Jahmal Williams has always been an innovative skater with a lot of style, his part in Underacheivers still stands up to modern standards. The guy was doing smooth lines in the streets and front cab heelflips over hips fifteen years ago! Aside from being an OG with a rich history, Jahmal has endured and remained a part of skating even when he wasn't getting a paycheck from it. That kind of dedication to the craft is something to be admired. More recently we've seen some solid footage in RAW's Know The Ledge Volume 1 & Volume 2 and Jahmal has launched his own brand, Hopps Skateboards, which has been quietly gaining steam over the past year or so. Needless to say we're big Jahmal Williams fans around here and are hyped to be featuring this interview by Keir Johnson and the new Hopps commercial produced by Josh Stewart on 48 Blocks.
Keir: What do you think some of the connections between hip hop and skateboarding are?
Jahmal: Some of the connections between skateboarding and hip-hop are the street lifestyle and DIY creative mentality. I know a lot of skaters come from broken homes and negative situations and skateboarding has been an escape or outlet for them. In hip-hop you have individuals coming out of poverty and oppression and creating something out of nothing. I feel in skating and in hip-hop you have to really own what your doing and feel passionate about it.... Most of my references to hip-hop are coming from a 90's perspective, I think that’s when skating and hip-hop had the strongest link.
Keir: Who are some people that have inspired you?
Jahmal: Mike Vallely and Ed Templeton inspired me a lot in my youth. They gave me a chance to travel the world skateboarding. Together they had just started a new company called "TV Skateboards" and put me on, that was huge for me. Especially coming from the hoods of Boston. They would rip every demo no matter how bad the course was, hang out with the kids and sign autographs. They are always just real professionals.
Kareem Campbell was one of the first black skateboarders that I had seen that made skateboarding look like playing basketball! I know it sounds crazy, but his style, power, finesse, and control were like no other. When I got a chance to meet him it was so rad, he was real cool to me. He made me feel proud to be a black skateboarder. He was really from the hood! Straight up, and he always had that swagger.
When I met Alyasha Owerka-Moore he had just gotten me on American Dream Inc. Skateboards. That company was one of my favorite companies that I’ve ever ridden for. Ali and Ron Allen had put this company together and it was truly revolutionary in style, graphics, and the team. During that time, in the mid 90's, it was radical to have a skateboarding team that consisted of mostly Asians and African Americans, at least I thought… Ali was so creative and ahead of his time with fashion and designing. It was so dope too because he was really into music and was down with a lot of hip-hop artists, he was always so up on music. He was not one-dimensional….
Keir: What are your favorite memories of Boston skating?
Jahmal: The best times in Boston to me were hanging out down at Copley Square back in the day. It was the best skate spot! Copley had ledges, manny pads, stairs and gaps. It was kind of like our own little EMB. All the heads would meet up down there to skate all day and night. And it wasn’t like just anybody could get down either, heads would get vibed, funny shit would happen all the time. We would sneak into movie theaters after skating. Back then skaters weren’t cool so we would have to sneak into the clubs, plus we didn’t have any money. We were straight up reckless youth out to have a lot of fun. One time I was skating with Panama Dan and we were getting pulled up Newbury Street by this delivery truck. Panama decided to grab the back of the flat bed truck while I stayed rolling on my board peeking down at the trucks light signals on the sides. I noticed that the truck wasn’t taking a turn where we thought it would. The truck started hauling ass to the on-ramp of the Mass Pike highway. I let go, but Panama stayed on. I was like “oh shit!” The truck started going like 40 miles an hour. I thought he was going to be staying on until he got to the pay toll then some how walk back, he didn’t! He jumped off, as soon as his feet hit the ground he tumbled like 5 times. He got up and picked up his board and started laughing with the biggest grin on his face while running up the on ramp of the highway, true commando style!
Keir: Do you know who the OG skaters still involved with the Boston skate scene are?
Jahmal: I don’t know for sure, I’m out of the loop, but as far as the Boston skate scene goes I know Kevin Day and Jeff Schank are still skating. They are probably the most OG cats I know. They come from the first generation of skateboarders and Boston. Doug Moore is still ripping, Jade and Adam are still in the mix, Steve Costello and the RAW heads are definitely representing!
Keir: So after growing up in Boston you spent some time living in Florida, what made you move down there, what was it like?
Jahmal: I moved to Miami because of the skate scene, this girl I was seeing at the time, and the amazing weather. You could skate all year round, like in California, but it was the East Coast! At the time I was riding for a few companies and got really frustrated about why I was skateboarding and for whom. I was skating a lot but I wasn’t happy. I needed to step back from the industry stuff. It was a great way to realize why I started skateboarding in the first place. I started to have more fun again, like when I was 14. But at the same time I had to get a 9 to 5 job to support myself. It was a strange transition, but it was good for me. I couldn’t skate every day due to work, but I leaned to not take my time for granted. Miami is so beautiful, it’s an awesome place to live and it’s very relaxing. My stress was very minimal when I lived there. I hung out with the MIA family most of the time. I watched Ed Selego and Chris Williams build up MIA Skate Shop from nothing to being one of the premiere skate shops on the East Coast! Way to go guys!
Keir: Have you done much traveling in your pro career, where are some of the best places you’ve been to?
Jahmal: Traveling is one of the best things about being a sponsored skater. Having someone else take care of all your travel arrangements and paying the tab is the best. Some of the best places I’ve been to are Barcelona, before heads knew about it and Tokyo was very dope! Also, traveling around Europe was a rad experience because you didn’t have to travel long before the culture and language shift…
Keir: Who are some of your favorite east coast pros of all time?
Jahmal: Mike Vallely, Ricky Oyola, Ryan Hickey, Kareem Campbell, Sean Sheffey, Keenan Milton, Pep Martinez, Chris Hall, Steven Cales, Gino, Jeff Pang, Barker Barrett, and Mike Daher.
Keir: It’s been a little while now that you’ve been doing Hopps, we have seen some rad graphics and that new art series. What has it been like lately, what are some of the hard parts and cool parts of doing in?
Jahmal: Hopps is coming along! Mostly on the East Coast. It’s been growing organically at it’s own pace. I’m really thankful for all the support that skaters and shops have been showing Hopps. In the beginning doing the company by myself was really tough. It’s taken a lot of dedication and persistence to get where I’m at with it. I’m learning now how to ask for help from others. Things get a bit stressful at times, I’m also learning how to do one thing at a time - graphics, budgets, filming and more. The best part is always just skating, by far! This is the first business I’ve ever started, and as far as the hardest part the business end can be intimidating, it’s all a learning process.
Keir: What kind of goals do you have for 2009?
Jahmal: To learn more about the business, it’s a constant… To continue to skate and have fun, try to put together a Hopps crew and to continue on with forward movement!
Keir: Anyone you’d like to thank?
Jahmal: I would like to thank all my Family and Friends who hold me down! And to all the skate shops and skaters that recognize Hopps as being an authentic skate brand, thank you!