Who do you think are the “greatest” / most influential / biggest impact / personal favourite / most idiosyncratic skaters to have emerged since the millenium?
First skater that comes to mind for me (and probs a lot of people) is obviously PJ Ladd.
He quite possibly had a couple of clips in 411vm or some local/Element-related vids before 2000, but seeing his part in PJLWHL really blew my mind as a teenager and completely changed my understanding of what was possible on flatground and ledges + what could constitute an “aggressive skate-rat” style of skating. A big personal favourite, but also someone who I think sent shockwaves through the subculture as a whole.
(also on a tangent I think the person who edited this part is a genius)
I remember a while ago (maybe on the old forum?) someone did a “guess the skater” challenge with silhouettes of pros from the 90s. Who do you think would have a similar defining style these days? For the younger generation or whatever…
Obviously we’re a bit more of a microcosm but I’d be interested to hear thoughts on the skaters who have helped to (re)define UK skating during the last two decades, too
PJ’s section is my all time favourite with Gonz in Video Days. I still watch them regularly and will always do I suppose.
Pontus existed in the 90s but had a big impact on street skating and the culture since launching Polar.
Dill and AVE started something very influential when they left AWS and launched FA, sponsoring those kids that were just kids back then, who are now most kids’ biggest influence.
Dyrdek played a big role in taking skateboarding to the Olympics via Street League too I suppose.
Going slightly off topic but mental health is something we can openly talk about these days but it was totally taboo 20 years ago. I suppose Rattray and Raemers (among other people) indirectly definitely helped make this happen.
Chico leaving Chocolate and skating shaped boards probably inspired a lot of older guys these last years. He’s been around since the early 90s but at this point the end of his career is better than anything he’s done before and he’s always been rad.
BA was also one of the first people to skate unusual shapes on street and he fucking came out which definitely had an impact in and out of our little world.
Just for reference, here are the SOTY winners from the last couple of decades…
2000: Geoff Rowley
2001: Arto Saari
2002: Tony Trujillo
2003: Mark Appleyard
2004: Danny Way
2005: Chris Cole
2006: Daewon Song
2007: Marc Johnson
2008: Silas Baxter-Neal
2009: Chris Cole
2010: Leo Romero
2011: Grant Taylor
2012: David González
2013: Ishod Wair
2014: Wes Kremer
2015: Anthony Van Engelen
2016: Kyle Walker
2017: Jamie Foy
2018: Tyshawn Jones
2019: Milton Martinez
2020: Mason Silva
tbh even though a lot of these skaters are undoubtedly gnarly/incredibly talented, not so many stand out to me as fundamentally re-framing the way we understand what is possible in skating.
Although maybe these guys from that list?
Danny Way (a pre-millenium icon obvs, but more recently ushered-in the age of the mega-ramp)
Daewon Song (picnic table combos. fun super-nimble stylish hyper-tech. new frontiers for wobbly trucks)
Leo Romero (skating up rails?)
Anthony Van Engelen (as franc said: co-founding FA/Hockey and introducing a whole new breed onto the scene. Plus a huge inspiration for late-career/35+ year-old street-skaters)
Kyle Walker (that up-along-and-over rail from his latest part feels groundbreaking in its own way. Wouldn’t have thought that possible before he did it)
Jamie Foy (how long can you hold onto a fs crook for?)
Tyshawn (pop higher. tables lengthways might have been done before? world-class athlete / young entrepreneur / street-cred fashion venn diagram)
Im going to say something potentially unpopular but Im not that into Daewon anymore. I dont want to see 50 shoveits in a line or weird skatepark combos in 40C heat and a windbreaker
Rowley for basically opening the doors to big risk skateboarding (I know people like Duffy were doing it before him, but Rowley had the bigger impact) and Dylan for the wider cultural impact.
Was that Dylan Gravis part one of the first proper solo parts put out? They feel so commonplace now, but definitely was a little more unusual back then.
Yeah Kalis had that In Mono part on a free dvd alongside some Habitat tour stuff (Regal Road iirc). Don’t think he was too chuffed with the pairing.
Dylan’s Gravis part seems to me like a big step-up in terms of “individual as brand identity”/fashion crossover. Also a hike in brands pushing individuals over collective “crew” identities.
I’m sure this kind of thing had lots of precedents (big names that almost become brands in themselves: Tony Hawk, Bam Margera etc), and that a variety of factors (especially the rise of social media) has maybe shifted the focus more onto individual personalities over the years, but it’s also laugh to say “Dylan, by Gravis” in a French perfume ad kinda way.
He was also a post-millenium skater with a very clear lanky hunched style that I could probs recognize in silhouette. Another one is Chewy “Picasso painting in a hurricane” Cannon.
Palace have deffo done a good job of making it seem like a crew of mates have hijacked the fashion industry for a laugh. Strong individuals like Chewy or Lucien in there but also a good highlighting of messing around with friends, collective identity and more than lipservice to various shared subculture “roots”.
soz for the waffle-time! fun to chat a bit of nonsense
Good idea for a thread but I’m not sure about some of the suggestions. PJ was hooked up before 2000 by Element. Danny Way and Daewon absolutely do not count! Way too much of their career is before 2000. Dylan is a strong shout - his career is more clearly post-2000 and had a huge impact.
Fuck it. Blondey.
What about skaters born in 2000 or after? Now that might be a real test for the forum!
