Before he began stencilling he was just another kid tagging his way round Bristol.
Whilst he was tagging at night and avoiding British Transport Police and Avon&Somerset's anti-graffiti officers he was also working as a butcher in the Co-op.
Whilst over the Atlantic you had the Rocksteady Crew. Over a decade later Banksy joined the Dry Breadz Crew.
This was a motley mix of puffheads tagging while listening to Dre's Chronic album and running riot all over Bristol to the consternation of the council.
Banksy though was ambitious and knew that if he wanted to be seen by a wider audience he would have to go to London to seek his fortune. Once he quit tagging and started stencilling there was no holding the boy.
Media savvy, he was well aware that the Guardian and all the hip fashion mags were based around the Old Street area of London.Wallpaper,Dazed and Confused and Sleazenation amongst others. It is no surprise that at the beginning of the new millenium he decided to use Old Street for his most iconic work and the one that put him on the map; Pulp.