In a sea of cookie cutter styles, Jabari Pendleton is a breath of fresh air or better yet a cool breeze. He's actually got a personality and is fun to watch which is increasingly rare in skateboarding these days. If you were wondering how a big dude from the Midwest who has compared himself to a bull on a skateboard got so good, check the following interview for the full story.

48 Blocks: Talk about the early days in St. Louis, when did you first start skating?

Jabari: I can't even remember man, it had to be '88 or '89. Maybe even earlier than that, I don't know; I've been skating all my life.

48 Blocks: What was the first board that you had?

Jabari: I had a Variflex. (laughs) Out of Ventures fool! The first pro board was a Frankie Hill with the British bulldog.

48 Blocks: The first time I remember seeing you was at Splash skate park when you were really small.

Jabari: Yeah that was the best place, Spash skate park. I saw my first demo there, it was like H-Street. I remember Matt Hensely, I didn't even know who all those dudes were. It was my first pro demo and I'm seeing all these dudes flying through the air and shit. That was the spot, my mom used to take me there. That's where I met Jason Wussler, we were the two little dudes. Both of our moms were standing on the side of the skate park watching us skate and shit. Other fools would have "die yuppe scum" t-shirts on and my mom would be all freaking out. She thought everyone was crazy. (laughs)

48 Blocks: Eventually the skate park closed and skateboarding kind of died around the St. Louis area. Talk about starting to go skate downtown and other spots.

Jabari: When Splash shut down, I still wasn't going downtown yet. I was still super young. We got mini ramps from there and skated quarter pipes and all that, but the scene was dead. I used to skate in my neighborhood, I was living in Webster and Kirkwood back and fourth. When I did go downtown, that's when it really popped off. That's when I met all the big dudes, Brad, Leland, everybody. Downtown was where it was at, that and Captain schoolyard.

48 Blocks: How old were you in those days?

Jabari: The first time I went to Kiener was my birthday, I wanted to go downtown. Kiener Plaza, that was the closest thing we had to an EMB. All I wanted for my birthday was to go skate down there. We loaded up the van and got all my little homies. I think I went down there the first time for my 11th or 12th birthday. My mom gave me like 20 dollars for my birthday to spend that day and I lost it to the hustle man down there with the peanut shells. (laughs) Remember?

48 Blocks: Yeah...

Jabari: I was like "I'm gonna win!" He let me win a couple times and I was all juiced up. My mom was like, "boy, don't be an idiot," and I was like, "mom, I'm winning!" She was like, "alright you'll learn a lesson," and I lost my twenty just like that. It was a great birthday though.

48 Blocks: So around the the mid '90's a lot of people broke out, me, Brad, Jason, and some other fools. Around that time you stopped skating or at least that's what I heard from people back there. What was up at that point?

Jabari: It was just being a teenager. All the older homies left. My whole thing was back then it wasn't that cool to be a skater period, and then to be black skater it was even worse. The Midwest is a little slower than the West Coast, they're not used to seeing people of color doing different shit; so that used to bum me out. Everybody in my neighborhood used to talk shit on it. My mom was lightweight bummed on it, she wasn't bummed that I was skating; but she wanted to me to do different things. I was in highschool, you know how you start feeling chicks more, and they weren't really feeling skateboarding. Even when everybody was living there, I would only skate on the weekends when Brad would take me downtown. Nobody in my neighborhood was going downtown to hangout, so they wouldn't see me. Once everybody moved, it just slowly died out. It wasn't on purpose, but I was just trying to kick it with chicks and I met some friends at school. I got more into chilling and just hanging out. I got a job, just the regular kid stuff. I would skate once in awhile if I had a day off of work and my mom got home early. I would borrow her van and go to Splash, that's when they had the ghetto park after it closed down. Eventually I just stopped skating all together.

48 Blocks: When did you start skating again?

Jabari: It was my 23rd birthday. The Christmas before that Brad and Jason were back in town. I had lost touch with everybody. I liked skating so much, but I wasn't doing it so I was kind of bummed on that part of my life. I wasn't hanging out with everybody that I used to skate with. Someone just called me and said, "Brad and Jason are in town." I was like,"forreal! I wanna see those fools." I went down to the Loop to hang out with them, but it was the night before they were going back to Frisco so they couldn't come out. Everybody was telling me about them, like "Brad's doing good, he's pro now." So I was really amped cause those fools were really doing it. Then I thought about myself, and was like "I'm not doing anything." That was at Christmas, then my birthday is in February. I was thinking about skating the whole time for like two months, so on my birthday I just went out and bought myself a brand new complete. I would be bored on the weekends, all I did was chill and go out to clubs; so during the day I would be bored. So I was just thinking "man, I might as well skate" and Joe Herbert was calling me up all the time like, "fool, you need to skate!" I was kind of tripping on what my homies would think, but I was like fuck it and went out a bought myself the board. I went out with Joe skating at some flatground spot. I was tripping cause I could still do fakie tre's and all that. They weren't looking good, but I could do them. I was hella wobbly but I was stoked like "damn, my fat ass can still do all this shit!" I was hella bigger then too, like a straight bull on a skateboard. Mess with the bull, you get the horns...remember that. Anyway, that's how it all went down. After that I was pretty much on it every weekend.

48 Blocks: So then a few years after that you popped up in the city. Everybody was like, "Jabari's out here" and I was like "Oh shit!" Then I met up with you and we went skating and you still had pretty much all of your shit. Talk about that first trip to SF.

Jabari: I got out here and the weather was great. I met Matt Jones, the worst dude ever. He took me up to FTC to meet Brad and Pat. They had to do some Western Edition thing down at EMB for some concert. So I go up to FTC and set up a board, I was kicking it with Jason, I hadn't seen that fool in hella. I see Leland, it was crazy. It was like childhood memories cause I hadn't seen these fools in such a long time and I grew up with all these cats. It was kind of weak how I didn't keep in touch with fools for such a long time, but It really felt good to see people that you knew as kid and looked up to, cause everyone was a little bit older than me so I really looked up to these fools. So I get out here and we're skating the Island everyday cause the Pier was shut down. I was just working on my flatground, I got to skate with Igei and kick it with Welsh and everything; it was sick! These were some of the best dudes in the game, everybody respected them and they were giving me open arms! I was feeling skating, but to be honest I was hella intimidated. I was looking at Brad and Jason cause these are the dudes that I grew up skating with, and they were killing me! Before I left I was like, "I just want to beat Jason at skate one time." It never happened! I just wanted to beat Wussler once, I was gonna talk so much shit; but it never happened. It's all good! (laughs) It was cool seeing all the pros, you can really see that it's possible when people around you are doing it. I bullshitted for that month and didn't look for a job once. I think I was out of money after my first week. I was just kicking it at Leland's house and eating at ZA every night! (laughs) It was good, the only reason I left was that it was kind of a culture shock being out here from St. Louis. My mind just wasn't right yet, so I had to go back home. I had other stuff to attend to, I had Ford calling me up. They were trying to repo my truck! I was like, "fool, I'm in Cali, you gotta come out here to get me!" (laughs) Nah, I had to go back home and handle some business, but it was a good month.

48 Blocks: How long did it take you to officially move out here after that first trip?

Jabari: I was back in St. Louis for a year and half or two years, something like that. I meant to come back earlier. I went back and I was stoked on skating and still skating. I had to look for a job just to get some paper right. I got in this accident on New Years eve, this fool hit me and totalled my truck! Me being the knucklehead I am, I didn't have any insurance. I had to pay off a Ford Explorer fool, Eddie Bauer, baller shit! I had to pay that off, but as soon as I paid that off and I was just working some bummy job, I was like "man, I could be doing this out in Frisco." My whole thing was I didn't want to move to Frisco and work, I wanted to move to Frisco and skate; but that's not realistic. You gotta be on the grind. So I just thought the same things that I'm doing now I could be doing in California. I came out here with three hundred bucks, broke again!

48 Blocks: That's wassup, you definitely had your mind right. Anybody can make it, you just gotta try. So you came out here and it wasn't easy for you. You were couch surfing, staying at Karl's old spot with Twan with no electricity at one point. Talk about that grind of just getting stable.

Jabari: I came out here and got a job. I was staying in Frisco but working in the East Bay. That just wasn't cutting it, I was paying too much money just to get over there. I was skating on the days that I wasn't working, so I quite that job and found another one in the city and was able to start skating every day. At that point I didn't really have a place to stay. I was couch surfing and some nights I would just be up, know what I'm saying? I was just skating everyday. When you're hungry and you don't have anything else, it kind of pushes you to skate more. I didn't have the luxury of being like "man, I just wanna chill." I was like "I wanna get this trick! I just wanna film, I just wanna skate." That's what my mind was on. A lot of times I would feel like I had to go back to St. Louis. It would get really rough, it was grimey. It matured me though, it got me to a place in my mind where I was like "You gotta be about you, you gotta be about your shit." You can't expect nothing from nobody. That sounds rough, everybody got love for you, but when you become a grown man you realize it's about you. You can't be mad at somebody that's not there to help you out, so it really got me on my shit. I was just skating and filming a lot, that's when I got my most filming done. At first I was still intimidated, but then I just started filming a lot. Me, Brad, and Jason were skating 3rd & Army a lot and we took it back to the St. Louis days. Brad filmed a lot of that footage in the Turf video and it was just on some homie styz. He was like "awww you can do that, film that" and we filmed it. I was just skating, not tripping on any sponsors or anything. Originally I didn't even think I would move out here. My plan was to come out here four a couple months and film a couple things for Brad's part in the Western video. I just wanted to have some footy, I wanted to see what people thought. It went from being out here for two to three months, shit it's been almost two years now! I skated 3rd & Army everyday, that became my home. I like ledges. I don't like getting kicked out of spots. I'm a grown ass man and I don't like feeling like a criminal. Running from cops, that's not a good look. Especially a grown ass black man, I had the braids and beard; I looked like I might have really did some dirt! (laughs) People would be like "what's this fool running for?" So I skated there everyday, then York moved back and Turf started. I wasn't even on the team from the get go. He already had his squad picked out, but I was skating with York everyday. He was seeing me film, and it was like I was filming for nothing; well not nothing but he was like "you got a lot of footy, you're just filming!" Me and him became real good friends. The first time I met York he didn't even know I skated, he thought I was just one of the homies. We just got cool and he gave me the offer like "would you be down?" I was like "hell yeah!" Wussler was already on the team and that's my dude for life. York's my dude for life, he showed me a lot of shit, hipped me to a lot of things. I was feeling the whole team, I knew about Sammy Bap from before I quit skating. I remember he was hella little, but I remember seeing sequences of that dude back then and it was sick. He was on that school yard skating, like Trilogy styz. I had just seen a video of Wakazawa before I knew he was on the team, so I knew that fool was sick. Larry's on the team and I had been skating with Larry a lot. 3rd & Army is his backyard, if ya'll come there wipe your feet on the rug before you step in there cause that's his spot. I was feeling the whole team, so it was only right.

48 Blocks: So it all came together and the Turfs Up video comes out. It got such a huge response on the internet and I remember reading the Slap messageboard and heads were like "Yo, Jabari is my favorite skater! I'm feeling his style!" What was it like for you to see all of that positive response?

Jabari: I mean, It felt great! There's no other way to really say it. I've had people look at me kind of crazy like "what's this fool doing on a board?" If you've seen some old footy you'll probably realize, but they were kind of like "why's he out here? He doesn't really look like he's a skater." I mean I don't really know what a skater is supposed to look like, but I love this shit. This is my grind, this is my game, and I love the game. Just like anyone that loves what they're doing, this is what I love. I did it as a kid, I came back, and I'm never quitting again. It feels good to get respect for something that you put a lot of work and time into. You see shit on the internet now, fools be hatin'! They can't take skating for skating. I take skating for skating, even if it's a fool that doesn't look like me or skate the same way; they'll be something in there that I'm going to be feeling. Fools aren't like that today, if it's not what they like or the way the like to skate then they're instantly not feeling it. I just want to thank everybody for showing the love. It was a great feeling for real cause I didn't expect it. York was getting me ready. He was like "dude, don't even trip off what they say on these forums and all that cause it's gonna be a lot of hatin' and shit talkin'" I'm used to that anyway, so it didn't matter; but I wasn't really used to the love. (laughs) It kind of threw me, I didn't know what the fuck was going on. I been hated on all my life. It felt great, and now I just want to show and prove. I watch that part and I'm so happy cause that's my first real full part. Now I'm ready to just try and blow that away, just try and beat myself.

48 Blocks: I know you've been doing your thing since the video, I heard about a couple real serious things that have dropped. It's obvious you're going to keep shining, what's next for you?

Jabari: Well, I'm working on the 48 Blocks & Western Edition collabo, fools will see that soon. That's all family, 48 Blocks, I mean I don't skate for Western but that's all family. They all showed love from the get go. So that's how I get down and that's how Turf gets down. It's not about anybody trying to be on top, we all deal with family and we all got love for each other. So I'm working on that video, but I'm just working on filming. I'm just trying to film, not trip off anything, have fun, and skate so I'll have a bunch of footy to give out. I'm also working on some stuff for Mighty Healthy, straight out of New York City. They're messin with your boy. Turf, we're trying to work on another video again like "let's just keep bangin them." FTC will probably have a video soon and I wanna get footy for that. I don't have anything locked, but I just want to film, get footy, get it out there and see what people think.

48 Blocks: Well, we're definitely coming in hot with this 48 & Western deal so people can be on the look out for that later this year. I think we got the full story, so I'll just let you say what you want to say to wrap this up.

Jabari: First and foremost I gotta give a shout out to Turf for believing in me. York, Bob K, and Rob, I really appreciate it. The whole Turf team, Turfs Up! You know what it is. Marcel at Venture. Ando, Ando has really held me down since I been out here. FTC, Kent what up! B. Fox, Estrada, Doug at Western. The whole Western team, nothing but love. Mighty Healthy, they just started lacing me with the clothing line. I mean look at me, I'm kinda diesle dog. I look mighty healthy! I'm feeling mighty healthy, so my shirt's Mighty Healthy. It all goes together, know what I'm sayin. Gold wheels, they just started messin with me, what up Troy! I really appreciate it man, you don't even know. Everybody man, we got Leland from 48 Blocks, he really pushes me out there a lot. I didn't have any footage out before 48 Blocks, that was the first place that I was probably seen. I really appreciate it and that's just the homie from day one. Brad, thanks for letting me sleep on the couch. Everybody that let me sleep on their couch, thanks! Kings of the Midwest, check that out on Myspace. Straight from St. Louis, we runnin shit on the music tip. What's up Miesha, you know I had to give a holla. Thanks to the city of San Francisco and the city of St. Louis, those are the only two cities I've ever known, those and Oakland. Ya'll got me right, got me game tight, and I'm gonna rep ya'll to the fullest!