YoBeat: Making Fun of Snowboarding Since 1997

Marketability people. photo: Robbie Sell

Jake Devine has dabbled in many industries, but snowboarding has always been his main squeeze. A few years ago Jake was a part of the NeoProto crew, the largely Tahoe-based unit that in many regards revolutionized the snow video market. Since then a lot has changed, and while it may not all be diamonds and private jets, Jake is still excited about strapping in and having fun in the snow. Mr. Devine stands out as a rider with incredible style and as someone who never changed who he was just to pick up sponsors. As Robbie Sell put it Jake is, “Underrated, smooth,” and, “…really marketable, all his sponsors should pay him lots of money.” Just don’t let him drive your car.

YObeat: Do any pimps have nicknames for you?

Jake: Just one, I was the Grasshopper Pimp in Vegas one time. My other pimp name is Jack Stevens, I use that one for Craigslist.

YObeat: Why Grasshopper?

Jake: Cause it was my first time pimpin’, so I was the Grasshopper Pimp.

YObeat: Did pimpin’ work out for you?

Jake: It was all right but I didn’t make a million, so I stuck to snowboarding.

YObeat: How’d you get involved in the pimp game?

Jake: I just ran into a pimp in Vegas and he tried to sell me one of his hoes and I said, “I don’t pay for pussy, pussy pays me.” So he showed me the ropes.

YObeat: How many hoes did you have?

Jake: I had like one ho’ in Reno and that was a pimp colabo that we did off Craigslist.

YObeat: What was your favorite thing to call your ho?

Jake: Biiiiaaaatch!

Roof pimpin? Robbiesell.com

YObeat: How do you start pimpin’ hoes on Craigslist in Reno?

Jake: The game is sold, not told.

YObeat: Do all Craigslist girls have pimps?

Jake: No not all of them, that’s why if you got game you could knock a ho’ and make her give you money. But a lot of them do.

YObeat: Do you make more pimpin’ hoes on the street or on Craigslist?

Jake: Craigslist fosho’.

YObeat: What kind of cut can a pimp expect?

Jake: 100%.

Yobeat: The hoe doesn’t make a penny?

Jake: No dough ho’. She gets food, hotel, protection and shit.

YObeat: Back in the NeoProto days you had the cleanest style. Did you work for that or were you born smooth?

Jake: It’s just the way I move, I gotta have clean style with everything I do.

YObeat: Scariest moment on your snowboard?

Jake: Hmm, probably when I hit this jump over some snowmobiles on a broken board and the board gave out and I flipped forward off the jump and landed on the snowmobile. That was the scariest two seconds of my life, couldn’t breathe for like a minute, and I thought I was going to die for those 2 seconds in the air. That was in one of those NeoProto films, “Some Kinda Life,” I think.

Danger + style = fun to watch. photo: Robbie Sell

YObeat: When NeoProto ended where did you go?

Jake: I started riding for Technine Bindings and got on the F.O.D.T. crew filming for “State of Mind.”

YObeat: Do you enjoy being a part of that crew?

Jake: Ya fosho its been sick filming with F.O.D.T. crew. Bumpin’ hip hop everywhere we go, hangin’ with the homies.

YObeat: Does your career have an all-time high?

Jake: That’s a hard one. Probably going to Spain this year and Italy last year, also filming “State of Mind” stands out as the best time ’cause I rode a lot of backcountry.

YObeat: Are things just getting better year after year?

Jake: Not really, it’s gone up and down. The year I filmed for “State of Mind�? I made the most money so I was able to go on lots of trips and make it happen. Every year after that it has just been getting worse. Roller coaster that goes up, down and ends.

photo: Robbiesell.com

YObeat: Is shit in the gutter these days?

Jake: I rode for Artec snowboards which was M4. Before Artec and shit seemed like it was good, had a board with my name on it and everything. Then beginning of last year they don’t resign me and now they sold my board with royalties. Whatever, I get no royalties or anything.

YObeat: Do you feel like a lot of deserving guys are getting fucked by the industry?

Jake: Eh, yeah but that’s just how it goes so I don’t expect anything. Anything I do get is cool.

YObeat: Is it time to get a job at the casino?

Jake: Job at the casino? Don’t think so. Can’t even get a job, finally found one for the summer, I’m doing construction starting at the bottom. I tried to get a job at the Hyatt where I worked last summer for two months, got fired for crashing a car and failing a drug test. They said I will never get hired at the Hyatt again, ever. I guess I have no future at Hyatt hotels.

YObeat: Tell me about the Hyatt car crash.

Jake: It was a nice BMW and it was parked right next to railroad tie. It was a clutch so I gas it kinda fast and made a sharp turn and ended up high centered it on the railroad tie. Shit was stuck, I had to get a tow truck and tell the guest I fucked up their car. It ripped off the whole side panel.

YObeat: How did the guest react?

Jake: They were pissed but security took over the insurance details with them so I didn’t have to deal with them.

YObeat: Well that’s good right?

Jake: Not really, then I had to go piss in a cup to see if I was high or somethin’. Shit came up dirty about a week later, they got the results I got canned.

YObeat: What is something people would not expect from you?

Jake: I drive a moped.

YObeat: What is the worst way you’ve ever spent money?

Jake: On a bitch I don’t like to call my Ex.

YObeat: What did you buy her?

Jake: Lets try a different one, cops?

YObeat: Do you have any notable run-in’s with the Boys in Blue?

Jake: Crashed my truck into the Peppermill Casino Sign head on, got out and fled the scene, they found me down the street in an apartment complex on the run. Guns out, “Freeze mofo’ on the ground!” Cuffed and sent to jail for night. Could’ve been an episode of Cops.

To hit this again you’d have to tear the house down. photo: Robbie Sell

YObeat: What was growing up like? Did you have the type of folks that would expect their son to end up cyber pimpin’ and snowboarding for a living?

Jake: My cyber pimpin’ didn’t take off. My parents supported my decision to pursue snowboarding as a career. I always said, I can always go to college, but I can’t always snowboard, so I’ve been snowboarding as long as I can. Now I am going to go to college, try to make that real money.

YObeat: Where are you going to school?

Jake: I am going to go to school here in Incline at Sierra Nevada College. I don’t know what I am going to study, thinkin’ about ski business management so I can be a CEO of a resort one day.

YObeat: So are you done chasing dollar signs on your snowboard?

Jake: There are not enough dollars on my snowboard to chase. I’ll still be snowboarding but I’m not gonna be making the kind of money I want so I gotta do something about that.

YObeat: What keeps you snowboarding? Why do you still do it?

Jake: Because it’s fun and because when I’m snowboarding I’m living completely in the moment not thinking about anything else, and that is the shit.

YObeat: Can I get a pimp name?

Jake: Pimp Devine.

YObeat: Who is still supporting you?

Jake: Sound, Capix, 32/etnies, Elm, Electric, Technine, Squaw Valley

Photo: Robbiesell.com