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A broke degenerate hooligan documents conversations about being a Bboy, Breakin', Hip Hop, Dance, Art, Music, Creativity, Innovation, and the slow subtle crumble of society in audio form. Noise Of The Broke Boys is a Podcast by a bboy that discusses breakdancing, art, music, history, philosophy, mathematics, and the slow decay of the mind into madness. This podcast doesn't take itself too seriously, but rather lives in a universe where time and space dissolve into comedic dancing clockwork elves that cynically laugh at the mirror at their own social demise... Or we just talk out breakdance and other BS. https://linktr.ee/NoiseOfTheBrokeBoys . . . . . . . Hip Hop, Breakdance, breakdancer, bboy, bgirl, bboying, bgirling, bboyin, bgirlin, rock steady crew, popping, locking, battle of the year, rocking, flava, redbull bc one, chelles battle pro, r16, freestyle session, undisputed, UDEF, Silverback, Monster bboys, red bull allstars, turntables, djing, djs, dj, disc jockey, emcee, MC, rapper, lyricist, graffiti, graff artist, writer, dance floor, hip hop harry, cypher,
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![Eric - Creating Community and the Story of J.U.I.C.E. - Noise of the Broke Boys - Episode 011](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog7488999/Podcast_Logo_Eric_ab7pe_300x300.jpg)
Friday May 22, 2020
Friday May 22, 2020
Eric, a bboy and Hip Hop community contributor, sits down to discuss the importance of community and the creation of J.U.I.C.E.
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A broke degenerate hooligan documents conversations about being a Bboy, Breakin', Hip Hop, Dance, Art, Music, Creativity, Innovation, and the slow subtle crumble of society in audio form.
[Music]
this episode noise of the broke boys is
brought to you by deodorant
are you a large hairy purse parading
individual with no regard for personal
hygiene you attend social gatherings
with no self awareness of your own
personal body odors perhaps you're a
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allowing various dirt grime fungi and
bacteria to collect on your grotesque
body if this is a constant struggle for
you perhaps it is a good idea to apply
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wedding or a family reunion no longer
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free from causing your peers to
spontaneously vomit at the first whiff
of you get ready to make other dancers
jealous of your new hygienic upgrade
yattaman should not be used in lieu of
daily bathing activities and other
necessary hygienic events do not use the
ordinary soap supplement or adjusted for
respiratory disease treatment and now on
to the show in today's episode I sit
down with a b-boy I met when I moved to
the LA area about a year ago he is the
president of juice an organization whose
aim is to support the local Los Angeles
hip-hop scene
I really respect the work they do please
enjoy this episode as I get to know
b-boy Eric hello everybody and welcome
to the terrible trashcan talk show I am
your host Kurt rock ski and today I have
a special guest his name is b-boy Eric
just you know government name he is the
president of juice what's up man hey
how's it going thanks for having me yeah
I'm glad you could come
what I want to ask you because I don't
actually know what juice stands for but
I like I just you know show up to you
guys as practice and stuff and use your
floor and everything so can you can you
talk to me a little bit about like what
juices yeah so juice is an acronym I
always tell people you know think about
orange juice and they
never forget so say he's juice hip-hop
and they go okay I remember looked that
up yeah
but juice is an acronym stands for
justice by uniting in creative energy so
Ju I see I'll say one more time it's
justice by uniting and creative energy
by uniting creative energy yeah
interesting okay yeah okay I think that
makes sense yeah it's like yeah it's
like justice that's tight okay so then
um where are you the one who started it
I know you're the president now but were
you the one who started it or was it a
group collective or like how did that
actually fall into your lap yeah so
there's an interesting history of juice
juice has been around in Los Angeles
since 2001 okay our founder she was a
mentor for incarcerated youth okay so I
wasn't the founder I kind of came in
probably earlier on in the existence of
juice but still in this early stages but
the history of juice is that you know
when our founder was asking incarcerated
youth what could have made a difference
in your life oh that was the big
question that she'd asked some of the
young people that had made a mistake in
their life mm-hmm and just reflecting
back on you know what could have made a
difference they said you know you know I
really wish I had a place that I can go
to just a place that I could feel like I
could belong to yeah place that was safe
a place that I could feel that I was
accepted for who I was
a place that did really interesting
things run by and for young people yeah
specifically hip hop arts not the
traditional YMCA or Boys and Girls Club
it's something that was more something
that I could relate to yeah and so when
asked that question you know those were
the items that our founder Don she said
you know what if we had an organization
that is in these underserved
neighborhoods
that could promote the free opportunity
for young people of any background to
come through to express themselves
through the hip-hop arts would not be
amazing I mean well you know that could
make you know life-changing things if
you know these young people could have
had this opportunity in their life yeah
so the history is over the years
dawn formed a group of dancers to come
out and do festivals and get-togethers
and this became a weekly event
eventually we ended up having a practice
session on Thursdays over on Vermont and
8th Street in the Pico Union district
you know specifically a neighborhood
that had a lot of a lot of crime a lot
of young people that you know probably
didn't have a path in their life but was
either in high school dropped out of
high school or was in transition between
being a kid and being an adult and not
having that path yet you know it's best
specifically you know speaking with a
lot of the young people at juice they
said you know I was a place in my life
where the streets were calling my name
you know I just needed the house I need
to make money you know I didn't have an
outlet but you know juice was a place
that I at least I can go to so we were
over on 8th in Vermont for a handful of
years over time we moved to a couple
different locations and finally we ended
up over at McArthur Park
still in the same neighborhood at Pico
Union in the West Lake District and you
know we've been there since 2011 mmm
2011 we became a 501c3 10:11 we did and
we decided to take that leap of faith
and we had a fiscal partner before and
say hey let's let's go big and let's
figure this thing out you know not
having you know the specific road map we
knew what we want to do we knew we were
doing something right we knew that there
was a need in the community and there
was just this huge following of artists
in the community that that came through
the organization at one time in their
lives and hey you know what I met
you know my partner or I developed a
craft in my in my art form because you
know there was a facilitator there that
just kind of took me in under his wing
or you know it just friendships develop
from here or you know it was the one
thing I could focus on in my life that
made me feel like I could live again so
we knew were doing amazing work in the
community just you know in our capacity
and you know our big thing was you know
let's build a program that has you know
all the elements of hip-hop you know the
the four elements of em scene DJing
graffiti art and breaking and had that
all under one roof and and be able to
have a hip-hop collective where you know
hey I'm a graph writer but I also want
to learn how to be boy yes or you know
I'm a beat maker but I also you know I
love I love graffiti art you know across
you know or I just I wanna learn how to
DJ you know I've always seen these DJ's
out there so you know we were able to
create an organization where we had
different facilitators that had a
specialty in their craft where the
programming was it was unlike a
traditional class or workshop program
but the idea was you know we wanted to
create an organization that really kept
true to the hip-hop arts where it was
just really pure to peer teaching mm-hmm
I think that was the key thing is is
when you're able to work with young
people that feel the world is against
you or just really not sure of places or
people you know the best way to learn
and the best way to develop friendships
is really through that natural organic
peer-to-peer mentoring and where you
know doesn't matter where you come from
or where I came from you know we all
come from different backgrounds but we
see each other as friends as artists mmm
and we're able to mentor each other on
different capacities you know it's it's
you know I always talk about you know
Juice is a place where you find people
from all different backgrounds know some
have been educated and you know amazing
Ivy League schools or have amazing
professions and some are just haven't
even finished high school but when we
come together it's
we share in this mentor of each other
and no one has seen as better than one
another but we're all seeing each other
as friends and peers and I don't think I
would have ever met the unique people
that I would have met unless it was for
juice because I just I would have never
you know I think when we we get older we
kind of have our own community and
groups that we connect with and so you
know for me you know my profession my
day job you know I work in the city of
Calabasas you know a nicer neighborhood
yeah I work in commercial real estate
and I deal with a lot of individuals
that are you know very savvy have been
very well-off financially and then I
travel to downtown LA or the mid area of
Los Angeles and I and I and I connect
with people my age and older but still
you know may be of a different
background but we connect on this
amazing level where I just I'm able to
connect and just feel a human again and
and and live through these arts so
that's kind of the synopsis of juice is
just this community space where artists
come to it's free so anybody can kind of
come through and find their own thing
there I've seen individuals that just
come just you know they see the b-boys
and b-girls breaking in they just they
just want to sit down and write and
watch and get inspired and you know I
get to know them and they'll go I didn't
know you're amazing you know musician in
the Vocal Arts or something like that
ya know I think it's important to
develop like a sense of community among
creatives I mean I would say that a lot
of times you know artists would maybe
they I think it comes down to you know
public schools now don't really stress
the importance of creative arts and so
someone who innately has this creative
tendency in their life is somewhat like
shunned a little bit I think like
sometimes they don't fit into school so
much and so that might you know go into
how wide
they're you know feeling left out
and so they don't have a community in
their typical day-to-day life and so
it's important to find that community
but you know I think once there see once
they're seeing this they're like oh
there's so many people that are like
this and there they come from all
different walks of life and so I think
that it's it's such a great thing that
you guys are doing this because it's a
yeah it's a it's a great thing that is
needed in the community because I think
it it's not it's not inherently in our
public school system and just in our
society in general yeah you know it's I
over the years I've gotten to know a lot
of young people that have been through
the program and we always talk about
sports in schools you know schools focus
on traditional sports baseball
basketball
maybe soccer football but when it comes
to the creative arts you know it's one
of those things that just it's not
academic in terms of scoring it doesn't
help bring funding to our school so
those are things that are typically
dropped right away yeah and even the
traditional sports you know not everyone
is is laid out to to be excited or even
have that natural ability within within
certain specific sports and so you know
what breaking does specifically I think
it creates an avenue in an opening door
for individuals that may not relate to
basketball football soccer and says hey
you know what but but breaking is
something that I can actively do and I
can learn how to do and I don't have to
have this natural ability to be you know
strong or I don't have to be super tall
to become Baska player you know and I
think it it's the one one type of
activity that I think anybody can be
involved in and it doesn't cost you
anything yeah and I think that's the
greatest thing it's you don't have to
buy uniforms you don't have to be part
of a program that costs funds it's just
you know if you have space you have a
desire you could do it wherever you want
ya know that's what drove me to it
before I was big into like martial arts
and stuff and I just felt this like
disconnect between me and like a lot of
the things the activities I was doing
because it was always like oh you need
to do it this way and this and I was
like I just want to do whatever the heck
I want and so in a way I was like a
b-boy before I even knew it breaking was
and once I stumbled upon breaking I was
like oh it's okay to do whatever the
hell you want like it's encouraged in
fact if you're not doing that
it's discouraged you're you're a biter
right so I was like man this is what I
want to do this is like so fun it's you
know I love it because it's like an
active thing to do it's it keeps you in
shape but you know it's encouraged to
just explore like different movements
and you can kind of make whatever you
want into something cool it's it's like
it's like taking you know a canvas and
painting and you just kind of turn it
into whatever you want that's how I look
at it and I had been a you know painter
basically my whole life before coming
into Breaking and so um it was like a
natural thing for me to get into I mean
obviously I needed to learn moves and
stuff I needed to understand the color
palette is what I could call it the
color palette the techniques of how to
how to perform the dance but once I
understood that is like okay let me just
put these pieces together in whatever
way I can conceive of in my mind and I
don't know in its encouraged to do that
so I found that this is like what I want
to do this is I was like I say that I
was like destined to be a b-boy you know
my whole life really even though I
didn't know what breaking was until I
was probably like 13 or something you
know so I think a lot of people probably
feel the same way and a lot of people
that probably don't know what breaking
is right now and so I I want to get the
message out to them that there is this
community and I think that that's like
the mission statement of like juice
right and that you want to get this
thing out there so that people can come
to the community explore their different
talents their different things build
talents and you know ultimately become
part of the hip-hop community
and do art together with us yeah I have
an interesting story because I wasn't I
guess I wasn't I guess I wasn't
introduced to hip-hop till much later on
yeah I knew of hip-hop and you know I
listened to hip-hop music mm-hmm but I
think you know it didn't come till much
later in my life where I really
understood the true culture of hip-hop
going back where I came from I I was a
gymnast growing up oh nice
and so started when I was really young
did it through college and my last
competition I was done oh I mean since I
was probably five years old yeah I
worked out you know maybe five to six
days a week three to four hours a day
competed you know every other weekend
and then one day it just it was I was
done there was nothing left for me I
didn't have a desire to compete you know
any further I wasn't I wasn't at that
level either where I could go hey you
know is I could be in the top ten the
United States I was you know I was I was
okay for where I was and and I had a
good time doing it and I took a hiatus
you know I didn't even just stopped and
I still kept in shape after I finished
school I I moved to Japan
mmm and I lived in Japan for about a
year and a half I always knew about
breaking but you know and I and I
because I was able to do some of the
moves in gymnastics I saw you know break
dancers that time going oh hey that's a
that's a that's a Thomas flare or that's
a team player and I was like yeah I was
doing that when I was like six years old
you know that's and so you know that was
that came really natural to me I was
like get on my hands and I can do you
know an aerial flip you know that was
something that I go yeah it's kind of in
my my bag of tricks you know so when I
was in Japan I went to a university
there had a relative that allowed me to
kind of enter into a university just
kind of as a spectator and okay
it was really cool I stay there for
about almost half year
and I met this young man who was doing a
style of dance called tutting yeah in
front of a glass mirror at the
University and I just went up to say hey
you know that's really cool yeah my name
is Eric and sure enough we just kind of
hit it off and he's like yeah I also
b-boy I am and so hey won't you come
practice with us yeah so he introduced
me to his crew in Japan called chitin
ninja oh yeah yeah and then all of a
sudden you know this thing that I was
practicing since I was a fire his old
gymnastics all a sudden started
transforming to a street dance and then
that street dance became breaking yeah
and then I started to go wow this is
really cool you know and and I just I
think more so was just the need in the
feeling of being able to have a group to
be around and in just being able to
express you know something that's very
natural in me in movement you know
gymnastics without perfection straight
legs and plenty of toes and eventually
you know it allowed me to just to go hey
what if I just bend my right knee and
flex my front foot and just do something
funky you know and creating your own
personality through it but you know I
already had that skill set at that age
and I was like you know this is really
cool but what I really learned is about
community and I think it was about the
crew aspect because I'd never had that
it reminded me about how I had a team
when I was in gymnastics and about some
of the close relationships that I have
and it just allowed me to go how this
would it feels like to be a crew and
just to share in and just your
experiences with each other
practice hard with each other eat with
each other
share stories with each other and just
be there for each other I felt that was
that was kind of the opening up of what
hip-hop culture was really all about
yeah it's about that community and that
need for belonging and just about
sharing in your life so eventually you
know I started
accessing learning about breaking and
just some of the basic fundamentals but
you know I was like I was always doing
just doing power moves I mean I didn't
learn about the basic fundamental steps
oh thank god
you know what I was gonna do this now
and then see where it takes me but I was
really into and eventually I came back
to the United States and I was just kind
of more aware about what you know I
learned in Japan and they go gosh this
must exist here somewhere yeah yeah so
one day you didn't even know you know so
I was just you know cuz I didn't I
wasn't exposed to breaking I was exposed
to a lot of hip-hop growing up and then
one day I was over at work and I heard
this girl talk about this place that is
just an open session yeah a lot of
really dope b-boys and b-girls go do
they have an awesome MC program live DJ
they have graffiti art walls I'm like
whoa so I just went up to her and say
hey I overheard you talking about this
place can you tell me about it I'm
really interested it's just like yeah
just come follow me it's in LA yeah I
was like okay and remind you so I grew
up in the valley I was super suburbia Oh
and I and I was living I think on that
time on the west side of Los Angeles so
I was like oh la it's kind of dangerous
out there isn't it yeah like I don't
know you know um so I remember going out
there I was like where are we in LA cuz
I never went to a Laker I've always
thought it was like a dangerous place
yeah I mean that's how sheltered I was
I'm growing up but you know sure enough
it was it was in it was in the heart of
LA and the minute I walked into juice
that one day I mean I felt this amazing
feeling over going wow there's so much
energy here there's so many amazing
talented artists here and it's free and
I just I was kind of in awe and I just I
was just watching everybody collaborate
together just people talking going wow
this is a place I really need to be at
yeah that was my first experience and I
think I sat down for the first 30
minutes just watching cuz I was just
like wow there's just so much amazing
things going on here that's tight ya
know I I guess I probably have a similar
experience walking into one of the first
jams I've ever been to when I was
probably 13
right 14 13 14 I walked in and it's just
like all these people are just dancing
battling and I was like whoa okay at
that time I was like a skateboarder and
you know I was aware of like what
braking was I could do a few moves or
whatever but I'd never been to an event
before and so I go in and I just see
these like top level guys but I didn't
know who they were at that time but and
I see them actually Rob Zilla was their
stuntman was their Cujo was there and I
was like oh my god who's this guy just
like literally flying on his hands and
and you know come to know it later it's
like oh that was Cujo yeah it just like
blew my mind to see that and that
there's this huge community of you know
of b-boys because before that it was
like oh it's just some high schoolers
that get together in the lunchroom you
know at my high school cuz the janitor
said we could be there until he comes in
there basically and so that's that that
was breaking to me before that moment
and so yeah it like hit me it hit me
like a brick going oh there's this is
more than like what I'm what I thought
it was you know it's more than just
freaking rolling around on the floor
this is like this is a real movement so
yeah that's that's that's tight
yeah was interesting you mentioned some
of those names uh-huh stop man Rob Silla
good Joe because they've been around
juice since the very inception oh yeah
and they they were actually very much
instrumental and bringing together the
organization and the b-boy community
mm-hmm and so you know it's just amazing
how many b-boys and b-girls have been
through juice at one time in their life
and have come through the doors you know
I always hear so many international
visitors come we go hey we heard about
this place in LA yeah and you have such
a long history of alleys you know b-boys
we used to watch on VHS tapes and now
are on YouTube but this has been like an
iconic spot where people have come
through at least one time in their life
mm-hmm and so it's really cool to hear
you know how individuals from like Japan
Germany
just you know they'd say hey we're here
we want to take a picture of this
you know Amazings yeah or a lot of
history has come from yeah yes is it
really it's always really encouraging to
hear something like that yeah no I knew
about juice before I moved to LA I mean
I had I probably known about it for a
long time I didn't know exactly what it
was but um it was like there was always
like a buzz around like what you know
what this is there's this thing out in
LA and I had I only moved out here like
maybe less than six months ago and so I
had no idea you know what I guess how
deep it was and so once I got here I was
like oh it's this is uh this is like a
real like thing I thought it was just
like a dance studio or something you
know what I mean that had been around
for awhile but no this is like this is
this you guys have a whole freakin
mission that you're trying to accomplish
I mean you are accomplishing and so yeah
it was just amazing to see that so that
and that's why I wanted to talk to you
today so yeah um so you said you were in
Japan about what age were you when you
were in Japan I was about 23 okay
23 years old and so that's when you
first got into breaking I think
seriously okay taking it more seriously
just really training because before that
I mean you know I go to a party and I
was like oh there's a circle here let me
show them how to do flares oh yeah yeah
you know so I kind of knew of did you do
the gymnast start where you're like yes
I tried no I cuz I saw like I go that
looks really corny if I'd you know do it
like like that I know you should have
done it you should have put on a whole
yeah and then just do it yeah
but but I would you know I would I would
remember you know going to these like
events where like you know a circle
always forms right and then you get home
you know people going in there and doing
a lot of like footwork and then all of a
sudden I go in there and you know at
that time of my life I was I was pretty
good at gymnastics I was really in good
shape and so
I was just doing like t flares yeah like
and then I was like super easy then I go
dried into like these flares where you
know it looked like gymnastics well I
got a funny story so the first time I
came to juice and I started to I started
get down and you know I started doing
these flares yeah there's a b-boy comes
up to me and says gymnastics gymnastics
he knew right away because he goes you
know the way I did was like it was just
you know I was almost a splits - engine
like yeah like his flares were like
pointed toes yeah you know and I was
able to do it in Reverse ways where else
like doing flares and spinning the other
way and yeah he pointed out right away
he goes
gymnastics so I always remember that and
so yeah kind of go I go oh gosh it is
that obvious that's when you do a
backflip and just do this yes yeah yeah
that's what I would have done but I
can't do that so but no yeah if I was if
I was a gymnast I would have totally
just embraced it and been like most form
perfect flares and then go yes and boom
and you don't rip off your hoodie you
guys it's hard underneath I don't know I
like to mess around with stuff like that
but that's tight so um so I guess what
age do you think you started breaking
then I like I think it was always part
of me like gymnastics and they're like
showcasing I always like to perform I
think that was the aspect of something
yeah and part of my lives were destined
to be a B so I would say seriously
probably around 23 24 I mean I didn't
even know what his sick stuff was I was
like yeah I just thought people ran
around like with I go oh there's an
actual fundamental way to do this yeah
yeah yeah and so I was like cuz I used
to pretend like you know just go oh I
got this you know and then you're
running around yeah and so it's funny
now because I a lot of young kids yeah
and you know they always see what people
are doing but they just run around with
her
and feet and thinking that's exactly
what everyone else to do which is true
to a certain extent but I think you know
you start to break it down you okay
there's an actual there's a formula to
this and there's usual hand-feet
movement that you know everyone learns
from mm-hmm yeah and I mean the bits and
it's so deep - I mean there's like every
little position you're putting your hand
and your foot is like a different move
almost I mean I have a whole thing about
my perspective of Fork but we don't have
to talk about that but so breaking so
you you always felt like you were kind
of destined to be a b-boy you're a b-boy
and a gymnast body I'd suppose and so
you came into it and you already had the
arsenal as if you had been breaking your
entire life and just forgot to do
footwork or something yeah I gotta be
honest I I didn't learn footwork till
much later on and then you know as you
get older you know I think the power
moves become a little more difficult
because it hurts your elbows or your
shoulders your wrists and so I mean for
me like I even stopped doing players
like five six years ago just because it
was just every time I did it I just it
hurt my body a lot and so what I started
to do a little bit more was focus on
style and just almost fundamentals and
go in the reverse way where I'm going
backwards where I'm going all right I
can do these things that that you know I
can condition my body to not do so much
I guess power moves but I can go more to
style and try to do what I can do within
my age and and still feel healthy
afterwards yeah yeah I mean I think
that's what's so great about breaking is
like there's just it's such a branching
thing I mean there's so much I mean look
as someone outside looking in they're
probably like I don't understand this
but like when you go into it it's like
man there's so many things to learn that
there's no way you're gonna learn it all
in the your lifetime as a b-boy and so -
taking pieces of everything and you can
just mix it in whatever way you want I
that that is like so cool you know your
your style kind of develops as you age
because of it like develops around what
you're capable of in a way you know I
mean like for me I started out doing a
lot of footwork then I started doing
power moves then I started injuring
myself and I stopped doing powerful
moves and just started doing other
things I started freestyling a lot more
doing more top rocks and you know other
like flowy type of moves
lots of transitions and stuff and then I
don't know now I'm where I'm at kind of
like dude like I can do moves but it's
like oh there's a risk to it I might
hurt myself so yeah one thing I love
about breaking is is you know it's just
the the free flow of creativity I think
creativity comes from different
inspirations in your life mm-hmm and
maybe what you do outside of practice or
things that you see and I get a lot of
inspiration by watching other styles of
dance yeah and I love just you know
house dance or just different movements
and go wow that's really cool what if I
you know you know create that movement
in my top rocks and just be a little bit
more funky you know and yeah and I love
that aspect of just being unique and
just developing your own style through
whatever inspires you in life
yeah I always got inspired by those old
like corny kung fu movies that for some
reason they were just so cool to see
like someone whooping the other dudes
ass and then he just like sits in some
crazy fries and he just you know his
mouth moves and then it says something
else buddy oh dude my style is better
than yours I always thought that that
was the dopest thing ever and they would
you know I used to watch this one movie
called the Buddhist fist a long time ago
and this dude would just jump into the
craziest freezes and I was like dude
this guy's a b-boy like for reals he's
just hitting I remember he hit this
crazy like chair freeze on his elbow and
he's just pointing at the guy and he's
just like talking shit like oh dude
that's love
and then you know he obviously gets up
and whupped his ass or whatever but I
always like that because it was just so
corny but so dope yeah totally
but yeah the movement is so is so cool
but yeah just getting the inspiration
anywhere I mean is is encouraged in
breaking in I think that that's the
overall I don't know message to be said
and and and why it resonates with me so
much and resonates with a lot of people
yeah yeah so outside of hip-hop do you
have any other creative endeavors or
hobbies in your life yeah so it sounds
funny but there's a couple things I like
to do one of them is scene karaoke my
brother are hell in the car I mean like
we're I'm not we're not good singers but
do you don't doubt yeah so that's one of
my how would you say was one of my
passions I have a a singing group that I
go to every Wednesday oh dang so you're
legit and so we do karaoke every
Wednesday and so I've been doing this
for the last you know five or six years
straight
that's tight so I really enjoy that
aspect of being creative but you know
singing renditions of songs and in my
own way what's your favorite song this
thing oh man you know that's a great
question I don't have one
yeah I would say you know all depends on
the crowd of like what type of music
they like it okay and maybe that would
be like the song genre I would choose
just you know if if there was like a
whole crowd of b-boys of what would you
pick oh man it wouldn't be it wouldn't
be a pop love song that's for sure
maybe like a Bruno Mars song okay yeah
just something that has a little bit
more funk to it that what people can get
into and like
or whatever yeah 24-karat you know yeah
yeah yeah just something that's like
groovy funky you know that people can
all go yeah let's get down to the Hat
okay so what about if it was like a like
a senior citizen home yeah a senior
citizen home well a funny thing you
mentioned senior citizen home so one of
my good friends right now what he's
doing is he's going to different senior
citizen homes and he's sitting up
karaoke at dude before that so and
because it does a lot of things it helps
stimulate the mind
yeah and whether they sing well or not
it's it's the matter of reading
something on television keeping you up
and it just
they reflect on the past and I think you
know memory is a big thing with with you
know older folks and so there's
something there's something there's a
really deep connection between singing
that stimulates the mind but also being
with a read and do a little thing so the
interesting thing was I went to a senior
citizen home and to join them in karaoke
night yeah
so they most of them probably won't
recognize you know anything that's
probably from the 90s and on yeah unless
and they're like oh do you know like
Dean Martin or something really old so
one of the songs I sang just because I
don't really know a whole lot of really
old songs I mean I seen a lot of Beatles
songs too but okay you know maybe some
like the Rascal Flatts like life is a
highway that just kind of is they may
not recognize it but the melody is kind
of cool so they go they start to like
you know maybe even dance to it a little
bit yeah yeah yeah that's tight so are
you like a pretty good singer in my mind
I'm a pretty good singer but to other
people I'm probably just mediocre okay
I've always wanted to learn to sing like
I've I've recently got pretty into like
music production and I've like in my
mind I've always been like oh I want to
sing over these but I don't know I don't
know how to sing I mean I kick I can
fake it I do I mean me and my brother
would always do karaoke and we we don't
do it too often anymore but we used to
do it literally like every week we would
go to this this Japanese restaurant in
Sacramento and we were just we would be
the only people doing it too and we were
just freaking take over the restaurant
just singing
I don't know we would always sing like
welcome to the jungle
those are tough songs yeah and those are
really hard hard songs to sing so I mean
we sucked at it so but um what was the
other song I'd sing
I believe in a thing called love by the
dark the darkness okay yeah that song
was all we were all about that one um
yeah I don't know we tons of Backstreet
Boys songs a shit those are classics you
know everyone knows some too so I was in
Japan going back to that time period and
I remember you know I would be new to
the location the area I didn't have any
friends at that point I just knew you
know we have our days off you know from
work because I taught English in Japan
so you're doing like a jet program it
was it was a private school program okay
and so on my days off you know like okay
you know what should I do there's all
these karaoke places all over the place
but I was like all right how does this
work
yeah I'm just gonna enter it so one day
I decided to go let me just check it out
you know and so I get there and it's
like yeah I like to sing karaoke this is
like my broken English I make the broken
Japanese yeah and like one yeah just me
she's like I think they asked me like
three or four times like one just one
are you crazy
and so I said yeah just me is that okay
so and they did it by time so I remember
I would like jam you know like because
he charged by hour so I invited her you
know and you have to order a drink -
that's like their minimum oh okay so I
would like pack and you know as many
songs like in and then do that and so I
remember going back to the class because
I used to teach adults English hmm and
we were talking about karaoke and in
this one Japanese student of mine she's
like you know seeing karaoke by yourself
is like going to Disneyland by yourself
and running all the rides by yourself
that's how weird it might be but I was
so into it I mean I loved it and I loved
being part of like a group sing karaoke
that's a burn
she burned you pretty hook you know and
that's I guess it just kind of it was
part of something that I'd love to do is
Z and I don't even know how to sing well
like I think in my mind I can sing okay
but in terms of seeing lessons and how
to really resonate your voice and how to
do it properly you know it's all been
self taught just like kind of somewhat
like breaking is but you know it's all
been self talk you never took any voice
lessons or anything never took anything
I've always thought about taking it I
just don't have the time right now but I
think eventually I'll probably do it
just cuz it's always been something I
wanted to learn right when I was younger
we would go to my mom had us in like
what is it called Sunday school and so
we would always we'd have to be a part
of like a choir there so at a young age
we were learning how to sing you know
probably through elementary school or
whatever and then you know and then I
stopped doing that and but it always was
you know I guess the little bit of
singing lessons I had when I was younger
through that is it's really the only
thing I've had but sometimes I'll watch
like youtube videos about how to like
use your lungs better your diaphragm
better I'm not a good singer though but
it's something I definitely want to get
good at hey well you know what we got a
set date and just bang it out you know
whenever my brother has like a party at
his house he has a little what's it
called Magic Mike uh-huh and we just
like go off on it yeah so so I set up at
my place
uh-huh kind of this I have two Mike's of
a mixer and I have a karaoke program
that has tons of songs I just kind of go
through that's things so I remember
going to it was a juice offend we just
all got together a lot of the staff and
the friends came by and my friend who's
a DJ yes
you're like because I brought the whole
system over I brought my PA system the
mics the stands he's all like you're
like a DJ for care yeah because I was
kind of like
all right next Sangha you know who is on
deck you know that's tight yeah dude I
always was curious all right I always
had this weird idea that to do karaoke
at a jam like while people are battling
just have a deed I don't know how I
would quite work but like you're playing
music and then someone's up there just
singing like this song I don't know how
it work quite like I always thought that
that'd be so dope to make that happen it
would like totally lighten up the mood I
think of a jam and that's I'm all about
that kind of thing yeah I I think
breaking away from the traditional
structures that'll be interesting you
know one aspect about jams I love is you
know live music I mean gosh just having
live music is so different it's so cool
I remember going to one of Jeff's kills
events and it was awesome this had a
full-on live band just going off you
know for a handful of songs and you know
it was just really cool just have that
aspect of it like it was a concert yeah
it feels like it and it you know and
they're just like a lot of times I saw
it would be like the DJ is playing their
music and then this live band would just
jump on and just put a bass line or
whatever you know and I always thought
that was tight they'd hit the drums and
stuff they yeah kind of play along with
it yeah we did a couple of jams over at
the park where we brought in drumset
saxophone and we had two DJ's just
spinning at the same time and using
other instruments along yeah it just
really created a different vibe and I
thought was really cool yeah yeah it
creates a concert vibe and it's it's not
it's not even like you had an entire
band or like you know they they had like
a whole set that they were doing it was
just some guys just playing you know
playing to a song that's already existed
this is probably how they practice to be
honest and so they were just like hey
I'm down with this doo doo doo doo doo
you know playing that junk and then
everybody loves it so I I actually met a
few drummers recently and I was like eh
is this the kind of is this like how you
practice because this is like something
that b-boy
love you know b-boys and b-girls love
and so if you ever wanted to just go to
a jam or something or a practice even
and just jam out like it would be
definitely yeah I I would invite that
too to just like you know let's just
spring out some congas and just have
some beats and just just freestyle it
and just you know bringing other friends
just want to have really cool rhythms
and just jam out to it
because I love the diversity of
different types of music as long as it
has like consistent beat that people are
into what's your favorite style of music
actually so what I listen to I listen to
the top 40 music oh you do okay I do
alright and I think some of that comes
because you know when I start to sing
karaoke oh yeah that those are the songs
I go okay those are kind of popular now
but there's certain songs I go I really
like that type of song yeah it's it
doesn't have to be all male singers to
like there there there there are Taylor
Swift songs there's Halsey songs that
I'm into that I go okay that really has
a really cool melody and a beat I'm
gonna sing the guy version of it okay
you know and a different key yeah but I
listen top 40 but then you know when I
when I break and so forth I mean and I
can't listen to just the remixes and yes
I'm a you know great funk and R&B that
just is out there when when when anybody
asks me that question I always have a
hard time answering it because I I can
literally find a song in any genre that
I like you know and so I mean maybe the
answer to the question is like which
John are do I find the most songs but
there's some John Rose I just haven't
you know dug so deep into but I just I
just love music like you know all here
I'll hear something weird that I've
never heard before and I'll go like okay
I don't quite understand this yet but
let me give it a try and I you know
sometimes I'll get into it I'll go like
oh okay I see what they're trying to do
because it's not it's not always just
about a lot I mean a lot of time there's
they're trying to
do something different musically and
it's maybe just not understood at that
time because it's so different and I
mean it's just it's fun to like break
down what they were creatively doing in
their music yeah so and that that's what
I think is so fun about music and why so
many different styles of music like
resonate with me and so yeah I like to
listen to some of the weird like
experimental stuff that like doesn't
even have like a you know a steady beat
or anything because even that stuff you
good like you you want to break down
like what the heck is going on and it's
like it's so cool like once you start
figuring it out yeah and I think getting
more into music production has helped me
kind of break down music a lot better
into so but yeah I don't know I you know
when I was younger I was really into
like rock music alternative you know
like Nirvana the Third Eye Blind guys
mmm
things like that Rage Against the
Machine I was really into and then later
on I started getting more into hip-hop
that got more into like soul music funk
music and stuff namely from breaking
jazz music got a little bit into like
country music recently I've been into
like mumble rap actually okay yeah a lot
of people have like a kind of weird
disdain for it which at first when I
when I first heard I was like oh what is
this stuff and I kind of gave it a try
for a while and then I started realizing
you know mumble rap is like this
generation the this generations way of
being like counterculture you know I've
talked to a lot of people about this
actually on this podcast but hip-hop has
always been like a somewhat
counterculture thing they want to do
then something new that no one else has
done and like I really feel like that's
what the mumble rap scene was all about
was like let's make music but we're not
trying to copy what these guys did
before us let's do something new you
know much like punk how punk music they
would scream and you know kind of have a
inaudible like noise almost I feel like
that's what mom
is doing and I've always liked punk
music and so when I when I realized that
connection to counterculture and like
them doing something different I really
gained like a huge respect I guess for
it and I don't know yeah I think hip-hop
is is very much you know that outlet
it's that it's that counterculture it's
it's creating something you always say
from nothing but you know it's really
you know having having that creativeness
with what you have yeah you know and and
I think it's just it's a really unique
way of expression you know I look back
as to the evolution of hip-hop because
you know hip-hop culture has been
changing over the years and I think it
changes I think as we come to the new
age is what's what people you know go
through in their lives kind of reflect
the outcome of how they express himself
you know I think a lot of times people
have hip-hop and the culture kind of
confused in some sense especially if
you're not really involved in the
community to see what it's all about you
know that was one of the topics of
discussion is you know what is hip-hop
right and I think people always go well
you know hip-hop is is rap music yeah
it's a style of dance yeah and I think
there's some type of you know disconnect
between what is what is authentic
hip-hop you know so people go what is
hip-hop and what every time I and I
explain hip hop to others that may not
have been involved in the culture right
tell them it's about it's about
community it's about respect and love
it's about bringing you know positivity
to to the world
it's about belonging family and and
these are all the the items that kind of
form what we call hip-hop today and so
you know what we try to do over at juice
is to kind of keep those core values
about having respect for everyone you
know it doesn't matter your background
and your race your color your talent
anything you know everybody is welcome
in hip-hop yeah and you know that's one
of the things that you know we pride
ourselves just to make sure
that you know we want to make sure the
doors open for everybody
yeah hip-hop to me is like a lifestyle
it's a it's a culture it's a lifestyle
and it's um it's not it transcends I
think all of the the you know the four
elements the four typical elements we
talked I think it I think it's um it's
it's much more than that it's it's a
lifestyle it's a it's a whole culture
and it's ever-growing I wouldn't be
surprised if later on we start saying
that there's five elements of hip-hop or
six elements of hip-hop you know what I
mean and I think it's just because the
bubble is growing more and we're like
you know as more people getting involved
with it where we're actually figuring
out more about like what this all what
this all is and and so you know I think
in the next couple years we're gonna
probably see more and more people
getting involved with it namely
you know breaking is now gonna be in the
Olympics so I think it's gonna open a
lot of people's eyes to what we do and
so I wouldn't be surprised if there's an
influx of new b-boys you know coming in
and trying to learn what hip-hop is and
so I think having a good defined
community for them to and welcoming
community ready for them is like really
the best way to handle that because it's
not you know this is a welcoming
community and so we wanna we want to
make that apparent you know when when
that happens I don't know I don't know
if you have anything to say about that
it's yeah I'm you know breaking breaking
is always meant to evolve over time with
whatever's going on in the world or
whatever's happening in our community a
lot of people ask me you know what do
you think about breaking in the Olympics
yeah and you know I think it's part of
its course you know I think breaking is
always meant to evolve hmm I see a lot
of great things with having breaking as
part of a larger community yeah and
people being exposed to something that's
really important
I think what's important is to make sure
that the information about what hip-hop
is and what the true culture is is also
explained yeah and that there's right
people that are able to be part of you
know getting that information out to
people that may not know a lot about
hip-hop a breaking I think that's a
really important figure to make sure
that you know whatever the Olympic
Committee decides to do is to make sure
that there's they keep that authenticity
of the culture yeah yeah I was talking
to my friend Serge yesterday actually
about all this and he's like he's very
adamant about portraying hip-hop
correctly like he really wants people to
understand there's like a lot of I guess
a struggle that was you know kind of
baked into hip-hop and that he does he
wants when people come in he doesn't
want to shoo them away or anything he
wants to welcome them but then also like
educate them about what this is and that
they're not just coming into it as you
know just for the good I guess but but
understanding everything about it you
know the history of it and that maybe
there was some bad parts of that you
know namely that there's maybe some kind
of oh you know it's kind of built out of
you know the ghetto it's built out of
poverty it was built out of you know a
basic struggle in life and to get to
where it is now and so coming into it
you got to respect that as well and so
that was that was one of the main things
he was he he wants to portray as you
know the scene evolves so which I which
I respect I think that's a that's a good
thing to do you know to always respect
like your history but also welcome in
the evolution of it so well anyways
we're hitting about an hour right now so
I think we could probably wrap this show
up do you have any less
best words anything else I know we
didn't really talk about like a crew
affiliation or anything do you have a
crew affiliation so I don't I don't have
a crew affiliation I guess I get nice
you know there is a juice crew out there
here but oh is that yeah you gonna
battle fit yeah I mean they're pretty
good but uh okay yeah I you know I I
look at you know the evolution of also
juice and where it has been where it's
come to and you know part of what we
want to continue to do is is build this
model that we have is free spaces for
anybody to come through to be able to
express themselves in all areas I mean I
think if you ask me you know what is
what do I see in the future of juice and
I go gosh I could see juice in in every
city
cross country across the seas having a
location all over just a place where
people can come to to express themselves
utilizing the hip-hop arts as a tool for
social change empowerment mm-hmm you
know arts education and just changing
people's lives yeah
so we're our future and our hope is to
continue to do what we're doing continue
to grow continue to build new team
members but also establish new locations
across you know different areas and yeah
that's what we're trying to do is is is
organically grow you know we've been
working with the city in the county of
Los Angeles we have different locations
that we could possibly open up but I
think what's holding us back right now
is just the ability to staff and also
finance some of those locations because
it is a free program so a lot of things
that we do you know it's all either by
donations or individuals that really
believe in what we do and so you know if
we have one of those you know wonderful
funders one day that says hey you know
how do we really help you guys really
take this thing off
yeah thing that could really change what
we do and I think you know as we get
towards you know more popularity with
the Olympics and just the media and so
forth you know our hope is to be able to
also maybe even ride that
a little bit and you know grow what we
do yeah I would imagine there's probably
a lot of opportunity for grants out
there I mean there already is but I
think maybe as there's more popularity
there's there's probably more willing of
the you know of these organizations and
the government to you know give you guys
grants to do what you do especially if
you have a well-defined message and plan
you know to execute it so I think you
know my mother she's a in art she's an
artist in it and a teacher and so she
was doing a lot of similar kind of work
in Sacramento where she was getting
grants to do these well it was like it's
like a it's like a program it's a
healing program through art is I guess
the best way to describe it it's where
she was she had um women who were you
know subject to abuse or whatever and
they came in did artwork to kind of like
as a therapy and so she was the teacher
and organizer the director I don't know
all that stuff so she was doing all the
grant writing and everything to put this
program on and so she did that for a
very very long time now now she's
retired but okay she still kind of
teaches a little bit but um but yeah I
imagine I mean cuz there's a need for it
and so it's it's I imagine that there's
tons of grasses right now what we're
doing is collaborating with larger
organizations yeah so we're gonna be
working with LAUSD and after-school
enrichment programs we're finishing up
our contract with them and we have a
school that we're specifically gonna do
free braking programs yeah and then
we're gonna work with another
organization in the location that we're
with that's already you know a pretty
well-known youth organization and
incorporating something hip and cool
into their program for some of their
youth mm-hmm and then you know one of
the other ideas that we're doing right
now that we're working towards is
opening up another location for juice on
Saturday at the same time that we have
our program and being able to teach kids
and families specifically new to
breaking oh cool and so we have a
location already determined for that
and once again it's about staffing and
I'm probably gonna end up doing that
portion of just kind of going with it
and just seeing where it leads us yeah
like everything you know we try things
and sometimes we learn from them and we
get better at it yeah yeah well I think
that you're doing some amazing work and
you know I'm glad to hear that it's
growing and that you have big plans for
the future so stay tuned and I'd love to
have you back if you ever have time to
come and talk to more stuff do some
karaoke yeah dope dude so do you have
any like social media to shout out or
whatever I don't know yeah so you can
follow us on a juice hip-hop I would say
like orange juice so juice and hip hop
that's our that's our or handle so come
follow us yeah we're over at MacArthur
Park every Saturday from 12:00 to 4:00
and then cell is our Park in East LA on
Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m. free for
everybody free for everybody even me
yeah dope cool thank you for for coming
on dude this has been a great time I
think this was a great episode I'm
really happy that you were able to come
and thank you guys for listening
all you zero listeners though sorry the
show sucks
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