Slams #5: Nyjah Huston

Nyjah Huston dominates the skate contests but when he's out skating in the streets, he heads for the steepest, longest, and gnarliest rails out there. It's only natural that he's experienced some hard falls with his territory. One of the craziest bails I've ever seen came from Nyjah's work for his Rise and Shine video part that cemented his status as one of the greats of the generation. Above is his crazy 18-stair back smith bail (primary angle at 5:29 in Rise and Shine) that still jolts me every time I watch it. Twisting body parts always hurt to watch, but there's something about watching Nyjah's body legitimately bounce off the ground after falling from the top of the rail that never leaves your head.
Some other noteworthy bails from Rise and Shine include that opening sack down the long rail at the start (at about 0:14) and his huge 24-stair smith grind bail at 5:16, which also has a behind the scenes look.
Now on the other hand, as Nyjah was getting tech-gnar for his welcome to DC clip, he misses the rail here while trying to lock in before the drop down and gets very twisted. From long falls straight to the ground to big rail sacks to almost scorpioning into the grass, none of these bails looked fun.

Best Music for a Part #5: John Lennon

John Lennon has some very laid back music, ideal when it comes to certain styles in skateboarding.
Take Madars Apse in DC's Where EU At? above for instance. Madars easily has one of the best styles in the game with his natural lankiness that translates into very fluid-looking tricks. He oozes creativity and a sense of having fun while he skates, which matches up perfectly with Lennon's "Oh Yoko!" I especially like the part where the harmonica comes in around 2:50 right as Madars nails an enormous ollie into a bank from one of our dreams. It's also pretty cool how a quick cloud/skyline clip is shown with "in the middle of the clouds" at 2:07 and Madars pops up bobbing his head right on with the beat. The entire part, from Madars style to Lennon's cheerful song, is really feel-good; it's inevitable to start smiling when this part is playing.
John Lennon also has "Watching the Wheels" in Nick Trapasso's part in And Now. It's hard to think of any skater more laid back than Nick, so pairing this super chill song with his lazy yet gnarly skating is a soothing combination. "People say I'm lazy...dreaming my life away" appears to be a very accurate outside view of Nick. It's like the song was recorded specifically for this part. The 3 drum beats right around 3:26 with the surge in the music and the slow-mo'd switch frontside 360 add just the right amount of hype even with all the calming vibes from the part, as oxymoronic as that sounds. And the last few clips or so are as if Nick's listening to John saying "...just have to-oo let it go-oo", stomping down some serious bangers without even trying.
John Lennon's laid back music fits right with Madars' and Nick's easy styles, but it also works very well with The Boss in his part in Baker has a Deathwish, as Reynolds casually drops hammers to "Whatever Gets You Through the Night". Lennon's count-up at the start (of the song anyway, after the initial Baker hijinx clips) sets up Reynolds for his bolts fakie flip to kick off the happy music. At the first chime in of "whatever gets you through the night", Reynolds switch tres to switch manual at nighttime with the spot lit up from nearby lampposts it seems. For a trick I haven't seem much from Reynolds, he literally does whatever gets him through the night. The rest of the part feels very jolly as you watch The Boss demonstrate his master flick. And it's also pretty cool that at 3:16 I believe Lennon says "STOP!" but it sounds way to close to "STOMP!" to be a coincidence. Because Reynolds most certainly stomped that nollie inward heel (not to mention popping it unnecessarily high) down that set.

Video of the Week: Manolo Robles - Forward Slash Remix

I've only ever really seen Manolo Robles in his Darkstar Forward Slash clips and through his DC Spain Introduction Video, but he is without a doubt one of the most technical skaters out there. Though the distance across the Atlantic may limit his exposure, the clips that have come through to most of our computers are ridiculously technical and impressive.  When he starts spewing out tricks that were other skaters' video part enders, and then backs those up with NBDs on NBDs, he deserves the spotlight for a while.  Every little variation makes you appreciate each individual trick that he somehow combines all into one fluid trick. So to highlight this week's output of skate videos, Manolo Robles will demonstrate the potential of technical ledge tricks.
(See this link for higher quality video.)

Ams that Should be Pro #1: Felipe Gustavo

Right now, Felipe Gustavo is basically Schrödinger's professional skateboarder.  He is considered both am and pro at the same time.  After competing in a pro contest at SPOT, he's now listed as pro on their website, yet Plan B has not released any pro model decks for Felipe, which is the real turning point for professionalism.  Either way, just to alleviate everyone from the headaches they've been given for trying to label Felipe as a pro or am, Plan B most definitely needs to come out with a pro deck for him.  It's not worth even writing any supporting reasons for why he should be pro; everyone that is involved with skateboarding understands that he deserves it 100%.
So, to recap Felipe's progression in the skate world, here are most of his major video parts that he's put out over the years.  Knowing that he's Brazilian should be enough to mentally prepare for the technical wizardry that is about to follow:
Digital F.Y.I.: I absolutely love the full motion of the kickflip back noseblunt fakie to end a line at 2:27 and the hardflip front nose big spin out at 2:05 is still such a shocking trick today.
FKD Park Project: I always appreciate a good switch flip back tail (0:34) and to follow it up with a nollie frontside flip down the stairs was an enjoyable pairing of tricks.  Same goes for the pairing of the nollie frontside flip 360 over the hip with its backside counterpart at 1:07.
LRG United: I'm including this clip exclusively for the trick at 4:54. Never before had I seen a nollie 360 flip backside tailslide, and I still don't remember seeing many if any at all after this either.  Just leave it to Felipe to come up with a trick like this.
Plan B vAmdalism (above): Scott Decenzo has also been one of my favorites for a while, with this part cementing the fact that both he and Felipe are among the technical greats in skateboarding.  I feel like Scott should also deserve to be pro very soon, but needs a bit more consistent industry coverage first like Felipe has gotten (or it could be some Canadian curse...but more of that some other time). One of my favorite lines is at 3:40, where Felipe demonstrates his one of a kind, fast flicking, unnaturally elevating 360 flips into a nosegrind (revert out of course) followed by a proper frontside half cab flip and closed by a kickflip back noseblunt on the tabletop of a bench. The big spin out of the nollie front nose at 3:58 (ending a line nonetheless) totally shocked me as to how fast he's dropping off the handrail and still manage to big spin out. The fact that Felipe actually sits on the grind of a nollie flip crooks nollie frontside flip out at 4:48 shows me how professional he is already, and every clip after that has some very technically difficult trick that Felipe just throws down like a seasoned vet.
Switching it up for Plan B: I'm including this clip because there's another solid minute plus of quality tech clips, proving just how good he is at switch tricks.
DC's Rediscover Home (Part 3): One of the reasons that there are a ton of skaters out there that just can't seem to find their way into the industry, despite incredible talent, is the fact that their backgrounds or personalities are not unique enough to fund.  This three part series that DC did about how Felipe managed to work his way out of Brazil and fulfill his dream to skate with one shot at SPOT really shows a wonder story for one kid to make his way into skateboarding for everyone's benefit.  This is the kind of background that should get someone coverage and on the path to turning pro.  Not to mention Felipe displays his ninja precision on a skateboard once again at 6:30.

Ams that Should be Pro #4: Marquise Henry

I first remember seeing coverage of Marquise Henry through Transworld’s Check Out and some ads and sequences in the mag.  This was back when he just got on Alien Workshop through Kalis as Mind Field was coming out.  I liked what I saw in the mags already of Marquise, but when his bonus features part in Mind Field came out (above) I was shocked. He’s got that wide array of tech tricks in any stance with that totally G style that is always a good watch.  Mixing his high pop with his back of switch tricks is the perfect combo for skating everything street really well.  Not only that, but did anyone else notice his inward heel 5-0 down Hubba Hideout?! (1:56) How does a trick like that not get someone into the primetime spotlight and go down as one of the historical benchmark tricks at that spot? After switching with Kalis over to DGK, I knew Marquise was still fairly new to the industry but definitely had the skills to turn pro soon. He also dropped a really awesome part with the DC Shoes: Skateboarding is Forever series. Again, Marquise dazzles the viewers with technical skating, impressive pop, and a smooth style. More recently, when Parental Advisory dropped, Marquise’s part was instantly my favorite of the video.  His last 6 or so tricks are total face-melters and two tricks that specifically stick out to me are his half cab fs nosegrind nollie flip out at JKWON and his inward heelflip bluntslide on a downwards bench and slope at that popular schoolyard somewhere in Cali.  Super hard, super tasteful, and super exciting.  This would be the best time as any to turn ‘Quise pro, but DGK chose Keelan instead (probably for his marketability, which is understandable from a business point of view, but not from most skaters’ I’d say).  And after still showing his fresh tricks and style in the DGK United Nations Berrics video, I’m really hoping Marquise gets his first pro model really soon.  He and his powerful tech style deserve it.