“There also might be a slight difference in the value of technicality. I think a nollie crook means more to us out here than it may out west to you.” Heckride has a #longform interview with the man behind the lens of many of your favorite clips, Paul Young.
“Then I counted Tyshawn’s part and he only has 32 tricks in Blessed which was his S.O.T.Y. part. It made me realize that it’s not necessarily the quantity of tricks that makes a part good.” Korahn Gayle chats about some of his biggest influences for Slam City Skates’ “Visuals” series.
New Jahmal Williams footage is an honor and a privilege. Him and Steve Brandi share a jazzy seven-minute section on the occasion of Hopps’ collaboration with Converse, composed by Static auteur, Josh Stewart. It’s one of those rare videos that you just watch with a smile on your face the whole time. And shout-out to Steve Brandi for his commitment to the iconic Paine Webber benches.
“The rest of the boroughs, excluding Staten Island, have had so many regular Americans move into the neighborhoods, spreading the disease of uptight suburbanites. The average mainland American is just more concerned about the use of private and public property. Maybe I’m wrong, but I like my theory…The Bronx has Bronx hospitality, and I think the average person in the Bronx is more socially advanced.” Caddo also has an awesome follow-up interview on Thrasher that discusses the complacency of finding spots in New York, his favorite borough (guess), and more insight into his ability to film a part here full of fresh backdrops.
This is one of those videos where you think the editing is going to mellow out after the intro, but then it just stays that way for the whole time. “Lentiicular” is a montage from Carhatt-WIP, and features Roman Gonzales, Andrew Wilson, Chris Milic, et al.
“As the human attention span shrinks to rival the goldfish’s, ’tis it better, in pursuit of longevity and countercultural heft, to regularly shed teamriders every few years or hold to the original foundation of dudes as long as can be?” Boil the Ocean takes a ponder over Element and Girl’s new videos.
This is like when Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors, except Tiago Lemos might actually be better at skateboarding than Durant is at basketball, if that’s imaginable.
“Critter” is a nine-minute video of an American road trip featuring a bunch of Pass~Port guys, and has an ender section in New York.
Can’t tell where this “Mud Monsters” mini vid is based out of, and can only pick out a few Chicago and New York spots, but going to guess Texas (?) because it’s maybe the first time I heard Z-Ro in a skate clip, but also have no idea what any Texas skate spots look like, but also also also it’s a fun watch regardless ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Calling all nerds / hoarders: Does anyone know if there’s an existing copy of the DNA Continuum DVD left on earth? Sources say that the video as a whole is whatever, but it would be nice to update the internet’s only existing copy of Jahmal’s part from the 240p upload on YouTube that is probably older than Kader.
It’s heartwarming to see world renown design principles from 12th & A make their way to skateable spaces all the way across the Atlantic.
“Their video Grains, filmed across the soybean belt of Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Ohio, veers far off interstate arteries and urban sprawls to extract tricks from crumbling loading docks in Joliet, dilapidated stadiums in Gary, polished-stone plaza ledges in downtown Peoria.” As most skate content has drifted towards Instagram and nothing has much staying power, the idea of a “video review” has sadly become a relic of skate publications past. That’s a bit sad, considering a resounding, well-written recommendation of a not-so-obvious video (or something you simply neglected to click on) still means a lot. I bought Grains after reading Boil the Ocean’s new review of it, and can’t say I would’ve been compelled to do the same if I saw a part of it on Thrasher or YouTube with a Big Cartel link under it ♥
“The most dominant example of genre loyalty is DGK’s whopping 92% use of hip hop.” Someone culled Skatevideosite’s entire database of soundtracks and put together an infographic-based portrait of #musicsupervision in skate videos over the past four decades — and somehow, despite the fact it has been a recurring joke on here for ~10 years — Big L isn’t the most oft-used rap artist.
Chief Keef making Seaside Heights boardwalk music (and him sounding the most energized he’s sounded in years on it) is one 2018’s most unheralded developments.
Gino Iannucci asks “Who’s going around skating in a $400 sweater?” in his Monster Children feature about restarting Poets as a brand. I gotta introduce him to Troy, though I think his shit is a good bit over $400 ;)
“I kind of wonder how I had so much nerve to do some of those graphics.” This is nine months old, but shout to Palomino for just linking it — an hour-long interview with Mark McKee that gives insight into the wild west era of skateboard graphics.
Huck has posted some iffy articles about skateboarding in the past, but this one about a Bristol D.I.Y. spot and the general rise of skater-made spaces is an a-ok quick read.
Boil the Ocean on “a mile-long backside tailslide and, perhaps in tribute to Dan Pageau’s freshly funded legacy, a switchstance trip down the fearsome El Toro.”
Rest in peace Bankroll Fresh, get well soon Ricky Ross, everybody else please take good care of yourselves, and skateboard and laugh with your friends as much as you possibly can yaknow ♥
“I remember when dinner depended on my fishing rod” is one of the greatest things a rapper has ever said.
“Man, I’m just trying to live. I ain’t trying to pay no fucking dues. You only pay dues if you want something out of it. I’m not paying anything. I just want to be able to wake up and be able to go skateboard every day.” — An interview with Philly Santosuosso from Humidity Skateshop for Real’s Actions Realized fundraiser.
“The resulting photos are personal and gorgeous, using LOVE as a subject to tell its own, final chapter and representing the parable of American urbanism: nothing lasts forever.” Adam Abada re: Jonathan Rentschler’s book on the final years of Love Park.
“It seems that defensive architecture, even as it becomes commonplace and increasingly surrounds us, still goes under most people’s radar, which makes the problem all the more insidious.” Village Psychic has a cool interview about using sculpture to raise awareness about how public space is becoming less public.
Quote of the Week: “Just wait until I fucking tell the habibis back in New York that they sold me half a chicken with no sauce.” — Josh Velez re: Copenhagen Halal food
