STATE SERIES #5: MARK DEL NEGRO | DELAWARE
Portrait by Anton Isaksson
‘A pint-sized, bowl-cutted, ‘Chipper’ showed up in Newark, Delaware in the late 90's with a whole gang of Akers boys. He had the normal young ripper moves, hucking himself off of and dropping in on everything, but he also had a deep bag of tricks and otherworldly pop for such a small kid. It wasn't hard to see the potential he had. Over the next two decades, Mark has put out half a dozen amazing video parts, has had a few different bowl cuts, forced skaters the world over to learn what Delaware is, and has had everyone in the First State trying to skate and dress like him. Do yourself a favor, come skate 7th Street DIY in Wilmington and you can experience for yourself the demo Mark puts on everyday.’
- Ben Jones of Kinetic Skateboarding
For installment 5 of our State Series™ Mark AKA Chipper gives his five favorite skaters from the First State.
Brannon
His kickflip up the curb should be the gif. He would kill me, but man, that thing was harsh.
I was either 11 or 12 when I first met Brannon. Maybe even younger? I can’t remember, it’s been so long now, but he was the guy! Coming from Newark, Delaware, he’s the first older figure I met that was actually in the skate game, like in 411’s and magazines. He took a lot of us under his wing and never had that ‘cool guy’ mentality to show off. He only wanted to show us how to be better skaters. I would consider Brannon a teacher to me in some way. He skated fast, had style, and a shocking amount of pop. Love this dude!
Willy was amazing from the first day we met at Newport Skate. I met him and his two brothers Bubba and Ray when we were super young. They were from Elsmere, which was a couple of neighborhoods over from where I was from. The dude could skate everything. I mean ledges, rails, and vert. I would say he was one of the most well-rounded skaters I’ve witnessed coming up.
I have too many stories about Willy to count. I do remember that used to skated with his retainer case. Also, one time at FDR someone checked him pretty hard while skating, and for some reason, Kalis was there and picked him up and took him off the course. This is when Kalis was top dog and to see that in real time was nuts. One of your favorite skaters carrying your best friend to safety...we were bugging.
Joey Pyle
Joey was one of many young bucks to be lurking around Kinetic Skate Shop. He would kick it at the shop a lot, so I think he was from North Wilmington. I became a fan after seeing him do just a kickflip on flat. I was able to watch him film most of his tricks for the Kinetic video Silk. I couldn’t believe some of the stuff he was doing. Every day it seemed like he was getting better and better, it was beautiful to watch. He’s an amazing skateboarder and friend, and the funniest human I know.
I don’t know where to even start with this one. Brian is from Hockessin, Delaware, and he is a magician on a skateboard. We would skate flat together back in the day. Later, when his This is my Helmet part dropped I was blown away. I knew he was good, but that shit was insane. Most of the tricks he did in that part I had never seen before. I feel the same way when I watch his parts today, but now he's styled out like crazy. I love it.
If we’re talking about some superhero show or movie, this dude is the secret weapon. He’s originally from Dover, Delaware, and I can't remember how or when we met, but I do know we got super tight because of the skate house 3101 in Newark, DE. Dan makes technical tricks look good, has a fresh style, and continuously does circles around all of us in the games of SKATE to where we feel like we’re going to pass out. Plus, he can cross anyone up on the basketball court. Running off NOS!