RVA Mag

Richmond, VA Culture & Politics Since 2005

Menu

Hip Hop X Skate X Fashion: A Conversation with Shawn Gray of Washington Avenue Skateboarding

|

Topics: , , , , ,

*This article originally appeared in RVA Mag #37, on the streets now at all your favorite spots.

Hip hop and skateboarding: two subcultures with roots that go back well over 40 years. Over the decades, each has had a long struggle for acceptance before eventually becoming mainstream cultural staples. In the past decade, the two have become more closely intertwined than ever. Stars like Pharrell Williams and Lil Wayne have embraced their skating roots, and rappers today wear Vans as much as they wear Adidas and Nikes (word to Dom Kennedy). Here in Richmond, there are days when downtown Broad Street looks like a skate park. 

I spoke to Shawn Gray at the Analog Suspects record release show, where the group raffled off a limited-edition signature skateboard deck produced for them by Washington Avenue Skateboarding. Gray is the man behind the Richmond-based Washington Ave, and has his own history as a rapper as well. We spoke about RVA hip hop and skateboarding as he and his team prepared to hit the road for Washington Avenue’s first skate tour. 

How did you first get into skating? 

My mom actually skated back in the eighties; I saw photos of her while in New York. And then, I’m not even gonna lie, man — PlayStation 1, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. If I didn’t say that, I’d be a liar. Before it came out, I was into X games stuff — into watching it. But when the actual video game came out, and you can pick a black dude, and it was rap music… I’m just like, “Oh okay. Let’s do it.” 

How long were you a skater? 

I started out in the driveway. After a few falls, that didn’t last too long [laughs]. It wasn’t where I wanted it to go, but the love was always there. Since then, I’ve been on and off the board recently, but nothing too serious; to where I can give anybody else on a board judgement. That’s what I don’t do — that’s when you become a poser. 

Then you became a rapper, before eventually starting a skate team. How are those things similar? 

It’s similar in the way you deal with people. As a rapper, you can’t be anyone but yourself, or you’re outta here. The same with skating. Both ventures heavily rely on relationships, so it keeps me in line, knowing that I can’t do this alone.  For example, me and OG Illa went through a lot. Back when I was a rapper, I wasn’t focused on being as much of a good person, so I let ego get in the way of a few things. And I had the power to stop an issue or two, and didn’t stop it. I didn’t want to stop it. Around 2018, I don’t know when I saw him, or how I saw him — probably Instagram — but he came by my job. I apologized to him for being like that back then. Once I did that, not only did I feel better, that’s when we decided to see if we can get something done together. You have to grow. 

Have your connections from your days as a rapper also helped with skating connections today? 

Yes, the rappers you see coming through are from my rap career, like Versace Chachi and Noah-O. Back then, when I was like “Oh, I could rap with y’all,” [Illa] gave me the Jay-Z and Kanye stiff arm.  I’m glad he did because I wasn’t ready. I was ready lyrically, but I wasn’t ready to be around that level of dedication and hard work they were doing over there. I was just raw talent. 

Recently I’ve seen plenty of kids — black kids at that — on boards up and down Broad Street. How does it make you feel to see the diversity? 

Let me tell you something, man — that is one of the happiest things that I’ve been seeing, as far as Richmond goes. Seeing Broad Street being shredded up and down. And it’s cool because that started right around the construction time; a lot of those intersections were blocked off, so a lot of them had access to the middle section over there. Now it’s open, but hey, I guess they claimed it. (laughs) 

You’re about to head out on the first Washington Avenue skate tour. How many skaters are on the tour? 

Ten skaters. The tour is from July 25th to August 5th. We will be leaving out of Richmond that Thursday night, headed to Tampa, then Atlanta, Charlotte, and back to Richmond. 

Is there a hip hop tie-in? 

The skate tour kind of evolved; it was going to be a hip hop/skate mashup type thing. But it didn’t work out that way, because it’s the first thing that we’re doing. I didn’t want to make it look like too much of what it wasn’t. It’s a skate tour, you know what I’m saying? Now, hip hop is definitely part of it; that will always be there. But I didn’t want anybody else to feel like I wasn’t focusing on them as much as I should. I really want to do a showcase, a hip hop/skate-type thing [on the Richmond stop]. We do skate night every Wednesday at Monkey Brainz RVA over there [on Jeff Davis]. So I want to do a juiced up skate night that Wednesday — might have a skate showcase; or a pop-up shop type thing. 

washavesb.bigcartel.com

Photos by Branden Wilson

RVA #37 Is On The Streets Now!

|

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Summer is alive in the River City, and the latest issue of RVA Magazine is here with it to tell the stories of arts, music, politics, and culture across Virginia.

It’s August, it’s hot, and it’s only going to get hotter here in the River City with the arrival on the streets of RVA Magazine #37, our Summer 2019 issue! This one’s bursting all around, with plenty of art, music, news, politics, and more. From the far corners of the Commonwealth to right here in Rich! Mond! Vee! Ay!, RVA Magazine is on point with the coverage of Virginia’s street-level culture that you’ve known and loved for the past 14 years.

The biggest news of the summer here in Richmond was the reunion of Avail, the band who defined Richmond’s music scene in the 90s and helped put the river city on the musical map throughout the country and beyond. After 12 years away from the stage, they brought a hotly-anticipated two-night stand to the National and blew fans’ minds all over again. In the run-up to that memorable weekend of rock, we had an exclusive conversation about their reunion with vocalist Tim Barry, and you’ll find it all in this issue of RVA Magazine!

PHOTO: Ken Penn

We’re also bringing you an in-depth profile of Trevor Frost, a photographer and Richmond native whose work with National Geographic and other world-renowned publications has taken him to every corner of the globe. You’ll learn what Frost has seen and discovered in his voyages, and why he keeps coming back to Richmond every time.

Photo of Trevor Frost by Melissa Lesh

We don’t just focus on Richmond, though — our reporting takes us to the farthest reaches of the Commonwealth this issue, where we learn about Tennessee-adjacent Lee County’s attempts to create a policy based on comments from political leaders about arming teachers to prevent school shootings. Why does this rural county at the very tip of Virginia’s panhandle think such a policy is a good idea? And how do they intend to put it into practice? We’ll give you a deeper look.

Photo by John Donegan

We’ve got a lot more in store for you in this issue as well, from a GayRVA report on the recently-released documentary capturing and honoring the life of legendary Richmond cult figure Dirtwoman to an exclusive conversation with up and coming postpunk band Unmaker. We’ll also learn about the hip hop and skateboarding connection with Richmond’s own Washington Avenue Skateboards, and take a closer look at the history of the city’s underground graffiti scene — a major influence on the mural boom RVA is undergoing today.

All of that is in store for you when you grab your very own copy of RVA #37, available in all your favorite local businesses around town. Get yours now… they’re going fast!

Check out the digital version on Issuu here.

Shredding At Pulaski

|

Topics: , , , ,

The pristine marble of Washington DC’s Freedom Plaza has made it a favorite spot year after year for street skaters in the DMV and all over the world.

Tattooed on Mikey Payne’s right knee is “13th and E”: the address of Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Plaza. As a teenager, Payne would skip school and head there to skate.

Now 27, working odd jobs, and travelling the country skating, Payne still returns to the place he and fellow skateboarders call Pulaski, after the mounted figure of a Polish general that watches over it.

The plaza is one of the most famous street skating locations in the world. There on Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of D.C., just two blocks from the White House, skaters and pedestrians have a clear view of the Capitol building, ten blocks to the west.

Freedom Plaza has been visited by every president since it’s construction in 1835 and has seen countless protesters march across its marble. At one end sits the 15-foot tall bronze statue of General Casimir Pulaski, who fought with the colonists in the revolution, saved George Washington’s life, and is considered the “father of the American cavalry.”

Sequan smokes a cigarette after skating one March evening at sunset in Freedom Plaza. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)

Skateboarding is technically illegal at Freedom Plaza, which is policed by the National Park Service. However, every day skaters congregate to drink, smoke, and shred.

Every few hours the “whoop whoop” of a police siren sends the skaters scattering, only to return after ten minutes and resume skating. It’s just habit for the regulars.

“It’s an entire city block of some of the smoothest marble in the world,” said Aaron Brown, a 25-year-old Pulaski regular from Bowie, Maryland.

Payne, a veteran of the plaza for over a decade, has seen waves of skaters come and go.

“The people I hang around with now weren’t always here,” he said. “It’s up to a few of us to preserve the culture.”

A broken board sits along with empty beer and liquor bottles and burnt “Make America Great Again” visors in the fountain at Freedom Plaza. The day before, skaters had set fire to the “MAGA” hats and tossed them in the fountain. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)

To the world of street skating, Pulaski is one of a kind. According to Brown, today it’s one of the last skate-able plazas on the east coast. And every summer, people come from across the globe to skate Freedom Plaza. The regulars like to say D.C. is the best place to skate come summertime.

“There’s no bad days,” added Brown.

But if you plan on travelling to the nation’s capitol to skate Pulaski, Payne just asks that you respect the local scene.

And take his advice:  “Just skate fast and don’t be a kook.”

December 2017: a skater prepares to grind a marble ledge at Pulaski. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
Shane looks into the camera while sharing a song with Mikey on his phone. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
A broken skateboard sits on a marble bench at Freedom Plaza. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
December 2017: Aaron smokes a cigarette while filming a friend. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
Mikey rolls a joint one evening after skating. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)

Top Photo: Skaters at Freedom Plaza taking a smoke break. Photo by Hadley Chittum.

‘Breaking Bread’: VA Skateboarding Crew Premieres New Film

|

Topics: , , , ,

From the day they set up their first board, skaters have been coming together to “shred”, whether it be Richmond’s streets  and alleyways,  events such as the “Free-For-All”  Go Skateboarding Day at Kanawha Plaza — before it was renovated, to local group RASA tirelessly toiling away to create a skate park at Texas Beach, to the infamous Lost Bowl, skateboarding has long been a huge part of the city’s culture.

A popular pastime bringing together younger and older crowds, away from the bullshit of life, to just mess around, have fun with friends, maybe learn some new tricks while inevitably earning some new battle scars-all for the love of the board.

A few weekends ago, Virginia-based skateboarding crew Dinnerbread unveiled their full-length skate film, Breaking Bread, to a packed crowd at Strange Matter, which aims to capture all those aspects of the skateboarding culture and more.

BREAKING BREAD Trailer from Dinnerbread Skateboarding on Vimeo.

Directed, produced, and starring Lane Maloney, along with Jacob Chapo, Alex Russell, Rudy Ourednik, Noble Silva, Philip Powell and more; Breaking Bread is meant to showcase the talents of the Dinnerbread crew, a group of rippers that started out of Hampton Roads in 2008.

Lane Maloney

Their video was filmed during their skate trips in several cities in North Carolina, Virginia, and D.C. The crew linked up with other Richmond skaters to capture them doing what they love best in their city in Breaking Bread. 

“There are people [in Richmond] who only skate the bike lot or a bowl or skate Laurel and like that’s all they do. Some like to only skate shitty alleys and the worse spots in Richmond and that’s like really cool too. Everyone got something that they are really stoked on for doing,” said Maloney. “That’s one thing that is really cool, that there is not a set style to the scene here, it is kind of like a collective of a bunch of different crews and that is not true to different areas in Virginia.”

No automatic alt text available.

Be on the lookout for several RVA spots to make their debut in the film including the Southern States Silos on Manchester, the Canal Walk, LaDiff furniture store and many more. Harrisonburg’s Wolfe St. Brewing even gets a little screen time. 

Dinnerbread has expanded to skaters throughout Virginia that ride for all different shops and for Maloney’s projects, it just depends on who’s around.

“A lot of people who had video parts in my last project didn’t have a single clip in this video,” he said. “It just happened because where they moved to and their schedule and stuff, I wouldn’t say there is a set squad it is kind of collective in a way I guess.”

The skating in Breaking Bread was a breath of fresh air for Richmond skateboarding and a few of those featured set the bar high enough to be considered pro skateboarders. Though Richmond is home to a few pros, such as Gilbert Crockett, Tyler Beall, and Trent Hazelwood, Maloney wants to take the talent of the lesser known skaters in his video in hopes their potential will lead to something bigger.

Image may contain: one or more people, shoes and outdoor

“My personal goal is to take people who are really talented in Virginia who just don’t have that spotlight and build a platform for them. There is so much talent that is unseen and it is trying to get that in front of the right people,” said Maloney.

Specifically, he mentioned Alex Russell who has a standout part in the beginning of the film along with Noble Silva who is prominently featured in the last part of the film.

“They came on super late which is super impressive because, in my opinion, they have some of the heaviest parts in the video,” Maloney said. “Everything was like a mission to them, it was like ‘when are you free, how much time do you have on this day like what can we can get done.’ It was very planned out compared to others people’s parts where we’re like, ‘we’ll go skate and we’ll get what we’ll get’.”

Breaking Bread took about a year and a half to film, and according to Maloney, there were no significant problems during the making of the film besides a few swapping of clips last minute and some desired tricks not landed.

Image may contain: one or more people, shoes, basketball court and bicycle

“Everyone had an ending trick that they wanted to get in the video and everyone ended up getting up broke off trying their trick. Those failed ender attempts are something they are hoping to get for the next video we are working on,” said Maloney.

The skater actually broke his collarbone while filming a trick, but he didn’t mention it in our initial interview, so it’s all in a day’s work for Maloney.

Of course, what would be a skateboarding video without run-ins with the law? However, not all of the encounters in Breaking Bread were bad. 

Image may contain: 1 person

“There were actually scenarios in a video where the cops were siding with us,” said Maloney. “It was one of the tricks that I did and me and Rudy {Ourednik} were doing at one apartment complex in NC. There was a woman parked we were skating there first, she purposely parked at the spot and complained that we were skating too close to her car. The cop came, we told him the story and he was like,  ‘I don’t agree with her that’s bullshit, so I’m gonna keep this lady off your back until you get what you need to get’.”

Maloney’s next video project is going to be a VX1000 filmed video — a staple in the skate community as it was the go-to before HD cameras and still has a pretty looming presence with many pro skate teams having parts and full lengths shot on the retro camera preferring its raw appeal over the 4k+ RED shot cinematic fueled skate films.

Image may contain: one or more people, snow, tree and outdoor

His crew has even been talking about going out of the country soon, to what is arguably the mecca spot in skateboarding: Barcelona.

“You know, we’re just trying to think of new places to go to. We’ve been talking about trying to do something like saving up to do a Barcelona trip or Costa Rica. It is ever-evolving we’re trying to find new places,” said Maloney.

Maloney just enjoys filming as it is a passion for him and his career, so every time he brings out the camera on every skate trip it is simply organic for him.

“For me, it is about continuously putting out content which is what I like to do,” he said.

Breaking Bread can be purchased as a DVD or in digital from DinnerBread’s website.

Photo Credits: Dinnerbread

 

Local skateboarding group continues efforts with city to build skatepark near Texas Beach

|

Topics: , , , , , ,

For skateboarders in Richmond, finding a permanent place to skate isn’t an easy thing to do. Places where they’re allowed to skate are limited, and the alternative, street skating, means risking a ticket or worse. Some Richmond police see street skating as a nuisance and destruction of property.

“Just about anyone you talk to that rides a skateboard has gotten a ticket for skateboarding at some point in their life,” said Austin Plantinga, a board member of the Richmond Area Skateboard Alliance (RASA).

RASA, a non-profit organization formed by local skateboarders in 2013, was started because of the lack of skateboarding facilities in Richmond. The skaters decided to unite in an effort to work closely – and legally – with the city of Richmond to bring their goals to fruition and provide an outlet for the thriving skateboard culture in RVA.

“The opportunity here was very clear that there was a chance someone could give back,” said Kenny Shafer, President of RASA. “We have a longer term version of skateboarding in Richmond. It should be far more represented than it is.”

Specifically, the non-profit has been working tirelessly for two years to get a skatepark built near Texas Beach in the Maymont neighborhood.

Up until this point, skateboarding efforts have been mostly DIY. The city’s first skatepark in Woodland Heights at Carter Jones Park opened in 2013. As Skateboarders were also using Abner Clay Park to skate, but the city tore it down this month.

The Texas Beach spot is popular and frequently used by skaters, and RASA has built ramps and rails on a small patch of concrete but the patch of concrete they poured is small and disheveled, and RASA is working hard to expand it.

The skate group is working in tandem with the Maymont Civic League, a group of neighbors dedicated to managing and supporting their community on the project.

“The Maymont Civic League is where we had to go to get approval from the community in order to expand the skate park,” said Shafer. “We said, ‘hey, this is land in your neighborhood. Can we revitalize it?’”

RASA’s held a clean-up day at the Texas Beach spot in March 2014, an effort to show the city that the organization was serious. Resulting in a large turnout and a productive day, it worked in getting the city’s attention, but raised another question for the neighborhood: what was going to be done with the rest of the land?

The group held a fundraiser at Hardywood last month to help them bring the overgrown eyesore, that was formerly a basketball court, back to life. The fundraiser featured an auction where local artists painted blank skateboard decks.

The process of getting approval to develop the land, handled by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, is a slow one. Shafer, however, is understanding about it.

“There are special hurdles you have to clear, because the land is part of the James River conservancy,” said Shafer. “We try to help manage expectations for the skateboarding community.”
Shafer explained that it’s going to take time, but that the city is working with RASA and the Maymont Civic League.

“The city might work on one timeframe, where it’s on a scale of years, whereas people in the community may become impatient,” said Shafer. “It’s being able to manage that communication where, just because something’s not happening right now doesn’t mean the city is out to get you, or actively working against you. They’re working on things on our behalf way more than anybody probably realizes.”

RASA’s dream of making Richmond more accessible and friendly to skaters benefits the community as well. It helps the community at large, taking unused and potentially malignant areas of land and breathing new life into them.

“Skaters have a vision to look at property or land that is being unused, or being used in a way the community might see as detrimental,” said Shafer, “Skaters see an opportunity to take those spots and turn them into something useful. I’ve seen it at Texas Beach with the community coming together.”

Regardless of the city’s decision regarding the Texas Beach skatepark, Shafer is optimistic about what is to come for RASA and the skaters of Richmond.

“Texas Beach is not the end all be all of our efforts,” said Shafer. “The city is looking for opportunities for us, they’re on our side. The city has been very cooperative and Parks and Rec have been great. I foresee a lot of good things coming in the future, that’s for sure.”