Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Kareem Campbell on his legacy and longevity in skateboarding
Kareem Campbell opens up on his career in skateboarding, coming up in the '90s and being inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
Kareem Campbell is a living legend. His style on and off a skateboard has inspired countless people all over the world. There's always been a freshness about him and throughout the span of his three-decade career (still very much in motion), he continues to captivate the masses with a fresh approach and timeless technique. He's remained confident yet humble, adapted with the times and continued to be a trendsetter.
Mike Fitzgerald had the pleasure of chatting with the skater, who brought him up to speed with all of the latest happenings. They covered a lot of ground, so settle in and get comfortable.
Kareem Campbell pushing skateboarding forward
© Axion Footwear
Although you're most associated with Los Angeles, you're originally from Harlem, correct?
Yep. Harlem, New York City.
What made you originally move to Los Angeles?
My family. My mom and my grandmother moved to LA and I moved there when I was six.
When you were a kid were you going back and forth from East to West coast?
Yeah. Every time I got kicked out of school my mom would send me back in the summer or during the holidays.
Kareem Campbell
© Axion Footwear
I was bi-coastal. I got the fruits of both, you know what I mean?
Did you like going back to New York as a kid or were you more excited to be living out in California?
Nah, I lived in both. I was just bi-coastal. You get a different flavour. Me being raised in LA, going back, I got the fruits of both, you know what I mean?
You started skating in Venice, who was the first person to introduce you to skateboarding?
The first person was this kid named Kyle, who was just a neighbourhood kid.
Kareem on the spot
© Axion Footwear
While you're living in LA and skating around Venice, when did you realise you were gifted and who helped your skating early on?
I learned I was gifted by being recognised by Jef Hartsel, Jesse Martinez, Christian Hosoi and Eric Dressen.
Is that how you initially met Steve Rocco?
Yeah, I met Steve Rocco through Jesse and Jef.
What was your first interaction like with Rocco?
I don't even know. I had more of an interaction with Mark Gonzales and Felix Arguelles that day, my first day of meeting him.
Did you realise that Felix was from the East Coast as well? Did you two click on that level?
Nah. See, you've got to remember that when they first put me on World Industries, I didn't know anything about most of the pros. I just knew the Venice pros or the ones that came through Venice.
Kareem Campbell and Cyril Jackson
© Axion Footwear
Get deep into the Cali skate scene
So, when Love Child came out, were you skating with that crew and just not yet put on?
No, I'd already quit during Love Child. I quit right after Rubbish Heap came out. I was riding for World and filming for them before Rubbish Heap came out and I went on my first tour with World. That's when that whole chaos with the sugar in the gas tank with Jovontae [Turner] and all that craziness happened. I ended up quitting.
You ended up riding for Blue, right?
Yeah. Me and Dune [Chris Pastras] started Blue and then we put Jason Lee on it. We did that for like a year and then I just ended up going back to World, because things weren't going well with Vision. We'd started Blue under Vision.
I never did a real produced part ever in my life
From Blue you go back to World. I actually heard something about that very recently. I was listening to Dune's interview on The Nine Club and he said Rocco might've given you an offer you couldn't refuse to come back from Blue and ride for World again. Is that right?
Nah. To be honest, me and Jason Lee at that time were having differences and then I was kind of just over the whole skateboard shit. You know, I came from the streets and my family is 'Live by your word' and I just got kind of uncomfortable, so I decided to go kick it back in Harlem. I stayed in Harlem for like a year and then Daniel Castillo was the one that called me right before the SF contest. So I flew back to SF with maybe US$150,000 in a backpack and went to the contest.
Kareem Campbell skateboarding in Venice, CA
© Axion Footwear
Were you credited as being the first one to Ollie the Santa Monica Triple Set?
Yeah, I definitely was the first one to do that.
I remember seeing that and being blown away. My friends and I, we all got New World Order and were living off that. How many years were in-between New World Order and 20 Shot Sequence? Not many right?
It wasn't many years. We were putting out all those mini videos for the Distribution House. I think 20 Shot came out within two years of New World Order. I think we were going to do a Menace video and in process they said, 'Let’s just put out a combination of everyone in the Distribution House into one' with whatever footage they had.
I know you've heard this throughout your career, but the songs you guys skated to back then influenced skaters all over the world to not only find those tracks, but to go out and buy those entire albums. Especially Wu-Tang.
Well, with Wu-Tang, when RZA first came down with the tape Protect Ya Neck and Method Man, I put it out in the video before the little cassette even came out.
Introducing us to Greg Rodriguez
© Axion Footwear
So you got that single from The RZA?
Yeah, I got it from RZA and Power.
I never knew. That's unreal.
Yeah, RZA and Power came down. My cousin used to work for MCA Records, so they were trying to shop it to him, you know what I mean?
Getting back to the streets, as a Serra local dating back to the early '90s, something I've always wondered was who beeped you during the infamous pager line?
Yeah, that was my girl. I was having my son at the time. I was always worried that I was going to miss his birth.
As a follow up question, did you just hit the pay phone and call her back to make sure everything was good?
Yeah, I called and she was doing good [laughs]. I just checked in and kept skating with Rob Dyrdek. After Serra, we went down the street to that hand rail school, the two different hand rails, I think I did like a Grind and Crooked Grind or something.
We used to call those 'Double 8s'. We always loved seeing visiting skaters come through and hit those rails.
Yeah, that was my first time going there with Dyrdek. Dyrdek tried to kill me that whole day [laughs]. He put that shopping cart in front of that bump in Pacific Beach. He said everyone does tricks over shopping carts off this. So I'm Switch Pop Shoving it, not knowing that no one did shit over a cart [laughs]. Dyrdek, that's my dog. He used to push me, though.
Kareem Campbell and Derrick 'Dwrex' Wilson
© Axion Footwear
Obviously you're well known for your 360 Flips, who has one of your favourite 360 Flips?
Josh Kalis.
He's the architect, right?
Yeah. Him and Jason Lee. Jason's got the perfect one and Josh is right behind him.
Favourite skate spot in LA?
Lockwood.
Favourite country to visit?
Australia and Japan.
What was your favourite memory of Menace? Do you feel that it was too short lived?
Nah, Menace made its mark. It just changed the whole dynamics of skateboarding in the form of inner-city youth and being able to be who you are. So, it never died, it's always gonna live, you know what I mean?
Even though you guys were doing your thing as a crew, which of your video parts do you think captured you at your best?
I really couldn't say, because I've never really done a video part yet. If I was to say I'd take six months and really focus on a video part, I've never done that yet.
Is that part still coming?
Yeah, without a doubt! It's coming. I'm more focused now that I'm getting older. I can't afford to fall as much, or tear a knee out the socket. You know what I mean?
So if it's not one particular part, which tricks get brought up most often when you're talking with skaters?
The Ghetto Bird is always gonna be brought up. Most people just think the Ghetto Bird is from that one contest where I did the Nollie Hard Flip Late 180, but I used to do the Switch Hard Flip 180, Back Side 180 Flip late 180, I used to do everything to late 180. But, I didn't name that trick. Fabian Alomar named the Ghetto Bird. He said it looked like a black helicopter in LA.
I wanted to bring up Tony Hawk seeing as you guys have a deep history. You're both icons of skateboarding, but have totally different disciplines. You were in the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game and now you’re in the relaunch over 20 years later. What's your secret to staying in the game, literally?
It's important to have longevity. If people don't like you, they don't like you. I don't know who makes those decisions, but back in the beginning me and Chad Muska were like first and second for the first four or five years in terms of what characters people were using. And at the same time, Tony's always embraced us, he's killed it. Why would we not want to do it? The only reason I doubted the game was back in the day, when it got too corny. When they wanted to do the shopping carts and things that would take away from the skateboarding.
I'm sure that game opened up a whole new fanbase of people. Everyone in that game was exposed to a whole new demographic.
Yeah, it turned us all into household names.
Who do you see today having the ability to sustain a pro career and have longevity to span 25–30 years like you have?
Nyjah Huston. He’s a beast. I love him. That dude's got a gift, he's got a talent.
Most definitely, Nyjah's here to stay...
I'm not sure if you’d like to mention it, but I just got inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
That’s amazing and very well deserved.
The ceremony was November 12 and I want to give a lot of blessings to Chad Muska, because he actually made a difference on everything they do. Because in all reality, he opened up their eyes.
Any closing remarks?
Yeah for sure. Number one, be yourself, love yourself, don’t worry about anything and always do what you do, because you will be recognised. That's guaranteed, for sure.
