Let’s travel back in time. To April 2021, to be exact, when skateboarders were navigating Olympic qualifying for the first time, managing hectic travel schedules, and re-entering the world post strict lockdown regulations. We had the chance to sit with Dashawn Jordan, who shared his passion for music and how much of an influence it plays in his life. Scroll down below to get Dashawn’s fave hype songs at the time, video parts he admires, and a custom-curated playlist.
What’s your favorite type of music to listen to?
I would say I listen to everything. It just depends on how I’m going to start the day. I always switch it up like I might wake up listening to old school, then I might go to some hip hop, or I switch to some R&B. It just depends on my vibe by the hour. I love every genre, so I don’t really have a specific one I listen to all the time or a favorite because all of them are my favorite. I have songs and artists in every genre. So it just depends on what the vibe is.
Who is currently on your rotation right now?
I’ve been listening to the new Yung Thug album, Sofaygo he’s a new artist that just came out, and he signed to Travis Scott’s deal. He’s mad dope. My bro put me on him, and Rod Wave, like those dudes. Those have been like the main ones I’ve been rotating lately.
How does music plays in your day-to-day life? You mentioned it all depends on the mood and what the vibe is like at different parts of your day.
I would say music is a theme throughout my whole day. That’s how I get up, how I start my day, how I get ready, and how I get pumped to skate. I love music. Music is my life for real. It puts me in the zone with the vibes, and that helps me keep the day going. There’s music anywhere I go. So I would say music plays an important part in my life.
What do you throw on that gets you pumped up to skate?
Lately, it’s been Sofaygo. He’s got a song that’s called Everday that is pretty hard. It’s the anthem. It just goes hard. That’s probably the start of a go-to, and then sometimes shuffle the whole album or run this song called Top by Fredo Bang and Lil Durk. That’s another one of my anthems. Those two get me hyped for sure.
Do you ever skate with earbuds?
It depends where I’m at, and if good music is playing from a speaker, I’ll vibe with that, but more so, I’ll throw in the AirPods and jam out, you know, being at contests or during sessions that I really just want to be jamming. So definitely, probably AirPods more than jamming to a speaker outside, unless I’m at the crib, then its speaker all day.
Are your AirPods only on during practice at contests or during a final too?
Both. Sometimes not during practice, but for sure going in and skating a final, I have AirPods.
What’s your choice of music during a contest? Do you have one song on repeat or hit shuffle on a playlist?
I try to like accumulate a little playlist and have a couple songs that I would be down to shuffle through, then kind of go from there just hit shuffle and let the playlist rock.
Who usually gets the aux when you’re driving around to skate spots?
It depends like I always offer the option like, ‘Yo, anybody want to play music?’ like do your thing. I listen to anything that anybody has on their playlist. So I’ll offer that, but if they’re like, just play music, then I just steer the ship.
Is there anyone you’ve been on tour with that has influenced your taste in music?
Dang, there’s been a lot of people. I love going on skate trips because everybody has a different taste in music. I don’t know if there’s specifically somebody, but I would say anybody who hooks up their phone on the aux and plays music, I grab something from them, you know what I mean? Like some songs that I vibe with, and I get into that artist that way. If I like the first song, then I dig deep and do my research, but it depends on who’s steering, and I’ll take from anybody who is playing good music. So that’s where I get my influence on listening to everything.
What’s your favorite video part that matched a song with the skating well?
I would say Marc Johnson’s part in Pretty Sweet [Girl/Chocolate, 2012] he had the David Bowie song that I love like that intense, emotional vibe and just the aspect of really tuning into the part and being emotionally hooked. Guy [Mariano]had an awesome song in Pretty Sweet. Heath Kirchart in Mindfield [Alien Workshop, 2009] had a good song, and Dylan’s [Rieder] song in the same Worship video was a great song. I love music like that. I definitely got put on those artists through those parts, and those are the other songs that are on my playlist to this day. Those parts for sure, are some of my main parts where I’m like the song are dope.
What song would you choose if you had a part ready to go and could use any song, all rights free?
Oh man, I don’t know. I would like something from an artist like Nina Simone. If I could get the rights to I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Nina Simone, for sure, my next part would come out to that. I wanted to actually try to make that happen because that song is so epic. It’s a beast song, and Nina Simone is a legend. I would love to use one of her songs exclusively for a part that would be awesome.
We’ll close this out on a fun note, do you like karaoke?
Yeah, I do karaoke. I do karaoke with the family. I be going ham with karaoke. Me, my sister, and anybody I’m running it with. I think karaoke is tight.
Has that been a new family thing since quarantine?
Yeah, when I got back to Arizona, my mom and sister bought a karaoke machine. I was with them, and it plays on the TV, and we’re just going ham singing and stuff. It was pretty dope.
What would be your go-to song?
Man, I’m trying to think of the last one I sang. I like This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan. That’s a good one. Or Same Girl by R. Kelly and Usher. A lot of like random classic R&B songs.
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