Street in mid-town Manhattan to 125th Street and Broadway in Harlem; he would hang off the back of the train on the last car for a thrill ride, holding on to nothing but the door knob with his feet barely touching the platform. With his stunts and rebelliousness, it led to one of the most defining moments in Silkski’s life; his mother turned him over to the state. His mother put him in a group home in Staten Island (Mount Lorreto) “Mission of the Immaculate Virgin”. Eventually, Silkski left the group home and moved in with his cousin who lived in the roughest area of Jamaica Queens. While in Jamaica Queens, Silkski along with others contributed to the negativity of Queens inner city streets. Although he lived in a grimey area, he stood out with his extreme tagging graffiti techniques and style of dancing, which led him to be nicknamed "Kid Boogie". During Silkski's adolescence and preteen years, he was known as the kid with the sleepy eyes. People around him would call him sleepy because his eyes use to droop down or appear as if he was high or falling asleep. But at the age of 12 he decided that he wanted a nickname that sounded cool or slick. He chose the name Silk because older people use to say that he was smooth as silk; because he had the wavy hair, smooth talk, and swagger with the way he dressed. Although he liked the name Slick, he decided to go with Silk because it was cool, sounded slick, and at the time was original. During the early stages of hip hop; b-boys, emcees, d-jays and graffiti artist were giving themselves nicknames with a common tag at the end; which was a letter of the alphabet or something that gave that individual a swagger that represented a form of expression, a character, or alto ego of themselves. At that time, growing up, he would frequently wear ski jackets, ski hats, beanies, and ski goggles, because of the cold weather in New York, which in turn contributed to his persona and ultimately became a part of his name. He put the two words together “Silk and Ski”, and that is what formed the name Silkski. Aside from living in Staten Island and Queens, Silkski lived in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Harlem. While in Harlem, Silkski connected with B-boy dancer Larry Love