Primitive

Primitive started as a shop. In 2008 Paul Rodriguez, Heath Brinkley, Andy Netkin, Jay Partow and Jubal Jones opened a skate and clothing store in Encino, Los Angeles. The board brand didn’t follow for another six years: it was announced on 10 April 2014, ten months after Rodriguez left Plan B because he wanted ownership of his own career. Netkin is CEO, Jones creative director and Brinkley executive vice president.

History

The launch was a home-made stress test. Rodriguez pressed a short run of decks and, as he told Jenkem in 2014, they sold out in 49 seconds, crashed The Berrics’ site and forced the company to press fifty more so everyone who had paid actually got a board. The starting team was Rodriguez as the only pro, with Carlos Ribeiro and Nick Tucker as ams.

In that same interview Rodriguez laid out the idea that makes the company unusual: instead of paying a monthly minimum against board royalties, Primitive gives the rider the bulk of what their own signature product earns and takes a cut for itself. “I’d love to leave a mark and help make skateboarding something that many riders can live comfortably off of, instead of just a certain few,” he said.

Since then the brand has put out two full-lengths, “Never” (2018) and “DEFINE.” (2022), plus the am video “Daydream” (2024). Tre Williams turned pro in January 2023.

The team

The current roster is Paul Rodriguez, Tiago Lemos, Miles Silvas, Carlos Ribeiro, Wade Desarmo, Spencer Hamilton, Trent McClung, Robert Neal, Tre Williams, Giovanni Vianna and Kyonosuke Yamashita, with Filipe Mota, Jonny Hernandez and Aimu Yamazuki riding am. Past riders include Shane O’Neill, Franky Villani, Devine Calloway, Nick Tucker, Bastien Salabanzi, Diego Najera, JB Gillet, Marek Zaprazny and Brian Peacock.

Boards and collabs

Standard construction: 7-ply North American hard rock maple, medium concave, production shape — an 8.0” runs 31.75” long on a 14.18” wheelbase. Primitive makes decks, completes, wheels, grip and hardware but no trucks; a 2022 capsule with Independent covered that gap.

What really defines the brand’s image is licensing. The Dragon Ball Z run (2018-2019) was big enough that Hypebeast covered each drop, and Naruto Shippuden, Sailor Moon, Rick and Morty, a Marvel series with artist Paul Jackson and capsules for 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. followed. It’s a catalog aimed at collectors as much as skaters, and opinion inside skateboarding is split on that.

Who it’s for

If you like licensed graphics and want a standard-quality deck backed by a genuinely heavy street team, Primitive makes sense. If having an anime character under your feet bothers you, or you’re after a small artist-run label, look elsewhere. Line it up against the rest in the deck catalog.