Was Nyjah’s Rave the Most 1990s Thing So Far This Summer?

Who killed not only Tupac, but Biggie, Big L and nearly shot Harlem crooner Keith Sweat over a girl? What did Tupac tell Nas after dissing him on camera in Bryant Park, who did Madonna secretly set up to the feds, and what did Big Punisher look like when he was skinny? It’s all revealed in an engrossing Twitter ramble archived here detailing the most celebrated rap goons of the 1990s, who they beefed with, who they bankrolled and their deepest desires. This series of anonymous Twitter tweets rapidly has become required reading not just for rap music CD owners ‘of a certain age,’ but also many starry-eyed wonderers and would-be corporate climbers unafraid of plush jumpsuits and going upside a rival’s head with a bottle of champagne in the club. It was a decade of power and song, when George Bush and later Bill Clinton ruled from sea to sea, riches poured from freshly manufactured Internet computers, and bus-sized crocodiles wallowed in their own filth before stalking platinum-selling country music artists across the Great American West.

Truly, the 1990s is in again full swing. Last week Aesthetics and Elwood impresario Sal Barbier delivered a lengthy dissertation on shoe designerism and dreams of speed metal guitar wizardry amid Plan B’s mystical formation and Sole Tech’s triple cell division. DC affiliates John Shanahan and Josh Kalis have been hyping with Stevie Williams a Droors revival and around box-canyon campfires, whispers of an OG Lynx reissue. Living tributes to the decade’s virility now run the gamut, from the Flexfitted cut-and-sew of the latter years to the flapping cotton of the goofy boy era.

The title of 1990s grand master can ultimately be decided solely by a gory, wig-ripping battle royale set atop a mountain peak. But all of these recent activities overlook the most powerful recent entry that is an actual rave hosted by repeated contest winner Nyjah Houston, dripping with sports cars, autotuned lyrics, complaining neighbors, and Life Extention apparel. Webster’s dictionary defines a rave as an event containing techno music, DJs, dancing, garish outfits, sunglasses and positive vibes, and so it is obvious that Nyjah’s daytime soiree meets the classical definition of a Rave.

Raves were an important square in the cultural crazy quilt that was the 1990s. Ravers were lovingly tweaked via Fuct clothing while sowing inspiration for future lines of meticulously designed T-shirts. For many, these ‘techno campouts’ represented the future promise of endless possibilities and potential — much like Nyjah’s rave video:

“I remember reading a quote from Steve Albini in which he said that a thousand people standing in a field listening to electronic music and high on Ecstasy aren’t going to change the world,” Orrall says. “And I disagreed with him.”

Can a well-attended patio party, unmolested by uptight neighbors or irritated authorities, change the world or at least crown the summertime king of ’90s reminiscences? After exhausting early 1990s fashion tropes is the next logical move to unearth Christian Hosoi’s spandex dabblings, or did the girl jeans period already effectively achieve this? Has a common love of raving united Ty Evans with Nyjah Houston to reclaim the glory of the ‘Feedback’/’Modus’ TWS vids? Do you think Nyjah will get a face tattoo?

How Many Months Do Yall Give Nick Trapasso’s Company With The Misspelled Name?

Probably it’s yet another sign of getting older and higher strung when looking at the newly launched Life Extention Skateboard Group LLC and wondering not so much at its lifespan as much as the fact that it came together in the first place — when bros ten years older no doubt mumbled and grumbled the same thing about a decade back, around the unsteady unveiling of Baker. Say what you will about the various and sundry looks pursued by Jim Greco in the years since, but the Baker Bootleg boys bottled and guzzled the lightning of a very particular aesthetic that proved a lot longer-lived than many would’ve thought.

I’m not sure what the Life Extention crew got together for the trade show, but they did approve a quote for a press release last month:
“The Life Extention Skateboard Group looks forward to working together with Blitz, to create an essential skateboard brand. Extend it,” said Trapasso.

As a fan of the recently rejailed Lennie Kirk and respecter of risk-taking, the blog is compelled to acknowledge guts, and the life-extenters look to be packing them — spearheaded by one of the industry’s spaciest cadets, sporting a misspelled name*, co-signed by malcontent recluse J Strickland, formed in the middle of an economic slow patch that’s steadily separating the old and infirm from the pack. Not that I’d begrudge the existence of a Tom Cruise-inspired company backed by some of the finer kickflippers to fumble a tattoo gun in recent years, with the laid-back gumption to make good on the vow to deal decks out of their garage. If anything more of these kinds of shots oughtta be taken, even if the target’s invisible through a cloud of smoke and barrier of beer cans, to balance out the Business Plans For Dummies 2nd Edition strategizing and and paint-by-number logo decks pumped out each season. And what if they do blow it? Those early Big Brothers command classic status, and it was all those dudes could do to get issues out every couple months back then.

*Do you believe they did it that way on purpose?

Sisyphean Task Force

The power of positive thinking and possibly also ankle-weight training

If doing ollies straight onto rails is the new nosegrind pop-out early, as some wags have proclaimed in recent weeks, does that mean that doing shit up other shit now counts as the new pole jam? I ask partly because noted fan Kyle Leeper recently voiced his over-ness of pole jams in the text-heavy interview issue of Skateboarder, but also because sweet Jesus, there’s been some crazy ascending tricks going around lately. If anybody else has made it up the pyramid ledges in New York, I haven’t seen it. This is a photo of alleged Commandment-breaker and known Tosh Townend associate Pat Pasquale, lifted from a rather entertaining interview with photog Bart Jones, TSM’s answer to Seth Rogan, at TypicalCulture.com.

Time will tell of course if we’re setting ourselves up for a video let-down of three-inch scratchers and dead-stop landings, but the uphill battles recently fought by Leo and others have made for some pretty entertaining photos. I could see Andrew Brophy going up the South Bank stairs with some kind of kickflip or pop-shove variation. And recent reports have the down-up stair component of Philadelphia City Hall still fully skatable, so pro dudes and bite-your-arm-off ams, let’s get some new stuff popping up that thing.