WAS NYJAH HUSTON’S NEW PART “TOO GOOD?”

December 9, 2013/ / ARTICLES/ Comments: 130

photo courtesy of stance socks

photo courtesy of stance socks

DC Shoes and Thrasher released Nyjah Huston’s new video part last week. It is bonkers. It takes some pausing and rewatching to really understand how crazy it is, because nobody should look that relaxed front blunting and flipping a board onto rails that big. Go watch it.

Now, maybe it’s because I’m cynical or jaded because I’ve seen so many “part-to-end-all-parts” announcement over the years – Jerry, MJ, Koston, Mariano, Koston again, Mariano again, Bob, Westgate, Jamie Thomas, Danny Way, Chris Cole, Rowley, Arto, Appleyard – you get the idea. And that’s just been in the past ten to fifteen years.

It’s a weird contrast – on one hand, I’m witnessing the literal progression of skateboarding. Nyjah is doing tricks that have never been done on spots that could easily kill you. But I keep catching myself drifting away. Am I… bored?

I’m not alone. In the age of film-quality-or-better DSLRs and pocket computers that shoot in HD, people are making skate videos with VHS camcorders and VX1000s. The popsicle shape is the pinnacle of functional skate deck design, plus or minus a few tweaks over the years, but companies are selling weirdly shaped decks and popularizing once-passé gear.

Like the musicians who have found (or kept) an audience for limited-edition cassettes and 7” records despite the ease and accessibility of digital files, skateboarding is developing a taste for the throwback.

welcome skateboard shapes / photo courtesy of prestige skateboards

welcome skateboards unusual shapes / photo courtesy of prestige skateboards

It makes sense: there are only a small handful of people in the world who can skate like Nyjah Huston. To paraphrase Mike Vallely in The Bones Brigade documentary: a kid watching that video part might think, “wow, skateboarding is really scary and hard, look at that.”

So I put on the Polar promo, which I first watched because it’s named after all three tricks I can do: “No Complies & Wallrides +shuvits.” It’s a totally different experience. There are DIY spots, like the ones I’ve made with my friends. There are dudes hollering and making weird noises when someone makes a trick. People fall down. It seems… real. Relatable.

There’s been an element of that throughout skateboarding’s history, only now it’s not reduced to gang-style rivalries like Hosoi vs. Hawk or Ramp Locals vs. Daggers. The Girl/Anti-Hero tours parodied the idea, reminding us we’re all still a bunch of goofy dudes playing with toys, no matter how different our video parts look.

The surge of small skater-owned companies is heartening. I love that Colin Read put out a video filmed entirely as seen in a VX1000 viewfinder. The feeling of watching a new clip, seconds after finally making it, is something most skateboarders know.

Not every skateboarder has perfect schoolyards, a professional film crew, a TF, or paid travel to literally any spot in the world. Most of us spend a few months of the year skating in the garage or the basement, or shoveling spots and dealing with frozen bushings. We don’t have a budget to cover tickets, or “optimize” every skate spot, or bribe security.

”There’s a certain polish, an air of artifice to it; it’s perfect, but not in the way Nate Jones’ 360 flips are perfect.”

Nyjah is good, one of skateboarding’s best. But his skating doesn’t speak to me. There’s a certain polish, an air of artifice to it; it’s perfect, but not in the way Nate Jones’ 360 flips are perfect. It’s perfect like you got the green bonus on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. And sure, that’s great, but it’s not MY version of skateboarding.

But skateboarding isn’t about perfect. It’s about having fun. We’re all a bunch of weirdos. It’s cool seeing some of those weirdos do things that have never been done before. It’s cool seeing some of those weirdos printing their weirdo friends’ art on boards and shirts and selling them on BigCartel.

In that way, the kind of Northeast-inspired urban skateboarding that’s become so high profile is welcoming. It tells some little kid in Nebraska on YouTube, “We skate shitty spots, too, but look what we can do. It’s cold as hell here too, but we’ve got thermals and flannel and coats. Let’s do this.”

There’s a feeling of connection you get watching those lo-fi videos. The homie montages, back yard miniramp footage… you could be skating there with them. You feel like you’re at the session. That spot looks so gnarly. How did he even ride up that? HOLY SHIT he made it!

My favorite new video is that clip on YouTube of Pontus Alv cruising around. He doesn’t skate “spots” he just skates whatever’s there. It’s pure 100% down-for-life skate rat, compressed and stored in YouTube forever. When I watch that video, I get the same feeling as when I’m watching a friend make their trick.

Look, we all understand someone has to be “the best,” if only because of semantics. I appreciate that there are people out there who always strive for bigger, faster, longer, higher, and more. That’s progress. They produce people like Geoff Rowley, who famously assumed magazines and videos represented how all pros skate every day. But they also turn away a lot of kids who miss out on the simple pleasures of skating because they can’t live up to “professional” standards for one reason or another.

Serious, heavy-hitter video parts will always exist, but they aren’t the end-all, be-all of “good” in skateboarding. Nyjah’s part is a game-changer, but so was Louie Barletta’s Tilt Mode part, and so was Jason Lee’s part in A Visual Sound.

So, which is “better?”

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Comments

  1. Josh

    December 9, 2013 9:56 pm

    Nyjah makes skating seem like a job. A conviently released must see part right before SOTY. He was only hoping to add another award and title to his skate resume to feed to his sponsors and keep his bonus’ rolling in.

  2. dfederighi

    December 9, 2013 10:16 pm

    I’m reading a lot of comments of folks getting pissy, defending poor Nyjah. Come on, either you’re feeling his style of skating, or you’re not. I personally do NOT. He’s talented, but his skating is not creative, stylish, imaginative or relatable in any way. It, quite simply, just doesn’t make me want to go skate. It’s stunt-tastic … it’s ballsy, no doubt. It’s just just what gets me hyped, and I know I’m not alone.

    I personally don’t care how well he does in contests, or if he had never entered one. He makes a good living off of SLS and Dew Tour etc… good for him. For my money (and time), I’d rather watch a slew of the other new-generation skaters that are fucking it up. Busenitz, Westgate, Suciu, Piscopo, Dylan, Austyn … hell, I’d rather watch non-pros that are hungry … Brad McClain, Raffin then someone like Nyjah. It’s not about jealousy, hate or anything … it’s just about what I like.

  3. Person

    December 9, 2013 10:29 pm

    A bunch of artsy hipsters hating on a preppy skate jock….

  4. opinion nate ted

    December 9, 2013 10:53 pm

    People seem really jaded by all the contests winnings and all sell-out opportunities that have come his way, but really all that could be forgiven if he was more likeable.
    Nyjah seems like a nice guy who’s always got a big smile and a positive attitude, but when he’s on skateboard it’s strictly business – gnarly tricks only, continually progression – but no dork tricks, and no fun.
    People seem to perceive his personality as the guy who’s always trying to win, and not knowing how to enjoy himself.
    If you were to describe the personality of a kid grew up home schooled, by a strict overbearing dad, then being thrown into the media spotlight – the result would be someone like Nyjah…

    A lot of skaters fail to see that behind all the advertising and forum talk, he is really 100% skateboarder – to a degree that there is almost nothing else to his personality. The average skater does other shit with their life (smoke weed, get drunk, eat pussy, make art, read books, talk shit on the internet…), he doesn’t do any of that shit.
    Gershon Mosley once said in an interview (Globe Canvas, 1998), that kids don’t understand there is more to him, and he is not “just a skateboarder”, skating was just one thing he enjoyed doing. Nyjah is the opposite, he is just skater.
    I’m not calling him dumb, but he’s not educated, and sometimes it takes a certain amount of “not thinking” to be a good skater, just having balls to go for it… that’s what Nyjah does every day, and he’s damn good at it.

    Nyjah’s newest video part is just a taste of what’s to come, one day people will like him more than they do now, and he might even win SOTY… If you look at his skating right now his style is better than ever – but still that’s not likable enough because he’s still a robot.
    He is finally getting over his stupid dad, and coming out of his shell, growing as a person and a skateboarder. Just look at the influence in his trick selection, Chris Cole, P-Rod, Evan Smith… all have easily recognisable influence in his skating, and for him to hanging around such positive and diverse people will definitely help him find himself on and off his board, so he can finally develop some personality.

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