Hello, Midus! Tell us, please, how did you start breaking and did you know back in the days where it was about to bring you in future?

I had seen breaking growing up in New Jersey and then Los Angeles in the 1980’s. But, by the time I was a teenager, it was considered passé; something that was “old school” and played out. So, when I saw two kids breaking in my high school, I was surprised. I became friends with them and started meeting other breakers from other local schools, going to parties and eventually attended my first real jam, Radiotron 1997 at East LA College. I’ve been heavily involved in the community ever since.

Back then, it was something fun and creative to do. I never imagined I would continue to be active into my 30’s! And I never thought I would see breaking spread to literally every corner of the globe. Our dance is the most practiced dance in the world today. Seeing how far it has grown and developed is something I never would have expected when I started.

Explain us, please, the idea behind the crew “Originality Stands alone”? The name speaks itself but, please, explain us how and when you found this crew? By the way, the name is pretty dope!

The name “Originality Stands Alone” (OSA) comes from a breaker in LA named Dee Rock from 101 Crew. He was known for saying that and, later on, Stuntman (who was also from 101) started using it as a name to enter competitions with, together with me and Rawbzilla. It was never an official crew. Just a state of mind and message we represented. Today, we have our OSA gear and people like Artis in Spain, Pawflo in Texas, Lil Ossa in Japan, and many others representing all around the world.

The idea behind OSA is simple: creativity is the key.

Without originality, there is no hip-hop. Period. Every element of the culture is based on having your own style. It’s not about just doing what’s already been done. It’s about building off of that and contributing something new. That’s what sparked the culture and the dance, and that’s what keeps it so appealing around the world.

What can you say about originality nowaday? And do you feel that the young generation is on the right path?

When it comes to the mainstream competitions, I don’t see that much originality. Most judges will tell you it’s like torture sitting and having to watch prelims and battles nowadays, where hundreds of people enter doing almost the exact same thing. It’s like having to listen to the same song over and over again or watch the same TV show a million times. Who wants to do that?

And then you have people who say stuff today like “Everybody bites”, “if you don’t bite, you don’t eat,” etc. I’m sorry but that’s crazy! To hear people publicly telling the youth that biting is okay was unheard of back in the day. Sure, there have always been biters, but it was looked down upon and ridiculed before. Now it seems to be justified. That’s a big change, in my eyes. One we need to reverse.

But I will say that, especially in countries like Russia and Eastern Europe, you still see a strong emphasis on style and originality. I’m very impressed with the dancers coming out of there. And throughout the world, you still have some b-boys and b-girls that are doing their own thing, coming up with some new material.

I would never try to tell young people the absolute “right path” but, in my opinion, you shouldn’t be afraid to be yourself. The youth should know that originality is a cornerstone of the culture. Without that, breaking will not go anywhere. Do what you feel and get free. Don’t dance just to please the judges because that will get you nowhere, in the end, anyway.

By your perspective after many years in this game, can you feel that there was one time, one year that something in the breaking scene has changed? Can you feel it and if yes can you name the period?

I can’t really think of one specific year or event happening that made the scene change. For me, it’s more like waves of things happening that affected the dance. When Style Elements came out, they changed the whole worldwide scene. Without question. Everybody was trying to dance like Remind, Crumbs, Poe, Jay Rawk, etc. Then when Soul Control and others on the west coast started innovating air tracks and air flares, that whole phenomenon took off. Then you had the whole “abstract”/”circus” style phase. Then, you had Kmel and Boogie Brats come out and people were picking up on that style and building off of it. I remember when Stuntman started pushing “ups” on the west coast, you started seeing people put more emphasis in their top rock. When Bebe and Ground Zero came out battling everybody, their style and presence started affecting people. And so on and so on. Everybody brought something to the table and was influential, until the next thing came around. And people kept just building off of it.

Today, we’re living in the competition era and that is having a HUGE change on the way the dance is done. The reliance on competition is causing people to dance according to what judging panels want. People aren’t taking risks in the dance because they want to advance past the first round. You see people not entering with their real crew for the very same reason. They want to win competitions. The more things get standardized, the worse this problem will become.

At the same time, there is a backlash against all of this and there are people trying to promote cypher jams, exhibitions, festivals, and different contexts for breaking besides just competitions all of the time. Among young people I meet especially, I see a big desire to have more raw and diverse events. I think that’s why you also see things like open styles battles so much, where there are not as many rules and limitations. So it’s a very interesting time right now.  

Back in the days, as we know, maybe we are wrong, there weren’t many dance schools as there are now. Nowadays, they are pretty a lot. And in many of them there are teachers, that aren’t really ready for being an example for the kids. But most of the parents do not care. How do you feel everything around dance school nowadays and maybe you would like to add something to the process?

Yeah, that’s a big change also. There were no schools or even workshops that I remember in the 90’s. Schools for breaking are a very new phenomenon, if you think about it in the broader scheme of over forty years of the dance being around.

In a way, it’s good that there are places young kids can go to learn and get involved. But it’s also dangerous in that it creates new incentives for people to mold the dance a certain way and try to regiment everything into a “standard”.

In my opinion, teaching should be about passing down the basics moves and concepts of the dance, and inspiring students to discover themselves through breaking. It should NOT be about trying to control or dictate anything to the youth. Also, there is a big responsibility to make sure that what you are teaching is accurate and with the best intentions for the students (not yourself) in mind.

Young people themselves should look for knowledge and inspiration from as many different sources as possible. Don’t just be the “pupil” of one person. And, at the end of the day, your best learning will come when you vibe with your friends: your crew and fellow breakers. Practice and build with them on a horizontal level, not a top-down one. That’s the best way to learn, in my opinion.

What was the best event you have been to you and why is was so special?

Yalta Summer Jam! Hands down. It’s like hip-hop paradise. I don’t even know of an event that comes close to it.

First of all, the location is beautiful. Right on the Crimean coast. I miss just waking up by the beach, vibing with so many talented people. And seeing every element of the culture represented there so well. They really do a great job of balancing everything. The music, parties, art, competitions, showcases, and just the people were amazing.

I recommend everybody go to this event at least once, if they can. I have to try to go back soon.

We know that you were against breaking becoming a part of the Olympic Games. Let’s make the long story short, so, please, share some opinion about that.

Well, the first thing people need to understand with the Youth Olympic Games situation is that BALLROOM DANCERS are controlling b-boys and b-girls there. When you sign up to compete, you are signing a contract to the World Dance Sport Federation, which is the governing body for competitive ballroom dancers.

These guys have tried to get into the Olympics since the 1980’s and have repeatedly failed. They have a very bad reputation in both the Olympics and the broader dance world. However, they pitched breaking to the Olympics last year and finally got their foot in the door. With OUR dance!

So, we have to ask ourselves, why would they do that? And how are they going to affect our community?

Nobody even knew that the ballroom dancers were the ones behind breaking being in the Youth Olympic Games until we exposed it. And that has been my main mission since: to raise awareness about this situation.

Sadly, many so-called “leaders” in the community continue to stay silent about this issue. They will talk about the Olympics, but not the fact that the dance is being controlled by the ballroom dance leadership.

So, how will the ballroom dancers affect our dance? Well, just look at how they have affected EVERY other dance they have appropriated in the 20th century. For example, they have a category in ballroom competitions called “Latin” where they take dances like mambo and cha-cha-cha and COMPLETELY change the way they are done. They even change the names of the dances and have participants put on brown tanning paint to look more “Latin” in order to advance. This is the type of organization you are dealing with. Their ENTIRE history and existence is about taking dances (mostly Latin and African American dances) and completely ripping them from their roots and changing the way they are done. This is very well known information in the dance world. Look it up. Research it. Anybody who does a bit of digging will find this out very easily.

Do people feel comfortable with such an organization controlling breaking at a level like the Olympics, organizing its own breaking events and making money off of what we do?

More importantly, do you know of anybody talking about the fact that ballroom dancers are the ones making decisions and reaping the benefits of breaking being in the Youth Olympics? Wouldn’t it make sense for us to discuss this as a community? Why all of the silence?  

If there would be a chance for you to make a ranking system for a dancers what would be the criteria inside it?

For me, the number one criteria is originality.  What makes breaking unique is that we don’t have a composer or conductor telling us what to do. We choreograph our own moves. If you aren’t bringing something new to the table, and are just regurgitating what has already been done, you really are not grasping the full potential of this dance.

Of course, musicality is also very important. This is a dance, first and foremost. You have to make a connection with the music. The two things—breaking and music—are inseparable.

Execution and difficulty level also are very important. As well as your character and presence (whether on stage, in a battle, or in the cypher).

How well-versed a breaker is with the many concepts and categories the dance offers, and the extent of their arsenal, is also very important.

Tell us, please, some name of a bboys/bgirls/Dj’s that deserve to be known?

Well, of course, I’m going to shout out my crew, Style Elements, and everybody around the world down with the Originality Stands Alone movement.

Big shout out also to Albino Zebrah crew in Toronto, and all of the breakers in Canada. The talent level and creativity out there is off the meter, as well.

I’d like to also shout out my people at Break Fresh NYC! Do yourself a favor and check them out at www.breakfreshnyc.com.

There are so many talented b-boys and b-girls around the world. It would take me all day to try to name everyone who I think deserves props.

One love to everyone keeping the culture moving forward with style and integrity.

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Core Team is thankful to Midus for this interview and support to our idea of spreading valuable knowledge.

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