Nigel Sylvester (born August 23, 1987 in
Queens, New York
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...
) is an American professional
BMX
BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation.
History
BMX began during the earl ...
athlete; He is best known for his progressive bicycling skills as well as his digital content featuring his unique BMX stunts and adventures around the globe. His most notable film series is GO, which gives viewers a first hand POV of Nigel's riding, featuring some of the most recognizable locations and attractions in the world. Nigel is considered a generational talent; unlike traditional BMX athletes, he does not compete. He built his career through cinematic content and by leveraging his creative expression through the use of social media.
In 2017,
Forbes Magazine
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also repo ...
included Sylvester in the "30 Under 30” list in the sports category. In 2014, he became the first BMX athlete to be featured in the
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
''Body Issue.'' He was included alongside
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
and
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...
.
Sylvester is sponsored by multiple global brands including
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered ne ...
,
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
,
Oakley, Inc., Ethika, DFNS,
Specialized Bicycle Components
Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc., colloquially known as and stylized as SPECIALIZED, is an American company which designs, manufactures and markets bicycles, bicycle components and related products under the brand name "Specialized", as wel ...
, XSET,
Buzzfeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
, and Animal Bikes.
Sylvester launched his lifestyle and travel video series, ''GO'', in 2015. The film series has over 80 million views, as of October 2020. His videos are shot entirely from his POV with a GoPro and take fans on an immersive, first-hand view of his riding experiences. This includes BMX as well as other extreme racing: sports cars, go-karts, ATV's, jet ski’s, and planes. The first episode in the series launched in his hometown of New York City; it is followed by episodes in LA, Tokyo, Dubai, London to Paris, and Miami. Influential friends across music, entertainment, and sports are featured throughout the series, including
Victor Cruz,
ASAP Ferg
Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Ferg (stylized as A$AP Ferg), is an American rapper from New York City's Harlem neighborhood. Aside from his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop collec ...
,
Nick Young,
Jamie Chung
Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appe ...
,
Rob Dyrdek
Robert Stanley Dyrdek (born June 28, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, actor, producer, reality TV personality, and former professional skateboarder. He is best known for his roles in the MTV reality and variety shows ''Rob & Big'', ''Rob Dyrd ...
,
Steve Aoki
Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive. ,
DJ Khaled
Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper.
Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...
,
Rick Ross
William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper.
Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...
,
J. Balvin
''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...
, Ben Baller,
Octavian
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, and
Salt Bae
Nusret Gökçe (; born 1983), nicknamed Salt Bae, is a Turkish butcher, chef, food entertainer and restaurateur whose technique for preparing and seasoning meat became an Internet meme in January 2017.
He owns Nusr-Et, a chain of luxury steak ho ...
. The videos are co-directed by Harrison Boyce. Sylvester continues to expand ''GO'' into a lifestyle brand including live events and merchandise.
Brand collaborations
Sylvester has collaborated with Nike on multiple shoe releases throughout his career, with the first one being the ''Nike SB x Sylvester Dunk High “S.O.M.P.”'' released in March 2014. The partnership marked the first time Nike SB teamed up with a BMX rider to redesign the iconic sneaker.
In August 2018, Sylvester partnered with the brand again to release a signature Nike Air Jordan 1. This was the first ever collaboration of its kind for a BMX athlete with the
Air Jordan
Air Jordan is an American brand of basketball shoes produced by American corporation Nike. The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for Hall of Fame former basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls in late 1984 and ...
brand. The design was heralded as a powerful reflection of his hard work and ambition, with each shoe hand-distressed to reflect the scuff marks on his Air Jordan 1's from when he rides. Nigel does not have breaks on his BMX bicycles and uses the Air Jordan 1's as his breaks. This collaboration also produced a one-of-one BMX bicycle under the jointly formed Jordan Biking Co. label.
In October 2019, Sylvester followed up with another Nike collaboration, this time for the iconic Air Force 1 under the Nike ID program. He based his design around his favorite film,
Paid In Full, incorporating the colors and textures featured within the cult-classic movie.
Tapped for his high-speed lifestyle and vivid content,
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
partnered with Sylvester to promote the release of
"Need For Speed Heat" video game in October 2019, featuring the city of Miami. As part of this collaboration, Sylvester formed a crew of drivers including Shiggy, Greg Yuna, and Aleali May to take over the streets of Miami in a fleet of Mercedes-Benz vehicles and produce a series of content.
In May 2019, Sylvester released a one-of-one, and the first official,
Fendi
Fendi () is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925, Fendi is known for its fur, fur accessories, and leather goods.
...
BMX bike covered in the iconic Double F Zucca print leather, which was first designed by
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer.
He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...
in 1965. This collaboration was released as part of their "F is For Fendi" collective and featured Nigel riding this bespoke bicycle in a short film on the top of Fendi Headquarters in Rome.
In March 2018, Sylvester was featured in Samsung's television commercial which aired during the Oscar's to promote its Galaxy S9 smartphone.
In September 2017, Sylvester was featured in the campaign for the Kith x Nike Air Jordan 1 collaboration.
In May 2017, he released his ''GO'' branded collaboration with the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
and New Era to release two ''9Fifty Original Snapbacks''. The Mets also invited Sylvester to throw out the first pitch at the Mets game to commemorate the partnership.
Sylvester has a signature bike seat called the Sylvester Seat through Animal Bikes. He also created multiple signature watches with
G-Shock
The G-Shock is a line of watches manufactured by the Japanese electronics company Casio, designed to resist mechanical stress, shock and vibration. G-Shock is an abbreviation for ''Gravitational Shock''. The watches in the G-Shock line are desi ...
.
Music
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
referenced Sylvester in his verse on the
Frank Ocean
Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...
song “Biking,” released in April 2017, citing “Nigel Sylvester with these bike flips.” He is featured in multiple music videos from artists including ASAP Ferg,
Mack Wilds
Tristan Paul Mack Wilds (born July 15, 1989) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, ''The Wire'', and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama series ...
, and
Wiz Khalifa
Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...
.
Art
In April 2017, Sylvester released his first artwork under his travel and lifestyle collective, ''GO''. Working together with upholsterer and artist, Daniel McRorie of Rickard Guy, Sylvester designed a BMX bike using
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
’s iconic monogram logo. The piece is titled “218 CAPUCINE,” a reference to both Louis Vuitton’s and Sylvester’s history. His bike was featured in the social feeds of Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director,
Kim Jones.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvester, Nigel
1987 births
Living people
American male cyclists
BMX riders