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From The Desk Of Aesop Rock: Skateboarding

Following a five-year hiatus, San Francisco-via-NYC hip-hop artist Aesop Rock recently returned with his first solo album since None Shall Pass. Released by the Rhymesayers label, Skelethon is the rapper’s effort to come to terms with the death of a close friend, as well as the deterioration of several friendships and close relationships. “Death has become commonplace in my life,” he says. “The past few years was an endless period of skeletons. But, hopefully, Skelethon will help put all of this behind me. It’s like a giant purging—like finishing a chapter and preparing to jump into the next one.” Aesop will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our recent feature on him.

Aesop: Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned from growing up skateboarding. The first skate video I owned was a VHS copy of Future Primitive and it pretty much changed my life. I guess I was never really into team sports much, and skating really promoted individualism in a way that resonated with me.

I remember the first time I watched Blind’s Video Days and having my mind completely blown. I feel like skating taught me to carve my own path and really applauded the weirdos in a way I could identify with.

Skate videos constantly introduced me to music I would have never heard otherwise. So many days and nights from my youth were spent piling into someone’s car and traveling to other towns and cities to hit some skate spots and inevitably meet all sorts of people from different backgrounds.

The ritual of it was as fantastic as the actual act of rolling and learning tricks. Skate graphics from boards to tees introduced me to so many fantastic artists and new ways of expression. I feel like most of what I am today can be traced back to something I picked up in the days when I was skating heavily. I still keep a setup, and skating to and from the store a couple times a week remains one of the more fun things I can think of.

Video after the jump.