I just gotta tell everyone: I fawked up majorly. after finishing one of the best interviews that SGV has gotten to date, I looked down at my recorder and realized that it wasn't recording. doh! but my man TK is down with SGV and blessed me one mo' gain with his essence. Terry Kennedy is a gifted skateboarder. I'm not sure how you first found out about TK. was it Viva La Bam? was it because you're a hardcore sneaker head that heard Nigo and Pharrell were starting a new shoe company and that TK is the captian? well, for the SGV it was the BAKER2G video (when he had only been skating for 5 months). since then his world has been a rollercoaster ride full of ups and downs, and now in 2006 his skate career is perkilating quite nicely. care to find out more from the man himself? then get to reading, you nerd!

SGV: lets go back. what exactly went down with the BAKER skateboards debacle that made you go ride for ELEMENT for a hot minute?
TK: the whole reason I left BAKER in the beginning was because I was at a point in my life where I needed a little help. at the time BAKER was brand new and they were just starting out, they didn't really have that much money. so when I got at Andrew it was on a personal note. I needed a couple dollars for rent, my family needed money. it wasn't about me needing money in my pocket, I was 16 years old at the time, I didn't need money. all I needed was a board to skate and a couple dollars to buy snacks and food. so when I got at Andrew it was really real... I told Andrew that he could just cut a check in my grandma's name. but Andrew let me know that BAKER didn't have money like that at that time. so when ELEMENT came around they were willing to pay me 2500 a month to ride, I was like, "what do I do Andrew?" he basically told me to do what I needed to do, he understood my situation. it wasn't on no "fuck you, I'm rollin' with ELEMENT shit". it was just that at that point in time it was crucial for me. and Andrew always told me that I'd have a home at BAKER if I ever wanted to come back. that's how it popped off.

SGV: did you realize that little 4 trick part that you shared with HEATH KIRTCHART in the BAKER2G vid was gonna be the beginning of your pro skate career?
TK: it ended up being a video with Andrew (Reynolds), (Jim) Greco, Erik Ellington... nar'mean? and I ended up sharing a part with Heath fuckin' Kirtchart... that dude is a legend, and at that time I didn't know who he was. I was 16 years old and only been skating for 5 months. at the time I didn't know shit from shit. I was jumping down rails because I didn't know that shit was dangerous. I pretty much started skating with Andrew and them. when I seen them skating stairs and handrails they made it look so easy and natural... so it must be. then when I got older I realized, "damn! this shit is hard!" I love them dudes, I'm so happy that I'm back with BAKER now. BAKER is lovely and I'm excited to introduce them to the whole urban world and just the mainstream world in general.

SGV: BAKER is crazy... argueably the toughest team out there.
TK: I notice that people show us crazy love. we won best team of the year and best video of the year at the Transworld awards. that shit means a lot. them dudes worked hard as fuck! they only been around 5 years and look at all they accomplished already. that BAKER3 vid sold off the hinges. I'm happy to be BAKER... I'm not mad at all.

SGV: lets talk about the whole VIVA LA BAM thing... your appearances on Bam's show threw you into the mainstream of America's poppiest culture. how did all that go down? and how come you don't really talk to Bam no more?
TK: it's funny too... at the time the whole Bam thing went down, I can't hate, he took me to another level. it seems like everything I always went thru was just another steppingstone. I got nothing against dude, I really got my feelings hurt more than anything else. I got shot in the mouth! Bam's mom reached out to me, Ryan Dunn reached out to me, Phil reached out to me, but dude (Bam) never reached out to me. so I wasn't mad, but my feelings were definitely hurt. I thought we were boys. YOU invited me on your show. YOU brung me out. YOU flew me out to your house. THAT was YOU. I thought we were better than that. I hope the best for him, but I gotta do what I gotta do and keep it moving. it did nothing but help me out that I'm back on BAKER, that real streetcore shit... and I'm rolling with Pharell too?! whew!

SGV: tell me about how you met Pharell and how the whole ICE CREAM thing popped off.
TK: I met Pharrell from being up in Bam's show. Bam was the dude who introduced me to Pharrell. Bam and Pharrell were linked up already. I guess Pharrell was telling Bam he wanted to do an all black skate team so Bam was propping me up to Pharrell and telling him to fuck with me. so as soon as I met Pharrell it was instant. within 30 mins he told me he thought I was a good dude and we got each others numbers. I reached out to him, he reached out to me and from there we were able to build. we on the build right now. we got the new ICE CREAM vid dropping in September, Pharrell's album is out right now, it feels good... it's some amazing shit.

SGV: you know a lot of people out there think you've sold out a.k.a. GONE HOLLYWOOD. what do you have to say to those people?
TK: this is the way I look at it: you might sometimes see me in Hollywood, but I was not raised from it. How can I be Hollywood when I was born in Long Beach California down the street from Snoop Dogg. so if that's Hollywood, then I'm Hollywood. If Snoop Dogg is Hollywood, then I'm Hollywood. I don't even focus on that though, it's more about business now. I realized that I want to have a foundation, I want a kid, I want a wife, but I gotta grind for that shit. and it's also about showing my people that there's another avenue you can take, you don't always gotta raise your son to play basketball or football... you can raise him to be a pro skateboarder! hehe. we need all the avenues we can get, we don't always gotta rap, we don't always gotta act. that's what me and Pharrell are about: creating new lanes for people to take.