READY FOR WAR
Thugs — Krazy Bone : Bone Thugs & Harmony
Los Angeles, CA — 1996
Camera
Olympus OMG (OM20)
Film
Kodak Tri-X 400
Edition
1 out of 1
Year
1996
Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Steel
Paper
Metal Steel — each print is unique
Size
24" × 18"
Frame
Custom frame by Ki Smith
Hand-painted by two of NYC's most legendary graffiti artists — each frame is a singular work of art.
Signed & numbered by the artist · Certificate of Authenticity included
Erik Elijah Brumfield
It was deep in the night somewhere in Los Angeles — the kind of hour where the city shifts from entertainment to something more primal. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were at their absolute peak, "E. 1999 Eternal" had just dropped and the streets were theirs.
Krazy Bone — flanked by his crew — stared straight into my lens with the kind of calm that only comes from knowing exactly who you are. No posturing. No performance. This was just them, standing in the dark, ready.
I had my Leica up almost before I thought about it. One frame. This was it. The way the light caught the concrete behind them, the crew's energy radiating outward — it felt like I was photographing a moment that had already become history, even as it was happening.
This image belongs to that short window in hip-hop where Cleveland and L.A. felt like the same city — connected by a sound that nobody had heard before and hasn't heard since.
This was my first time doing a video in LA. I didn't know the territories. And I remember going in certain territories wearing the wrong colors, thinking it was okay. So I had to learn different ways and different areas where to go to or not to go to. I hired my boy, Gogo Lovelace, to show me around LA, because he lived in LA previously.
This was a dope video that I had to help with the locations. In this shot, we set up a scene where they're about to fight an army on the other side. So I set up a fight scene between Bone Thugs and Harmony. And almost back then, it was like the army that was trying to take over for the world order.
And I took this with an Olympus camera — these shots.
© 1996 Erik Elijah Brumfield / 1212NYC — All rights reserved
Custom Frames by Ki Smith
Painted by SMITH of SANE & SMITH · Queens Icon ELI
Each print in the 1212NYC Archive is housed in a one-of-a-kind custom frame handcrafted by Ki Smith and painted by two of New York City's most legendary graffiti artists: SMITH — one half of the iconic SANE & SMITH duo whose work defined the golden era of NYC subway and street graffiti — and ELI, a Queens icon whose style has been embedded in the borough's visual language for decades.
SANE & SMITH are not merely street artists. They are architects of a visual culture that ran through every borough, every train line, every wall that mattered. SMITH's hand on these frames transforms each piece from a photograph into a full artifact — a collision of two art forms that were born on the same streets, in the same era, from the same hunger.
The spray-paint drips, the cosmic swirl of color, the spatter — these are not decorative flourishes. They are SMITH's signature energy, applied with the same intentionality that made his pieces legendary on the 2 train and beyond. Queens' own ELI brings his distinct touch: bold, neighborhood-rooted, carrying the weight of the outer boroughs in every mark.
This is not merchandise. This is documented cultural history — photography meets graffiti art, the two most honest art forms New York City ever produced.
SMITH
One half of the legendary SANE & SMITH graffiti duo. Alongside his partner SANE, SMITH defined an era of New York City style writing — their pieces appeared on subway cars, highway overpasses, and buildings throughout all five boroughs during the late 1980s and early 90s. SANE & SMITH are considered foundational figures in the canon of American graffiti art. SMITH's work on these frames is among the most significant applications of his craft in a fine art context.
ELI
A Queens-born graffiti icon whose visual language is inseparable from the streets and style of the outer boroughs. ELI's work carries the DNA of NYC neighborhood culture — raw, precise, and deeply local. His contribution to these frames adds a borough-specific energy that roots each piece in the geography that produced hip-hop itself.
KI SMITH
The craftsman behind the custom frame construction. Ki Smith's fabrication forms the physical foundation of each piece — the architecture upon which SMITH and ELI's artistry lives.
Collector's Note
"Photography meets graffiti art — the two most honest art forms New York City ever produced. Each frame is irreplaceable."
— The provenance of SMITH's hand alone places these works in a category of documented cultural significance.
