventually moved on to the Bay area and influenced style there as well.

16. CAB Crew

Kiser, Down, Track, Benz... The list literally goes on and on of long time vandals that represent 312; one of Chicago’s most destructive all-around crews, all-time.

15. Aerosoul (Dzine, Solo, Disrok, Casper, Answer, Tsel, Nick Fury, etc...)

Aerosoul crew in the 1990’s was artistically the best of the best. Many of them went on to have very successful art careers after years of brilliantly dominating Chicago’s permission wall scene.

14. East

East is another great style writer from the 1980’s, and continues to regularly create great pieces to this day. East moved away from the Chicago area in the early 90’s but not before influencing the style of generations of writers to come.

13. Ark

The true king of cleans in Chicago, Ark really has painted more Chicago trains than you will ever ride, even if you ride the train twice a day for a few years straight.

12. Slang

Slang has been writing and involved in Chicago graffiti since day one; beginning somewhere between the late 70’s and early 80’s. His 1980’s characters and productions are legendary and he has been there every step of the way.

11. Page

Page destroyed the redline in the 1980’s, 1990’s, and even into the 2000’s, with huge simple block letters and tags, and he did it over and over again, leading countless members of UAC and XMEN to follow in his footsteps.

10. Erie

Erie and his crew CMW have bullied the trains, rooftops, and walls surrounding the CTA since the early 1990’s, creating many memorable masterpieces along the way.

9. Risk

Risk is a co-founder of Chicago’s legendary TAC crew along with Trixter, and he has produced many unforgettable pieces and great writers of Chicago, spanning from the 1980’s to the 2000’s.

8. Omens

Omens has definitely got next. For the past few years his pieces have been very easy on the eyes, and they are made up of some of the best style of work coming out of America, let alone Chicago.

7. Ether

Whether you love him or you hate him, Ether is the face of American clean train painting. Ether took Chicago and the graffiti world by storm early in the 2000’s and his high profile antics continue to be documented in cities and subway systems all over the world.

6. THC crew (Fred one, Deep, Prove, Kuaze, Kep, Antck, etc...)

The Hash Crew and many of the members were light years ahead of they’re time. From winning the CTA graffiti battles to amazing productions, the THC crew were/are some of the most original writers to ever use spray paint.

5. Sivel

In the 90’s, you couldn’t walk two blocks in Chicago without seeing a Sivel fill-in, some tags, or a rooftop piece. He is one of the most respected writers in Chicago and he is still active in the modern graffiti scene.

4. Hate

Hate’s run was unfortunately cut short when he fell to his death in 1989, but he is widely accepted as Chicago 1st All-City King who was known for pulling crazy stunts and getting up everywhere as a member of Chicago’s legendary ABC and ACW Crews.

3. Fact

Fact has been involved in the graffiti scene since his very early childhood. He has managed to stay up while fighting Chicago’s extremely effective buff system, and Fact is the most consistently active all-city bomber in Chicago in the 2000’s.

2. Trixter

If you made this list with 10 different Chicago writers, chances are that each list would have 24 different names. The only name that would appear on all 10 ballets is Trixter; the Godfather of Chicago graffiti and style.

1. Pengo

Pengo was one of the best all around style-writers Chicago has ever seen, and many of his sprays from the late 80’s still hold up or are better than what is being painted today.