Skateboarding is an sport that has existed for many years. It is a lifestyle, a culture, but more importantly it is one of the basic aspects that inspire a movement that allows an individual to be the very best that they can be. When you step onto a skateboard you have a vision of landing a specific trick. Just like going into the studio as a musician you have a basic plan of coming up with something that works. Aspects such as graffiti and breakdancing are well known in the Hip Hop industry but skateboarding has never been recognised as much until Lil Wayne stated his love for the sport.
Yes there have been other artists such as Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco who also enjoy skating and have actually said that’s where they draw most of their inspiration for their music. Skateboarding teaches you how to preserve and learn a lot about yourself as a person and how far you can stretch yourself. It’s no wonder so many Hip Hop artists choose this culture as a source of inspiration.
Ghostface Killah stated in an interview with Hip Hop Dx that “Skate culture is akin to Hip Hop in many ways given the unique set of guiding style and ethics.” So it seems as though Hip Hop and skating can interlink with each other considering that they both have the same underlying concept – which is discipline.
I have spoken to a few local skate boarders and most of them prefer to listen to music such as Dubstep, which is a genre of electronic dance music with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals. It’s vastly different from rap music, and yes there are different aspects which differ between skateboarding and Hip Hop such as most skaters preferring skinnies and shoe strings around their pants.
But all in all this fusion of Skateboarding and Hip Hop has gotten a lot of people talking, thanks to the launch of Lil Wayne’s clothing and skateboarding range titled Truckfit.
By: Nomsa Motale