Troy Gipson was first featured on the Living Proof Podcast (formerly Angel and Z) in June of 2022, in what would be his first ever formal interview appearance. Less than a year later, he turned professional for Violet.
Born in Oakland, raised in Seattle, and currently living in New York City, Gipson is one of the most talented young skaters to emerge during the 2020’s so far. With a solid list of appearances in homie videos, and footage with Nike SB and Supreme, 23 year-old Gipson has established himself as one of the standouts in the next generation of skateboarding in New York.
At the age of 8, Gipson was introduced to skateboarding when he joined a childhood friend at a summer camp at Inner Space, an indoor skatepark in Seattle. After the camp finished, he became a regular at the indoor space, a staple of the rainy Pacific Northwest city’s skate scene until their doors closed in 2012.
“Both my parents were working, so pretty much that was like daycare,” he recalled, during his initial conversation with Living Proof. “They would just drop me off at Inner Space, and I would skate with my friends there all day”.
Around the time of Inner Space’s closure, the Jefferson skatepark opened near his home in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. He would skate there most days after school, and eventually met Ian Ostrowski, a friend with whom he would frequently film with.
In his early teens, local skate shop 35th North helped him in getting hooked up with shoes and Habitat boards, which he skated for a number of years. He later started skating Baker boards, making a connection with Andrew Reynolds through Kader Sylla, whom he met while skating in Los Angeles years prior, and later hosted in Seattle for a Melodi crew skate trip.
“Somehow, my mom let seven boys come and chill with us at the crib. I don’t know how she let that happen,” he explained to Living Proof. “So Kader, my homie Cooper (Angell-neff), a couple other people – Seven (Strong) – that’s where I met Seven, all came to stay at my house”.
By the end of 2020, Gipson was in New York City riding for Noah Clothing, with clips in their first skate video Jolie Rouge. Back in Seattle, Ian Ostrowski released Genesis 2, a full-length homie crew video which was picked up by Jenkem Mag, and featured a full part from Gipson.
Eventually, he was invited to join William Strobeck and co. on a trip to Philadelphia, and filmed for Stallion (2021), before officially riding for Supreme, and later for Strobeck’s company Violet. Gipson has continued filming with Strobeck, appearing in nearly all of his videos since Stallion.
For Issue 10 of Living Proof Magazine, Troy Gipson and Tenzin Che Miyahira discuss skate trips, dating, making music, and more.
This story was written by Eden DaSilva for the release of Issue 10 of Living Proof Magazine. Now available on our Patreon and Online Shop.
The full interview is included in Issue 10 of Living Proof Magazine.
photos: Franklin Carbonatti
