A graffiti legend from the very earliest days of New York's underground hip-hop movement, Futura 2000 is presently being elevated to iconic status by his progeny. At 46, he is old enough not only to be their father but also to know better.

"I'm a fan of my movement," he says. "I have respect for it, the history of it and my place in it. A lot of people 'big' me up, put me on a much higher pedestal than where I belong. I can't believe my hype. Many times I've been flavor of the month, so I know the month will end. I'm not dependent on any of it. That's why all of this is kind of a laugh."

If the current craze for all things Futura does end tomorrow, he says, it's "no big deal." He'll just go out and get a "proper" job, just as he did when the graffiti movement that made him a star dried up in the mid-'80s. For five years he worked as a cycle courier, up until the Parisian clothes designer agnes b. brought his art back into currency in 1989. A longtime fan, she commissioned a series of canvases from him, and with the proceeds Futura bought the Brooklyn studio he still works from today.