Terry Kennedy
Recently, BET became fascinated with charm and Terry gave him his own television show, “Being Terry Kennedy,” which premieres tonight. Show follows Terry around, documenting his skate / rap / tycoon everyday life. TV shows slippery slope for the skaters, you can easily hit and hit it hard, but Terry has promised me that he would not fall prey to the traps, which are connected skating show yielded in the past.
You have television shows. What is the deal with that?
I clicked on the family, skateboarding career, music, and I, being young, up and coming mogul.
I’ve seen at the bottom of a press release that you are also looking for love. Are you going to be crying, looking at the cold girl?
No, not at all. Not at all. I was a little too tough for that person. I come from a background where, if I did that the next time I come home it would be a problem.
It must be tough for a guy like you who has a lot of money to find a girl that is not only your money.
It is. What’s so funny is my dad back in my life lately and all the conversations we have. He is so over me with such a situation. He wanted to, “Do not nobody pregnant. Make sure you find the right girl!” Between him and my grandmother is such a battle, when I bring her home. They’re like, ‘What do I do? As her background? “It’s like, damn, dude, relax!
There golddiggers, you should beware.
Yes, there are, and they are big, they’re doing. You should be careful out there.
How much of your immediate family played in the show?
80 percent of the show. When I go out of the League, I do not talk to them much about it, but I want to receive information and to know that I will not undermine our family or my career. I always come to them no matter what and talk to them about everything. They are my backbone.
Do you have a lot of weight on your shoulders, taking care of the family. How hard it is to know everything going for you?
It was like that since early on. I lost my mother when I was 15 years. I lost my father in my life when I was 5 years old, he had just come into my life three months ago. I’m 25 now. I still carry a lot because I’ve never had my parents there, and it is difficult for the child. This immediately helped me to grow up and fight for my brother and my grandmother to get them out of the situation. It was a lot of pressure on my shoulders, but he made me the person I am today. I am so strong-minded I can allow things to go back, and I can concentrate, because all the difficulties I was dealing with the early stages.
Do you have a guy Baker / Deathwish skateboards family member, Antwuan Dixon, that comes from similar backgrounds.
Same background. His brothers are living that lifestyle, but they gang fireworks, and also locked up now and do the time. But if you come from California, from all areas of Long Beach, Carson, Compton, family Theotis Beasley from Inglewood, and they all gang fireworks as well. If you come from any of those places, it’s kind of hard. There’s a band on every corner.
Do you get nervous for Antwuan? He has an amazing talent.
It hurts me. I take this to heart. We used to call him Candy. He came when he was 15-years-old just eat candy and best perfume ever and just wanted to skate. Now I’m talking to him like an older brother, straight from my heart. I know it’s bad with my brothers because I had my brothers that go through the same role, in and out of jail. But I’m telling him that he was able to change their lives. You’ve got to give and giving you to do it right. This is something that Andrew Reynolds has taught me, “the only way you can do for them to do it right.” So the best thing I can do for them is to stay on this forum. I tell him not to take yourself down, you have to be strong for his mother and brother.
Starting from the same background Trife Jereme Rogers.
No! Hell no! Jereme I love to death, but I have them to the same talks with him. Why would you give something that made you [skateboarding]? This is something that I do not understand. Why do not you stop skating? That’s who you are as a person. I never put skateboarding on the back burner. Skateboarding will always be first in this life of mine, because that is what I am and what brung me in these situations.
What is your opinion on rap Rogers?
It is different for me to rap, I’m through the material. I shot, I lost my mother, I happen to make it a skate … It’s not even about the rap for me, it is about therapy.
Rogers had a song about getting ticket. This is a rough business.
Ha! Stop it. Come on. We had such a positive conversation, and you should throw away the key in it.
Explain to me why you are doing television. You saw what happened with Ryan Sheckler: It was such a reaction. Editing has the potential to make you look wrong. What caused you to feel confident enough to think it was the right move for you?
I’m going to be honest, my story may not come through soft. Everything that I have experienced in my life … that’s what I want to teach everyone in my city and inner cities across the country and in my African American culture, do not be afraid of who you are. If I was afraid of who I am as a person, whom I’ll never be on the phone with you right now, I would never have friends like Andrew Reynolds, I would never skateboarder, nothing would ever be for me. That’s why I wanted to do a TV show to show, I come from the same situation or worse, as many African Americans, and I was able to prevail because I stayed true to what I believe in.
