Yoo Tre, You grow up in Leimert Park. Can you tell us what Leimert Park was like?
Growing up in Leimert Park, I experienced a neighborhood that was much more than a place to live—it was the cultural capital of Black Los Angeles. It had its challenges, especially after the 1992 uprising, but it has always been one of the most artistic communities in America. Being from Leimert park always inspired creativity, cuz u could just look out your windows and see individualism, art, and culture; most importantly black culture.
What was your childhood like?
My Granny had a thriving business called “Browns Day Care” and a lot of local kids grew up in her house. I was always the oldest among the kids. It's funny, that dynamic never changed lol.
I had a lot of freedom as a child, I was never censored by my mom and Granny would allow me to consume any and every art medium. I could listen to any genre of music and watch anything I wanted to on television. That childhood freedom is what allowed me to deeper pursue the things I eventually grew to love, skateboarding, music, film, and art. Because of all the art I would consume on the daily, when I look back, I remember always being such an artistically expressive kid, a creator. Hanging with friends was also so natural, all my friends lived on the same block as me and were my “neighbors” so from sun up to sun down we would skateboard and listen to music and at night we would watch movies and play video games
How did you get into skateboarding?
I got into skateboarding through an older friend named Terry; I remember his exact outfit, baggy corduroy shorts, high socks, oldschool Mark Gonzales vision board, Chicago Bulls SnapBack, and the bones skull tee with a Jansport back-pack. I was like whoooaa he was pushing, but like with so much style. There was a crack in front of my sidewalk and he always did this cool nollie bump with his front wheels. He would pop his board up, fly over it and keep on cruising lol. It was so cool! I remember begging my grandma, I want a skateboard! And that same week I got a board from Toys-R-us. It was the “Nash Sawblade” lmao, fake as hell but I didn't know better, I was just happy to have one.
I would push around on my knees until I ran into Terry again and he told me if I wanted to be a skater, I needed a real board. I didn’t have that much money so I bought a VHS tape instead; Transworld presents <Transmission 7> which was a skate video mix tape that had footage from skaters all over the world! The skaters and the music was amazing; I eventually saved up enough and got a real skateboard. My first purchase was a pro model, Brandon Turner, Shortys Skateboard, it had him slapping cops that were dressed like pigs on it, and the rest is history.
Can you tell us about the history of Neighbors Skate Shop?
I started the brand in 2019! It was a rebellious way of me saying “I’m done supporting all these other brands that don’t support me.” I wanted something I could call my own.
I was at a pop-up one day at Harun Coffee in Leimert and I peeped the block and saw all the empty spaces. I had mentioned to Chace Infinite that I’d love to have a space over here and he was like “oh yea what you wanna do?” and I said “a skate shop!”. I didn’t have a business plan and a name for the brand at that moment, but I knew I wanted to do it. I went straight home and made a business plan. When I was thinking of a name, the most important part to me was my friends and community. All of my friends happen to be my neighbors and boom! It hit me, “Neighbors Skate Shop” got the plan done. So The chance connected me with the Reality Company. They loved everything about it.
I really love the logo! How did you come up with?
When I made the logo, all I could think of was African culture and Los Angeles culture. I wanted something that had heritage and history, something that you look at and can feel the community within it. The word 'Neighbors' is already very powerful so I made the logo and added the bridges within the letters, bridge the gap between generations.
What is the most memorable event or initiative you’ve done for the community?
We’ve done so many memorable things and I’m forever grateful for them. It would probably be our block party we did with Nike in 2022. It was a huge success considering how hard it is to do a block closure in Leimert park. We had free food and drinks and we built a skate park in the middle of Degnan with a graffiti wall and free spray paint for the kids to express themselves in a healthy environment. We also had the Alchemist DJ the event which was huge! A lot of people came out to see him perform.
What does Juneteenth mean to Neighbors Skate Shop?
Juneteenth in Leimert park is our biggest day in Leimert. It’s a day we prepare to have the most people in our community. It’s very important because it’s a day of celebrating our culture and history. To Neighbors Skate Shop, it’s the day we get out of the year to show that we are here in Leimert park.
Neighbors Skate Shop has appeared in several music videos. Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories from the shoots?
A lot of moments come to mind, but the most memorable would prolly be Common Sense pulling up to the shop, he was pretty chill and down to earth. We have a ramp out front and he performed on it as we danced and had a good time.
Neighbors Skate Shop has done a lot of sticker bombing!
There've been a ton of stickers posted up all over the world, Italy, Indonesia, Guatemala, New York, Japan, just to name a few. When I started the brand I wanted it to live in a world that was cool and anti, but also extremely gate kept “word of mouth.” So I only wanted the stickers amongst graffiti writers and other street related slaps. But also on every stop sign, hints you can’t stop us lol.
Me and my childhood friend David stole some metro bikes and covered them up completely in stickers. Every night we would go on cruises, putting stickers up all over the city and posting it online. When other friends got wind of it, they wanted to join, it became like a competition amongst us, how high can you go, how far away. We even made slap sticks so we could put them on 16 foot street signs, it was no limits.
What’s the most memorable or ridiculous places you’ve seen them at?
I think one of the craziest memories was when my homies Macks and Kazi went to Hawaii, they were on a hike to a waterfall in the jungle and they said they saw two Neighbors stickers on a no diving sign, they Facetimed me and showed me, it was soooo baffling but so cool lol. Also putting them on cop cars and getting arrested temporarily lol. 😜
Virgil Abloh once showed love to Neighbors Skate Shop. How did that relationship begin, and what kind of impact did he leave on the shop?
Aww man Virgil was the most tapped-in humble creatives I’ve ever met! He found our shop and bought a T-shirt online out of his own interest. I remember Cleon, the co-founder of Neighbors Skate Shop, sending me his order info 2 weeks after he placed it and I saw his full name and address and flipped out! We printed it out as a sticker and put it on our Dymo order printer. We were pretty stoked so I hit him up like thanks dude! He followed me and after that point he would hit me up all hours of the day giving me advice or just tapping in encouraging us to do stuff. It’s very unfortunate that we never got to meet but it felt like we always did with how much we had in common.
When he posted that photo of him snowboarding in our Tee, our instagram blew up lol, and after that he was caught wearing it a few more times in an Italian publication that did a spread on him. It is truly an honor to have someone like him believe in your ideas and support them. Long live Virgil.
What was the story behind the 'African Diaspora Skate Shop' project with Denim Tears?
When Virgil passed away, Chance Infinite introduced me to Tremaine Emory, a good friend of Virgil’s. Chace felt like there was work that still needed to be done and Tremaine could hold the torch in Virgil's name. As an elder or just a big homie it is an unwritten job to make sure the younger ones under you come up the same way. Tremaine also believed in us, he wanted to work with us, something Virgil unfortunately didn’t get the chance to do.
It all made a lot more sense when Tremaine got creative director for Supreme in 2023. He reached out and said he wanted to collaborate on a collection that spoke about the black diaspora. I came up with this concept of shooting it in a black church with skateboards that had Virgin Mary and a black Jesus which made so much sense. The creative process was natural.
Why is it important for Neighbors Skate Shop to connect different generations? And what experiences shaped that belief?
Growing up around Leimert Park shaped that belief. I've seen how much knowledge can disappear when people stop talking to each other. I've also seen how powerful it is when an older person shares a story, teaches a skill, or simply spends time with a young person. Those moments create continuity. They remind us that we're part of something bigger than ourselves.
How do you hope Neighbors Skate Shop will be remembered by the next generation?
I hope the next generation remembers Neighbors Skate Shop as more than a skate shop. I want it to be remembered as a place where anyone could walk in, feel welcomed, build friendships, discover creativity, and find a sense of belonging. If years from now someone says, "That's where I learned to skate," or "That's where I found my community," then I know we did our job.
