Skate legends Stevie Williams, now known as Lord Williams, and Eric Koston have finally called it quits on all that beef between them.
The two chopped it up at ComplexCon and made it known to the skateboard world that it’s all love now.
If you’ve been around the skate scene, you know this beef has been going on for a minute. Lord Williams wasn’t feeling how Nike SB and Koston used his old phrase “Run, Skate, Chill” without even mentioning his name.
That line came from his Love Park days, when he was changing the whole game for real. Back then, that slogan was part of his DNA and the culture. So when he saw Nike SB flip it for promo, it rubbed him the wrong way.
To make it worse, Nike dropped a collab with Koston’s name on it, the Air Max 95 SB, and that’s when the whole skate world started arguing about who really owned the idea.
Some were riding with Koston, even skate icon Henry Sanchez backed him up. But a lot of heads knew Lord Williams had every right to feel some type of way.
Lord Williams spoke on it during a Complex interview.
He said it was never about the money. He just wanted his respect. He’s been through years of people trolling him, even calling his DGK boards “EGK” like it was funny. But he reminded everyone that Koston was one of his childhood heroes, and it wasn’t personal like that.
When they asked him about the first post that called out Koston, Lord Williams said:
“No, Koston’s cool. That’s one of my childhood heroes. It’s not about him per se, but he has trolled me a lot. And I was at the point where, OK, enough is enough with the trolling. And, since you used this situation, well, I felt like he used this situation to troll me again. I’m going to troll you back. That’s how I feel. But the way I do it is different.”
He also talked about how he hit up Nike SB’s Kelly Bird, the key person who had been sending him shoes.
Lord Williams thanked him and told him straight up that he was cool with the video, even though they didn’t mention his name. What bothered him more was that the phrase that came from his crew and his era was being used without showing love to the ones who built that history.
“Even though they didn’t mention my name, they showed me, but they didn’t mention my name. I’m like, OK, that’s cool, that’s fine. But then the Run, Skate, Chill stuff not only takes away from me, but it takes away from a lot of friends that we all know.”
Fast forward to ComplexCon, the two finally crossed paths face to face. No arguing, no tension, no fake energy. Just two grown men squashing it like family. They flicked it up for a photo, smiled, and the whole skate world felt that peace.
Lord Williams dropped the pic online with the caption, “Nobody Wins When Family Feuds, Love My N Word Erik Koston.” That post went everywhere. Skaters, fans, even the haters were showing respect.
After everything that went down, it’s real good to see two legends handle it like men.
They both came up from the streets, built their names on respect and talent, and inspired a whole generation to skate their own way. Now that they’re cool again, who knows, maybe one day we’ll see them work together.
Real ones know the message here. Family fights sometimes, but real love never dies.
