Predicting Trends: Skurban  

  For years the line between urban music and skateboarding was very far apart with at times sides clashing over differences in cultures. Now with artists such as Pharrell, Paul Wall, Lupe Fiasco Travis Barker, and more having helped blend the two cultures into one with clothing lines such as Famous Stars & Straps and BBC as well as companies taking an urban approach to marketing such as Grind King Skateboards Trucks who has announced a compilation featuring hip-hop called “In The Grind” which will be released this summer nationwide with all proceeds going to charity.
The skurban era is upon us and growing fast appearing in many music video’s and lyrics such as The Game & Kayne West’s “Wouldn’t Get Far” to Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick Push”. When there are trends of course corporate America is going to take their stake in the trend with many companies such as Nike releasing a shoe by professional skater, Paul Rodriguez , called the “P-Rod” which was one of the first successful integrations of skate and urban. Companies such as Reebok, LRG, and Ice Cream just to name a few have tapped into the long-used marketing aspect of sponsorships with there own professional skate teams and more, some companies even sponsoring events. Not only is the skurban era upon us but skateboarding has become cool again for this first time since the dogtown days. With the highly successful "Rob & Big" show and X-Games audience larger the ever it looks like skateboarding is back as the new trend for how ever long it will last.
Many music and business opportunities remain with this new style and trend and can be found on various websites of skate and urban companies alike. Grind King is still accepting music for their compilation at their Myspace

Hip-Hop has been on a downfall due to it being one dimensional, is this one of the changes that will bring back sales and integration into the mainstream culture as well as bring skateboarding back to being cool? Take advantage of trends in your music career and see your revenue and exposure increase greatly.