There's a battle going on in the world of San Francisco street art.

In this episode, we get to know street artist Ricky Rat. Ricky's grandparents come from many different heritages. His parents moved to San Francisco, separately, in the '80s and met at a Halloween party in the Mission. Ricky spent some time with his dad (also a comic artist) in the Mission in the 1990s (fun fact—his dad took him to see Josiah Luis Alderete read poetry back in the day), but they moved up to Marin. In the podcast, Ricky shares what it was like to grow up there.

He went to UC Davis and graduated before returning to The City earlier this decade. Check back Thursday for Part 2, when Ricky will tell us how he took his cartoon art to the streets.

We recorded this podcast at Fly Bar on Divisadero in September 2020.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather