You guys are being way to harsh on Mikey. The 5-0 thing was lame for sure, but he isn't really focusing on the hood thing that much, he mentioned it at the beginning, and he mentioned it once with the board thing. He could be throwing it in people's faces and talking about how he does everything a certain way because of where he's from and this and that (and plenty of people do), but he really doesn't.
And talk shit on his video all you want, he's done some sick shit so far in the contest, his noseblunt on those banks, the noseslide down the sketchy indoor set rail, the gap to 5-0 actually was really gnarly, albeit kind of a biter move. It's not like he's terry Kennedy who was really terrible for the first 5 or so years of his career but got by on his image.
I came on to this thread though to refute the argument that it can only get worse from the coloring contest. That shit was boring, useless, and got in the way of skating. If the later challenges get worse than this they will probably be more offensive, and will have more of a trainwreck feel to them.
Also, anybody think these guys are probably less boring than they are shown to be, but that everybody becomes boring when forced to answer boring and stupid questions.
There's something weird goin' on in the drawing challenge. Obviously none of the judges have art history degrees, but Steve Rod has worked in advertising and 5Boro is always looking good, Lou puts paint on shoes and walks on things, you know he's up in dem art shows, look at that beard...Can't speak for Rodney's aesthetic sensibilities but he sometimes matches his hat and shoes which should be an automatic DQ...
Bottom line: All of that artwork was fucking unbelievably terrible and Mikey's was amongst the worst. He is clearly, whether on his own or at the behest of the producer, emphasizing the "hood-ness" that he embodies, which is a cheap trick at best. "Cops chasing people..." Cool, dude. Good job. The concept of the challenge is dumb as fuck anyway and it should not have been conducted in the first place, but shit, man, kids can't even write their own names legibly in 2011?