Jamal Smith turning pro is the perfect feel-good Christmas movie to close out the 2010s. Congrats to a Q.S.S.O.T.Y. alumn, and thank you Jamal for being an inspiration to us all for so long ♥
Tag: Black Business
An Arm & a Leg & a Monday Link
Jesse Alba made a bro cam edit from a trip to London with Cyrus, Diego Todd + some cameos from the Atlantic Drift dudes.
Alex Olson explains why Mike Carroll is the best for eight minutes.
Naquan uploaded a five-minute “remix” of Gang Corp’s Black Business video, though it feels like a solid chunk of those clips weren’t in the original video.
A wider net for skate interviews this past week than the typical guys talking about their first sponsor type of thing — 1) The Wall Street Journal interviewed Beatrice Domond. There’s a pay-wall involved, but it seems like they let you rock on one free article. 2) “I just really like New York.” Elissa Steamer interviewed Alexis Sablone for Thrasher. 3) Skateism interviewed Forrest Kirby, in what I believe is his first interview since he publicly came out last year.
“Are we already in the Matrix?” Skate Jawn interviewed Jawn Gardner about astrology, the afterlife and time travel + they also have a quick one with Kyota that includes some rad photos.
You’ve Gotta Love Sports!
Summer QS stuff available in all of our domestic, Euro, Japan + Korea accounts now. (Eastern Canada has it, western Canada should be getting everything this week.) Our webstore goes live today at 11 A.M. Eastern Standard Time.
“Bills 3 Late Fee” is the new video from Angel Foseca and the crew up in The Bronx. Always a pleasure watching these videos that look and feel way different than so much of the other stuff coming out of the city.
If your heart doesn’t melt watching this… well, I don’t even know — Diego Meek (Dr. Scarecrow, et al.) put together a six-minute mini-doc about Skate After School, a program serving eight low-income elementary schools. “I painted it myself!” If you want a PSA about skateboarding at its purest and absolute best, this is it.
Naquan uploaded the 34-minute master file of Black Business b-sides.
Tompkins Square Park native son, Yaje Popson, is is the latest guest on the “Mission Statement” podcast.
An Interview With Gangcorp Videographer, Naquan Rollings
Intro & Interview by Adam Abada
Photos by Mac Shafer
Gang Corp is an organically formed group of friends, born of their love for skating and curiosity for the world, and aided by social media — but not governed by it. Fort Greene native Naquan Rollings just released their second full-length video, Black Business, which is their best yet. We hit him up to try and get some insight into the ingredients and process behind Gang Corp doing what they do.
Where are you from, and how old are you?
I was born in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I actually just moved — I live in East New York now. I’ve lived in Brooklyn my whole life. I turned 21 last September. I’m getting old super fast. I still feel like I’m 18.
When did you start skating?
That’s always a weird question that I can never really answer. I remember when I was around 10 years old, I had a board but didn’t take it seriously. If it wasn’t for my sister, I don’t know if I would’ve gotten into it. She’s 10 years older than me. When she was in school, she knew about Supreme and all that stuff. She kind of put me on, I guess you can say.
She always wanted a skateboard and my grandma ended up getting her one of those fake ones from Target. I would just ride around on it. I thought I was never gonna try all that trick shit, but I guess the more I was on it, the more I wanted to. I would start meeting people around Fort Greene who skated. I lived right across the street from the park, so anytime people came to skate it, I would hear it from my window, then would go outside and check it out.
Tax Day
Just got back from Greece, so maybe there’s a heightened awareness thing going on, but it kinda seems like ~going to Greece~ is becoming more of a moment now that a second generation of Americans has successfully re-done the entire list of ABDs from the 2000s at the Le Dome double-set ;) ANYWAY! You should watch the new sixteen-minute edit from our Greek friends at Screw Loose Fastening Co. to break you out of the République / Southbank / Barcelona / etc. European content spiral. It looks different, and is a lot of fun.
Jenkem has the raw files from Gang Corp’s Black Business video.
Elsewhere in a northern corner of the state: b-sides and extras via the Buffalo-based Jeb video that we linked up a bunch of parts from last year. Another upstate trip is definitely still on the 2019 resolutions list.
“The history of skateboarding is the history of the built environment, and of the ruins left by overreach.” Here’s a really rad photo essay about how hill-heavy condo developments in North Carolina that were left all but abandoned by the Great Recession have become ripe for skateboarding.
“Stranger Than Paradise” is the new mini vid from our new gen Miami friends at Andrew Skateshop:
Aaron Herrington has a day in the life-esque segment on Thrasher where he discusses Street View-driven deep dives for New York spots, sobriety, etc.
Paul Young did a quick refurbish of some used footy for a tribute to sandwiches.
“Places are all very different but also the same, right? A lot of it is what you carry around in your head.” Big past week for Jacob Harris on the ol’ non-Thrasher, non-Instagram skateboard content circuit: Atlantic Drift’s auteur talks to the Slam City Skates blog about his process and how Las Vegas is kinda the same as London at the end of the day ♥
Can’t tell where these dudes are based out of, but there’s a solid bit of New York footage in the teaser for the Sportsman Shit video.
How insane is it that the two French skate spots most recognizable to Americans have simply been, like, renovated and restored to brand new condition over the past twelve months? There’s actually this cool place by the Brooklyn Bridge that could use a similar treatment, but that probably makes too much sense, right? :(
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Enjoy Giannis in these cute early years before you have to get used to him breaking your team’s heart for the next ~decade are so.
Quote of the Week: “The Sombrero is the only spot in New York that isn’t a bust.” — Cyrus Bennett