My man Lexo The Great has been making compelling hip hop for a few years now. His new strain of rap mixed with dub step is gaining him notoriety (and sold out shows) all over the West Coast and beyond. Here’s a sample of his latest, BackDown, shot playboy style down in Mexico.

Pierre “Papi” Prospero is a good friend of mine that I met through skateboarding in Paris, France years back. My friends and I stayed at his apartment as strangers and Papi was more than inviting and one of the funniest and most energetic tour guides a skater could hope for.

We still stay in contact and I’ve followed his photojournalistic career in the 10+ years since we first met. He’s just released a new portfolio online and his work continues to impress and inspire me. Stay crazy, Papi!

A small sample below, check the full site.

Ever since Mike Fitz got a GoPro, we’ve been filming all of our friends and making monthly Barney Zone edits. I borrowed another GoPro and filmed some stuff on a few trips I was on in the month of April. Usually Mike Fitz edits these, but I asked to be guest editor for the April edit. Enjoy.

This Friday on skateboarding.com we’re presenting a full-length part from Shuriken Shannon filmed exclusively for us. It’s gonna be insane. Check the trailer here.

I made one of these last year and all the homies were stoked. Figured I’d do it again, it’s always fun. Thanks everyone!

A year or so back, Dan Connelly had the idea to recreate that classic “girls kissing” poster as a ‘Mafia deck. He enlisted me to shoot the photo and everything worked out. It’s been a deck in Sk8mafia’s line for a while now, and they just dropped a T-shirt to go with it. All their new product is smashing, and you can peep it here.

You may have heard of the 3-day fishing trip etnies hooked up for its retailers, reps, Joe Sexton, myself, and some friends. It made the pages of Blisss, and now filmer Jon Arman’s clip is on the Web. Check it out. Our crew of 14 anglers reeled in about 45 yellowtails and one dorado. Goddamn it was a good time and the fish was delicious. There’s already talks of another one next year. Thanks to Ashton Maxfield and everyone at etnies.

Ashton brought a keg.

Ashton and Jon Arman.

Aaron with a nice lunker.

One of three I caught. This thing was delicious.

Fresh sashimi on the boat. No big deal.

Ashton and Don Brown, nohomo.

Not bad for a day’s work.

Lunkin’ ain’t easy!

Until next year, Voyager crew, signing off.

What’s better than a summer’s day shredding with your friends? Just about nothing. Russell Houghten captured that perfectly in this new short film. SD represent.

My dude, aka The Dude, Ricki Bedenbaugh has been filming and producing great skate videos for a while. I’ve known about his interest in motorcycles for a long time as well. He just dropped this short video centered on a Yamaha SR500 that was featured on Cafe Racer Season 1. Anytime a creative mind from the skate world sets out to capture another lifestyle or art form, the result is always something unique and worth watching. And the owner/rider is none other than former pro Stacy Lowery.

As the Comic-Con 2011 festivities began yesterday, Kevin Smith and etnies held a private launch party for 150 fans at the El Dorado Cocktail Lounge in San Diego to celebrate the etnies x Kevin Smith collaboration shoes, called the SMEAKER, designed with inspiration from Kevin’s famous SModcast. This VIP event included a live taping of his popular podcast, SModcast, with long-time film associate and co-host Scott Mosier.

photos courtesy of etnies

The SModcast “Have a Week” and  “Forgeticus!” signature quotes stitched on the heel and the side heel panel of the shoe, matching the SMEAKER logo on the tongue, and a black and white photo of Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier on the footbeds on a black etnies Jameson 2.5 SMEAKER.