Via Pat Stiener
Previously: 25-16
Keeping things moving right along…
Tag: Pep Kim
Thankful For Keith — An Interview With Keith Denley
Intro + Interview by Adam Abada
Headline Photo by Jason Lecras
Skate Photos by Pep Kim
The longer you stay in one place, the more you get to know the people there. If you’ve skated in New York anytime since the Autumn era, it probably didn’t take long until you ran into Keith. As around as he was, though, you somehow never got as much as you wanted. Closer friends saw him skate on trips or sessions between work, while co-workers got some of his hardest working hours.
The skating that did trickle out to the public was always timeless, though. As it turns out, one of those co-workers turned him pro. It is this kind of steady, thoughtful, genuine living that makes Keith’s personality and skating alike so delightful to be around. It’s been long overdue to hear, in his own words, what makes Keith …well, Keith.
The Road Changes A Man
Jahmal Williams by Pep Kim for issue #21 of Vague Skate Mag. The Jahmal cover article isn’t online, but the issue is on sale now.
ICYMI: A Flushing grate N.B.D. that’s been speculated for years on end, a Lego piece between the two rails at the Williamsburg Bridge monument, and a wild one at Grant’s Tomb in Frankie Spears’ all-New York outing of X-Games Real Street.
From flatbars in the driveway to bringing the town its first skate shop: Jake Johnson is opening up IQ Skateshop in his hometown of State College, Pennsylvania ♥
Dreamer — An Interview With Jahmal Williams
Intro & Interview by Adam Abada
Collages by Requiem For A Screen
Original Photos by Cole Giordano & Pep Kim
Jahmal Williams is as humble as he is effortlessly flowing on his skateboard. He is someone with thoughtful personal aesthetics that you could never mistake for pretension. That translates into his effects on skate culture — one that he has been a part of for many decades now. A painter, sculptor and connoisseur of 180 nosegrinds, Jahmal is also a father and runs his own cult favorite brand, Hopps.
“Keep It Moving” isn’t only Hopps’ slogan, but a philosophy that keeps Jahmal relevant and creating great work. With a mind and personal history that exemplifies striking while the iron is hot, Jahmal’s new mural and accompanying short is the type of pandemic-era work that reveals how constantly evolving he is.
The Last Time The City Shut Down — An Oral History of Skateboarding In New York Right After Hurricane Sandy
Photo by Pep Kim
New York has quite literally never felt like it does right now in this quarantined liminal space that we are in. The level of quiet in Manhattan at 8 P.M. is incomparable to even the deadest, coldest Sunday night in a residential zone. Obviously, there’s a reason for this, in that we all must do our part to minimize human contact so that COVID-19 can be contained, hospitals can maintain a semblance of functionality, and we can begin to burrow out of this chapter. Mobbing to skate midtown and being a responsible member of society are clearly at odds right now.
However, the current state of the city did bring up memories of a different disruptive event: Hurricane Sandy.