Who is the Jabbawockeez? The entertainment & dance world knows the Jabbawockeez as a seven-member, male, hip-hop dance crew best known for being the winners of the first season of America's Best Dance Crew.
They were initially formed by members Kevin "KB" Brewer, Phil "Swagger
Boy" Tayag, & Joe "Punkee" Larot under the name "3 Muskee". By 2004,
their members included Ben "B-Tek" Chung, Chris "Cristyle" Gatdula,
Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio, and Jeff "Phi" Nguyen. The Jabbawockeez do
not have a leader of the group; choreography for their performances as
well as music and design choices are made as a collective unit.[4] They always perform wearing white masks (rare they wear other colour mask) and white gloves.[4]Contents |
Early Career
Phil "Swagger Boy" Tayag, Kevin "KB" Brewer, and Joe "Punkee" Larot
began performing as a trio called "Three Musky" in Sacramento,
California while wearing white masks and gloves. The mask and glove
motif was adopted as a tribute to the 1960s San Francisco strutting crew
Medea Sirkas. Gary "Gee One" Kendall and Randy "DJ Wish One" Bernal
were both members of the MindTricks dance crew who were active in the
San Francisco Bay Area. Both the MindTricks dance crew and the Three
Muskee were friends and associates with each other. Tayag, Brewer, and
Larot all later moved to the San Diego area and what began as an effort
to start a Southern California chapter of the MindTricks crew later
evolved into JabbaWockeeZ.Established in 2003[4] in San Diego, California, Jabbawockeez is the brainchild of the "Three Musky" who wanted to showcase freestyle dance. The name Jabbawockeez, coined by Joe Larot, was inspired by the fantastical monster from the Lewis Carroll nonsense poem Jabberwocky.[4] The white masks and gloves from Phil, Kevin, and Joe's performances as Three Musky were adopted as the visual signature of the group. In San Diego, through Gary's connections, the Jabbawockeez added b-boys Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio and Chris "Cristyle" Gatdula to the group. The original seven member iteration of the Jabbawockeez began performing as a group in 2004. This lineup consisted of Gary, Randy, Phil, Kevin, Joe, Rynan, and Chris.
Jabbawockeez rounded out their numbers with additional members, bringing their total to eleven. Phoenix native Jeff "Phi" Nguyen had met Rynan Paguio at various Los Angeles area auditions and performances and earned a spot in the Jabbawockeez in 2004 by battling Kevin Brewer.[4] The Jabbawockeez also brought Kaba Modern alumnus Ben "B-Tek" Chung and b-boys Eddie "Eddiestyles" Gutierrez and Saso "Saso Fresh" Jimenez into the fold. Stylistically, the Jabbawockeez style of dance features an eclectic mix of various urban styles, primarily popping & b-boying, along with a careful synchronicity to choreography which one member dubs "Beat-Kune-Do" (a play on the word "Jeet Kune Do", a martial arts style created by Bruce Lee). In 2007, the JabbaWockeeZ appeared on the second season of America's Got Talent. Performing with nine members, the group was eliminated in the Las Vegas callbacks episode. In 2008, they auditioned and were accepted onto the first season of America's Best Dance Crew.
America's Best Dance Crew
The Jabbawockeez auditioned a seven-member contingent for the first season of America's Best Dance Crew,
because of crew member limits imposed by the show. Originally, the ABDC
group was supposed to consist of Gary Kendell, Phil Tayag, Kevin
Brewer, Joe Larot, Rynan Paguio, Chris Gatdula, and Phi Nguyen; however,
Gary died that year, and Joe suffered a knee injury during the audition
rounds. The group chose Ben Chung to replace Joe on the show and left
Gary's spot vacant, proceeding with six members. They eventually went on
to become the winners of the show. The win earned the crew $100,000
(USD).[5]Season 1 performances
| Week | Challenge | Music | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Audition Special | None | "We Came Here to Party (Remix)" by Tony Yayo | Safe |
| 1: Crew's Choice Challenge | None | "Apologize" by Timbaland ft. OneRepublic | Safe |
| 2: Video Star Challenge | Crews must duplicate choreography in assigned music video |
"Ice Box" by Omarion | Safe |
| 3: Dance Craze Challenge | Crews must create the illusion of defying gravity |
"Lean wit It, Rock wit It" by Dem Franchize Boyz | Safe |
| 4: Movie Character Challenge | Character: Thieves | "Ayo Technology" by 50 Cent ft. Justin Timberlake | Safe |
| 5: Thriller Challenge | Incorporate Michael Jackson's moves in their routine | "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" by Michael Jackson | Safe |
| 6: Broadway Remixed Challenge | "Partners:" Kaba Modern Status Quo BreakSk8 |
"It's the Hard Knock Life" (mastermix) from the musical Annie | Safe |
| The Charleston | "All That Jazz" (mastermix) from the musical Chicago | Safe | |
| 7: Evolution of Street Dance | Crews must tell the history of hip-hop dance using the same five songs |
"Funkytown" by Lipps Inc "It's Like That" by Run DMC & Jason Nevins "It's Just Begun" by Jimmy Castor Bunch "Push It" by Salt N Pepa "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync "Get Buck in Here" by DJ Felli Fel |
Bottom 2 |
| Encore Round | "The Red Pill" (mastermix of "The Time Is Now (Bambino Casino Remix)" by Moloko and "Red Dragon" by Swollen Members) by District 78 | Safe | |
| 8: The Live Finale | "Partners:" Kaba Modern Fysh N Chicks |
"Tell Me When to Go" by E-40 ft. Keak da Sneak | Champions |
| "Partner:" Status Quo |
Step routine | ||
| Champion's Encore | "Stronger" by Kanye West |
Post-ABDC career
Since ABDC, the Jabbawockeez have appeared in a Pepsi,[6][4] and Gatorade commercial,[4] and performed on Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, The Ellen DeGeneres Show,[7] and Live with Regis and Kelly. They also made a cameo appearance in Step Up 2 The Streets,[8] launched their own clothing line, and toured with New Kids on the Block,[4][9] and Jesse McCartney.[4] Along with the ABDC season 2 winner, Super Cr3w, Jabbawockeez were the opening act for the Battle of the VMAs ABDC special.[10][11] The group also made an appearance on Cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model during the episode "Dance With Me" to help the contestants learn how to convey emotions with their bodies.On February 15, 2009, they accompanied and danced with NBA All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal in his NBA All-Star Game player introduction.[12] On October 16, 2009, they performed in front of a crowd of 35,000 at the University of Florida's Gator Growl.[13]
Australia tour
The Jabbawockeez toured Australia from August 28 to August 30, 2009. The three-day tour was for Australian fans who were unable to see the crew due to the cancellation of the Australian leg of New Kids on the Block's Full Service Tour. The group performed in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane and made several appearances on MTV Iggy.Other ABDC appearances
On April 15, 2010 the Jabbawockeez returned to the ABDC stage for the Champions for Charity episode along with the other 4 champions Super Cr3w, Quest Crew, We Are Heroes, and newly titled Season 5 champions Poreotix. Each crew was to benefit a charity,the Jabbawockeez had been working with a cancer survivor who, after having his left leg amputated, went on to become a successful Paralympic skier and create a social networking site for amputees to ask questions, get answers and develop an active community. In their performance they introduced a new routine that no one had seen before and a new song that was put on their album Mus.I.C produced by The Bangerz, Robot Remains. That night the Robot Remains Mixtape was released for a free download at www.thebangerz.com. For the season finale of season 6 of ABDC the Jabbawockeez made an appearance along with the other champions as they brought in the season 6 champions I.aM.mE.The crew performed into a mastermix entitled Devastating Stereo.Las Vegas show
On May 7,2010, the Jabbawockeez debuted their own live stage special at the MGM Grand Hollywood Theater in Las Vegas, entitled MÜS.I.C. They are the first dance crew to headline a show in Las Vegas.[4] The show ran from May 7 to May 26 and included members from Super Cr3w, the winners of season two of America's Best Dance Crew.
Music for the show was produced by DJ collective, The Bangerz. Since
its initial run at the MGM Grand, the show moved to the Monte Carlo
Resort and Casino where it ran five nights a week and is now at Jupiters
Casino on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.JBWKZ Records
Since their MÜS.I.C show, the Jabbawockeez made an album
consisting of all the songs that they used in the show. It was released
March 1, 2011 on iTunes. Since this time, they have been working to
establish JBWKZ Records by promoting fellow member Phil "Swagger Boy"
Tayag, who was a part of the indie hip-hop group KNGDM with his brother
P.C. and friend Kilo. KNGDM released "The Goodbye Mixtape" in 2010,
which included a song by Phil titled, "Ima Get It". Phil released an EP
on February 12, 2012, titled "Privileged", along with two videos on the
Jabbawockeez YouTube channel for "Ima Get It" and "F N G". "F N G"
featured Phil's brother and former KNGDM member P.C. The album is
available on iTunes and was released on JBWKZ Records. The video for
"Ima Get It" was directed by fellow Jabawockeez member Chris Gatdula.
The song "F N G" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2012 movie
"Project X".To see more did you know facts about the Jabbawockeez click here.
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