Background and career
David Daewon Song (Korean: 송대원; born February 19, 1975) is a Korean-American professional skateboarder. He is the co-founder and co-owner of Almost Skateboards and Thank You Skateboards. In October 2026, it was announced that Daewon was now a sponsored rider for Chocolate Skateboards. Song was named the 2006 "Skater of the Year" by Thrasher magazine, an award that is widely considered to be one of the most significant honors in skateboarding.
Song was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Gardena, California, following a year spent with his grandmother in Hawaii. During the first half of his life, Song was raised by his older sister, who also raised Song's brother. Song revealed in a "Milestone" interview for The Skateboard Mag that both of his parents were perceived as "insane" by their neighbors due to their constant fighting—Song explained that, on occasion, he would need to telephone the police. Song's mother, who once shot her husband in the face, died in 1999, predeceasing Song's father. When he was fourteen years of age, Song started skateboarding during a two-month period when his parents were separated—he was given his first skateboard by his mother and was later sponsored by a skateboard shop in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, California called Sporting Ideas. Prior to this, Song received attention for his artistic abilities, winning drawing contests and engaging in the commercial art field at a very young age. Song provided insight into his family life in a 2005 interview:
You know Asian parents, man; they're gnarly. They want you to become some lead pianist in an orchestra or, like every parent, they want you to become a doctor. I was really into art when I was a young kid, and I won a lot of awards, so my parents thought that's what I'd pursue. Then I got picked up in skateboarding and started getting free stuff. They were tripping, like, "Where are you getting all this free stuff?" They thought I was stealing money from them. Song attended the 135th Street school in Gardena, known for its aggressive reputation, and has explained the challenges that were present while he was growing up in the area, where gang activity was prolific:
Around my neighborhood, skating was actually big for a time, like in the early '90s. Then it started to die out. There was a lot of gang banging going on in my old neighborhood in Gardena. I was seriously the only skateboarder left at my school. I just hung in there ... A lot of guys quit skating, one got killed, another guy was tagging on a freeway and got killed. I watched all these friends of mine getting into the stupidest things. And I was like, dude, I just need to stick with this skateboard thing. But I didn't stick with it as a career; I just thought it was something to do after school, y'know? Skateboarding's changed so much now. It's like kids skate just to get sponsored. Back then we skated the curb at Rally's burgers just for something to do. Song has relayed that he sighted Rodney Mullen skateboarding at his school and that Mullen, in turn, had observed Song skateboarding there. Song explained in a 2012 interview that his friend at the time spoke with Mullen and the professional skateboarder revealed that he was impressed by Song's skills and wanted to send Song skateboard decks to ride as an introduction to Mullen's fledgling business. Song agreed to the proposal and the relationship between the two skateboarders, now co-owners of the Almost Skateboards company, commenced at that point in time. Mullen became a mentor figure to Song and the latter became a team rider for the Tensor company as the result of this relationship (as of July 2014, Song continues to be sponsored by Tensor).
Song became sponsored by World Industries at the age of sixteen years and appeared in numerous video productions for the company, including Love Child (1992). It is in Love Child that Song documented the first hardflip on film. Song has spoken about his time with World Industries in numerous interviews, particularly focusing on his time at the World Industries indoor skate park and being involved with a company that was overseen by Steve Rocco, the founder of World Industries and former business partner of Rodney Mullen—Mullen would later become a close friend and mentor to Song. Videographer, Socrates Leal, who filmed a large portion of the World Industries/Dwindle Distribution footage since the company's inception, released footage from the World Park as part of the "30 Shot" web-based project, including segments that feature Song. Leal has revealed during his narration for one of the segments that Song has always possessed a clear awareness of what aspects of his skateboarding he would like filmed and would often instruct the filmer while skateboarding. Love Child was then followed up by New World Order (1993) and Song has explained that the skateboarding world had significantly changed in the one-year period between the videos:
Then in '93, with New World Order, things got more serious. More skaters started coming up, and if you were filming something and someone already did it, you'd have to come up with something better. From that point on, filming got a lot harder. Song stated during his "Epicly Later'd" episode for Vice magazine's web channel that he misses his time at World Industries.
