For much of skateboarding’s history, we have enjoyed a fruitful non-aggression pact with grass. Grass was something to be skated over; Carlsbad, of course, was the landmark display of our disinterest in messing up the grass. Avoiding it was the entire point — sure, a few bails on ledges over grass gaps resulted in some collateral damage, but that’s the cost of doing business. The grass did not encroach on our hard surfaces, and in turn, we watched the grass grow.
Then, the grass became a hater.
This year had a particular way of ensuring that few things that came before it could ever look or feel quite the same again. The world of The Homies Video — released just a year-and-a-half ago — is a foreign place compared to the one we now all inhabit. Yet Homies 2 plays like a matured continuation of the first project. There’s a comfort to the video’s energy; despite all of 2020’s turmoil, people on skateboards everywhere found silver linings and reasons to laugh with their friends as if it were any other year.
Like the man says after watching Seven roll away from a pop shove down the twelve at World Trade: “I’m so happy for my friend.” What are skate videos but longform reasons to feel the vicarious rush of others’ feats? ;)
Video by Kei Tsuruta. Features full parts from Coles Bailey and Kyota Umeki, both of whom also had sections in Jolie Rouge just a few months back. The rest is montages that include the entire Homies Network extended family.
It’s a perfect, heartwarming ending to what has been an overwhelmingly eventful Skateboard Oscars Season ™. Happy New Year everyone ♥
