“Be Someone,” it says.
It first appeared more than a decade ago. It’s been painted over with other graffiti multiple times, but “Be Someone” has always reappeared. The message resonates in Houston, a freewheeling city with no zoning and an entrepreneurial spirit that attracts people from all over the world looking to make their bones. It has inspired photos, tattoos and even a failed Change.org petition to protect it as a city landmark.
Keaton Jones, a 27-year-old rapper who goes by the name Lowkea, drives under the bridge on his way to work at his dad’s industrial-supply company in downtown Houston.
“It says so little, just two words,” Jones said. “It’s very powerful. It tells you to be someone, not just anybody.”
And just who is that someone who first painted the slogan? That’s an enduring mystery that has only gotten juicier in the past few months.
An anonymous artist who wears a face covering for public appearances told a local podcaster he came up with the idea. A website sells “Be Someone” merchandise online, including a fine silver necklace going for $225. The bridge tagger hit the big time recently, signing a deal with the Houston Rockets NBA franchise, which used a rendering of the slogan for a line of T-shirts.
One possible kink in the business plan: Painting a bridge without permission is technically illegal in Houston.
Chandrika Metivier found that out the hard way. The local Houston artist painted “No War Know Peace” on the bridge in February 2022 to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Within a few months, the words “Be Someone” were back. In January of this year, Metivier struck again, painting “#Womanlifefreedom” in response to women’s rights marches in Iran.
Metivier took credit for putting the new tags on the bridge on Instagram, a podcast and in a Houston Chronicle interview. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office responded with felony graffiti charges. If convicted, Metivier faces up to two years in state jail.
The artist, who goes by the pronouns they and them, hasn’t entered a plea. Their attorney, Sina Zadeh, said they are hoping to get the case dismissed.
“They’re trying to make a lesson out of me,” Metivier said. “In other words, don’t be someone.”
Not long after Metivier was charged, “Be Someone” was back on the rail bridge, this time with a crisper font and bright red letters. On April 4, the Houston Rockets released a line of T-shirts with the slogan, matching the colors and the font.
Tracey Hughes, vice president of media and player relations for the Houston Rockets, said the team worked with the original artist when designing the shirts but declined to identify him.
The website that sells Be Someone merchandise didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
The Harris County District Attorney’s office referred questions on the investigation and charges against Metivier to Union Pacific. The office has filed 189 graffiti charges from January 2013 to April 2023. Of those, 42 were felony charges. None was against the Be Someone artist as far as prosecutors know, the office said.
In a written statement, Union Pacific said pursuing charges against Metivier had nothing to do with the message, and that the action was taken because of safety concerns.
“When there is blatant activity that is promoted on social media and it could result in someone being hurt, we can not ignore it,” the company said. “Artists who trespass on bridges to ‘tag’ a message—whether a positive or negative message—risk both their life and the lives of innocent motorists, pedestrians, and others traveling below.”
Jenny Carroll, a law professor at the University of Alabama who has written about graffiti and the legal aspects of free speech, said authorities could determine the identity of the original artist through his or her business dealings.
“They want ‘Be Someone’ up there. They like the publicity around ‘Be Someone,’” Carroll said.
A trail of digital breadcrumbs leads to a two-story brick home in the Houston suburbs. A person who once obtained a trademark for the logo is linked to that address. The trademark, which is in the same font as the latest bridge art, lapsed in 2019, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That same person registered the website that sells the merchandise. Efforts by The Wall Street Journal to make contact with the person were unsuccessful, and a woman who answered the door said he doesn’t live there.
A Houston disc jockey who lives on the same block, according to public records, said he is part of a group of artists who work under the Be Someone brand. In an interview, he said he has known the Be Someone artist for years. “We’re all trying to be someone and trying to outsource what’s inside of us,” the DJ said. “It’s universal, it can mean different things to a lot of people.”
After Be Someone designed the Rockets’ shirts, the collective decided to paint the bridge to match the new design a few days before the shirts went on sale, the DJ said.
Over the years, the original slogan has been overwritten many times. At one point it said “Washurhands” and another time it said “Be sus.” Getting onto the bridge isn’t difficult; the only deterrent is a metal barrier about a foot high that separates the train tracks from an empty lot just north of downtown. Painting giant letters on the side of the metal bridge while suspended over speeding vehicles on the highway below is another matter.
Sometimes people other than the original artist have taken it upon themselves to repaint the message.
In 2019, three college students restored “Be Someone” after it was blacked out, documenting it on YouTube. The video is no longer publicly available, but a story by CBS affiliate KHOU has footage from it showing the students holding each other’s legs as they lean over the edge of the bridge using paint rollers to redo the tag. The students didn’t give reporters their name and messages to their YouTube channel and email were ignored.
In 2017, tattoo artist Joe Garcia inked the “Be Someone” bridge onto the chest of Paul Wall, the rapper best known for the song “Grillz” with Nelly and the decorative shiny grills that cover his teeth. Since then Garcia has tattooed the letters onto more than 100 people’s backs, legs and chests.
Garcia said the placement of the tag on a bridge over one of the most heavily trafficked freeways in a metro area of 7.3 million is one reason the city has developed a connection to the graffiti. “It’s uplifting because when you see it, not only do you see the bridge and the words, but as you pass it by, you see the whole downtown skyline. You’re seeing the city.”
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