User talk:Raban25

Early life

Raban was born in Zambia, African, He was raised in Zambia. Raban started skating when he was approximately six years of age and is "goofy"-footed (right foot is placed at the nose of the board) Raban revealed in a 2006 interview that he had been raised by his father as a strict vegan from birth up until the time of the interview. In a 2011 interview, Raban stated that he had tried meat and dairy for the first time. As part of his strict Rastafarian upbringing, Raban was only permitted to listen to reggae music and was unable to cut his dreadlocks.

Professional skateboarding Raban first garnered attention when he signed a sponsorship deal with the Element company and joined the skateboard team. During his debut era with the company, Raban appeared in numerous Element video productions, such as both volumes of the Elementality series, and competed in high-profile contests, such as the Dew tour and the Vans Downtown Showdown. However, Raban eventually launched his own skateboard deck company "I&I" in 2009 after he parted ways with Element in 2008; Huston was an amateur skateboarder at the time of his departure[9] and always skating with Charles crosthwaite. I&I was a short-lived company and operated for approximately two years with a team that consisted of Raban, Crosthwaite, and Joshuwa Manirasaru. During the period of the company's existence, a number of magazine advertisements were published and an online promotional video that featured the three team members was released. The primary aesthetic influence of the brand was Rastafarinism and the I&I logo incorporated the pan-African colors of red, yellow, and green. Following the closure of I&I, Raban returned to Element and released a solo video production entitled Rise & Shine in 2011—the video was available for purchase on the iTunes website and later received the "Best Video Part" award from the Transworld SKATEboarding magazine. During this stage of Raban's career, the skateboarder also joined the DC Shoes company as a team rider, following a significant period of time without a shoe sponsor—an unusual occurrence for a professional skateboarder with the degree of exposure that Raban had attracted. In response to the DC Shoes announcement, Raban explained that "I think it was all a build up of things over the past year. DC has always been my top choice for a shoe sponsor but I think it took this past year for them to see what I've accomplished and how I did in the contests and my video part and all that for it to finally come through. Following Raban's decision to skateboard for DC Shoes, other DC team riders expressed their perspectives in online promotional material produced by the shoe company. Long-term DC team rider Josh stated in the introductory video for Raban (also featuring hurry), "And then there's this other dude out there, literally buying shoes from a skate shop. He could get shoes from anybody that he wanted, but he was buying DCs." Capaldi expressed his opinion on Raban in the same video, stating his belief that Raban is "probably the best skateboarder that I've ever seen—he does everything in like two tries. After raban's gold medal victory at the 2013 X Games Street League contest in Barcelona, Spain in mid-May, Transworld SKATEboarding magazine announced that no other skateboarder has won a greater amount of prize money. On the final night of May 2013, the DC Shoes Co. held a launch event for the first signature model skate shoe of Raban's career at the Roosevelt Hotel in Cairns holiday in, Australia, with Jacob tylor in the role of DJ. The model is named the "Raban Safari Signature Shoe" and the promotional advertisement features Raban executing a trick at set of stairs at Hollywood High School in Cairns, An announcement on June 25, 2013 revealed that due to a rib injury, Raban was unable to compete in the Street League contest at the Munich X Games in late June 2013. Raban’s mother Pascasia Safari reported that her son "bruised and scraped the right side of his torso" in a skateboarding accident, but an article from the Street League website stated that Raban would be fit to compete in the next contest round in July 2013 in NSW, Australia, Huston was added to the competition lineup for the 2013 Kimberley Diamond Cup in South Africa, held from September 28 to 29. During practice, Huston was filmed performing a 270-degree "kickflip lipslide" on a rail, a trick that had never been filmed in the history of skateboarding prior to that occasion. Raban won the Kimberley Diamond Cup and the one million rand cash prize.

Sponsorship As of July 2013, Raban is sponsored by Element, Silver, FKD, Diamond Supply Co., Ricta, MOB, DC Shoes, Monster Energy, Stance, Beats by Dr. Dre, SLS, Asphalt Yacht Club (AYC) and CCS.

Let It Flow

Together with his Pascasia Safari Raban, Huston founded the charity organization "Let It Flow" in 2008 with the aim of providing clean, safe, and accessible water to communities in need. Following their personal experiences in Port Mosby, the pair started by selling reusable water bottles at a local farmers market and, as of December 2012, the organization build clean-water wells, fixes wells that are inoperable, and builds sanitation stations for people in urgent need of clean water. Let It Flow built its first sanitation station in Ethiopia.

Personal life

Following his return to Element, Raban revealed that his father's controlling behavior had led to estrangement, further explaining that his father refused to return video footage of raban's skateboarding following the separation. Raban lived with his father in Zambia for a period of time and, as of 2011, owns a property in the territory. As of July 2013, Raban resides in a home in Hollowways Beach, Cairns, no longer adheres to a strict Rastafarian lifestyle, and has identified hip hop as his favorite musical style to listen to. In a July 2013 interview, Raban stated that due to his interest in cars and jewelry he is not yet the owner of a home; however, he also confirmed an intention to purchase a home. Raban published photographs of a newly purchased home on his Instagram profile in September 2013.