"Queens is the KING of all Boroughs!" Kareem and Nigel continue on the train and talk about drifting his bike at 4yrs old in his grandmother's driveway, signing with the legend Dave Mirra, going viral on YouTube, how "selling out" isn't a thing, the Brooklyn Banks, riding his bike 40hrs a week, sending emails and doing zooms, Nigel's iconic subway platform jump photo, time lengths on therapy, Paris, his new Air Jordan collab, custom Rimowa cases for his bike, immigrant parents and other stuff. Host: Kareem Rahma Creators: Kareem Rahma and Andrew Kuo Camera: Anthony DiMieri and Thomas Kasem Lim Editor: Tyler Christie Mixer: Dale Eisinger Associate Producer: Ramy Shafi Artwork: Andrew Lawandus Theme Music: Tyler McCauley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Nigel Sylvester and why is he significant in BMX?
Yo, what's up guys? I'm about to go meet up with Nigel Sylvester. If you don't know who that is, he's one of the greatest BMX riders of all time. I grew up knowing his name. I don't know any other BMX rider, except for Dave Vera, of course. So we're going to go talk to Nigel. I'm interested in getting to know what he does on a daily basis.
My biggest, my most important question is how does he get the bike? from New York to Paris, Tokyo. Did you already check it out? Because I bought it in a big suitcase. I'm really curious about that. Does he ship it? He probably ships it. I bet he ships it. There's no way he doesn't ship it. But I'm really excited about this episode. I think you guys are going to love it. And here it is.
So what's your take? So... take is Queens is the king of all boroughs. 100% agree.
100%.
Yeah. But it's magical. Why is it magical? I mean, listen, it's the most diverse borough. That's number one. When it comes to hip-hop, we have legends. Who? LL. LL. Nas. Nas. Nicki. Nicki.
Run DMC. Run DMC. 50 Cent. 50 Cent. Do I have to keep going? Holy shit. No, I didn't realize that all of them were from Queens. De La Soul. De La Soul. Like, I mean, listen. The list goes on and on. Fire. I didn't know that. So we got talent. We got diversity. We got food. We got food. That is absolutely true.
Do you like Caribbean food? I love Caribbean food. There's a spot called The Door. On Baisley and Guy Brewer, you have to try it. It's fire? Life-changing.
What's the best little bites there? What am I getting? What am I picking up? So you go there, you get the run-down snapper. Oh, a little red snapper? Why is it run-down? Because it's got sauce all over it? It's the sauce. Oh, I like that name because I know what it is. Yeah, run-down snapper. It's run-down. It's ran through. And then the oxtail. And the oxtail.
That's something I know that the people love. I haven't been there yet. Listen, you need to go. I haven't gotten there. You should go. I just, I think about the idea of eating a tail. You know what I mean? And what happens? I just, it's a weird piece of body. And it might be because maybe humans don't have tails. Like, I could eat an arm. But? But the tail, we don't have tails.
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Chapter 2: How did Nigel start riding BMX bikes?
So when I was 18, Dave Mira signed me to his company and turned me pro. Like literally dream come true.
Wow. Like I'm in my mom's house. That's like getting the cosign from Tony Hawk. Exactly.
It's like getting a cosign from Michael Jordan. Wow. You know what I mean?
Wow.
Which we got that too, but. But no, it was a life changing moment. And he took me underneath his wing. And he coached me and. And taught me a lot. So you learned from the GOAT. I learned from the GOAT, man. So RIP to the GOAT.
RIP Dave Mira. Yeah. And so I saw that, like, because the only two names I know is Dave Mira and Nigel Sylvester, is I know Dave Mira from the video games. Right. From, like, the X Games. Right. I know you from...
youtube videos right like i literally that's why i know you like i used to watch your videos the ghost series there we go which is like eight nine ten years ago bro those videos are crazy man thank you so much did you have the vision to do like were you thinking like yo i'm gonna become pro by making everyone know who i am via youtube via these videos no i mean like i was i had the vision to go pro prior to youtube even being a thing
right like there are two routes yeah two routes you can either like ride contests and like people learn your name that way competition right or you can just be like a freerider and make make video parts make videos and whatnot but people first see me on dvds that was first like that was first that's the first time that people watched me ride in their living rooms or at home was
putting in a dvd to the dvd player but to become a global name right then i mean internet definitely bro the videos on youtube the go videos thank you they're so good thank you and they look like they should have been directed by like spike lee or or spike i mean that's like those videos are so how what was the process of doing that like were you like i'll make some youtube videos
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Chapter 3: What inspired Nigel to become a professional BMX rider?
So I watch Go Dubai, I jump out of a plane with my bike. Oh, I was completely kidding. I haven't seen that one. No, I really do this. Wow. No, but I wanted to create a content franchise that people can have access into my world, right? From what I'm riding, who I'm hanging out with, what I'm creating, what I'm eating, what I'm listening to.
And that's what the Ghost Stories was about, like me creating this platform to express that. And I just wanted to put something out into the world, and it went viral in weeks. I mean, the videos are crazy. And it completely changed my career, my trajectory.
Oh, you felt like that may have been the moment? I know it did.
Yeah?
I know it did, for sure. Do you have any interest in actually competing? Or are you just like, you know what? No interest. That's fire, dude. I really like that. You're like, I have nothing to prove. I'm already great.
I'm already one of the greats. You know what I mean? Like, for me, it's... I made a conscious decision that I want to break the mold. For so long, it was kind of like one path to be successful in the world of BMX. You're an innovator. And I decided I wanted to break that mold, and I did that. That's so fire. Live and prove, baby.
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Yeah.
Art you want to share with the world, create it. Do it and be consistent at it. You may not hit on it the first time, you may not hit on it the second, third, fourth, fifth time, but continue putting that content out.
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Chapter 4: How did Nigel achieve fame through YouTube?
Little guy. Little Tyke.
Young Tyke. And, like, I was determined. I wanted to be the best out the crew. But, like, the crew was so dope because they took me in as, like, their little brother. You know what I mean? This is before I left Queens.
Yeah.
And I'm still friends with a lot of those guys, and they're super supportive, and it's dope to see, like, everyone, like, you know, grew up with one another.
Yeah, that's amazing. How many hours a week would you say that you're on the bike?
When it's warm outside? Probably like 25 to 40. Full-time job? Yeah, man. See, because when I was younger, it was way more time, right? I would be on the bike probably like 10 hours a day, you know? But now that my business has grown and evolved... You got to send emails.
I got to send emails.
I got to do Zooms.
You know what? That's what enables you to still be able to ride. Of course. Honestly. Of course. Sometimes I think about how lucky I am to honestly be able to do this at any given time with the people that I think are the most interesting. But I do have to send a lot of emails. Yeah, you've got to send some emails. But I send the emails from about 8 to 11. And then what?
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