Brayan Coria in "Classic Gang"

by Alejandro Torres

Purple Magazine released its Mexico issue in F/W 2021. The printed tags inside Fucking Awesome shirts read “as we make war against our drug lust, the people of Mexico suffer and die for our sins.” One wonders when Supreme will open a store in the global south. Meantime, I know Diego Xicali is skating Mexico City, releasing shared clips with his girlfriend stacking roller skate tricks on the same outskirt hills, plazas and monuments her novio rides. I bet Diego knows Brayan, so drawstring the curtains back to best enjoy natural morning light in this rented casita while my girlfriend works from a cafe for a couple more hours. I eat a clementine, wash my face, refill my water bottle, settle back in bed to check this:

Brayan Coria got on Neal Blender’s Heated Wheel last year, which may facilitate placement on this apparently stand-alone part dedicated to Juventino Bacilio. First trick in gauzy coloring shows goofy stance Brayan with his dark hair mullet cut and dyed blonde on the short sides for a Heitor bouncy 360 flip over loading dock sidewalk gap to hill bomb. He kickflips gaining speed past towers of tires, catching up to a scooter and two cars in front slowing for base turn as two cars approach oncoming and Brayan threads the needle through congestion and forces vehicles to stop in acknowledgement of skateboard transit superiority. Brayan Coria appears written in this white scrawl over cityscape shot. Super 8 colors bleed as Coria selects beverage from a touch screen kiosk then hydrated ripping commences.

First line starts with a fast backside bench nosegrind, no push through grey and green park, then Brayan pops nollie f/s n/s onto next longer ledge cut into larger block and whips 270 heelflip out with amply speedy rollaway. One button holds his green over overshirt and we see white undershirt beneath, loose khakis and black Adidas with white stripes. He puffs tuff in super 8, then downhill pops over perpendicular to flat bar back lipslide to fakie pop out over curved returning rail. He consults with security to make sure his outfit matches spot, then wallie boardslides a painted blue bannister in light grey outfit with blue chest stripe on shirt and blue Adidas stripes. He necklace chain swings as zoom out reveals graffiti on griptape, heelflip over stairs over spiked fence and his shirt back that got sweaty and dirty over the session. He pops consecutive driveway gap with ollie then Nate Jones b/s flip in a good looking pair of red and black hightops, switch front shove off the curb switch ride over plastic speed bump. Brayan switch ollies an all white bump to bar wearing all white, then Spidey rides a whitewall over stairs into hill. He backtails an out rail at night as custom fiesta funk soundtrack bumps and nollie flips a solid set painted yellow and white.

Next clip features pastel yellow, blue, pink and purple painted adobe, plus wood and leaves, for a wallie 180 upstage to switch manual. He gaps to front tail on handrail, then gaps to lengthy ledge crooked grind firecracker out. The song catches its breath while viewers draw theirs as Brayan nollie wall rides into a tight, titanic concrete waterfall. Waves crash and cliff jumpers leap as he grinds back smith beachfront, then we see a slam before success on kickflip front noseslide a silver seven stair rail to regs, his heaviest trick so far in long-sleeved black Volcom long sleeve and beanie Louie Lopez level. He pops in and flips out of a dried fountain shirtless, flips out of boardslide to fakie, then second appearance of his backside flip is even steezier than the first. He pop shoves a hubba the hard way then basks in his backside flip again to begin a well filmed line capped with frontside half cab flip down stairs. He back lips an eleven stair rail, then backtail flips to fakie on a square orange rail down 7 that I think skaters installed in an abandoned courtyard.

With speed past dahlia blossoms, Brayan lifts an Emmanual Guzman sized back 180 over a bump to bar drop. He pop shove 5050s a tall silver rail wearing all black, then back180nosegrinds a sizable rail alongside jacarandá in a St. Louis Cardinals hockey jersey he also wore in his Welcome to Heated Wheel part. Bump to gap bigspin front board on a street pyramid shows him in dusty Heath Kirtchat workwear. Coria sports an oversized statement Polo like he’s in Bone Thugs n Harmony for an extra long grass gap backtailslide flip out to pure street compliment his DIY handrail version. He switch flips a street gap between poles then more clips through the city in daylight with appropriate control and adrenaline. A big red back heel catches the eye of a helmeted working man who alters his compadre to magic in their midst. Brayan returns to the 11 rail for a back tail statement then nollie inward heelflips a big long nine as the homies howls for hammers. He bangs his head with fist to commit, then rides along concrete grid through grass to hit a double set with backside bigspin embodying Chris Joslin finale time. He nollie front feebles from one parking lot to another in a forward cap, then his ender is a back 360 with beanie so low he’s twisting on instinct to stomp down and release away. The back of his mustard button up is by now darker than his black beanie or pants. Who knows how long this took as Brayan holds his palms to face and decompresses in parched grass, he’s taking himself from Alvin Courts to world class.