WILD STYLE SPECIAL 4: MR. FREEZE

I wasn’t with Rock Steady from the jump, although I knew the guys before I joined them. I didn’t join Rock Steady untill I met Crazy Legs, in 1978. He took over the crew in 1981 and asked me to join a few years later. I do feel priveleged to be in the crew. I feel priveleged to even grow up in a neighbourhood where it all started. Especially coming from a French mother and a German father, after we moved to New York in 1970. I was around all the creators. I watched Grand Wizard Theodore do his very first scratch. I was just very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Forget about Rock Steady, that came after! But I am very happy to be a part of it, nonetheless.

Rock Steady Crew is nooit een bron van inkomsten geweest voor Mr. Freeze. Voordat hiphop de commerciële tour nam, waren er voor niemand carrièremogelijkheden te vinden in de New Yorkse breakdancecultuur.

In the beginning of hiphop, nobody really cared about being able to make a living out of it. I danced because I liked to dress up, go to jams and hope that certains crews were going to be there. We just wanted to show off our skills. But if you look at the later years of hiphop, when people started doing shows, everything became more commercial. So it did become like that, like a job. For me personally, I never did it as a job. Although I must admit, when I started to work at a young age, I wanted to make some money out of b-boying somehow, on the side. But it was very difficult. And it still is, even after the commercialization of hiphop. You can do an audition, or tour with a big artist, but there’s a chance of one in a million for any dancer something like that will happen. There’s a little more opportunity nowadays, you have shows like America’s Best Dancecrew, stuff like that. But even if you win, you’re still just a dancer. You’re not going to make a living out of it. If you can’t make money out of it, or you can’t sell it, nodoby cares.

Terwijl rap als het zoontje van een rijke en machtige vader rechtstreeks naar de top ging in de jaren ’80, was het voor de andere elementen in hiphop buffelen voor een noemenswaardige plek in de samenleving. Het breakdancen moest het vooral hebben van publiciteit in films.

The movie Flashdance did something for breakdancing, but not really for my carreer. I’ve never made a living out of this, and I still don’t. I do other things for work. But as far as people knowing me, like you, I think Flashdance takes responsibility for that. That movie was also huge for Rock Steady. After the movie came out, the name Rock Steady completely blew up in the world. Everyone wanted to see it now.

Mr. Freeze ziet het nut er niet van in om vandaag de dag nog lid te worden van Rock Steady. The new kid on the block voegt, volgens Freeze, niets toe aan de crew. Het zal altijd om de originele line-up draaien.

I always said Crazy Legs and I have different views. To get into Rock Steady, you have to show you’ve been given the gift of dance. More importantly, you have to show that you WANT to be a part of it. It takes a couple of years to get in, you have to be invited. I personally don’t understand why anyone would even want to be in Rock Steady nowadays. If you’d come in now, you’d just be a new guy. People want to see Crazy Legs, they want to see Ken Swift, Mr. Freeze, Mr. Wiggles, know what I mean? It’s like me saying, ‘I want to be in U2’. People don’t care if I was in U2, they want to see Bono. I’m not saying I don’t accept new members of Rock Steady, I just don’t think anyone really cares. European breakers, like Storm and Maurizio, made a name out of themselfs by being good at what they do. Storm is a giant when it comes to breaking. He’s worldwide, but he doesn’t need to be in the crew. He’s incredible on his own.

Mr. Freeze zit nog steeds niet in U2, maar houdt zich wel bezig met zijn eigen clubavond. De ietwat versleten b-boy voelt zich tegenwoordig iets te oud om elke avond een backspin eruit te gooien.

I do club promotions, I put on oldschool funk and soul nights. Strictly oldschool, you have to come dressed oldschool too! Usually I stop the party at around 1 o’clock in the morning, and I do a b-boy circle. I don’t drop in myself though. I haven’t danced in years. Don’t worry, I still got my skills! But I’m forty-five, so I’m not really interested anymore. I still enjoy it every now and then, when I do the b-boy thing in my club, I let other b-boys do their thing. For me to jump in, I feel like I’d be just showing off. Everyone knows what I’ve done, plus these new guys are much better than me. There’s no reason for me to drop in. I use the cirle for something else now. After the breaking, I let everyone know, that whoever uses a computer to DJ, is NOT A DJ! It’s just a computerprogram. This technology, which is ok, just doesn’t fit with what I’m about. If I’m going to have an oldschool night, I’ve got to have a vinylist. You can’t just put on a record on a computer. You have to mix it, it has to be done authentically.

Tot zover alweer deel 4 van de Wildstyle special. Het einde van de zevendelige serie is helaas al in zicht. Voor de special spraken we nog onder andere met de legendarische DJ Grand Wizard Theodore! Binnenkort lees je op House of Hiphop alles over het gesprek met de uitvinder van het scratchen. Stay tuned! 

Hier onder een overzicht met alle interviews uit de Wild Style Special reeks:

WILD STYLE SPECIAL 1: Kool Moe Dee
WILD STYLE SPECIAL 2: Crazy Legs
WILD STYLE SPECIAL 3: Fab 5 Freddy
WILD STYLE SPECIAL 4: MR. FREEZE
WILD STYLE SPECIAL 5: GRAND WIZARD THEODORE
WILD STYLE SPECIAL 6: Charlie Ahearn
WILD STYLE SPECIAL 7: Busy Bee