Kareem Campbell (born November 14, 1973) is an American professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...

. He is known for popularizing the skateboard trick "The Ghetto Bird" which is a

nollie In skateboarding, a nollie, short for "nose ollie", is an ollie executed at the front of the board while the rider is positioned in their natural stance. Professional skateboarders Karl Watson, Shuriken Shannon, Tuukka Korhonen, and Sean Malto ha ...

hardflip A flip trick is a type of skateboarding trick in which the skateboard rotates around its vertical axis, or its vertical axis and its horizontal axis simultaneously. The first flip trick, called a kickflip but originally known as a "magic flip", w ...

late 180°.

Skateboarding career

Kareem Campbell was an innovative professional skateboarder in the 1990s. He was featured in the

World Industries World Industries is a skateboarding company that offers skateboarding products, accessories and clothing. The company was founded by Steve Rocco in 1987. In 1988, Rocco was joined by skater, Rodney Mullen, and then Mike Vallely in 1989. As of ...

videos ''New World Order'', ''20 Shot Sequence'', and ''Trilogy'', which are regarded as classics to many skateboarders. He has been called the godfather of smooth

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

style. He eventually went on to spawn another company of his own under the

Dwindle Distribution Dwindle Distribution, based in El Segundo, California, is an American skateboard distributor. It is a component of Transom Capital Group Limited. The company was founded by Steve Rocco and Rodney Mullen. Its formation is recognized as a key eve ...

umbrella, though he continued to ride for World Industries. He also helped found Axion Shoes. After Menace, he went on to create City Stars Skateboards also under the same Dwindle Distribution umbrella. He still operates City Star Skateboards to this day. Campbell rose to mainstream fame in 1999 following his inclusion as a playable character in the ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', released as ''Tony Hawk's Skateboarding'' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation (c ...

'' video game series.

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

also credited him with increasing skateboarding's standing in the Black community. Throughout his career Kareem has been sponsored by World Industries, Axion Shoes,

Nixon Watches Nixon is an American watches, accessories and audio brand, founded in 1997 in Encinitas, California, United States. Focused on the youth lifestyle market. Currently sold in 80 countries worldwide, Nixon maintains stand-alone retail stores in Be ...

, Alphanumeric Clothing and more.

Personal life

Campbell is from

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, and moved with his family to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in his early youth. Campbell now resides in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and works in a variety of business ventures, notably real estate. His nephew is professional skateboarder, musician, and

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF, was an American Hip hop music, hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. The original members were Ty ...

associate

Na-kel Smith Na-Kel Allah Smith (born July 22, 1994) is an American skateboarder, rapper, songwriter and actor. Originally a skateboarder from the Los Angeles area, he was known for his association with the hip hop collective Odd Future, appearing in musi ...

References

1973 births American skateboarders Living people Sportspeople from Manhattan African-American skateboarders 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-skateboarding-bio-stub