BMX Rider
Nathan Williams
Nathan Williams is an American BMX street rider from Nashville known for big, technical street riding and video parts such as Why Not? and Kink's Champagne.
Updated 4 min read781 words
Nathan Williams is an American BMX street rider who grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He is known for riding big, technical street spots with control, and for a series of highly rated video parts, including his independent project Why Not?, which won Video Part of the Year at the 2020 NORA Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the leading street riders of his generation.
Early life
Williams has said he started riding young, learning in his parents' backyard by digging holes to build jumps. He visited a skatepark for the first time around the age of 14 and started riding street soon after. DIG lists Nashville as his hometown. One rider profile gives his date of birth as 2 October 1988 and his birthplace as Nashville, but that exact date has not been confirmed by other sources.
He spent years riding and filming locally before he became a regular on brand trips around the United States and overseas.
Career
Williams built his career through video parts and travel rather than contests. That is common for street riders, where a strong part can do more for a career than a podium.
United and Still United
Earlier in his pro career Williams rode for United. He filmed for the brand's full-length video Still United, released in 2016, alongside teammate Corey Martinez. The two spent roughly two years filming for it and travelled to around ten countries.
etnies Chapters
Williams has had a long relationship with the shoe brand etnies, which has produced signature shoes for him, including the Brake and, later, signature versions of the Jameson Vulc and the Marana Slip XLT. He closed out the etnies video Chapters (2017), a project filmed across dozens of trips in many countries. Ending a team video is a mark of respect in BMX, since the last part is usually reserved for the rider seen as having the strongest footage.
Kink and Champagne
In January 2018 Kink announced Williams as a member of its pro team. He filmed the closing section of Kink's video Champagne (2019), which DIG BMX named its video part of the year. He has said the part left him with plenty of bruises and scrapes, a reminder of how much physical cost goes into a street part at that level.
Why Not?
Why Not? was an independent project that Williams filmed with Christian Rigal over about three years. It runs around nine minutes, was shot at street spots from California to Texas, and was filmed in high resolution. At the 2020 NORA Cup he won both Street Rider of the Year and Video Part of the Year. DIG BMX also named him its 2020 Rider of the Year, citing Why Not? and his X Games Real BMX video part.
Contests
Williams is not primarily a contest rider, but he has taken part in some events. In 2024 he and Peter Adam won the E-FISE Wolverhampton BMX street contest, a video-based format linked to FISE.
Riding style
Williams combines size and technical difficulty. His parts include long rails and hubbas, big gaps and ledges, often with grinds and spins that would be hard on a small spot, let alone a large one. He tends to make difficult tricks look calm, and he rides with speed through the whole clip rather than slowing down to set up.
Spot selection is a big part of his parts. Why Not?, for example, was built entirely from street spots across several states, and much of the appeal is seeing how he finds a way to use each one.
Video parts and contest results
Commonly cited highlights include:
| Year | Project or event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | United, Still United | Team video part |
| 2017 | etnies, Chapters | Closing part |
| 2019 | Kink, Champagne | Closing part, DIG video part of the year |
| 2020 | Why Not? | Independent project with Christian Rigal |
| 2020 | NORA Cup | Street Rider of the Year, Video Part of the Year |
| 2024 | E-FISE Wolverhampton | Street contest win with Peter Adam |
Legacy
Williams is part of a line of street riders whose reputations rest on video parts. His work in the late 2010s and early 2020s showed that full-length, carefully filmed parts still mattered in the web edit era, when much of BMX had shifted to short clips on social media. Why Not? in particular showed that an independent project, without a brand video behind it, could become the most talked-about part of the year.
Sponsors
Notable sponsors over the years include Kink (from 2018), etnies and United. Other brands, including parts and wheel companies, appear in profiles at different times. Check current brand team pages for an up-to-date list.
Related
Frequently asked questions about Nathan Williams
What is Nathan Williams known for?
He is known for large, technical street riding on rails, ledges and gaps, and for a run of highly rated video parts including etnies Chapters, Kink's Champagne and the independent project Why Not?.
What awards has Nathan Williams won?
At the 2020 NORA Cup he won Street Rider of the Year and Video Part of the Year, the latter for Why Not?. DIG BMX also named him its Rider of the Year for 2020.
Who does Nathan Williams ride for?
He joined the Kink pro team in January 2018 and has had a long association with etnies, which has released signature shoes for him. Earlier in his career he rode for United.
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