Blondey McCoy for Living Proof Radio. Full episode now on the Living Proof patreon. https://www.patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Blondey McCoy is a British skateboarder and designer who grew up skating at London’s South Bank, a space that played a significant role in shaping his style and way of approaching work.

His work later expanded through a long-running partnership with Adidas, for which he designed a signature sneaker line known for its experimental details and clean, unmistakable aesthetic.

He went on to establish THAMES MMXX., developing it from a personal art project into a full clothing and board company. While the brand carries hints of the city that raised him, its identity ultimately reflects Blondey’s own vision.

Shoreline Mafia for Living Proof Radio for Living Proof Radio. OhGeesy and Fenix Flexin interviewed by REBOE LNE.

Full episode now on the Living Proof Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Shoreline Mafia is a Los Angeles rap group that emerged in the mid-2010s and quickly became one of the defining sounds of modern West Coast street rap. The crew began when OhGeesy and Fenix Flexin met through writing graffiti and East Hollywood’s skate-and-street culture.

Their music touches on the realities of hustling, fast money, navigating dangerous environments, wealth, brotherhood and Los Angeles culture.

After a breakup in 2020, founding members OhGeesy and Fenix Flexin reunited in 2023, bringing the Shoreline Mafia name back to life as a duo and garnering mass attention with their return.

Danny Diablo / Lord Ezec for Living Proof Radio. Full episode now on the Living Proof patreon. https://www.patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Danny Diablo, also known as Lord Ezec, is an iconic figure within New York's hardcore and graffiti scenes. Having formed influential bands such as Crown of Thornz during a pivotal era of New York Hardcore, Ezec naturally blended his graffiti background into the music he made; famously using a Cap One quote to introduce the album "Train Yard Blues", an album whose street-graffiti influence is strongly present throughout the record. 

His music would touch on the multi-faceted style of his life: speaking on emotions, inner-city living and life's problems. 

Diablo later expanded into hip-hop and crossover styles. Throughout the years, he has remained an active performer and cultural figure, bridging multiple scenes organically. 

EASY for Living Proof Radio, full episode on the Living Proof Patreon.
http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

EASY is a graffiti writer who began writing around 1982. Alongside his partners JOZ (RIP) and JOSH5, EASY's street-graffiti campaign across all five boroughs of New York set the blueprint for the term "all city". Using high-visibility yet ground-level spot placement with a straightforward approach to large legible tags, EASY's aggressive repetition helped define an era when writers transitioned from the subways to the streets. 

His legacy lives on through his influence on younger writers and his role in New York’s graffiti history.

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Alain Levitt for Living Proof Radio, full episode on the Living Proof Patreon.
http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Alain Levitt is a Los Angeles–born photographer who moved to New York in 2000 and began documenting the downtown life around him with a small point-and-shoot camera. 

He became known for capturing the skate, graffiti, nightlife, and art scenes of early-2000s Manhattan in candid, flash-lit images. 

His photo book NYC 2000–2005, released with @fuckingawesome, gathers hundreds of these moments, preserving a disappearing era of creative freedom in the city. Levitt’s work has become a vital visual record of a formative moment in New York’s cultural history.

http://livingproofnewyork.com

Patrick O’Dell for Living Proof Radio, full episode on the Living Proof Patreon.
http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Patrick O’Dell is a photographer, filmmaker and skateboarder whose work has had a lasting influence on skate culture. He began skating at an early age and soon merged that passion with photography, developing a documentary-style approach that captured the personalities, places, and people that defined the skateboarding of his era.

In 2004, O’Dell started Epicly Later’d, a skateboarding blog that turned into an interview-based documentary series. Through Epicly Later’d, he profiled the lives and careers of skateboarding's biggest icons.

O’Dell's retrospective book, also titled Epicly Later’d, marked two decades of documenting downtown New York’s skate and art scenes. 

http://livingproofnewyork.com

Alex 2Tone for Living Proof Radio, full episode on the Living Proof Patreon.
http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

This episode focuses on the brand origins of Born X Raised.

Alex 2Tone is the co-founder of Born x Raised, a clothing brand rooted in the culture of Los Angeles. Growing up amid the city’s graffiti and street scenes, 2Tone developed a visual language shaped by his upbringing that now defines his work across fashion and film. 

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Lee Quiñones is a pioneering graffiti artist and painter widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of New York City’s graffiti movement. Raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Quiñones began painting subway cars in the mid-1970s and became known for his large-scale work that elevated graffiti from tags to visual storytelling. A key member of the legendary graffiti crew The Fabulous Five, he was among the first writers to paint entire subway cars; his whole cars were celebrated for their technical mastery and scale during a foundational era of New York’s history. 

Quiñones’s work helped redefine graffiti as a legitimate art form rather than mere vandalism. By the late 1970s, he transitioned from painting subways to exhibiting in galleries, becoming one of the first graffiti artists to bridge the gap between the streets and the fine art world.

Lee Quiñones has appeared in seminal films chronicling New York’s graffiti and hip-hop culture, including the legendary Wild Style, where he played a leading role. His influence has extended across generations, inspiring artists in graffiti, street art, and contemporary painting alike.

Full episode on the Living Proof Patreon. 

Atiba Jefferson for Living Proof Radio. Full episode now on the Living Proof Patreon. http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Atiba Jefferson is a photographer widely regarded as one of the most influential visual chroniclers of skateboarding culture of all time. Born in Colorado Springs, Jefferson developed an early passion for both skateboarding and photography that would merge into a prolific career documenting the evolution of skating from a subcultural movement into a global phenomenon. After moving to Southern California in the 1990s he quickly established himself as a leading figure behind the lens, becoming a staff photographer for Transworld Skateboarding and later a founding contributor to The Skateboard Mag. His work has appeared in nearly every major skate publication worldwide and today he works closely with Thrasher Magazine. 

Outside of skateboarding, Jefferson has built an expansive career across music, fashion, and commercial photography; having shot portraits of cultural icons such as LeBron James, Mos Def, and Tony Hawk. 

He has recently dropped the “United Through Skatebording” Collection with Vans. The collection includes a Skate Half Cab® with WaffleCup™ Outsole & a Skate Old Skool™ 36+ featuring custom imagery of skate legend John Cardiel alongside artwork by Haze. The collection celebrates Atiba’s journey throughout an extensive career, and the skate culture that deeply influenced his work. 

Brian Wenning for Living Proof Radio. Full episode on the Living Proof Patreon. http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Brian Wenning is an iconic skateboarder who has recently been released from prison after serving five years for a weapons charge under the Graves Act, which carried a mandatory minimum of 42 months before parole eligibility. Released from Bayside State Prison in May 2025, Wenning has since expressed his determination to move forward and rebuild his life. While in prison, he became sober after many years of using various substances.

Rising to prominence through projects like Photosynthesis, The DC Video, and Plan B: Live After Death, Wenning built a reputation as one of the most stylish and technically skilled skaters of his generation, riding for brands such as Habitat, DC Shoes, and Plan B during a golden age of plaza-skating. 

No longer under parole, he has returned to skateboarding, sharing clips of himself back on a board and speaking openly about taking things “one day at a time.” For both his fans and the wider skateboarding community, Wenning’s release marks not just the return of a legend within skateboarding, but also the beginning of a new chapter in his turbulent yet iconic career.

Harry Jumonji for Living Proof Radio. Full episode on the Living Proof Patreon. http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyork

Harry Jumonji is a Brazilian-born skateboarder regarded as one of the defining icons of New York City’s skateboarding history. 

After moving from Brazil to New York as a child, Jumonji was introduced to the New York skate scene through Andy Kessler, one of New York’s most influential skaters and the first person he met when arriving in the city. Deeply shaped by Kessler’s mentorship, Jumonji grew into a legend in the downtown street skateboarding scene of the 1980s. His skating was known for power & aggression, and his larger-than-life personality made him a standout character amongst all who came in contact with him. 

Throughout his time in New York, Jumonji became entangled with hard drugs and spent multiple stretches incarcerated, most notably after selling drugs to an undercover officer. These struggles interrupted his career, changed his life, his outlook and symbolize both the allure and dangers of New York street life. Over the years, he has been candid about these experiences in documentaries and interviews, offering a stark account of survival in and around skateboarding’s fringes.

In later life, Jumonji turned away from these destructive patterns, achieving sobriety from the hard drugs and choosing a more stable path. He eventually relocated back to Brazil, where he continues to live today. He is remembered not only for his skating but for embodying the unfiltered character of New York skateboarding during its formative years. Jumonji’s story ensures his place as one of the most legendary figures in New York skateboarding history.