When Chaka Khan sang these
words more than a decade ago, I never thought that they would be more than just
lyrics to me. For the past two years, my passion of roller skating has been
starved and forced to feed itself only in moderation and small portions.
I moved from Detroit, MI (A
skater’s paradise) to Chandler, AZ (A skater’s hell) for a number of reasons.
At first it didn’t bother me not being able to enjoy R & B music at an adult
session several times a week. I was new to the area, and there was so much to
do like familiarize myself with the area and get to know people. However, as the
months went by, I started to long for some Patrice Rushen cuts or the occasional
Gap Band song when I did visit the rinks here. I was soon forced to put my IPod
into overdrive and load up as much music possible and turn it up as loud as I
could to drown out the wails of children and undecipherable lyrics that were
un-skate able.
I begin to envy what I had
so easily taken for granted before and started wishing for a miracle. No longer
being able to “leave it on the wood”, now I had to “leave it on the epoxy-glide”
(The blue stuff). That doesn’t even sound right. Now, instead of checking into
a mental hospital, I travel five hours to California once a month or to the
occasional out of town skate party just to get my roll on.
Some may ask, “Is it worth
it?” Real skaters already know, “Of course it is!” But I’ll do whatever I have
to do to get my roll on.
So when your rolling
during the week get a slide, a split, a one-stop, a jack-leg or whatever you
style calls for in for me!
J
When Chaka Khan sang these words more than a
decade ago, I never thought that they would be more than just lyrics to me. For
the past two years, my passion of roller skating has been starved and forced to
feed itself only in moderation and small portions.
I moved from Detroit, MI (A skaters
paradise) to Chandler, AZ (A skaters hell) for a number of reasons. At first
it didnt bother me not being able to enjoy R & B music at an adult session
several times a week. I was new to the area, and there was so much to do like
familiarize myself with the area and get to know people. However, as the months
went by, I started to long for some Patrice Rushen cuts or the occasional Gap
Band song when I did visit the rinks here. I was soon forced to put my IPod
into overdrive and load up as much music possible and turn it up as loud as I
could to drown out the wails of children and undecipherable lyrics that were
un-skate able.
I begin to envy what I had so easily taken
for granted before and started wishing for a miracle. No longer being able to
leave it on the wood, now I had to leave it on the epoxy-glide (The blue
stuff). That doesnt even sound right. Now, instead of checking into a mental
hospital, I travel five hours to California once a month or to the occasional
out of town skate party just to get my roll on.
Some may ask, Is it worth it? Real skaters
already know, Of course it is! But Ill do whatever I have to do to get my
roll on.
So when your rolling during the week get a
slide, a split, a one-stop, a jack-leg or whatever you style calls for in for
me! J
KP DETROIT STYLE ALL DAY
Roller Funk:
How long have you been skating?
Niecy: I
have been skating for over 20 years.
Roller Funk:
What are your two favourite rinks and why?
Niecy: My
two favourite rinks are Empire Roller-skating rink in Brooklyn, NY and Skate
Key in Bronx, NY. Empire Roller skating rink was my favourite rink because
that's where I first learned how to skate. I skated there 3 times a week.
Skate key was my second best because we formed my group "Energy in the
Middle" Our group brought so much energy in Skate key. DJ La Luv yelled out
our name out from the dj booth. He gave us our name. The skaters that went
around the rink fed off our energy spirit. RIP EMPIRE!! RIP SKATE KEY!!!
Roller Funk:
What is your favourite song to skate to?
Niecy:
"That's
the way love is" by Ten City.
Roller Funk:
How would you describe yourself?
Niecy:
I would describe myself as someone with a beautiful spirit, very giving,
unlimited energy, loves to have fun and make people laugh
Roller Funk:
What was the best skate jam you ever attended and why?
Niecy:
The best skate jam I have been to was Atlanta Skate Jam 2007 because we
(New York, New Jersey came together as I) We came out in full force. The
unity was wonderful!!
Roller Funk:
If you could tell the skaters around the world one thing, what would it be?
Niecy:
I would tell Skaters to keep skating alive,
Never stop Skating. Skating is our drug, stress reliever, exercise and our
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
Buy Your Roller Rocker T-Shirt and Support the
Blue Guerrillas Documentary film
Our Rink
I could write 2,000
paragraphs about skating. Our local rink here in Schenectady, NY is Rollerama. We've been skating there for over 30 years. My parents took my
brother and I when we were only 4 years old, with little wooden wheels on
our skates. We've skated ever since. My husband and I make great skate
partners. We skate at least twice a week. The rink floor is awesome, larger
than most floors around here. Our pet peeves.. hmmm. The biggest is the
music. We just cannot skate to hard rap or hard rock. It isn't really that I
don't like some of it, but not to skate to. Chris and I rent the rink,
literally for 2 hours at $250 a pop, after hours, just so we can make our
own play list and invite people we want. No hard rap, no rock, no bubble gum
music, no games, just 2 hours of GET YOUR SKATE ON jam music. We're dead by
the end of the night, but it's worth it. I could tell many stories, but need
more than 2 paragraphs. SKATE HARD OR GO HOME.