As an introverted kid who lived in the middle of nowhere, my stories made up the whole of my social life. That meant that while other kids cultivated hobbies like skateboarding or playing the piano, I sat at home scribbling in notebooks.
Skateboarding was my introduction to rap and the first rap song that I really liked was KRS-One ‘Step Into A World.’
Skateboarding is interesting. You can’t really practice it as much. It takes a big toll on your body. Your legs get really tired really fast. If I skate too much, I’ll be way too sore.
When I was a kid, I loved Nicholas brothers films. It was like skateboarding. Even Gene Kelly: I always preferred him to Fred Astaire, just because he was more athletic, like skateboarding.
Skateboarding helps a ton with balance, precision, with air awareness… it gets your senses to be spot-on and it’s also a great way to take my mind off things.
I actually got into music because of art and because of skateboarding: All those graphics and punk bands and fanzines – they were glued together in my brain.
I’d always loved what went on in skateboarding. I’d never skated myself, but I loved the graphics – I really liked the rebelliousness of it.
I wasn’t, you know, Mr. Popular. I was somewhere in the middle ground. I was quite alternative, the things I liked to do. Skateboarding, at the time. Playing in a band as opposed to playing in the rugby team. You know, that kind of thing.
Nike is the prime shoe sponsor in sports in general but definitely in skateboarding. I couldn’t think of a better company I’d rather ride for. I’ve always thought they were such an amazing team. They’ve always had the best gears on their team; their product is insanely good.
If I weren’t skateboarding, I’d love to race cars. I like anything that’s fast and active.
I was a little nerdy, but I got along with everybody. I had fun at school – skateboarding, surfing, getting kicked out of class for making too much noise.
Skateboarding teaches you how to take a fall properly. If you try to kickflip down some stairs, it might take you thirty tries – and you just learn how to take a tumble out of it without getting hurt.
I’ve made money from a young age but it’s never taken away from my love of skateboarding. I don’t just do this for money.
Solitary pursuits like playing video games and skateboarding can’t compete with the thrill of mobbing a teammate as he scores the winning run – nor do they end with a postgame trip to Dairy Queen.
DC and Monster have always supported my vision for street skateboarding, from building skate plazas throughout the world to now creating the first-ever professional skateboarding league.
I had a really lovely upbringing. I did a lot of skateboarding down country lanes.
I love skateboarding because it’s the funnest thing on earth. And that goes for, not only if you’re one of us about to skate the Olympics or just a kid out there skating your skate park, just having fun. It’s the freedom, the love. It brings us all together and the nonstop challenge and the progression.
When I first started snowboarding, nobody trained off-hill. People weren’t going to the gym and getting stronger. Snowboarding was more self-expression, like skateboarding. It was just something you went and did. It wasn’t something you trained for.
For me, part of one my big movements is building authentic street environments for skateboarding.
For me, skateboarding is a lifestyle. I really don’t know anything different. My life revolves around skating. If I wasn’t a professional skateboarder, I’d still be skating every day.
As skateboarding evolved, it evolved away from competition. Having a best-trick contest doesn’t work.
Most of my fans know I love video games. I say it in every interview, so they know. But one thing that I like doing is skateboarding, I like jet skiing, skydiving. It’s like a huge roller coaster ride. Like forty seconds of free-falling. That’s some of the stuff I love, daredevil stuff. I like horseback riding.
Pages: 1 2
