I was always fascinated by backup dancers. Yo! MTV Raps made stars out of them. Even Tupac began his career as a backup dancer for Digital Underground. Back then, Scoob & Scrap Lover were two of my favorites. And why not? As dancers for Big Daddy Kane, they were always around girls (BDK had hella groupies!), they had the freshest fades, but most importantly, they had some of the illest moves! I remember hurrying home from school everyday hoping to catch the “Lean On Me” video just so I could copy their running man (see :57).
I think I was a dancer in my past life. In my head, I could do all the moves… I had as much skill as Crazy Legs (Rock Steady Crew) and mad style like one of the Soul Brothers (backup dancers for Def Jef). In reality, I have two left feet (Read: DJ). I do have a lot of friends who dance, and many of them were inspired by the 1992 PBS documentary “Wreckin’ Shop from Brooklyn”. Directed by Diane Martel, this documentary captured the vibe of the early 90’s hip-hop era, and features pioneering hip-hop/house dancers from New York such as the Mop Top Crew and the Misfits. A VHS copy of “Wreckin’ Shop from Brooklyn” was long considered holy grail status… That was before youtube, at least.
