Growing up in Harlem, his introduction to street art began when he would see graffiti and tags on subway cars and city walls.

When he was 17 years old he entered the world of graffiti with his childhood friend "White Man," tagging his name Jon with the numbers 156 on walls and trains in his neighborhood.

"[2] In 1984, JonOne founded the graffiti group 156 All Starz [fr], in order to bring together their passion for painting trains at night and to help forget about their problems, including drug use.

At an Artcurial auction on June 6, 2007, Match Point, a large canvas by JonOne made at the Hospital Ephemeral in 1993, was bought by a New York collector for €24,800, a record sale for the artist.

[4] Since 2013 JonOne enriched its creation by collaborating with Didier Marien from the Boccara Gallery on an important series of street art rugs.