We all agree that there are tons of really good up and comers out there, but these days being good doesn’t cut it. You have to have something special that makes you different from the next dude. Whether it is a wacky style, weird spot selection, or just plain gnarliness, you have to have something that makes you rise above to able to make it in the game of skateboarding. These are 5 up an comers who I think stand out from the rest of good, but nonetheless boring to watch rest.
1. Austyn Gillette. To kick it off, I couldn’t think of anyone else that stands out more than Austyn. The guy skates at Mach 1 speed doing some really hairy shit, yet still makes it look like he is just cruising around. Just look at his Maloof footage, while everyone else was trying to kickflip front board the rail and frontside flip the gap. Austyn was casually backside noseblunting UP the small hubbas and ollieing over the entire large hubba. With a part in the new Habitat about to drop everyone is about to find out what Austyn can really do. Just look at what the Habitat guys have to say about it, “Austyn’s video part is edited and going to shock the skateboard community”.
2. Grant Taylor
Grant stands out for the simple reason that his skating has no bullshit in it, no ledge combos, no trying a super complicated ledge trick that takes 3 days to get, just strait up make or break gnarliness. Even though Grant has been sponsored for quite a while, it’s not until now that he is starting to blow up. Probably due to the fact that he used to skate like Nyjah Houston , but now both his style and skating have matured and now he slays everything in his path from concrete parks, huge sets of stairs, and gnarly rails.
3. Wes Kremer
Another all around ripper but even more well rounded than Grant. Wes will not only kill tranny, rails, and stairs but he will also kill manual pads and ledges. This dude will skate everything in his path and will slay whatever that is. Wes also has this sort of style that goes really well with old school hip-hop (Which he does skate to, what a coincidence huh?), he has tons of flow but is also heavy hitting. Which is the complete opposite to all those new skaters skating to Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne and that sort of bling hip-hop, that think are really gangster (in a hip-hop sort of context) skating super slow and skating ledges with shitty style.
4. Nestor Judkins
Nestor Judkins stands out not only for his unique way of skating, and the fact that he actually does a lot of lines, (which is apparently, something really fucking hard for skaters to do these) but because of his style. Nestor’s style is refined, exquisite, and classy. He has that finesse that makes it look like beautiful painting. Not to be mistaken with the perfect landing robotic style that guys like P-Rod and Shane O’neill have (which is not a bad thing just not my cup of tea,) No, Nestor has some sketchiness in there but it is the counterbalance to so much elegance on a shred sled. I just feel like taking his Tiltmode part and showing it at the the Louvre.
5. Mike Anderson
Last but not least, we have Mike Anderson. Manderson stands out in my mind because he reminds me of his boss, the Gonz. Their skate styles are so similar and the fact that they both ride for Krooked makes it something even better. I would say that Mike (and the Gonz,) looks like he’s always just messing around on a skateboards. I don’t know if it’s the super loose truck carves, the spontaneous trick selection, or the huge smile on his face, but Mike looks like he’s having a blast. What’s even more surprising is that he has this approach even when getting super gnarly on a rail or a stair set, Mike has that “I’m just casually out on my board having fun” approach to it which is exactly what skateboarding needs these days. All this seriousness about who can do the most tricks on a ledge or win the most money at Maloof or Street league is lame, skateboarding is about going out and being goofy and having a blast and you can see this in Mike’s skating.
EDIT: I uploaded the Manderson part and disputed the copyright claim and I am the only one that has this part with music!
