Timberland bought Ipath. Forgive the blatant stereotypes and religious callousness, but as most of us have realized, Jah Rastafari’s skateboarding moves drives these days. And reggae music in skate videos is like the new hieroglyphs. Over the past decade, with the rise of radical rooted skaters from Karl Watson to Nyjah Huston and companies from Satori Wheels to Organka, the Buffalo Soldiers have become a considerable clique within skate’s carefully delineated category sets. Dreadlocks and “giving thanks” are as heavy a rotation these days as leather jackets and bangles in the heyday of Banker Bootleg. And yet there was a time, in the magical decades known as the ’80s and’ 90s, when reggae music in a skate video was like Rush Limbaugh in a hybrid, it didn’t happen. You’ll have more luck catching techno than Peter Tosh. Meanwhile, the philosophies and religion that reggae music praises and embraces were also practically non-existent within our great pastime.
Go down the bean stalk to 89 and you’ll find the man who more or less planted the seed of reggae music on his own in the sometimes infertile soil of skateboarding. After leaving Alva Skates, Jef Hartsel joined Jesse Martinez as one of the first two riders to take a chance on Steve Rocco’s recent SMA Rocco Division (soon to become World Industries) in ’88. The two renowned professionals from the ’80s served as a launching pad of credibility for Rocco, helping him usher in the emerging’ 90s street skating revolution with the likes of Jeremy Klein, Ron Chatman and Chris Pastras, as well as lending him the umpf to pick up other big name professionals / investors like Rodney Mullen and Mike Vallely. In the inaugural World Industries video, Rubbish Heap, Hartsel and Martinez’s skating style had already started to tackle what was considered cool at the time. However, in hindsight, if you look at the Hartsel part today, it is an absolute gem. Throw some of the best combinations of flowing sidewalks, stylish front slaps, pool cuts that would make Dave Hackett proud, and a host of nollie variations like his Santa Monica Beach sidewalk 360 nollie on a noseless board.
Most importantly, the song “INI Style” is attributed to Jamie Zebulon, Albert Naphtali, African Unity, and JH (aka Hartsel himself). I mean, Jef not only introduced most skaters to Rastafarianism and reggae music, he also helped compose the beat by sampling Shabba Ranks’ “No Brother Diss”, which is pretty bad to be honest. Also, aside from Mike V’s song Milk (“Another Crime”) and Jeremy Klein’s Casio Nintendo rhythms, Hartsel’s part contains the only real music in the video intro and included credits, which makes it stand out. even more.
Currently a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, moonlighting as DJ Manifest and artist known as Manifest, Jeff’s last foray into skateboarding came in ’95 when he had a brief career again with Rocco, beginning with Shaolin Skateboards. Maintaining his contacts from the design and execution of that project, Hartsel went on to collaborate on a number of sneaker designs with other artists and can currently still be found tearing up the island’s many swimming pools along with designing his own clothing line with it. name of Poetree Movement.