Midwestern “street artist” rep suffering from missteps.

“Maybe I could have started out a little more thug,” acknowledged artist Gangsta Panda as he introduced his new “Mom” installation yesterday.

While acknowledging some issues with his introduction, Panda claims he is still hardest of the hard. “Ok, so I shouldn’t have called my launch my ‘coming out party’, that was a mistake and it’s on me,” admitted Panda. “And my previous names, ‘Flaccid D’ and ‘Tickle Me ElMOIST’, those weren’t ideal either. But my art – it screams credibility and the no fucks given that I represent. I’m shifting the whole social paradigm.”

When it was observed that the majority of his art consisted of “I love mom’ graffiti on suburban bike paths, Panda was circumspect. “Yeah, I need to tone shit down and make something more socially acceptable. I can’t keep on the edge like this all the time. They’ll be coming after me Biggie-style.”