Many of you know that dance is a serious hobby of mines. Personally, Krump is my personal favorite dance style and because of that, I decided to document the movement, specifically to uncover the history and its development in the east coast (US).
[-- Introducing, Leo aka Witness--]
Leo is actually my older brother. Inspired by the legendary pop icon, Michael Jackson, he began dancing over ten years ago. He was obsess over the moonwalk, so he tried to replicate and perfect the move himself. At parties or social functions, he would be in the center circles showing off his moves: the Harlem shake, heel toes, in-toe, the Superman during the Soulja Boys days, etc. Krump didn't come into the picture for him until one of our good friends, Chev, introduced it to him. Chev and Leo were part of a dance group called Black Hoodie in high school, and during one of their high school pep rallies, Chev Krumped as part of their routine. Leo immediately liked the style wanted to learn it. That was the beginning of "Witness."
Leo and Chev began practicing together almost every day and watch Tight Eyez (co-creator of Krump) clown/Krump for inspiration and direction. Not too long after, Leo, through Chev, met DJ aka Knockout Kid and Josh aka Loyal. Josh and Dj have already been involved in the Krump movement for a while, so through them both, Leo was taught the basics. And more than ten years later, Leo has perfected his style and used Krump to compete, perform, and do auditions. When I interviewed Leo, uncovering his Krump background, this is what I discovered about who he (Witness) is within the Krump movement.
[--Describing His aka's --]
I asked Leo about the origin of the name Witness and here is what I found.
The name Witness was taken from the bible. KRUMP originally had a religious (Christian) component but that phased out over time. Actually, KRUMP was an acronym (Kingdom Radically Uplifting Mighty Praise) - a topic that I will cover in another, later post. In the bible, Jesus was the first witness to the world. For Leo, the concept of being a witness, in his art, was to introduce people to his faith through his dance and introduce Krump to others in Rhode Island.
As for his character, or his dance persona, he has two: show-master and massacre. For Leo, the show-master is the best actor and he always wants to deliver a strong performance. At the beginning of his performance, he's warming up on stage, in the middle (the climax), he gets to his main point, and finally finishes in a way that leaves the people (the audience) wanting a sequel like a great movie should. Show-Master was inspired by his passion for filming/acting. Within this persona, he focuses on the in-between (KRUMP term) or the smaller, intricate movements.
The massacre character name was given to him after winning many consecutive battles at events in one round. A few years back, Leo had been set-up to battle at a major Boston event, however, on his way to the place, his car broke down. Eventually, he got the car running again but he thought he already missed his battle. But, the moment he stepped foot in the event place, they called him up for his battle. The moment the music dropped, Leo obliterated the competition, and someone said to one of his friends, " YO! did you just Witness that Massacre?!"
"I liked the way it sounded together and so I ran with it," Leo told me.
[-Favorite KRUMP Basics, and Practice Tips-]
Leo's favorite Krump basics are jabs/arm swings, hits, and chest-pops. Jabs, arm swings and chest-pops are quite self-explanatory; hits, however, is when you tense your muscles quickly and it gives off the illusion that your body is somewhat glitching, and often times, animated. Here a video that would give you the visual explanation of the basics. Keep in mind that this videos was created at the beginning stages of Krump;
Jabs and arm swing are one of Leo's favorite basic because when he was younger, he loved boxing, and unfortunately, due to where he lived, would street fight often. So, the moment he learned the different creative ways to use your arm, he loved it. Hits, another favorite, became a quick favorite because of its versatility. It can be used for big or little movements, starting them or ending them, etc. As described in his concept of the “show-master" character, he mainly likes using hits toque him to the next scene within in performance. As for chest-pops being another favorite is because it gives him the feeling that he is dancing in 3D. Meaning, a chest-pop can be used to bring your body up, down, to explode out (KRUMP term), or exaggerate your movements, look animated, and get you to travel from place to place. A chest-pop can initiate a jab/swing, footwork, hops, just about any basic in Krump.
These basics are always included in his lab- the word Krumpers use to explain that we're practicing. Like a real lab, we're creating and experimenting, in this case, with different concepts, movements and ultimately, developing our style. Before, Leo would practice about 2-3 hours regularly. On the weekends, he would session with friends from late at night until next day early morning. When asked about what the mindset is that he uses while the labbing, this is what he said;
"The way I would break it down (his lab), is to first think about my favorite scene in any movie that I enjoyed, then place myself in one of actor's film character and try to reenact what it would look like in my dance style. For example, I would look at the Jokers' character and think about what he would do in Krump and how. I also think of it as me being a director. For example, if I am driving around and I see the sunset, I'm thinking about how I can film it that moment and then think about how I can express that - the feeling you'll get seeing that, the up or down movement of the sun, etc. I think about what I need to work on first before even starting the music. After, I'll choose the song that will motive me, and begin with a warm-up. I'll start working on my three favorite basics of Krump to feel myself out and then jump into practicing on my weakness."
[-- Goals, Memorable Moments, and Little Homies --]
Witness has been making his way back into the Krump scene since becoming inactive a while back. Originally, because he came into the movement when Krump was heavily influenced by Christianity, he wanted to use his abilities to bring others to his faith. Today, he wants to use his art to give back to the community by teaching free workshops and use the social network Krump has to fellowship with others and bring positive vibes.
[-- Recent Vid of Witness --]
When asked about a memorable battle(s) or videos of himself, he said one of his favorite battles was when Leo and I battled our two friends, JP aka Noncentz and Jared aka Nomad, both OG's in the east coast movement. It was his favorite battle because this was our first major event in Rhode Island battling together. To him, it felt like it was family vs everyone else.
[-- Leo & I vs Jp and Jared --]
Witness' criteria for recruiting little homies (a component of Krump), or crew-mates, is simple: don’t be too cocky, or prideful, but remain humble and willing to learn from anyone.
