Memphis, Tennessee is famous for it’s dancing, BBQ, and as we are going to learn today, their skate community too.
If you’re anything like me, you didn’t know about all of the amazing things that come out of the city of Memphis. I learned about the city’s deep skate history when I started studying to create a Rhythm Skating Map, a graphic that summarizes the origins of different skate styles.
When I made my first draft, I asked my roller skating friends from around the world for input. My friend Ebony aka Coach E introduced me to the world of Memphis Skating and I’ve been running down the rabbit hole ever since.
Ebony is the branding manger for Southern Roll Memphis, movement started in Memphis Tennessee. She introduced me to our teacher for the day, Lukki aka Mr. Southern Roll.
Lukki, born in Chicago, learned to skate from Michael Winfield. As a jit Lukki delivered papers by skateboard and skates.
Back in the day, he was a speed and style skater, but when he went to Memphis, he fell in love with the roll and saw how great the roller skate community is down south. So, he moved.
After living in Memphis for sometime, Lukki began to organize events in Memphis and even eventually started the Southern Roll Memphis National skate jam.
Memphis Skate Techniques
Lukki told me he saw the culture in Memphis change throughout the years. Historically, Memphis is known for strong ‘outside’ skating. The “outside” is skater talk for the space outside the middle of the rink.
Memphis also has its own unique skating techniques like ‘Memphis Wall Riding’ and ‘Memphis Slow Walking’. ‘Wall Riding’ is when you do this cool footwork style along the outside rink that’s slow and mellow. Sometimes skaters ‘Wall Ride’ alone, but most times skaters ‘Wall Ride’ in groups.
To learn the history of Jookin and Jookin on skates, I spoke to Eli Boyce aka @EliSkateGod901.
Eli taught me that historically, middle work wasn’t a big part of the Memphis style, but it’s becoming more popular now. In the 2000s, different styles and parties helped middle work become more prominent. Another roller skate culture was formed in Memphis around middle and battle skaters.
The next skate style we are going to learn about is Memphis Jookin’ on skates. Before we can talk about that, we need to learn a little about jookin. Memphis Jookin is a style of dance that originated in Memphis, Tennessee. It is characterized by fluid footwork, gliding, and popping and locking movements. It is often danced to hip-hop or rap music and has gained popularity in recent years.
Conclusion
Memphis skaters are amazing. To prepare for my history video on Memphis, I made a reaction video using clips from the skaters I mention in the history video. Each skater I mentioned in the reaction taught me about a piece of Memphis history that helped make the video and blog special.
That’s why I want to shout them out and say thank you. This video and blog will help you get started on your journey through Memphis Skate culture. Please comment down below if you have any questions or anything to add !
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