TIME
IT'S ABOUT TIME — AND HE'S ONLY GETTING STARTED
A rare interview with one of London’s most relentless Writers
 
I first properly began discovering TIME around 2018/19, and was instantly blown away by the sheer consistency of his presence within London Graffiti. He seemed to be everywhere. Every graffiti-dedicated social media page focused on the London scene — if the main piece or dub wasn’t by him, there was still a TIME reach or tag tucked away somewhere in the image. He really was that consistent.

I started to realise just how active he actually was. This guy was all-city, no question, and relentlessly so. I knew instantly I had to get him onto a project at some point.

His throw-up was something I appreciated straight away — that classic bubble-style “TI.” Quick and clean, slightly bendy at the top bar of the T, traditional yet unmistakably his. It had a flow that just worked, and it was bombing the rounds across London daily. It was obvious this guy was going to get noticed purely off work rate and persistence.

Not long afterwards, I came across a few live clips of TIME — out and about, bombing in real time. Mr Action in action. It confirmed everything I’d already picked up: this guy was seriously on it.

The consistency instantly drew comparisons to TOX — not stylistically, but in terms of relentless street presence. At that point, London was already deep into an era of nonstop activity. From what I was seeing on the streets, names like ZONK, 10 FOOT, TEACH, IDEA, BAS, VEXA, PERSY, COSA, BAND, FATSO, DIET, NOZY, DOWTA, EVOKE, FLASH, JASON, BAMS, OUCH, ZOMBY, LORD, MAKE, HOTSEX — and Many, Many others — were consistently up, covering ground and setting the tone for what it truly meant to be everywhere.

It wasn’t about rankings or titles. It was about presence.

And right there in that same current was TIME, pushing with the same hunger, driven by that familiar addiction to getting up as much as possible.
There’s something distinct about London Writers who truly bomb — the dedication is unreal. It reminds me of stories told by DRAX WD in older documentaries like Kings & Toys: all-night missions across London during the ’80s and ’90s — walking the streets solo or with a tiny crew, no distractions, just movement and mission.

For Writers who embrace this approach, the streets become oxygen. You keep moving because slowing down means losing rhythm. You travel constantly — across boroughs, across train lines — chasing spots that speak for you while you sleep. Then the city wakes up to the proof. The public clock it. The obsessives clock it. The fans and the haters clock it. And consistency starts to build legacy.

That’s what TIME was doing — night after night, week after week.

At the very beginning of UP IN THE SPOT and the collection, I knew I had to reach out. I messaged him, explaining the project — the early names already involved, the models I’d collected — hoping he’d consider painting one. After a bit of thought, a few weeks later, he agreed. I was genuinely thrilled.

To have someone in the collection who was actively building a name through pure movement meant something special.

So let’s talk about TIME — where he’s coming from, and what he’s been up to over the years.

TIME is a South London Writer with a raw background and no apologies. His style wasn’t born inside studios or clean gallery spaces. It came from concrete, rails, shutters, rooftops — places only the truly committed go. While his foundation is London through and through, his blueprint pays homage to the origins of Graffiti — New York.

That connection to New York is deeply personal. TIME was diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager. Two years into treatment, he received a Make-A-Wish Foundation gift and chose to take his family to the birthplace of Graffiti. In the Big Apple, he linked with Skaters, Writers and Musicians — a young Londoner suddenly surrounded by icons and influence. That trip sparked the beginning of his international Graffiti journey.

Confident and outgoing wherever he goes, TIME made friends for life. He’s returned to New York multiple times since — it’s become a second home outside London, another metropolis with endless surfaces, endless movement, and endless Writers and Crews to connect with.

You’ll catch his tags, throw-ups and occasional conceptual spots — a blend of rebellious mapping and personal urgency. He’s not chasing performance-based notoriety or the polish of commercially embraced Writers. His presence is earned stroke by stroke, mission by mission, with no PR machine behind him.

His pieces often appear in broad daylight — Shoreditch, Dalston, Brixton, Oxford Circus, and all across Londinium — wherever the moment demands. Zero hesitation. Full conviction.

So what fuels this urgency?

From a young age, TIME faced mortality head-on. But he never let illness control him. During treatment, he still went to festivals, hit parties, smoked weed, stayed hungry, lived loudly, and kept moving. Hospitals were never a place of defeat.

He fell into Graffiti through London’s legendary Southbank, admiring names from heavyweight crews like DDS, KC and SFL. Like many other  Writers at that time, he obsessed over Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland and other games that turned urban movement into adventure.

That battle shaped everything. It forged the philosophy he still lives by: paint every hit like it could be the last. Every stroke counts. Every mission matters.

What others call vandalism becomes heartbeat.

Every location is proof he’s still here.

He adopted the name TIME around 2015 as a literal declaration: TIME is borrowed — so use it.

He developed a signature method — the high-vis vest trick — daytime missions where he blends seamlessly into the city, passing workers and CCTV like he belongs there. His “Jedi mind trick,” as he laughs in his Living Proof New York interview ( @livingproofnewyork ): minimal suspicion, maximum output.

Alongside that came pragmatic politics. TIME isn’t a romantic — he’s a rebellious realist. Also in Living Proof New York , he states: rack paint from big companies, redistribute to the crew. “Robin Hood shit,” he calls it. If alarms beep? Just walk. Don’t flinch.

In a 2024 interview, he summed it up perfectly:

    “If I leave my house without a pen, scribe, something — I feel naked.”

Graffiti isn’t a hobby. It’s survival.

Now the global chapter runs deep. TIME’S TI throw-up has travelled serious ground — London as home base, then Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin. Lisbon. Milan. Naples. Marrakesh. Dublin. And New York — One of the birthplaces of it all.

This isn’t tourism. It’s domination.

An intellectual understanding of transit, movement, and risk versus reward.

He maps cities through repetition until he owns part of them.

His legacy is visibility.

His pedagogy is a relentless persistence to getting up.

His philosophy is simple: if the world is awake, TIME must remain up.

Alongside the streets, he’s stepped into gallery culture without sanitising his roots — international shows in New York, pop-ups in Paris and London. Each packed out. Each proving his following is real Graffiti people — Writers, Photographers, and those who know the game.

This January, Le Grand Jeu in Paris hosted the launch of TIME: Englishman in New York. A few weeks prior, I messaged him to let him know I’d booked off the early evening before work so I could come meet him. We’d stayed in touch since UP IN THE SPOT, and he said, “Yeah — come through, I’ll answer some questions there.”

Knowing how busy he’d be, I broke the questions down — keeping them tight, covering as much of his journey as possible. Earlier that afternoon, doing what TIME does best — bombing — he called me asking if I could grab a few bits for the after-party. I picked them up and headed to the show early so we’d have time to talk properly.

When I messaged him saying I was around the corner, he greeted me at the door — genuine energy straight away. We got into it immediately: Graffiti, Background, Travel, Life. He’d brought a few friends too — solid people. The owner of Le Grand Jeu popped by; we’d spoken before, and he was sound as ever.

TIME offered to hit my black book — a bonus I didn’t expect. He flipped through it and said, “Yeah, you’ve got some dope heads in here.”

Then it was time to step outside and record the interview. Just my phone. Real Street Energy. We laughed, talked life and travel, got interrupted by a garbage truck — all part of it. That’s the essence.

* What follows is the transcription of that conversation.

TIME — It’s About Time, And He’s Only Getting Started.

TIME’s journey is a statement — of resilience, of brotherhood within the global Graffiti community, and a permanent fuck off to imposed limits. From the silence of a hospital bed to the anonymity of a high-vis vest slipping past CCTV, his story is about reclaimed power.

TIME refuses absence.

TIME demands presence.

And his work makes sure the City sees him — whether it’s ready or not.

IT'S ABOUT TIME — AND HE'S ONLY GETTING STARTED.

@_timeizm_