Five Classic Albums Made to Skate to!
Burgers and fries. Free time and cash money. Sunshine and beer. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Really, the combinations that make this brutal world we live in great are endless but one of the best: skateboarding and music.
A secret ledge, an unridden ditch, a DIY tranny no one knows about… there's really nothing quite like the music blasting to get you ready for a perfect session.
That’s why today we’ll be listing off five classic albums that are bound to get you ripping. Play these before and during your sesh and you’ll hit your groove.
#1. For the Ride There: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables - The Dead Kennedys
The Dead Kennedys, 1980 debut studio album shattered expectations of what punk music could be with Jello Biafra on the mic. With a baroque vocal tone never before heard and dark politicized lyrics full of humor, Biafra shot straight into the ears of skaters for the next four decades. Play this on your way to the skatepark and you'll be off the wall in no time.
Top Tracks:
“Let's Lynch the Landlord”
"California Über Alles"
"Holiday in Cambodia"
#2. When it’s Cloudy and Cold: Earl - Earl Sweatshirt
While The Dead Kennedys fit California's sunny skate and surf landscapes, skating in Berlin ultimately means skating while it's cold, rainy, and gray outside.
Earl Sweatshirt’s first mixtape, Earl, is the perfect banger for the dark concrete jungle vibes Berlin offers. Full of demented lyrics, dark synth lines, and heavy beats that bring up visions of Berlin’s kinkier sides, this album was an immediate hit when it dropped in 2010, a definite pinnacle of the skating freak rap crew, Odd Future. This album effectively got the 16-year-old Earl Sweatshirt shipped off to reformatory school which started the “Free Earl” movement and propelled Odd Future into households across the globe. This album scared parents everywhere with its, “Kill People, Burn Shit, Fuck School!” anthem, “Pigions.” Earl belongs in all gloomy skateparks, that is, if it hasn't been banned by a government near you.
Top Tracks:
“Earl”
"Luper"
"Pigions"
#3. When You’re Skating Pools: Rock For Light - Bad Brains
Skating is aggressive as a matter of fact. There’s no style that isn’t, but skating bowls is peak aggression. Speed, coping, and air combined create an unforgiving and hostile environment if you don’t know what you’re doing. Bad Brains, your favorite punk band’s favorite punk band is here to get you through unscathed by lifting you up with their legendary album Rock For Light.
This album kicks you off with an absolute thrasher, “Big Takeover,” only to drop off at “I and I Survive,” a classic reggae track that lulls you into the flow of a bowl to the point at which you’ll forget the aggression and feel the concrete wave you’re riding. “I and I Survive” takes a full 180 degrees back into hardcore with the iconic, “Banned in DC,” a track tipping its hat to the time Bad Brains were officially banned from playing shows in Washington DC because they started a riot at one of their gigs. These guys are pure punk lore incarnate and they've been at the side of skaters for almost 40 years now!
Top Tracks:
"The Meek"
"Sailin' On"
"Right Brigade"
#4. For the Steezy Streets: Return of the Boom Bap - KRS-One
Now you’re at your favorite bank or ledge. You can’t hit that line but you’ve been trying all day. Boom Bap comes on the speaker and, KRS-One schools you in the ways of the street. KRS-One is one of the originators of street conscious knowledge and he pairs this wisdom with phat boom-bap beats that just fit the easy flow of skating on a sunny day. It goes without saying that the track “Sound of the Police” has become an official anthem of skaters worldwide.
As an honorable mention, we’re including The Fall by Iceberg Slim, an album so slick that it has influenced the likes of Snoop Dog, Ice T, Henry Rollins, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle, among others. It's an album off the beaten tracks but, it's sure to give you steez as you ride the streets.
Top Tracks:
"Outta Here"
"Sound of the Police"
"Mad Crew"
#5. The Electronic One: Identity Process - VTSS
We call Berlin home, so it would feel weird not to include at least one techno album on this list. This album is not necessarily a classic, but the sounds in it are! Identity Process by VTSS packs hard distorted kicks and bass in your face. Techno and dance music haven’t seen a massive embrace from skate scenes, but this heavy album is 100% punk rock and skate friendly. Turn it up to 11 and it's sure to keep you skating your best all day.
Top Tracks:
"Bring The Noize"
"Devil May Care"
Sensor 150
