Tomorrow is 11.11.11, which marks the release of “Rise & Shine” on iTunes. It’ll be Nyjah Huston’s first full-length part as a professional skateboarder and first part since his unofficial “comeback”.

After a gnarly year of accomplishments that included getting back on Element, dominating almost every Street League stop and basically blowing minds with every bit of surfacing coverage, tomorrow the world will see exactly what Nyjah has in store for us all.

Last month I spoke with Nyjah while he was still stacking a few last minute tricks for “Rise & Shine”. Have a read and see what Nyjah had to say about tomorrows highly anticipated part, his Hollywood High Back 270 Noseblunt and more.

When did you and Element decide that you wanted to release a part? Pretty much as soon as I got back on Element I knew there would be a part in the works. There wasn’t anything specific or any specific date. But I was definitely working on it with plans of it coming out this year, because I knew that people were looking forward to seeing new footage of me. So I just got back at it as soon as I got back on. There was a lot of motivation involved too. The feeling of getting back on Element and being on such a good company. I felt really motivated that things were going really good.

You’ve been super busy, especially with all the contest stops this summer. How were you able to put a full part together so quickly? It can be a little hard definitely, to balance out the street skating and contests. You just have to keep a balance. You can also think about when you’re doing a trick at a street spot, it can be practice for a contest. But the way I go about contests, I don’t really think about it like I’m training. I just skate around and have fun. I never really go to the skatepark and think, ‘I’m going to go here and do all my tricks.’ If I real right, you know, it’s all good.

This has been a big year for you. Back on Element, all these contest wins; do you feel there’s a lot riding on this part? Yeah, definitely. I feel like there’s a lot of expectations. But I don’t feel like I have to prove anything to anyone really. I just want to give it my all. I’m definitely going into the end of filming just trying all the hardest stuff, getting all my bangers and just trying to make it the best it could be.

How do you go about finding spots that are worthy of being in your part? I’m not too picky about my spots but I definitely want them to be good. I honestly just like skating famous spots, like known spots. I like the feeling of watching videos and going to a spot with a trick in mind that hasn’t been done yet. I think when kids see a video part and see a trick at a spot that hasn’t been done on that same spot, I think it’s kind of exciting for them. And I really like that…to roll away from a new trick at a legendary spot. I think it makes it that much more better.

Any significance to the name of the part, “Rise & Shine”? It’s the name that Element came up with and we all thought it was cool. But I guess they thought it was cool because the “Rise” is like me getting back on Element and doing all the contests this year. I guess this is the year where I “Rise Up”. And the “Shine” part could be me shining with a fresh look without my dreads. But I don’t know.

Are you still filming for the part? I am. I have about ten more tricks in mind that I want to do. I’m a little hurt right now. I took a hard fall a few days ago. But I’m gonna get back at it as soon as possible.

If you don’t get those ten tricks, will you be happy with the stuff you’ve already filmed? Oh yeah, for sure. I’ll still be happy. But there are a few tricks that I have to get. There’s not a choice for me. I have to get them.

Your consistency has always stood out, especially in your contest skating. What do you attribute your consistency too? When I skate a spot, a lot of the tricks I do are pretty big. And normally those big types of tricks shouldn’t really take you too long. If a really big trick is taking you more than 20 tries, it’s probably not the best thing to keep doing because you can get hurt real easy. If I land a trick early in the day and I still feel good and I’m not hurt or anything, I’m still down to skate two more spots that day. I’ll be hyped up and will just want to keep skating. Me and my homies will go out, skate all day, all night and get home at like 8 in the morning. That’s how we like to do it.

You grew up a lot differently than a lot of kids. Now that things have changed for you, do you feel like you have more freedom to be a kid? I definitely feel like I’m able to catch up on that part of life now. But I’m still only 16, gonna be 17 years old, so it’s not like I’m too old for it. My dad was a strict, protective person. He always wanted me to stay focused on skateboarding and not get distracted by other things. I’m honestly real thankful for that. I think it worked out because if he wasn’t that way I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at now. He helped me stay focused on skating and that’s literally all I thought about for the early years of my life…and that’s what allowed me to get to where I am now. And I’m mature enough now to stay focused enough and still have a good time.

The 270 Noseblunt at Hollywood High. Was that sketchy or what? Yeah, it was kind of sketchy because I hadn’t done that trick in a while. I had done it at Street League, and maybe down The Berrics rail. I threw on a few 270 Lips to get the feel for it. I just spun into them and kicked them away. And after that the 270 Noseblunt felt pretty good. So after that I knew I had it.

How many tries did that take? I think around 15 tries.

So what’s next for you Nyjah after the video drops? Element’s doing an Am video next and after that they’re gonna start working on a pro video. They’ll be some other things in the works. And by the end of this year I’m trying to lock down a good clothing and shoe sponsor. Besides that, I’ll always be out there skating, challenging myself, learning new tricks and having fun.

Photos Courtesy of Element.

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