The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video game franchise did a lot of things for skateboarding. Besides giving skateboarders their sport's first legitimately enjoyable game, it launched underground skateboard culture into the mainstream. Since its inaugural edition was released in 1999, the Tony Hawk's series has brought previously unknown names of pro skaters and skate lingo into the homes of millions. If your grandma knows what a kickflip is, Hawk is probably the reason. The wildly popular games also gave a huge platform to one of skateboarding culture's most integral components: Its music.
Through its soundtracks, the Tony Hawk's franchise has been an influential music discovery tool, introducing gamers to hundreds of artists, predominantly from the worlds of punk and hip-hop, from Dead Kennedys to Blackalicious. And for the millions who grew up playing the games, hearing "Superman" by Goldfinger or "When Worlds Collide" by Powerman 5000 is enough to immediately trigger youthful nostalgia.
Hawk himself didn't hand-curate every soundtrack from start to finish, but his tastes are certainly reflected in them. "Pretty much every game, I'd say a list of at least 20 to 30 bands or songs that I felt like were along the same genres or along the same influential lines," Hawk explains. "And I would say, 'Please go after these on my behalf.'"
Hawk looked back at his long-running, beloved video game franchise and played favorites with the soundtracks.
