‘REROCK’ — A New One From Naquan Rollings

Skateboard videos are fairytales: a solitary skater or chosen crew plus filmer, showcasing the fruits of their labor within a rotation of backdrops. If a pedestrian, security guard or lurker is particularly memorable, they’re sometimes allowed inside of the tale for an interlude. But otherwise, every skate video is its own bubble, cordoned off from any factors that might impede the illusion that skateboarding is the only thing that exists.

Naquan Rollings‘ past few edits have popped that bubble. No matter how aloof skateboarding may want to be, it is affected by the things that affect all people. “Pre-Roll,” “Kill Bill,” and now, “Rerock” offer an almost photojournalistic perspective of riding a skateboard through the craziest year of our lives. It feels redundant to keep writing about how these edits will serve as a time-capsule for this moment, but it’s true. Skateboarding is escape, both in how it is done and how it is presented. Here, it feels tethered to our greater reality.

To echo The Palomino’s sentiments: “If I see anything I enjoy more than this in 2020, I will be amazed.”