NYJAH HUSTON: 2018 POPULIST NOMINEE
WORDS: Stu Gomez / ART: Eric McHenry
The blockbuster standalone video part of 2018 may be Nyjah Huston‘s “Til Death.” The 11-minute Nike SB part (directed by Ty Evans) was released in February, racking up 4 million views in a few months. Huston attempted to prepare the world ahead of the premiere in an interview with The Nine Club, in which he said:
“I feel like a lot of my parts in the past have just been a lot of tricks. Yeah, they were good tricks, but in this part I didn’t want to go back 270 lip a 13-rail… go kickflip back lip a 15-rail. Honestly, it gets to a point where that stuff’s not worth it. I wanna do new tricks.”
And new tricks he did do. We saw an adventurous side of Huston—verging on artistic—that had been previously concealed by scores, medals, and podiums. He broke free from the past decade’s accumulated accolades and showed us that he’s as capable of rebellion as the next guy.
And yet, “Til Death,” arguably his finest achievement, was the product of Huston’s physical limitations: An issue with his patellar tendon inspired him to explore new ways of skating rails, as opposed to finding bigger stair sets. His doctor advised him to stay off of the skateboard for a few months, essentially taking him out of contention for several of skateboarding’s biggest contest series.
In a way, his physician’s intervention was a blessing. With some time away from the spotlight, Huston allowed the epic “Til Death” time to truly shine.
Vote for Nyjah Huston as your Populist on January 15.
