On this date six years ago, the graffiti world and the entire Hip Hop community lost one of its most influential pioneers. Michael Lawrence Marrow, better known as True Mathematics Allah and globally celebrated as PHASE 2, passed away in New York City in 2019 from complications of Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 64 years old.
PHASE 2 stands as one of the earliest graffiti writers to achieve widespread recognition in his neighborhood and beyond. Before aerosol art was embraced as a cultural movement, he was already shaping its identity. He brought his creativity into every corner of Hip Hop, DJing at early parties, designing flyers alongside the legendary Buddy Esquire, and representing the Bronx as a member of the B Boy crew Electrified Movement.
His most enduring contribution was the creation of the iconic Bubble letters, a style that became a universal visual language within graffiti culture. This innovation changed the direction of writing on the trains and inspired generations of artists around the world.
As the aerosol movement exploded in the late 1970s, PHASE 2 played a pivotal role in transporting the essence of Bronx Hip Hop into Manhattan and eventually across the globe. His work appeared in countless international exhibitions dedicated to urban art, affirming his status not only as a pioneer but as a respected ambassador of the culture.
He was also a revered figure at the famous Writers Bench at 149th Street in the South Bronx, where some of the greatest writers in history gathered to build a movement that would later influence fashion, music, film, and fine art. While he began with the simple early tag forms, PHASE 2 pushed the medium forward with a style he described as a hieroglyphical calligraphic abstraction, moving graffiti toward new shapes, symbols, and visual philosophies that had never been seen before.
PHASE 2 remains widely regarded as the father of modern graffiti, a visionary whose innovations continue to echo through every train piece, wall burner, black book page, and street mural created today. His legacy lives forever in the DNA of Hip Hop culture.
Rest in power to PHASE 2, a true architect of style and one of the most important artistic voices the culture has ever produced.