INTERVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZANE FOLEY
Adrianne Sloboh has quickly become one of the brightest faces in skateboarding. Although she’s too humble to admit it, this truly one of a kind ripper is continuing the legacy of powerful women of color in skating. As someone who is unapologetically herself, Adrianne draws inspiration from some of skating’s OGs: Jaime Reyes and Marisa Dal Santo just to name a few. Now, she’s inspiring the next generation of skaters to stay true to themselves even when life’s detours can sometimes lead us down different paths. As the avid breakdancer, broadway musical lover and former college athlete reveals in her interview, even when skateboarding seemed completely out of reach, she was never letting go. Because skateboarding is more than just what she loves to do, it’s who she is. And we can all agree, skateboarding is better for it.
Hey Adrianne, how is everything?
Everything is good fam, thank you for asking. Except for that rain that just happened in LA – what was that? It’s supposed to never rain in LA, [laughs].
Yeah, right. But you’re living well?
Yeah, you know it. It’s about to be my birthday so I’m pumped for that. Headed to Miami to skate but also for my birthday, so you already know.
Speaking of skating, we want to highlight your journey as a skateboarder: how did you fall in love with skateboarding?
I wanna say it was elementary school the first time I saw someone skating. My dad and I were watching the X Games and Tony Hawk was still skating, so yeah, it had to be back in the day. I remember seeing him skate the vert ramp. I didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t know how the board was sticking to his feet, how he was getting so high in the air. I remember being mesmerized like a love at first sight type deal. I didn’t know how to do it but I knew I wanted a skateboard. I wanted to do what Tony Hawk was doing. It’s actually ironic because now I don’t touch transition or skate vert, [laughs]. But seeing skateboarding for the first time was such an impactful moment – it sparked the fire from there for sure.
Speaking about how you skate, you seem to really love skating manual pads and ledges. Is that something that came naturally or maybe it’s where you find the most joy?
When it comes to my style of skating, the first video I ever saw was Zoo York Mixtape. There was a lot of ledge skating, plaza skating and a lot of lines. I remember seeing all these flatground tricks and being drawn to that style of skating. Also, now how my body is, from playing college basketball and doing my B-girl stuff, as far as jumping down stairs – my body just can’t take that stuff. I maybe have ten tries to jump down something when it comes to stairs but then my knees start locking, [laughs]. But ledges, mannys – I can stay on that all day and it’s no problem. It’s more comfortable with my body.
When you say B-girl stuff, are you referencing how you grew up breakdancing? Was that something that went hand in hand or maybe you find yourself taking something from breakdancing and using it in your skating?
I never get to really talk about it because people only really see the little glimpse I share online. But to be honest, Breaking and skating actually started around the same time. Breaking came along from watching “You Got Served” and all those old school breakdancing films. Then when “America’s Best Dance Crew” came on TV, it was the first time I saw movements I thought I could do. For some reason I got drawn to it and to the culture of Breaking, which as subcultures, Breaking and skating are very similar.
How would you say Breaking and skateboarding are most similar?
As far as learning your foundations and growing from there, growing a style, growing in movements, it’s pretty much the same thing and it’s actually pretty dope.
I feel like there’s a ton of stuff you could transfer from Breaking into skateboarding. Would you say your Breaking has impacted your skating?
Oh yeah, definitely. Especially when it comes to falling because I can fall on purpose and get up and that’s actually like a move in Breaking. But in skating it’s more convenient. Like, “Oh, I fell this way? Okay, I’ll get up this way,” and it will actually put less pressure on my body.
How long have you been Breaking and skating?
We’re going on maybe thirteen plus years. Honestly I lose count, [laughs]. But that’s the answer I usually go with because I really don’t know.
When I watch you skate, it’s clear to me that you’re really out there doing your own thing and you’ve carved your own lane with DGK. When you reflect on your skate journey, from where you were to where you are now, what drove you internally as a skater?
It’s been a really long journey for sure and when I say thirteen years, it’s in the ballpark because there were some on and off years when it came to my skating and going to school, playing basketball and being a college athlete. I know for me, the first two years in college, I took college athletics very seriously and definitely did not skate.
Why do you think you felt like you couldn’t skate in order to take being a college athlete seriously?
Because as a college athlete, when I skate, like how every skater gets, it takes over your world. Nothing else is as important. So for those first two years in college I told myself I couldn’t be skating because I didn’t want to ruin this opportunity for myself. But then after those first two years of junior college were done and I was getting ready to transfer, I just remember like, man, that was the longest two years of my life.
Was there something in particular that had you thinking about skating again?
I remember thinking how I missed going out and my biggest worry was landing a kickflip down something. I missed that feeling. So when I transferred to Loyola University [New Orleans], at first I didn’t really skate. But then I made myself get familiar with the skate scene. Instagram was just coming around back then and I saw there was a women’s skate scene starting in New Orleans, and it got me really motivated to skate. So by the time summer came and I was back in LA, I bought myself a board.
What was it like skating again after taking that time off?
So much time had passed so I was a little shaky but I started skating every single day for like 8 hours every single time. So when I flew back to New Orleans for my senior year, I was in full skate mode. I practically forgot why I was even there. It was for school and basketball but they basically became second fiddle. I would skate Parasite DIY out in New Orleans, and my teammate would let me borrow her car on a day I had off, no practice no nothing. I would be over there for the entire day, literally all day. It didn’t matter. I was just learning anything I could. And that’s what really brought the drive back and started the progression.
And this was all on your own steam? Just doing your own thing?
Yeah, but the hard part for me, was when I graduated and came back home and I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t have any connections. I basically flew from New Orleans back home to LA and had to start my career from there, from zero. I was already 22, so it was hard. But I remember saying to myself, I’m in this and I’m never letting go of this again. You’ve made it this far. Keep pushing.
We’ve truly had the honor and privilege to see you be celebrated as a black woman in skateboarding. Growing up and even to this day, is this something your family has been able to understand? Or do they sometimes not understand why you ride a skateboard?
For me, I grew up in Simi Valley, California, which if I am not mistaken is a predominantly white neighborhood. I was very shy and socially awkward, very to myself. So the skateboarding part, while I did have friends who skated, they were all guys and of course, being the only woman and the only black woman literally around, that definitely made it harder. There were definitely some hard times but I knew I loved skateboarding and that’s all that mattered. But as far as parents go, I come from very loving parents. Their main concern was “You need to stay in school.” So I was Breaking, I was skating and I am sure they had no idea what the hell was wrong with me, [laughs]. But they were just like, “All this is cool but you just need to stay in school.” And it worked out. Going to school in New Orleans was when I really came into my own, as a woman and understanding of who I was going to be as an adult and all that. Everyone goes through those moments but that definitely happened for me over there when I was in school. So coming back home, I was more confident, less sensitive, and I felt like I had something to prove. I wasn’t going to be discouraged. As far as people looking up to me as a black woman in skateboarding, obviously you’re flattered when you hear that. But I like to think I’m just staying true to myself. If that inspires people, that’s fucking amazing and I’m truly honored. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully it works out. It seems like it’s working out so I’m chilling.
One thing I am really inspired by with you, is this self motivator and this ability to stay true to yourself. What would you say to someone who might be struggling with self expression or always feeling like they need to conform? What might you tell them from what you’ve told yourself or learned along the way?
No one in this life is going to back you more than you do yourself. You gotta support yourself as much as you see yourself succeeding because that energy is going to be brought back to you. If you’re going out there each day saying, “I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I’m never going to be able to learn that,” then that’s the energy that’s going to be brought back to you – and you don’t want that. Even if your moves aren’t that tight yet and even if you are still feeling like you’re below someone, you can’t compete with anybody else. Your journey is your own and you have to make it what it is with the time you have. You have to stay true to yourself and believe in yourself. That’s the main thing. Dreams coming true, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It takes a long time. You really have to respect the journey and trust the journey.
Skateboarding always claims to be this vessel of self expression but we often see skaters pressure conformity to norms within our community: you have to skate like this and dress like that. Have you ever felt pressure from the skate industry or community to conform? If so, how did you maintain your sense of self?
For me personally, I have been so fortunate and lucky when it comes to my sponsors and everyone who backs me so far. Meaning that, they like what I’m doing, they like how I skate, how I present myself, and there’s no issue. I can only speak to what I’ve heard but there’s definitely some horror stories out there and the closer to the industry you get, the more you hear. It’s like certain things, certain decisions people are making outside of skating, and you hear the difficulties people go through, losing sponsorships, pay getting reduced or taken away, and those stories suck because it’s hard to see as an average skater and it’s even harder to know what you’re going to do in a situation like that. But you know, if you’re doing something that you love and it’s benefiting you; sometimes there’s sacrifices to that. That’s the advice I would give out. It’s definitely a sticky situation for sure. Someone who is supposed to be backing you and then they’re saying “Oh I don’t really like this about you.”
I feel like some people feel like they have to be a certain way, skaters especially. There’s like this push and pull between those skaters who are super self expressive and then other skaters who believe “You have to skate this way.”
Yeah, I feel that. There’s definitely two sides to that coin, like there’s two ways to be successful in those lanes: the industry way which is very specific and then you can go the super self expressive way. To me, skateboarding is a subculture and to me what a subculture means is: it’s your style. You’re an individual and ultimately you represent yourself. At the end of the day, if you want to wear crazy gear and flare out, that’s your style man, that’s you. And that should be celebrated. And that’s what we’re in. To me, that’s the industry, that’s skateboarding. Everything should be different, everyone is different. If something or someone is not the dot to the I or the cross to the T, that should be celebrated, not questioned. That’s skateboarding. At least, that’s what I would say skateboarding is “supposed” to be.
People forget that where we are in skateboarding now, was only made possible because certain people broke off from the norm.
Yes, totally, like 100-percent.
Who inspires you or inspired you as a skater and a person?
Honestly, I draw a lot of inspiration from a lot of people and a lot of different skaters. I draw a lot of inspiration from the original women skaters who were in the industry before Instagram blew up everything – Alex White, Vanessa Torres, Marisa Dal Santo, Jaime Reyes, I look up to them so much. They’re still doing their thing, they’re still skating. A lot of them are now team managers. Alex White is my TM for Krux and it’s dope watching them grow so much. It’s always inspiring me to keep skating. Yeah, a lot of the original women skaters are the ones I look up to for sure.
Be honest with me, I’m throwing you a curveball because we’re homies but I know you love musicals and we’ve joked about how you listen to musical soundtracks when you skate. What is it about them that you love?
Alright. I’m going to be honest with you, I fucking love musicals with all my heart, [laughs]. I honestly think that if you could pick one thing to do, if you could pick an alternate life, where you were whatever you wanted to be, that would be the one thing I would want to be, for sure. I don’t know what it is about them. I just remember, I was really, really young when my parents took my sister and I to see ‘Lion King the musical’ at the Pantages theatre in LA. I remember them talking to us about it later on when we were older, about how I was trying to give a standing ovation on my booster seat, [laughs]. They were having to hold me down because I kept wanting to stand up. I just remember there was this moment in elementary school too where a teacher, just like for some reason, was playing Chicago the soundtrack. If you know anything about that musical, it is very inappropriate to play in front of children. But I just remember that soundtrack so vividly. I don’t know, I’m just obsessed with it: the music, how it goes with the story, the choreography all mixed in. I am such a nerd for this shit, it’s fucking awesome.
Do you have a favorite musical or maybe something you’re looking forward to coming out?
Yes, so I am actually going to New York for Halloween. I’ll be skating out there and stuff too but I’m going to see ‘Moulin Rouge’ on Broadway. That’s going to be my first Broadway show and I am so excited to see it. I’m going to be out there crying, [laughs]. Like I said, I’m really into it and I follow all these shows and apparently all the return performances, because of the pandemic, they look literally insane.
In your IG bio you have a link to a YouTube Video titled “More to Come” – you want to elaborate on that?
It’s funny that I titled it that because it was kinda a project that fell through. At the time I was filming for a homie video and now the DGK team, are filming for a video and I’ve learned it works a lot better for me when I don’t pressure myself to film anything. It’s more just like a filmer is there capturing the session with a real camera, not an iphone. Maybe they film a clip and I’m skating well and I get a clip or something. It’s been more of that and less of the pressure of being like, “I’m filming today. I need a clip now.” Even that, the clips on my YouTube page, I kinda drove myself crazy trying to film those.
If you had a magic button to change one thing would you push it? And if so, what would you change?
That’s a good question man. Personally, if you would have asked me this question maybe fresh out of college or just starting college, I would definitely have an elaborate answer with a fuck ton of what I would like to change. But, being where I am now, about to turn 27, it’s crazy to think but I’m kinda where I always wanted to be. I can say that pretty happily. It’s pretty nuts to think. I’m not even where I want to be yet but I’m a lot closer to everything I’ve ever truly wanted, right now. So I wouldn’t change anything.
Is there something you would like to add before we wrap up this interview, maybe shout someone out?
I have to shout out my sponsors real quick because they’re the ones keeping me going and always believing in me. Thank you to Cariuma shoes, Krux Trucks, Bones bearings, Spitfire wheels, Mob grip and DGK skateboards, for sure. And thank you Zane and Skateism for thinking of me! Really appreciate you guys.
*Published in November 2021
