Editing Daewon Song (section)

==Early life==
Song, a Korean American, was born in [[Seoul]], South Korea, and grew up in [[Gardena, California]], following a year spent with his grandmother in [[Hawaii]].<ref name="Amb" /><ref name="Sequential" /> During the first half of his life, Song was raised by his older sister, who also raised Song's brother.<ref>{{cite web|title=Much respect to my sister for raising me half my life and getting me through the chaos me,her an my brother went through ! RIP mom and dad|url=https://www.pheed.com/daewon1song/18684440/14195?|work=daewon song on Pheed|publisher=Pheed|access-date=April 17, 2013|author=Daewon Song|format=Image upload|date=April 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044333/https://www.pheed.com/daewon1song/18684440/14195|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Carnie">{{cite web|title=Retro Article: Daewon Song Milestone From Issue #22|url=http://theskateboardmag.com/2013/04/retro-article-daewon-song-milestone-from-issue-22/|work=The Skateboard Mag|publisher=Strictly Skateboarding|access-date=April 27, 2013|author=Templeton Elliot|author2=Dave Carnie|date=April 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423183144/http://theskateboardmag.com/2013/04/retro-article-daewon-song-milestone-from-issue-22/|archive-date=April 23, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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, Los Angeles|South Bay]] area of Los Angeles, California called Sporting Ideas.<ref name="Juice">{{cite web|title=DAEWON SONG|url=http://juicem.sslcert11.com/DAEWONSONG.html|work=Juice - Pools, Pipes & Punk Rock - Issue #64|publisher=Juice Enterprises, Inc|access-date=May 25, 2012|author=Steve Olson}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Carnie" /><ref name="Who" /> 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.<ref name="Sequential" /> Song provided insight into his family life in a 2005 interview:

<blockquote>
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.<ref name="Peech" /></blockquote>

Song attended the 135th Street school in Gardena, known for its aggressive reputation,<ref name="Phillips">{{cite web|title=30th Anniversary Interviews: Daewon Song Part One|url=http://skateboarding.transworld.net/1000151883/features/30th-anniversary-interviews-daewon-song-part-one/|work=Transworld Skateboarding|access-date=February 28, 2013|author=Skin Phillips|author2=Chris Thiesson|format=Video upload|date=January 31, 2012}}</ref> and has explained the challenges that were present while he was growing up in the area, where [[Gang violence|gang activity]] was prolific:

<blockquote>
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&nbsp;... 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.<ref name="Peech" /></blockquote>

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.<ref name="Phillips" /> Mullen became a mentor figure to Song and the latter became a team rider for the [[Tensor Trucks|Tensor]] company as the result of this relationship (as of July 2014, Song continues to be sponsored by Tensor).<ref name="Setup" />