Mini Ramp for Soulja Boy

Los Angeles, California

Back in early September, Soulja Boy hit us up through Instagram and said that he was looking to have a skate park set up in his backyard. After going back and forth, the owner and CEO of OC Ramps, Tyler Large, scheduled an appointment to go out and view the property. After meeting Soulja Boy and seeing his amazing property, Tyler began taking measurements of the space which was available for the build and discuss some other options. The two discussed not only just doing a mini ramp for the backyard, but implementing an entire street course.

After the dimensions were obtained and they discussed some options, Tyler headed home. Shortly after, Soulja Boy reached out again and said that before we began the skate park project, he wanted to be able to get a mini ramp installed right away. He was interested to start off with our 8 ft wide half pipe.

He had mentioned that he was going on tour and would be gone the entire month of October. When we talked in early September, he had stated that he was leaving in a few weeks. He was wanting to get a mini ramp installed before he left so that he could enjoy it in the meantime without having to wait for his envisioned skate park to be fully assembled. Given the timing, we were able to get the 8 ft wide half pipe ramp set up two days later.

He wanted to add some custom colors to his ramp and our team was quick to get to work. We painted the skate surface red and added black to the radius and top deck pieces. All materials were precut and predrilled at our warehouse to make for a smooth installation process. Our crew packed up the trailer with all materials and tools the evening before and hit the road to Los Angeles that next morning.

One of the professional skaters on the team, TomTom, joined in on the fun. While we were building the ramp, Soulja Boy joined us outside, set up a chair, and watched us build. He was like a little kid on Christmas day – giddy and hyped about what was going on in his backyard. It was a fun vibe for the entire crew. Often times when a client is watching while you are building a ramp it could feel like a lot of pressure, but Soulja Boy made it fun all around.

Once we were done building the ramp, TomTom, as always, grabbed his board and did a couple of runs to test it out. Soulja Boy was absolutely thrilled and could not believe the tricks Tom was doing. After a couple of runs, Tom told Soulja Boy to grab his board. He came out with three boards and had TomTom help him select which one would be best for a mini ramp. With Soulja Boy the board, TomTom helped him get comfortable with shredding the new ramp – starting in the middle and working his way up. Soulja Boy was ready to get skating his ramp using the proper technique of pumping a mini ramp and what to do with your legs and body weight when going up versus going down.

He was stoked and it was a great experience both for Soulja Boy and the OC Ramps crew. The best part, this was only Phase 1 of the project. He mentioned that when he was back from tour, he wanted to move forward with more ramps and bringing this skate park a reality. We discussed a few different ideas from doing a ramp into his pool or a ramp off his roof. We were working with varying ideas of how to turn his backyard, the blank canvas, into this unbelievable skate park.