DJ HOOCH – ( UK BBOY CHAMPIONSHIPS/ UNDISPUTED MASTERS)
KILLA KELA: King hooch man, let’s get into this like 26 years of the UK BBOY Championships, a coveted event, a trusted platform forever in my mind. How do you keep up the stamina, stay fresh and keep progressing and moving every year?
DJ HOOCH: I think that is an interesting question because I think we’ve been very lucky to be on such a high plateau from the beginning. In 1996 when I started the champs, we were on TV and the newspaper straight away so I knew something was up and there was a good reaction from the public . We outgrew our first venue within two years. I think up till 2012 it was just non-stop but I think after 2012 people weren’t necessarily following breaking so much and so we kind of settled into a different level of audience size and became more self-sufficient without big sponsors. Once the Olympics were announced the interest started to pick up again.
KILLA KELA: You also are the president of Breaking GB, tell me about that?
DJ HOOCH: Yes, Breaking GB is tasked with delivering UK breakers to
the Olympics in Paris in 2024. It’s a whole nother side breaking that I’ve really enjoyed and I love the Journey of it all. I’ve always seen Breaking in the same category as other extreme sports like skateboarding so the Olympics seemed like a natural step for the sport.
KILLA KELA: How does a sport like breaking have to be tweaked for the Olympics?
DJ HOOCH: I think the the main thing was that the judging has to be transparent and detailed. When we created Undisputed, one of the things we wanted to do was create a judging system that would start that transparency because if you’ve ever been to the champs or major breaking events quite often the decisions were purely subjective. When it comes to the Olympics there needs to be much more detailed criteria for the judging system that’s fair and consistent.
KILLA KELA: Do you think the culture of breaking will change now that it is an Olympic sport?
DJ HOOCH: Breaking isn’t just a sport, it’s also an art, it’s part of hip-hop culture. I think it’s to be expected that there are going to be separate disciplines within breaking culture. You know there’s going to be competition breaking and then a type of breaking that is free of any Olympic restrictions. I think there is definitely a responsibility of anyone who’s involved in the culture to make sure that the jam element of it, the cypher element, the party element and the social exchange element remains as well.
KILLA KELA: Now that Breaking is in the international arena, what’s the feeling like at the moment from a British side?
DJ HOOCH: Everyone’s feeling pretty good. We’ve got a programme that’s trying to develop and assist our top bboys and bgirls. We’re just starting to access what’s available in funding from UK sport, where we can help the dancers so they don’t have to worry about financial burdens with training spots or travel to events.
KILLA KELA: Who do you think are the top contenders currently?
DJ HOOCH: We’ve you know we’ve got SunnI and Karam who are both individual world champions and both highly motivated to get to Paris. For the girls we’ve got are Roxy who’s you know our current number one. You know she’s somewhat of a veteran now but she’s still so fresh. We’ve got Terra, We’ve got a lot of other girls who are really trying to claim that spot so it’s competitive for sure .
KILLA KELA: If you could pick any breaker from the elite all-star for British breaking, who do you think would kill it at the olympics?
DJ HOOCH: Oh god pressure’s on, Sunni and Karam but also, Mouse and EVO….those would be my go-tos.
KILLA KELA PODCAST #359 DJ HOOCH
Todays podcast is with one of UK street culture’s heroes.. a career spanning almost 3 decades in Breakdancing/Bboying; from early club promoting and building the UK Breakdance Championships empire, to now forging alliance with Undisputed Master’s worldwide and working with the Olympic Games for Bboying to finally become a recognised sport in 2024. This is the man with the plan DJ Hooch of the UK BBOY Championships & undisputed masters 🔥👑🔥 Today we’re talking up to date news on the recent UK BBoy Champs : Body breaking moments and blow by blow accounts from last weeks seminal U.K BBoy Event. Plus the intel behind Olympics 2024 – the Undisputed Masters series and much much more! This is going to be the first of many conversations with this gentleman and with many more BBoy podcasts on the way, who better to fill you in on the world of U.K BBoying!? This is HOOCH’s PODCAST, Enjoy!