Nyjah Huston

When it comes to competitive street skating, Nyjah Huston is totally top of his game. He recently won his third consecutive Street League contest in Kansas City, but as an eighteen-year-old Cali kid who’s pretty much lived his entire life in the public eye, he’s just beginning to find his way.

A few weeks ago he came under fire for an interview in Thrasher where he was quoted as saying, “Skateboarding is not for girls at all,” and although he made an official apology on his Twitter – “My words were an inaccurate reflection of who I am; more importantly they were disrespectful and I genuinely regret them,” – the incident was a reminder that skateboarding’s prodigal son is still working his shit out like any other teen.

HUCK caught up with Nyjah when he was in Barcelona for the X Games and dug a little deeper into the Huston psyche. Here’s some stuff that Nyjah vibes on, beyond the frontside bluntslides.

Huntington Beach
I moved out of my mom’s house and I now live with a bunch of buddies in Huntington Beach. We have an awesome time and I think that’s an important experience, and time in your life. I think I’m very blessed to still be at such a young age and I’m just having fun doing what I can. Huntington Beach is awesome. I love all of Orange County. Southern California is amazing for skateboarding, Los Angeles, San Diego. The beach is always nice, the people are awesome and the weather is amazing, basically all year long.

Cars & Dirt Bikes
When I’m not skating I ride dirt bikes with a couple of friends. I just like to hang out and mess around, being a kid while I can. I’m also really into cars… At the moment I have Chevy Tahoe, which is kind of like my skate car. And me and all the homies go out and skate in it. I also have my Mercedes Benz CLS 63, which I love and I’ve had for about two years now. I actually recently bought an Audi R8 too, which I haven’t received yet and when I get back from Europe I’ll be getting it delivered so I’m really excited about that.

First Pro-Model Shoes
My new DC shoe is my first pro-model ever. I’m very excited about it, it’s a dream come true to be able to design a shoe exactly how you want it to look, feel and fit. I was really trying to create a good balance between the shoe skating really good, looking really good, and at the same time protecting your foot in a good way. One of the highlights is an impact cushion which really helps to prevent heel bruising. That should help a lot of young skaters.

Let It Flow
Let It Flow is my mom and I’s non-profit charity. It’s a charity that raises money to build sanitation facilities and water wells in places that aren’t fortunate enough to have clean water. There are so many places in the world that don’t have clean water and when I first saw the number of how many people die and get diseases from dirty water it made me want to try to make a difference about it. So that’s one way to make a difference – raise money and do what you can to help people have access to clean water… I definitely had a humble background. My family lived in Puerto Rico for two years and there were a couple of situations where we actually had to go down to the river and carry water and water is a very heavy thing to carry, especially if you have to carry it for three miles or whatever on your shoulders. I can only imagine how hard it is to do. So if you’re in a position in your life where you can, you should try to make a change.

No Soda
I’m not a vegan anymore, I’m more sort of a vegetarian now. My dad was always a very strict vegan and it definitely limited me to only be able to eat certain things, but at the same time I’m very thankful for it, because I was never allowed to drink soda as a kid and when people ask me how I’ve never broken any bones before I tell them it’s because I don’t drink soda. I think it’s one of the number one things that eats away your bones and makes them weak. I think I’m very thankful to be able to be raised that way and be healthy. I definitely try to maintain a healthy diet.

Love For Weezy
I like all sorts of different music. When it comes to skateboarding I mainly listen to hip-hop, Lil Wayne is awesome, Rick Ross. I’m really into Future, Wale, Kanye West, all those guys are amazing.

No Jah
I wouldn’t say I’m a religious person when it comes to [Rastafarianism]. A lot of people thought I was in the past because my dad really kind of pushed me down that path and wanted me to be like him and be that way but everyone is their own individual person and I wouldn’t say I’m into any strict religion. But I think every different religion is awesome and it was definitely a cool lifestyle to have come from.

Making Movies
Motivation is a movie about me and seven other skateboarders. It’s mainly based around last year’s Street League championship contest in Newark, New Jersey, which was a really important contest for me. I honestly had no idea it would turn out to be such a big film, which I think was a good thing because it really got out me and the other skaters our most natural feelings just about how we go about our day and lives and our backgrounds, and how we prepare ourselves for contest and stuff like that. The filming of the movie was very mellow, the filmers were really awesome and I think it turned out to be really good.