The Rock Steady Crew was founded in 1977
by Bronx b-boys Jimmy D and Jojo. When they
started this crew in the streets of the Bronx,
they had no idea that someday it would take
them all around the world. Only the best b-boys
were down with Rock Steady.
They had rivals in all five boroughs of
New York and for every rival there were ten kids
who wanted to be down with them. However,
getting into the original crew was not easy.
To get into Rock Steady you had to battle one
of the other b-boys in the crew. It was a competition
few people won.
In 1979 when the b-boying hype was
beginning to die down, Jimmy D put a Crazy Legs
and Lenny Len down with Rock Steady just in
time to add new life to the art form and take it
to the next level. This was at a time when
Crazy Legs moved to Manhattan. Going back
to the Bronx every weekend became too difficult
for Crazy Legs' pockets. He then started to
explore the Hip Hop scene in Manhattan more
often.
This meant losing touch with other
members of
Rock Steady. Crazy Legs would spend most
of his time developing his craft in tenement
building hallways and battling b-boys that he
would come across and eventually hanging out
with the ones that he felt had an original style.
Wanting to start a crew of his own he
went back to the Bronx to look for Jimmy D and
the rest of the crew to get permission to start
a chapter of his own. He was not able to find them.
Not knowing what to do, he sought the advice of
his cousin Lenny Len. Lenny Len suggested that
he join Rockwell Association (another well known
crew from the Bronx). Rockwell Association was
the crew that had turned Crazy Legs down as a member
before he got in to Rock Steady Crew.
This time Crazy Legs had a lot more to offer.
They immediately put him in Rockwell Association
and gave him a chapter in Manhattan. It was bitter sweet
for him. He felt that Rock Steady Crew was
the better of the two and wanted to use the Rock Steady Crew name.
In the early part of 1981 Crazy Legs had come
across Jimmy D and told him about what he was
doing in Manhattan. Jimmy D was impressed
with the amount of members that Legs had in
Rockwell Association. Crazy Legs asked Jimmy D
if he can start a chapter and Jimmy D gave him
permission. Crazy Legs immediately changed
the name of the crew to Rock Steady Crew.
Although none of the members that got into Rock Steady Crew by battling, they had already gained
the respect of Crazy Legs. Crazy Legs and the
new recruits from Manhattan eventually became
the motivating forces behind b-boying gaining back
its popularity in the streets of New York City.
The turning point for Rock Steady was in 1981
when people began to take notice of all the noise
Crazy Legs, Frosty Freeze, Take One, Little Crazy
Legs and Ken Swift were making in Manhattan. In
August of 1981, photographer/sculptor Henry
Chalfant offered them the chance to perform at the
Lincoln Center Outdoors Program. This performance,
which was also a battle with rival b-boys from The
Dynamic Rockers, was crucial not only because it
was covered by local television stations, The New
York Times, The Village Voice, The Daily News, and
National Geographic, it would later gain them
worldwide exposure. Jimmy D took notice of the
buzz that Crazy Legs had started in Manhattan and
made him President of the entire Rock Steady Crew.
Crazy Legs in turn made Frosty Freeze and Ken
Swift Co-Vice Presidents.
In the winter of 1982 the Rock Steady Crew was
invited to perform at the original Ritz nightclub.
The list of performers that night included the
"Punk Rock" group BOW WOW WOW, Afrika Bambaataa and the
Jazzy 5.
Since Afrika Bambaataa, known by many as the "Godfather of Hip-Hop", the Rock Steady Crew
was honored to be on the same bill. After their
performance, Crazy Legs and Frosty Freeze
asked Afrika Bambaataa if they could be down
with the Zulu Kings, the most highly respected
of all b-boy crews. Afrika Bambaataa allowed
them as well as the entire Rock Steady Crew
to become members of the Zulu Kings, knowing
that they would also become an integral part of
the Zulu Nation.
Soon after that performance the Rock Steady
Crew took the downtown club scene by storm.
They became caught up in a culture clash of
Rastafarians, Punk Rockers, and Hip-Hop heads.
As
the word spread, Rock Steady expanded
into a huge family consisting of women, children,
roller skaters, artists and DJs'. The Crews
popularity grew bigger than the city of New York
and Kool Lady Blue started managing the group.
She booked them on the Roxy Tour, sponsored by
Europe One Radio. The Roxy Tour took the Rock
Steady Crew, Afrika Bambaataa, Fab Five
Freddie, The McDonald Double Dutch Girls,
DJ’s and graffiti artists straight from the "concrete
jungle" to London and Paris. It was the first
Hip-Hop tour of its kind and it opened the door
for many more to follow. The Crew also appeared
on the Jerry Lewis Telethon two years in a row.
In November 1983, they were asked by the Queen
of England to perform at the Royal Variety
Performance in aid of the Artists Benevolent Fund.
During these spectacular performances Charisma Records approached the Rock Steady Crew with a record deal. The record "Hey You, The Rock Steady Crew" was in the top ten charts in Great Britain and sold over a million copies. The Crew, however, saw very little of the proceeds. Due to their lack of knowledge of the music industry at such a young
age, the company took advantage of the Crew and would not allow them any creative input toward their own project. When Charisma Records went out of business and was sold to Virgin Records, the group was put on hold indefinitely. During this time,
the crew's management told them not to dance in
clubs. They tried to convince them that it was in
their best interest not to dance they way they love
to, Just for fun. Suddenly the Crew was on the
outside looking in. By this time they had lost
much of their fame and notoriety. They found
themselves at a dead end with no plans for the
future.
Regardless, the Crew never split up, but they
took some time to regroup and they went their
separate ways. Some members took an optimistic
attitude and went back to school or pursued other
interests. Others did not fare so well.
However, the Crew kept looking forward and took
their anger and disappointment and made
something positive.
In 1989, an up and coming MC / producer named Q-Unique handed Crazy Legs a demo tape hoping to get somewhere in his career. He had no idea about what the kind of journey he was in for. Martial artist Jerry "fast feet" Fontanez, had initiated and inspired Crazy Legs to revamp RSC for the 90’s, so, along
with Q-unique, Crazy Legs went out into the club
scene and started re-associating the world with
the Rock Steady Crew name.
In 1991 Mr. Wiggles approached Crazy Legs
about an idea he and Fable (Magnificent Force)
had for a Hip-Hop musical. Crazy Legs (with the
help of Mr. Wiggles) then needed to persuade former
Ken Swift to start dancing again in order to have
Ken involved as well. The musical was called "So,
What Happens Now?" Rock Steady member Buck 4 (R.I.P) provided the perfect scenario to base the musical on. He said, You don't know what it feels
like to go fill out a job application ...where it says,
'what do you do?' what do I write? I spin on my
head?" "So, What Happens Now?" was the critics choice in the New York Times and received rave reviews in The Village Voice, The Daily News and
El Diario.
In 1992 performance, they received a standing
ovation lead by Gregory Hines at the Kennedy Center
Honors where President George Bush, Gregory Peck
and the Nicholas Brothers were all in attendance.
A Rock Steady Crew Anniversary is held
annually to symbolize the preservation of
the history and evolution of Hip-Hop Culture.
This monumental community event brings out
DJs, b-boys/b-girls, graffiti artists, emcees
and thousands of other positive Hip-Hop heads
from all around the globe. It also honors members
of Rock Steady Crew and
members of the Hip-Hop community that have passed away.
Since their beginning the Rock Steady Crew
has come full circle. Crazy Legs is still president
of the crew and leading the way in from New York
City.
Fabel and Easy Roc are co-vice presidents. They
have added new faces from Las Vegas, Miami and Los
Angeles as well as members in Japan, United Kingdom
and Italy. The difference this time is that they have
total control over their company and their destiny.
"This time we have control over what is going on,"
says Crazy Legs. "We are running it with no one to
answer to and that makes everything we do more
satisfying."
With the Rock Steady
Crews 31st anniversary on
the horizon, they have plenty more goals in sight.
The Rock Steady Crew has bounced back and
performs throughout the world. The Rock Steady
Crew had the honor of performing a piece in
November of 2007 on Dancing With the Stars as
part of the Macy's Stars Of Dance segment. They
remain very active in the community and are
involved in several different outreach programs
as well as holding food drives and donating time
and money to nonprofit organizations.
