Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón, a b-boy since 1977 and veteran of Hip Hop culture, is one of the original members of the Rock Steady Crew and current president. His credits include many of the first Hip Hop tours in the early 80’s, which set the foundation for what the culture has become. He has been featured in such films as Flashdance, Beat Street, Wild Style, Style Wars and The Freshest Kids (which he co-produced) as well as various television programs and music videos. He has appeared in television commercials and print ads for major corporations including Coke, Sprite, Verizon Wireless, Sean John, Avirex and Nike. He participated in the Peabody Award-winning documentary Dance in America: Everybody Dance Now, the Great Performances 20th Anniversary Special, and co-produced the documentary movie The Freshest Kids.As a member of the Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs has performed in a tribute to the Nicholas Brothers at the Kennedy Center Honors, the Royal Variety Performance for Queen Elizabeth II, the Boston Ballet Gala, and in the Lincoln Center Serious Fun! series. He won the 1991 Bessie Award for Choreography and the 1994 Hip Hop Pioneer Award from The Source magazine.

He was inducted into the Hip Hop Hall Of Fame in 2002, was presented with the Source Youth Foundation 2003 Image Award, the 2003 AARTS Award from the Bay Shore Schools Arts Education Fund, and was also honored as the National ImageGodfather of the 2003 Jersey City Puerto Rican Day Parade. Other career highlights include his role in the Off-Broadway play Jam On the Groove, working with Savion Glover, and teaching John Leguizamo to b-boy for his Tony Award-nominated play Freak. He has choreographed music videos for Wyclef Jean (which was nominated for an MTV Award for Best Choreography) and multi-platinum artist Moby.

He and some of the other members of Rock Steady Crew were the first B-boys to perform at Carnegie Hall on Jan 19, 2001. Along with the Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs has toured extensively throughout the U.S., Japan, Australia, South America and Europe.

Crazy Legs hosts and organizes the annual Rock Steady Anniversary, a monumental community event that honors deceased members of the crew and celebrates Hip Hop culture both past and present. The Rock Steady Anniversary attracts deejays, B-boys/B-girls, emcees, writers and thousands of Hip Hop supporters from all around the world. The group also holds an annual Celebrity Basketball Tournament during the Anniversary Celebration that raises money for the Greenwich Village Youth Council in New York. In 2003, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proclaimed July 26th to be “Rock Steady Crew Day” in New York City during their 26th Anniversary Celebration at Pier 54.

When his schedule allows, he volunteers by teaching the art of B-boying and participating in several community outreach programs and workshops. It was his dance program at the Point C.D.C. for young people in the South Bronx that garnered him the “New Yorker of the Week” Award from New York 1 News.

Image2004 was a monumental year for Crazy Legs. He recently signed endorsement deal with Red Bull Energy Drink, which was picked up again for 2005. In 2004 Crazy Legs signed a deal with Fila Sportswear and was the first B-boy to get a sneaker company to honor a group like Rock Steady Crew whit it’s own sneaker. Additionally, the City of Las Vegas awarded the Rock Steady Crew the Key to the City on February 21st, and proclaimed that day to be “Rock Steady Crew Day” in Las Vegas. In July Crazy Legs was awarded the Liberty Bell In The City Of Philadelphia and was also honored with a citation for his contributions to the Hip Hop world. In 2004 the Rock Steady Crew was honored at the first annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors show. Crazy Legs main goal at the moment is to continue to develop new members of Rock Steady Crew so that one of the pillars of Hip Hop will continue to last for generations to come.

Crazy Legs is the president of Backspin Productions, an entertainment company with the mission is to continue to produce Hip Hop events and eventually become a major entertainment company. Crazy Legs’ success is a testament to the longevity of Hip Hop culture.

One Cypher: What’s up everyone, I’m here with Crazy Legs from the world-famous Rock Steady Crew. Thank you for meeting with us.

Crazy Legs: Sure.

One Cypher: Where are you from?

Crazy Legs: I’m from the Bronx.

One Cypher: How do you feel about how b-boying has evolved throughout the years?

Crazy Legs: On certain levels, it’s evolving–when you’re talking about the dynamics of movement. There are some people who choose to do the more spectacular visual stuff. In terms of style and what the dance is supposed to be about, people have compromised in these areas. They’ve compromised the dance element for the visual dynamics. So on some levels the dance has evolved and on other levels the evolution has declined.

One Cypher: Declined in other areas such as…?

Crazy Legs: Sometimes it’s as basic as listening to music. Music dictates through your ears and goes to your heart, for your soul express how you feel. Some people are so caught up in getting the immediate applause that they instead, do just a move that impresses everyone-they compromise the art form as a dance in itself.

One Cypher: When did you first start b-boying?

Crazy Legs: 1977. I went to a jam in the Bronx, my cousin Lenny Len brought me there.

One Cypher: How has hip-hop influenced your life?

Crazy Legs: In every way possible. I’ve developed a self-awareness, had the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures, built confidence in myself, and developed the ability to adapt an art form and be creative within that art form. It has done more for me than anything else could have ever done for me.

One Cypher: Do you feel that hip-hop can be used as a positive tool for the youth or has been used as a positive tool for the youth?

Crazy Legs: Oh yes, that’s why I’ve chosen to stay involved with the culture. Number one, because I love it. Number two, because I’ve lost many friends because of decisions that they have made. Those decisions caught up to them. I eventually came to a cross road and had to make a decision. I could either go the same path of my friends or I could choose a path that would allow me to give back to the community, and that would inspire kids to go in a positive direction.

One Cypher: What is your one main criticism about the b-boy scene?

Crazy Legs: My one main criticism is that some of them do not know how to dance. I will go to club I am not going to break to every record. I want to go to a club and dance. I want to go to a club and have fun, I want to dance with the girls, and chill out with my friends. I’m not going to go to a club and start stretching and shit. Too many of the events are just that. The essence of the jam in the party is missing from a lot of these events. That’s my main complaint.

One Cypher: What do you feel makes the complete b-boy?

Crazy Legs: It involves everything…what they wear in the circle to how they dance to music–how they allow that music to take them on a ride.

One Cypher: Tell me the history of Rock Steady?

Crazy Legs: Rock steady Crew started in 1977. It was formed by Jimmy D, Joe Joe, Jimmy Lee, Easy Mike, Elemack, E body and several other heads. It was originally the Fantastic Four, but too many people wanted to get down with the Fantastic Four. The name of the dance was called Rock, so you know they said, “Let’s keep it rocky, let’s keep it steady.” Let’s call it Rock Steady Crew. I got in the Crew in 1979 with my cousin Lenny Len. We battled Jimmy D and Jimmy Lee to get in to get into Rock Steady. We lost the battle, but we proved that we were able to maintain our heads in the battle, we did well and we came with our own style. Rock Steady was handed down to me in 1981.

One Cypher: What is currently the initiation process to get into Rock Steady?

Crazy Legs: First getting to know the person. Second if the person is already part of a crew, you can’t be in another crew and want to join Rock Steady. It’s either our crew or someone else’s crew, but not both at the same time. Usually in about six months to one year we will decide if we want that person to be down with Rock Steady. They must step to several members of Rock Steady. Especially the main members, and tell them that “they want to get down with you guys.” They have to communicate where their heart is and then go from there. They will have to undergo the initiation battle to keep the tradition alive. There is only one person who has battled to get in and has not made it.

One Cypher: Out of all the crews that you have seen which ones do you give love to?

Crazy Legs: Havikoro, Style Elements…you know there’s a lot crews out there that are really dope. Sometimes I don’t even know who is in which crew. I went to the Furious Styles anniversary last week and they embody the essence of what a real crew is– in terms of family such as brotherhood and sisterhood.

One Cypher: Individually who impresses you?

Crazy Legs: Moi, I love everyone in my Crew, Aristan, Flav is dope. There are a lot of dope people. I like watching the Electric Boogaloos. They are some of my favorite dancers. I don’t pop or anything like that, but they are still some of my favorites dancers. They are like Rock Steady family as well.

One Cypher: After attending almost every b-boy event around the globe, which event stands out in your mind and why?

Crazy Legs: I know it sounds conceited of me, but the Rock Steady Anniversary. Because of the simple fact that we throw a jam that is New York, which happens to be the Mecca of hip-hop. Our events are not just b-boy events it’s everything. Every city has a different feel. If you go to Los Angeles, it’s going to feel one-way. If you go to Miami, it’s going to feel another way. If you go to New York, you’re probably going to bump into some major hip-hop celebrities and pioneers, so it’s like a pilgrimage every year that people go to and it’s a lot of fun. It’s becoming less of an event and more of a party atmosphere. Last year we threw seven events and five of them were free. That was only because we just wanted everybody to have fun, we wanted people to dance, chill, bug out-we wanted to make people see and feel like they went somewhere. They partied, had fun, and saw some dope acts. We get a huge lineup every year by people who want to support Rock Steady Crew. It’s an experience. You know, you go to a free outdoor jam with 15,000 people and somebody pops up on stage that nobody expected and everybody gets so excited and says, oh shit! The whole element of surprise is great. We have a format, but we allow for situations to change halfway through the show, just in case people like KRS-1 comes through and jumps on stage. We say just go do your thang.

One Cypher: What has been your most memorable experience of all time?

Crazy Legs: I would have to say after we did Beat Street, we had battled New York City Breakers at this club in the Bronx called First Class. We roasted the shit out them. It was one of those things that was legendary. It was fun.

One Cypher: How do you feel about breaking in the industry right now?

Crazy Legs: You know, people have to get their hustle on and pay their bills. But just know that whatever you do in a video doesn’t necessarily apply in the circle.

One Cypher: What do you feel the b-boy community can do to help keep this element alive?

Crazy Legs: Right now we are the ones that are growing up having kids. We have to pass it on to the future generations–as opposed to looking for protégés out in the street. Our generation are starting have kids. It’s really up to us to pass this art form down to them. We need to be the ones who take them to go see hip-hop theater. Our parents didn’t take me to see hip-hop theater because it did not exist. But we grew up on hip-hop, so we can take our kids to go support other hip-hop events. I think it’s going to be up to us.

One Cypher: What projects are you working on, and what should we be expecting from you in the near future?

Crazy Legs: First there’s always the Rock Steady Crew Anniversary, which is going down this July 26-30 in NYC. I’ve also been working on a b-boy game with Sony Play Station over the past several months and it should be out in fall of 2006. I’m also doing the Red Bull B-boy Master Classes, which people can get more information about on www.bboymasterclass.com. And then there’s the Red Bull Beat Battle in the UK which is a breaking / popping & locking choreography competition which went over really well in 2005. That’s going to be in effect in November of 2006 as well. More information can be gotten at www.redbullbeatbattle.co.uk. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History is honoring me, for my contributions to Hip Hop. They’ve asked me to donate things from my history to be permanently part of their soon to be exhibit honoring Hip Hop Culture. This is very significant, because it’s something that will be on display for many generations of my family to see. It can serve as an inspiration for all Latinos and hip hop heads in general. I’m a very proud Puerto Rican and this means a lot to me, and my family. But my most important project is my continuing efforts to keep Rock Steady Crew going. The new members have done a great job at holding down the name.

One Cypher: Who inspires you?

Crazy Legs: I’m inspired on different levels. When I watch the continuing drive of people such as George Foreman and Holifield-fight at the age they are, I feel like if they can go in a ring and give/take abuse, then I can do it too still. The new members of Rock Steady inspire me with the energy they bring to practice, and sometimes it’s really nice to be reassured by them about myself, because at a certain age you start to doubt yourself. Their energy is good and they vibe off each other. That’s where I get my inspiration from these days.

One Cypher: Who are the new up-and-coming talent in the bboy/bgirl scene?

Crazy Legs: Jeskills she is a member of Rock Steady and she is a female. She is one of the most gifted females in the scene right now. She has what we call, Ab-girl fever. That’s what we called it back in the days–Where all she wants to do is practice, go battle, and she has that mentality where she doesn’t just want to battle girls, but she is looking for dudes to battle as well. She’s straight raw and she’s got mad flava. She’s a natural and she is extra hard on herself. She comes to practice and she does her thing. The amount of progress that she’s made in one year is unbelievable.

One Cypher: What do you feel is your largest accomplishment?

Crazy Legs: My continued dedication. So many people have jumped in and out of scene, and staying dedicated to something that is grass-roots is a great accomplishment in itself. It could of been very easy for me to sell out if I chose to.

One Cypher: Do you want to give any shout outs?

Crazy Legs: I want to give a shout out to Rock Steady Crew, Zulu Nation that’s it.

One Cypher: If people want to get a hold of you how would they go about doing that?

Crazy Legs: Go to www.rocksteadycrew.com. All my information is on there.

Interview by Shelley Oto

Bio Credit: www.rocksteadycrew.com

Pictures: Ervin Arana