12ozProphet

Just another check-out in the back of another skate mag. You see em every month, usually quickly paging past. The hometown rippers who get flow product from the local shop and some occasional boxes from the regional board rep. There is a shit ton of good skaters out there these days. Really, really good skaters who eat, shit and breathe skateboarding. Most of them may never get to go on tour or, much less see a single paycheck from skateboarding and will end up shelving their dreams of becoming the next P-Rod at some point and go back to school or pick up shifts at the local coffee shop. I don’t think Yaje Popson will be one of those kids. Already getting flow product from what would be any self-respecting skaters wet dream: Chocolate, Vans and Spitfire, he’s well on his way down the right path. About 6 years ago, he showed me how he learned backside tailslides on the stoop in front of his Mom’s shop on East 6th Street. Well, now he’s backside tailsliding jersey barriers and has the butteriest backside 180 to fakie 5-0 grinds you’ve ever seen. And that was last year. Yeah, there’s a shit-load of really good skaters coming up out there, but when everyone of them is seemingly just as good as the next, it comes down to trick selection and style, and Yaje’s got that shit down.