A Brief History of Rappers Who Skateboard

Stop hating and learn.

August 6, 2013

Not Available Lead — Image via Complex Original

Hip-hop and skateboarding has a contentious relationship. Most rappers who have hopped on a board have only been met with hate—from the dudes who've been skating for ages (Pharrell, Lupe) to those taking up a new hobby (Lil Wayne). Regardless of experience, we have respect for rappers or anyone who skateboards because it's kind of a stupid thing to do. Not because skateboarding is wack, but because it's extremely dangerous. Any skater is bound to get hurt, which means that those who stick with it have to truly love the sport. Why else leave the air-conditioned recording studios full of weed smoke and groupies for the unforgiving pavement? Learn about these bold rappers with A History of Rappers Who Skateboard.

RELATED: The 25 Greatest Skateboard Brands of All Time

Beastie Boys

Pioneers. Legends. The Beastie Boys live up to those names in more ways than one. In addition to being some of the first white boys to kill it in hip-hop, they were also the first rappers to show skating love. This video from MTV Sports in 1992 shows Adam Yauach hitting the half-pipe.

Aesop Rock

Aesop Rock says he learned everything he ever needed to know growing up skateboarding. He told Magnet Magazine that the individualism of skateboarding appealed to him and that it taught him to carve his own path. Most importantly, the sport introduced him to hip-hop. Without skateboarding Aesop Rock might not even exist.

MGK

Trivia: Machine Gun Kelly and skateboarder Ryan Sheckler are really good friends. They're such good friends, in fact, that MGK recruited Sheck for a video for a called "Skate Cans" off of his most recent mixtape Black Flag. Kelly said that the song was for Sheckler, and they ended up filming at historic skate spot Hollywood High. As for whether or not MGK skates, he had this to say in an ESPN X Games interview:

"I've been active on that since fifth or sixth grade. In seventh grade, I remember popping my ulna out of my skin; I had to earn my stripes. But that was when I was better. I remember when all the songs I was into were from skate videos. Like this song was in Rodney Mullen's part. Every song I was into at the time was from skate videos."

Later in the interview, the two mentioned the possibility of even touring together. Check out the "Skate Cans" video below:

Murs

According to an interview with ESPN, Murs has been skateboarding since 1986. He earned his first board good grades: a Santa Cruz spike with black Tracker trucks, OJ II wheels, and half black/half blue grip tape.

Tom Green

Yo, you didn't know Tom Green rapped? The man went toe-to-toe with Xzibit and wasn't bad. Actually, he was pretty good. Now the idea of him skateboarding seems less absurd, doesn't it? Tony Hawk's Birdhouse Skateboards even gave Green his own signature board.

Pharrell

Many have called Skateboard P a poser, but Pharrell hardly hopped on a trend. The man has consistently shown love for skating, from the "Frontin'" video back in 2003 to the relaunch of his Ice Cream skate team in 2012. In fact, the Skateboard P nickname is even older than his career in music. He earned the moniker while attending high school in Virginia Beach. If the skateboarding thing is all a charade, why would he keep it up for so long?

Curren$y

We all know Curren$y has the car game on lock, but did you know he's up on skateboarding, too? In an interview with Dub, Spitta said he can "get down a bit" and skates enough to keep the rust off.

Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco came into the limelight and immediately gave skateboarding its biggest stage in hip-hop. His debut single, "Kick, Push" follows a skater as he grows from a novice with a busted lip into a dude skilled enough to draw a crowd, within which is his future love. Lupe said of the song, "I'm not the greatest skateboarder, but I'm a damn good rapper, so I made a damn good skateboarding song." We can't argue with that.

Yelawolf

Yelawolf told us all about his love for skateboarding last year on Complex TV. He said his skating style is wild, much like his music. Judging by the footage, he may very well be the best skater in hip-hop.

hopsin

Hopsin is quick to call out Lupe Fiasco and Lil Wayne, doubting their skateboarding prowess. We'll stay out of the beef and simply point out that Hopsin handles his own. YouTube is full of videos of him not only skating, but doing it well. If only we could say the same thing about his rapping.

Odd Future

There's no question about it. The dudes from Odd Future can straight up skate. You can find footage of Tyler, Earl and co. skating back when Tyler's voice had yet to reach its postpubescent deepness. The crew grew up dicking around, skating, and making music. The latter just happened to be what made Odd Future famous.

Lil Wayne

It's impossible to hear about Weezy skateboarding without a dig coming right after. Of course, it's weird when a rapper in his 30s says he's going to quit what made him one of the most famous people in the world and skateboard instead. There has been a lot of footage since, most of it bad. But lowkey, he's really not that bad anymore. Especially when you consider how late he took up this hobby.

Joey Bada$$

We let Joey Bada$$ speak for himself last year: " Yo, I guess I am a skater. But I'm not fuckin' Tony Hawk. It's like, I use my board to get from point A to point B. This summer is gonna make it a year [that I've had a skateboard]. Now, I'm starting to trick and shit because I'm starting to fall in love with it more. But it's just a hobby."

Wiz Khalifa

We haven't seen any footage of Wiz Khalifa skating, which is shocking in the TMZ era. He says he doesn't having any delusions of greatness. He just wants to have fun and stay in shape. Isn't that one of the most responsible things you've heard a rapper say? Footage straight from his Instagram below (hat tip to TheRevMerril)