Way back in the early to mid 90's, Hip Hop and tech skating ruled the land. During this period of innovation there were a handfull of influential individuals that personified the style of the time. One of the most talented and animated personalities of that golden era was Peter Smolik, hailing from Clairemont, Ca near San Diego. From his liberal use of ebonics to his sagging pants, it's always signature Smolik steez. But what sometimes gets lost in the mix is Smolik's unfadable sense of conviction. He talks loud and he's ready to back his shit up. And whether or not you agree with him or his views on skateboarding, you must respect how much he fully means what he says. Didn't some really old wise dude say, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything"?
Maybe Smolik is the type of guy that figured out his self identity long ago and knew he would always stay true to his steez. Or maybe he's just been comfortable doing him this whole time and not giving a fuck what the current trend in music or fashion is for skateboarding. Maybe this Smolik guy is smarter and skates better than you think. Marinate on that!
Now that SK8MAFIA is a full fledged board company being distributed out of Blitz (home of Baker and Flip) with Smolik as the franchise player, and his full video part dropping in the newest Transworld video... it's about to be on and popping, as they say in Hip Hop.
skate photos borrowed from the SK8MAFIA website

SGV: Ok, Smolik, like LL cool J said, "don't call it a comeback". Do you mind speaking on your absence from mainstream skateboarding the last few years?
SMOLIK: Real talk?
SGV: Real talk.
SMOLIK: This ain't no comeback... Just 'cause a mothafucka turned into a video game and went Dig Dug, son... that just means the industry was moving too slow and we were moving fast while we were digging a tunnel underneath it and popped up in front of this muthafucka.
SGV: Through the trials and tribulations your skate career has taken you, what would you say is the most important lesson you've learned from the business side of skateboarding?
SMOLIK: It's like this; you can have belief in people in the business world, because they're your friends... but all of a sudden when it comes down to money alot of these mothafuckas ain't got your back. Oftentimes they don't share the same ambition or have the vision you have in your mind. So all ya'll out there; keep sticking to your ambitions and have patience, patience, patience because it will pay-the-fuck-off. Put together your plan and execute. Once you have that mindframe and that goal, you can do it. Believe in yourself and you will be surprised at who believes in you. I believed in myself and nobody believed in me except for my boys, and now we done did it! Got hated on a grip, by females, by family, by friends... whatever the fuck... those muthafuckers AREN'T skateboarders that are hatin' on a muthafucka. The homies that skateboard and are down with a muthafucka know, because they're out here on the streets as they're doin' it. We don't go home and eat at the dinner table, we go out and just eat at different spots. We don't talk about, "Honey, I just landed a wallie backtail kickflip in Australia", type shit. She be like, "What the fuck are you talking about?!" or the fam will be, "What the fuck? I don't understand" but if it's a skater... they know. They'll give you props. DON'T ASK FOR PROPS FROM NOBODY, homie. You will get them only from the STREETS OF SKATEBOARDING ITSELF.
SGV: Seems like you've maintained a similar style or flavor throughout your career. Is that something you've conciously tried to do?
SMOLIK: We ain't even gotta answer that shit. We ain't even gotta get into all that... we already know homie... you think you wanna see me: ODS (Ol' Dirty Smolik), in some scuba pants and use a fucking g-string shoelace?! Homie, I got boys getting called out in Hawaii for rocking man thongs and having no drawls on and using shoestrings. I had to tell homie, "DON'T BRING THAT SHIT AROUND ME" I look at skateboarding like it's one person... it's your own martial art. Fuck all this fashion victim bullshit. I don't give a fuck if little homies wanna dress like me cause you think baggy pants are cool now... I don't care what the fuck you do... you just do you. Yo, but real talk... you ain't never gonna catch me in no scuba pants, son. When it comes to surfing, that's the only time I'll wear some slim ass board shorts... but I ain't gonna wear no scuba pants... I'ma still sag my boardshorts. I skateboard... I've rocked my pants the same way since the 7th grade... I don't give a fuck... it is what it is. Look at Osiris when they changed. They did too much and got raved the fuck out. Nobody like that rave shit, son! I just like to skate and be comfortable. It is what it is. I ain't play no sport with no fuckin cup on my nutts. Ain't no slim ass baseball pants... fucking football pants, whatever the fuck gay ass soccer shorts, fucking gay ass tennis... I don't give a fuck: this is SKATEBOARDING and skateboarding in itself. All you skaters out there go ahead and rock the fuck out to the rock. Get death to the death metal... I'm down with Hip Hop and I'm down with anything that sounds good. Anybody and everybody... ya'll can all get your own style because that's what skateboarding is. You got your own style... there ain't no skate coach. There's only sensei's that can give you advice. That's why I got my apprentice; Lil' Brandon, Lil' B, Brandon Turner... and it's dumb funny because when the album came out with Baby and Lil' Wayne, I felt that shit... Like Father, Like Son. I taught that muthafucka the cutthroat mentality and now he's at the point to where he is today, and we're the 2 pros on SK8MAFIA... but watch out for our fucking rookies... best to watch SK8MAFIA SATURDAYS.

SGV: Do you mind talking about the community of Clairemont? You rep your hood hard.
SMOLIK: Son... Clairemont is so ill. We got so many different random spots to skate it's ridiculous. Ok, like, everybody knows the fence I'm talking about... the one I b-side flipped... the one I switch ollied and kickflipped.
SGV: the bump to fence thingy?
SMOLIK: Yeah, the black banks to fence. That shit, son... I grew up skating that school, and all I would see was banks back in the day... then my boy Kel(len) dropped into the bank when It was raining one day back when I was in the 6th grade. So all I would do is skate those banks all day. I remember one day we were skating those banks and I was running up to the top to figure out how to pop off it correctly. Then I remember looking to my right down the hallway and I seen the bank to fence. I remember thinking to myself, "that rail is close as fuck... and it looks sketchy as fuck" But in my head I felt like I could conquer it. I ended up clipping my leg on it trying a switch ollie and broke my rib. But I accomplished it twice before I broke it... the only reason I did it again was because some photographer, I ain't gonna say his name, was shooting from the wrong angle. I looked at his first photo and that shit was bullshit... why you got the whole damn fence in front of the shot?! I ain't gonna say his name, you know who I'm talking about... is that why you moved to SF, son? Whatevers though, mad love regardless. Yo, but I snapped my tail first try off that bank to fence and the pop was so ridiculous... I almost misjudged the landing. I tried to clap the shit out of that and was almost 2 feet over the fence. Then we started using the dogs, the cars, and the bikes to pull us faster. After a while my mentality turned into like a bunch of cops chasing me and I have to just book it and push as fast as I can and accomplish my manuever.
SGV: So you enjoy putting pressure on yourself when you're skating?
SMOLIK: It's not really pressure, more like frustration. When you got an obstacle like that in front of you where you start off on one side of the schoolyard and you have to execute your manuever on the other side... I'm talking 9 good hucks... full-body hucks. Imagine doing that consistently for an hour and a half to two hours. Because when your board doesn't make it over that obstacle, you get so pissed. All my skate brothers know about that sweet spot when it comes to popping your tricks off transition... gotta have your feet in the right position and gotta be going the right speed. In the San Diego area thats how we do it; we go out and hunt for spots and execute. Like that bank to rail on Hawthorne... I stayed up all night on some maniac shit because I wanted to be the first one to throw up some trucks on that bitch. I'm the one that took off that clip so you could push back the fence so you could actually skate that shit. Then next time I went there muthafuckas dropped that shit down like 4 inches and I heard GAMU (Gailea Momolu) was doing switch krookies and halfcab flips or some shit. I was on some shit like; son, you're in my hood. Why don't you give me a call and I'll go skating with you and hype you up, nar'mean? But muthafuckas wanna be all sneaky and shit and not call when they in the hood... whatevers. I mean fuck, if I come to LA or SF or wherever-the-fuck, I call my friends that skate and let them show me spots. Some people don't like that shit. I don't give a fuck.
SGV: tell me about the name SK8MAFIA.
SMOLIK: I'ma make a long story short. Basically SK8MAFIA is a unity of fellow skateboarders across the world. If you have something in common with anybody, especially skateboading, it's a strong bond. I want SK8MAFIA to be so tight that you could be stuck in Japan, Europe or some foreign country and run into another brother that skateboards and if you lost your passport or you're broke and got no money, where you gonna go? You ain't gonna sleep on the streets or some shit... you're gonna call on your skate brothers for help. SK8MAFIA is about building the unity of skateboarders all across the world. We all have a common love for skateboarding. I live that shit. I been on a SK8MAFIA tour in the midwest and only had $2.50 per diem for myself. I actually had $5 total for my per diem, but I had met this homie named Skeeter in St. Louis and I felt good energy from this guy so I asked him if he would like to roll with us and go on tour with SK8MAFIA for the next 2 weeks. This muthafucka was like, "I'm down in a heartbeat, but I ain't got no money" I told him I'd split my $5 per diem with him down the middle. So we each had $2.50 per day to survive. But it's cool we know how to budget that shit and hustle skate product, ya'know? Hustling skate product is just like how these Hip Hop artists talk about flipping weight or whatevers. They're hyped on that shit, but as long as we're doing our shit all legal and legitimate, ain't nothing we gotta worry about. But basically SK8MAFIA is a brotherhood.
SGV: Sounds like you really know how to make a dollar out of 15 cents.
SMOLIK: I'm rocking $2.50 per diem and I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! But real talk; you wanna know how you make a dollar out of 15 cents?
SGV: How?
SMOLIK: You borrow a dime from your homie and you shoot c-lo. You shoot c-lo with your homies till you get a dollar. And when you get that dollar, son... hold them dice tight and believe in those muthafuckas and 4-5-6 them muthafuckas out the box. Now you got 5 dollars. Then you chop it back and throw down 2 and hold the dice. Next thing you know you got 15 dollars in your pocket. Gotta always remember to play your money smart. All it is is gambling and believing in what you're gonna believe in. I've had this mentality for a long long time now. This is SK8MAFIA... this is a way of life, son. A WAY OF FUCKIN' LIFE. Now SK8MAFIA is a brand, and basically I'm not gonna stop till I get my own satellite. My own TV station... I don't give a fuck! We got mad plugs, and if we don't, we'll get mad plugs. This is what I'm talkin about; building the brotherhood. We can all get a piece of this pie.