What you up to today? Working at the shop?

Yea, just got done with this Adidas prebook, of course I forgot about it. Just your typical skate shop shit.

Where you from?

Here, New Orleans. Born and raised.

How long has Humidity been around?

The shop’s been open since ’96, it changed owners in 2000. Then those owners brought it to the French Quarter where it’s at now.

How did you end up taking over the shop?

The old owners decided to move on, they ended up moving out of the city, so my mom and I just sat down just came up with everything to try and make it happen.

Did you change the shop much?

I mean I changed it a bunch, but at the same time it was always 100% skate, so I’m hyped on that. Never had any bullshit. Things have changed over the past six years, you know skate shops need to change to maintain as far as like aesthetics, but at the end of the day it’s always been pretty raw. As far as what the model is, what it’s there for, it’s always been the same.

How did you get the name Philly?

I don’t know, people just started calling me that. I had it since I was like 18, back when I used to smoke mad weed and shit. I never liked the name Phil.

You ever skate Philly?

No. In fact, I never wanna skate Philly now that they took Love out, so fuck it. Nah, I’m just joking. I wanna skate Philly real bad. Especially since KT’s there.

How’d you get hooked up with Scumco?

We did a collab and it turned out to be my favorite collab. You know scum? He’s just an asshole pretty much, he’s very stern and very straightforward, which is why I love him. I called him one night like, ‘Yo man, I had this idea I wanna make happen. When you do those veneer boards do you get to hand pick veneers piece by piece?’ And he’s like, ‘Well technically yeah,’ and I told him I always wanted to do a board and put a fortune in the middle ply so that when you focused it, you took it out like a fortune cookie. He said he didn’t know if that’d really work, and this and that. Then we were talking about some other shit for a minute and he just stopped me and said, ‘I’m gonna be honest, I’m either gonna steal your idea or we have to do it together.’ I was like, oh shit, I guess I don’t have a choice cause I don’t have Pennswood in my backyard, you know. I was just like damn you asshole. So we put a fortune in the middle ply.

And when did you actually get on the team?

Just through talking about all that, he was like, ‘So you ever thought about riding for Scumco?’ I was like, honestly yeah, but I back Politic and I’m not gonna just leave em, let me talk to em and see what he wants out of me. So I wrote Damon a text like, ‘Yo, I’m super down for Politic 110%. I’m down to work hard and do whatever I can to be a part of this if you think it’s worth it, just let me know cause Scumco hit me up to be fully on’. So a couple days went by and then I got a text saying ‘the team said they want to keep it the way it is,’ so I was like alright word, started riding for scum.

You sponsor? You got a team?

I don’t know, I don’t get into that shit. Either you’re down or you’re not. New Orleans is insanely small and no only am I the shop owner but I skate, so at the end of the day at 7 I’m like on the corner with all boys drinking beer. So I don’t want to be like, uh no you’re not on, you are on. It’s just dumb, so with me it’s just like man the whole city’s on. I give discounts when I can, we hide product around the city for kids, you know we try to give back as much as we can. Then there’s a few homies I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna try to get you some rep flow’. There are homies all over, you know what I’m saying? The way I look at it, the homie Sean (Carabarin) in SF, he’s down. I always repost his shit, he’s like family and then even people like BA, that’s my dog, why wouldn’t he be on? Anyone who comes to New Orleans, basically you’re on, that’s the way I look at it. The only shop I ride for is Labor, so fuck it.

How that happen?

Just going to NY and kicking it with James. I don’t know, he’s just a really rad person. I personally never rock Humidity shit, and he’d always see me skating in Labor shirts, so it was just kinda funny, like a shop owner riding for another skate shop. Isn’t that skateboarding?

Favorite thing about New Orleans?

The people here. We have more culture, it’s unexplainable. You can ask anyone who comes here, you get stuck. Everybody’s chill, everybody’s friendly, you can be yourself here and nobody really gives a fuck. Out here people talk to their neighbors, they sit on the porch, you know…Skating is fun, obviously not as much to skate here, but you come here and kick it and enjoy the food, skate around, you can literally skate around with a 12 pack and the homies and you won’t get harassed unless you you’re obviously being a piece of shit, but it’s legal you know? Just come here on vacation with your board and have a good time.

What first got you into skating?

Lil Wayne, haha nah. I have a half brother and I think he had a board and when I’d go to my dad’s house every other week he had Jason Lee photos on the wall. He was all into Mallrats and shit. Then I had one of those skateboards with the handle, then it broke and that evolved into trying to skate. I fully got into skating in the 6th grade, we had this skatepark and my mom would drop me off there. That skatepark was ran by all the best skaters, and every time you would go there it would just be kids ripping. Even the dudes behind the counter would be the best dudes in the city, so at the time you would be like, ‘Oh shit, it’s so-and-so and he’s gripping my board!’ Then the A-Team came through and I saw Birdhouse and stuff like that. That’s what officially turned me into a skateboarder.

When was the last time you skated Parasite?

Haha I went there the other day for the Chili Bowl Jam. I threw this whole contest where I reached out a bunch of homies and organized this chili cook off/chili bowl jam. I did a couple 5050s. That day was sick. But other than that it’s been a minute. I raised money for that place, people say I hate it, I just personally don’t get into the politics of a skatepark, if that makes sense. I told the dudes that are running it, who are 100% amazing, I don’t care what y’all build. I’m gonna skate every day. Just build it. I donate money and I help raise raise money, I’ll do that all day, anything they need. I help with fundraisers and selling their boards and stuff like that, but when it comes to the skatepark I don’t care. Personally I don’t give a fuck about a bowl at a skatepark. I was like, let’s do something for the kids that actually skate the bowl, try to get some people to drive in from other parts of Louisiana. If you really want to know what I want, just put a slab and one marble ledge. I’d be there all day. I never had Love Park…I actually asked them when they were first starting, ‘Can we build Love? Straight up?’ That would be amazing.

How much money is a lot?

$100 is a lot of money, right? You could flip a hundred. You can buy shit with a $100 and make money real quick.

Any advice for someone who wants to open a skate shop one day?

Don’t. It’s so stupid. No one gives a fuck about you anymore. Industry doesn’t care, your brands don’t care, skateboarders don’t care. I honestly wouldn’t, it’s retarded. It’s the most backwards game. You start out with 20g’s and you end up with 10, trying to make 30. There’s so many skate shops just fucked up. Brands are just selling to pretty much anyone. The internet’s out there. Direct to consumer is just at an all time high…