And specifically around Fairfax Avenue, known up until a few years ago as the Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of the city. As a teenager, as he spent time in the skate parks and stores of the area, he met a few guys with which he would end up striking up more than a friendship. This group of kids, which would some times spend whole afternoons just hanging out at skate stores, as you could see in the movie, would make themselves known to the world soon after under the name Odd Future, the collective led by rapper Tyler, The Creator. Through these friends, who practised different artistic disciplines, he found out that he didn’t want to devote all of his time to skateboarding and that’s how some of them would become his eventual collaborators.
NA-KEL SMITH AND THE L.A. SKATER SCENE
Some may have paid attention to the figure of Na-Kel Smith as a result of Mid90s, Jonah Hill’s debut as a director, which was also his first time as an actor; but the kid has been making noise for a few years now rolling down the streets of Los Angeles with his skateboard.
This was some time ago, Fairfax Avenue is now considered to be something like the streetwear Mecca and the members of Odd Future, including Na-Kel Smith, are seen as idols to skate kids. Na-Kel hasn’t only been the image to the brand Fucking Awesome, we’ve also seen him rap, first on his friend Earl Sweatshirt’s album and thereafter with Twothousand Nakteen, his first solo album which was launched in January of this year. And he won’t stop receiving new opportunities to participate in a project he had never even imagined working on, like Jonah Hill’s movie. Up until then, he had made skate videos, of course, but he had never worked on a film. What made him accept the offer? He has stated himself that he was scared of letting someone else who didn’t know enough about skate culture getting this role.
If you haven’t seen the movie, you really should, some have even compared it to Kids, Larry Clark’s movie whose script was written by Harmony Korine. But they have nothing to do with each other, just in the fact that yes, they both have skaters; but we’re neither in the middle of the nineties nor is it as violent as that drama. In these times of political correctness, the decade of the ‘90s is recreated through a much kinder perspective. And yet, as stated before, if you want to see Na-Kel in action next to other skaters from the city, he does a great job for himself. And, above all, don’t lose sight of this guy, because, as it is usually said. this is just the beginning.
If you haven’t seen the movie, you really should, some have even compared it to Kids, Larry Clark’s movie whose script was written by Harmony Korine. But they have nothing to do with each other, just in the fact that yes, they both have skaters; but we’re neither in the middle of the nineties nor is it as violent as that drama. In these times of political correctness, the decade of the ‘90s is recreated through a much kinder perspective. And yet, as stated before, if you want to see Na-Kel in action next to other skaters from the city, he does a great job for himself. And, above all, don’t lose sight of this guy, because, as it is usually said. this is just the beginning.
