Revisit: Paul Rodriguez

Revisit is a new series, and I’m starting it off with P-Rod, since he inspired it. Last month this Paul Rodriguez | 20 and Forever video was released. This piece did an amazing job of highlighting the 20 years of Paul’s professional skate career and it did so in an emotional way. There’s some of Paul’s career that I didn’t live through, and other parts that I remember clearly, like watching Me, Myself and I right when it released. As this piece ended, you can both hear and see the emotion in Paul as he finishes reflecting on the incredible career he’s had thus far, and I felt the emotion myself. It gave me this feeling of being proud of Paul for everything he’s accomplished, as if he’s a close friend of mine, and all that he’s done for skateboarding. I guess the easiest way to put it is that it was incredibly inspiring to see all that P-Rod has set his mind to and done.

Fast forward a couple weeks – I’m driving to work in the morning, sitting in traffic on the 5, listening to The Nine Club Experience. On the show, they begin to discuss this recent P-Rod 20-year piece, and as I was listening, my mind started to wander. I started to think again about all that P-Rod has done in his career; and was beginning to obsess over the video parts he’s released over the years, and the lasting impact that they’ve had on countless skateboarders. As I was having these thoughts, it hit me that I need to write about skateboarders who have contributed so much to skateboarding through their video parts. I’m sure this is very clear by now; but skate videos are my favorite thing, ever. The reason that I love to write about skate videos is because of how much effort goes into making them, I feel like they deserved to be discussed. With that being said, the point of this series is to revisit a skaters video parts, spanning over different periods of their career. I’m not going to necessarily highlight every video part that a skater has released, or give a full timeline of their parts, but just highlight a few of them, as a nod of respect to what they contributed to skateboarding. To kick it off, here are some clips from 7 video parts that Paul has released, think about that for a minute, 7 video parts.

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What’s Loopin’ – 7/10/22

With a couple amazing video projects releasing over this past week, it only felt right to let out my thoughts out. When something releases and I’m stoked on it, I immediately text my friends, start talking about my favorite clips, and become obsessed. It turns into something I can’t stop thinking about, and wanting to talk about. I love that feeling. It’s a feeling that I crave when I don’t have, and I try to cherish when I do. Well, let’s dive into what gave me that feeling this week. First off, an amazing video project out of Boston by … Continue reading What’s Loopin’ – 7/10/22

Hjalte Halberg Instamix πŸ“Ό πŸŒ€

I’m back with another Instamix, this time it’s Hjalte Halberg. With his tasteful trick selection, high speed approach, and ability to make it all look fun, I dug deep into his Instagram to pick some of my favorite clips.

I was first introduced to Hjalte’s skating years back in a Polar video, but I first found myself obsessing over the way he skates in the “Looks OK to Me” video where he shares a part with Bobby Worrest. I’ve made it clear that I’m a fan of that video, and from that point on, I’ve clicked on anything with Hjalte’s name on it, from the Nike x Soulland edits, to Ben Chadourne’s beautiful web clips like “Firesides”, and giving his Bunt a listen, a couple times.

With Hjalte footage, I’m always left wanting more. In the best way, because his skating makes me want to skate. His balance of hard to do ledge tricks, speed, and simplicity is what I love. As I’ve touched on before, sometimes Instagram clips can convey this sense of “fun” better than a video part, the Dancer IG clips are a great example of this, as it always seems that Hjalte, Ville and their crew are having a great time, and just happen to be do amazing tricks on their skateboards.

Here are some of my favorite IG clips of Hjalte mixed together –

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Jake Hayes Instamix & Loops πŸ“ΌπŸŒ€

My list of favorite skateboarders could go on forever. About every week or so I have a skateboarder that I’m extra hyped on, it could be someone I’ve been a fan of for years or someone I just saw for the first time. Regardless, I always do the same thing, watch this person’s video parts, read their interviews, and lurk through their Instagram. Well, this past week it’s been Jake Hayes. Jake is someone I’ve been familiar with for years, but this week I’ve taken a deep dive into his footage, just appreciating his simple trick selection, unbelievable pop, and … Continue reading Jake Hayes Instamix & Loops πŸ“ΌπŸŒ€

Flo Mirtain Instamix & Loops πŸ“ΌπŸŒ€

As I mentioned in the most recent What’s Loopin’, I’ve been on a HΓ©las kick recently. Rewatching all the raw footage from Fellas reminded me how dope Flo’s skating is. Just like that, I was in a new rabbit hole, watching every Flo clip i could find. In an attempt to remind you how great these clips are, and give them a longer life span than just one day, I tossed some of my favorites from Flo’s IG together to make this mix – The debate of Instagram clips vs video parts could go on forever, but my take is … Continue reading Flo Mirtain Instamix & Loops πŸ“ΌπŸŒ€

What’s Loopin’ – Fourth Quarter

Monday, November 9th, 2020. This is when Primitive’s newest masterpiece was published. From the teaser last week, to the “Deadline” video a few days before the release, I was counting down the days. You would think that with “Encore” dropping less than one year ago, it would be impossible to release something of that caliber again so quickly, especially during a year where traveling was almost out of the question.

Well, they did it. They did what seemed impossible, about 11 months after their last full length, Primitive dropped another video, and it lived up to the expectations that they have created, and in many ways exceeded them.

Here it is, in all of its beauty
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