The Legacy of the Skateboard P Chain

Words by Phorin Collective

Before Pharrell was ever a superstar, he was Skateboard P, a name given to him in high school by his peers because of his love and obsession with all things skating, even having built a halfpipe in his home as a teen. So when Pharrell started making waves in the culture, the last thing he would do was leave behind his love for skateboarding. By following this passion, P would help change the future of hip-hop and the path of Pharrell forever.

In current culture, hip-hop and skating seem to go hand and hand, but it wasn't always that way. Before Pharrell came and helped break down the barriers, rap and skating were looked at as two completely different worlds, each having its specific cliques and qualities. Pharrell would choose to make it his point to combine the two in a way never seen before, this would start with “Skateboard P”.

One of the most symbolizing pieces to the personality and history of Pharrell, the Skateboard P chain is an enormous part of his story that is a symbol of the success, game-changing, and genre-bending that P seemed to do so often. The piece exemplifies Pharrell’s childhood love of skating as a true example for the next wave of young entrepreneurs to believe his iconic song, “You Can Do It Too”. Skateboard P chose not to be worried about fitting in with the game of hip hop but seemed more concerned with how he could change the world and open up the game of hip hop itself, and that would start with his love for skateboarding.

To commemorate this love and the success of his career, one of Pharrell’s first major jewelry pieces would do just that in true Pharrell style. With the help of Jacob The Jeweler, Pharrell designed the one-of-a-kind grail, solidifying the nickname of Skateboard P in history forever. Between the symbolic aspects of the Jesus piece in hip hop and the diamond-embezzled skateboards themselves, this piece more than almost all else goes to show Pharrell’s personality and taste aside from purely achievement or status. It seems this piece is what the teenage Pharrell Williams would have wanted on a chain opposed to the Pharrell that has now traveled the world and played in front of millions. There is almost a unique childlike playfulness to the charms themselves and I’m almost sure they've even been used as a finger deck at least a few times by P himself. A truly one-of-a-kind piece of history with a mix of passion and personality with elegance and style. Something that Pharrell has seemed to embody his entire career, now it's your chance to have your piece of the same iconic history.

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