We moved from the suburbs to L.A. and I picked up break dancing when I was 10. I joined a dance crew in high school and I was battling. I also took ballet most of my life until high school.
I had danced with Janet Jackson and P. Diddy so I had done a bunch of hip hop. Really and truly my roots are in modern and ballet but, professionally, that's not really out there any more, unfortunately, so these artists aren't really having a lot of ballet dancers behind them so I had to learn hip hop really quick.
I'm a b-boy for life. I'm a dancer, I started with free style dancing and b-boying during the '80s and I always said to myself that when I get the chance to do my own thing, I will always have the b-boy element and the dance element because that's where I come from.
Hip-hop is bigger than the South; hip-hop is bigger than New York.
I want to keep the same kinda vibe where we've got the dance element and hip-hop. I'm going to be singing a lot more, and I want to write more heartfelt songs.
Once I started rapping, I had to start dancing more. I had to really use my craft, and take everything I did for fun and put it into my professional shows.
I didn't grow up on dance class. I was always natural. I've been in the industry since I was eight and I've always had a choreographer since then. But I never really took ballet or anything like that.
I fell in love with hip-hop at an early age as a culture, as a sound, both from the perspective of a fan and a creative outlet.
I'm from Chicago, so you know we come from juking and footwork.
I'd been collecting eccentric moves since I was a kid and didn't even know that the dance step I improvised in 'Be Back Soon' was called a 'pas de basque.'
That's what hip-hop is: It's sociology and English put to a beat, you know.
Before I got into stand-up, I used to be a hip-hop dancer in a crew, and my name was J. Smoove, and my partner was J. Groove.
I don't care what anybody says, there's nothing like the cultural influence of hip-hop. For me, hip-hop culture is involved in everything - it's in me, in who I am, in how I dress, how I talk. It's in my son and my wife.
I was a kid watching music videos, which were so cool and made me want to learn how to dance. I wish I could've gone to dance classes and learn, like, hip-hop dancing.
I was part of a hip-hop group called Fly Style. I was one of two white girls, and I was part of the younger company, which was called Touch of Style. And it was amazing. It gave me a different perception of dance and beauty because the other girls were mostly African-American and Latina.
Notorious B.I.G. was one of my favorites. I started getting into hip-hop around the Bad Boy era.
I grew up on Hip Hop, it's the music I love and it's the music I respect. I respect the culture...that's me.
Hip-hop is a way of life. It isn't a genre in truth in 'American Idol.'
I'm not hip-hop.
I've been a fan of hip-hop for a really long time, and I still am.
Drop it like it's hot.
Everybody's doing it. When I'm performing and I do the Dougie, the fans lose their minds.
I've always loved hip-hop, since I was a kid, that's the music that I loved. I think everyone of our generation kind of fantasized about hip-hop in some ways.
Dabbing started with us - QC the label - Jose Guapo, Migos, Skippa Da Flippa, PeeWee Longway. When we performed, we just dabbed, and everyone started running with it. People would do the dance, but no one would say what it was.
I may be able to concentrate on a move, but it may not look exactly how I need it to look like, as far as in the ballroom world. Hip-hop is different; it is a lot more flowy with ballroom.
