The QS Rap Desk | Quartersnacks

12th & A back, 12th & A back…

Daily News July 9th, 2011 · 1:12 pm · 5

With 12th & A’s cloudy future decidedly taking a turn a turn for the better as the park opens back up today, New York skateboarders can focus their speculative nature on bigger and better things. Most importantly: when is Slickie Boy going to drop a freestyle to commemorate the park’s return over Meek Mill and Rick Ross’ summer 2011 “B.M.F.” equivalent?

The rails from the Girl demo are still there for all your feeble and smith grind needs. Do everyone a favor, and do not perform any illicit activities in the park (go to Tompkins for that) and pick up trash after yourselves. That is all it takes to keep this place open. Please refer to Billy Rohan’s Twitter account for any future 12th & A news.

Brandon Westgate “On My Way To Mars” Re-Edit

Video & Remixes June 17th, 2011 · 3:22 pm · 7

“When I was in California, some kids asked me what we listen to in New York. I said ‘Racks on Racks’ and Lady Gaga.” — Matthew Mooney

As current and trendsetting as New York is made out to be, we are perpetually late on terrestrial “urban radio” hits. This phenomenon explains why “O Lets Do It” was a fall 2009 hit for below the Mason-Dixon, and only a spring 2010 hit for New York, or “Make It Rain” being a fall 2010 strip club anthem for the south, and our gentlemen’s cabarets not receiving notice of its popularity until winter 2011. (Note: Boston might be even more behind — they were still playing “Stunt 101” on the radio in 2009.)

With summer 2011 being four days away, the office was in panic mode regarding how best to utilize Future and YC’s springtime hit / tribute to the Federal Reserve, “Racks,” before it becomes a “throwback.” Having no footage of our own, we began considering the re-edit route. Though Emerica’s brand aesthetic doesn’t quite go with YC and Future’s imagery, we noticed that Quartersnacks’ parent company, Trap Stars Entertainment actually sponsored Westgate’s large gap-to-bank ollie midway into his B-sides. So, proceeding with this project kind of began to make sense, at least to us. Either way, you’re not on the right website if you’re looking for edits that make sense (Consult previous editions: Andrew Reynolds & Bryan Herman.) The non-sensical rap edits seem to be picking up steam, so feel free to refer to us as pioneers down the line.

Alternate YouTube Link: Keisha, Pam, and Nikki

The next challenge will be figuring out what the summer 2011 anthem will be. Let us all pray that it is not “I’m On One.” We have been covering the development of seasonal anthems on Twitter, and will continue to do so.

Previously: 10 Most Disturbing Frames From Brandon Westgate’s Stay Gold part

From New York to Oklahoma, we don’t care

Video & Remixes May 28th, 2011 · 1:51 pm · 11

Is this the greatest shirt to ever be featured in a Quartersnacks clip?

This was originally supposed to go online yesterday, but after falling into deep depression at around the 11:15 P.M. mark of a certain sporting event on Thursday night, Friday wasn’t the productive day the Quartersnacks office had envisioned. (To any Chicago readers: Has Scottie Pippen been temporarily banned from the city yet?) But life (barely) goes on, and enough emotional strength was gathered to put together our traditional beginning of summer / Memorial Day weekend montage. It features plenty of diamond plated ledges, long 5050s, a lot of 180s (both backside and frontside), a No Limit classic alongside its respective eastern remix, and even a Brengar cameo.

Features Josh Velez, Alex, Pad Dowd, Matthew Mooney, Galen Dekemper, Alexander Mosley, Billy Rohan, Dave Willis, Stephan Martinez, Kevin Tierney, Shawn Powers, and Ben Nazario.

(Alternate YouTube Link)

P.S. We don’t condone lying on dirty mattresses in SoHo so your friends could ollie over you.

P.P.S. Young Jeezy has a new mixtape out for Memorial Day weekend. Normally, this would get its own, dedicated post treatment, but he has been spending the past year recording Rick Ross bites (things have really changed, huh), so expectations for it aren’t as high as they were in the pre-Lex Luger/Fake Lex Luger beat and celebrity name as a hook era.

A Comprehensive Guide to Rap Video Skate Parts

Features & Interviews May 20th, 2011 · 10:03 am · 35

It seems that whenever Jereme Rogers releases one of his “rap songs,” conventional skateboard media outlets continue to grant him exposure. These videos usually draw the ire of those nostalgic for the Coliseum era, when Jereme was switch flipping stairs to Buena Vista Social Club. Even non-skate related circles have given his frequent masterworks of second hand embarrassment some contemplation. We’re all guilty of (well, not Quartersnacks…not until this post anyway) offering Jereme airtime, instead of ignoring him in hopes that he would simply disappear or get committed. He, like many other inadequate rappers, subscribes to the fallacy that equates having “haters” to success. The only way we could win is by not paying attention.

However, his recent rap videos and audition tapes for a potential sequel to Whiteboyz are not the first instances of skateboarders attempting to mesh themselves with the mystic world of rap music. The following is a (cautionary) guide to the occasional rap video skate part, and why it has typically been a bad idea, long before Jereme Rogers made us wonder if he bumped his head too hard when he fell off the mattress in Wonderful Horrible Life.

Snack League

Daily News May 9th, 2011 · 2:38 pm · 6

So, Waka Flocka released a video for “Lil’ Debbie.” The video and the song are disappointing from the perspective of this website, because the visuals / lyrics do little to live up to the title. In fact, the only mention of the snack cakes that the site is named after is “I get stupid cake, you can call me Lil’ Debbie.” One can only hope that a Lil’ Debbie diamond chain will eventually surface alongside the Fozzie bear one.

With all due respect to Brandon Westgate, this website’s favorite skater with a proficiency for skating up things that go down and absurdly high obstacles is Luis Tolentino. Pause right before the pop on the last 5050, just to ballpark how high the ledge probably is.

The Gonz, Spike Jonze, and Bobby Worrest skating around downtown Manhattan.

Did you know there is a decent sidewalk bump across the street from 12th & A? (Technically on the 11th Street side.) Billy and Shawn Powers knew. They did some ninja stuff over it.

The black marble banks on 48th Street & Park Avenue (or what remained of them) are completely gone as of this weekend. Someone tell the city to give companies tax write-offs for donating marble to 12th & A instead of just hucking it into a dumpster.

Attention all broke skaters: Gray’s Papaya now serves dollar slices. Not only did they price themselves out of the “Broke Skater Diet” bracket once the “Recession Special” slowly rose from $2.45 to $5.00, but they sold out by offering pizza slices cheaper than their hot dog specialties. If the mafia controls cheese prices, thus contributing to the rise in cost of pizza, does it control the hot dog market too? Or do they just melt Polly-O string cheese on dollar slices, and circumvent the mafia entirely?

Not really sure if the Fish is still “relevant” in skateboarding, but the NYPD shut it down for “illegal sale of alcoholic beverages.” (That probably means it was open after 4 A.M.) Naturally, people started a petition to get it open again.

Quote of the Week: “I went to see Paul Muni in Times Square and got blackout drunk…the only thing I remember is someone punching the Cookie Monster.” — Sweet Waste

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