A krumper dancing in Australia.

Krumping, also spelled Krumpin, is a street dance popularized in the United States that is characterized by free, expressive, exaggerated, and highly energetic movement involving the arms, head, legs, chest, and feet.^[1] The youths who started krumping saw the dance as a way for them to escape gang life^[2] and "to release anger, aggression and frustration positively, in a non-violent way."^[3]

History[link]

The root word "Krump" came from the lyrics of a song in the 90s.^[4] It is sometimes spelled K.R.U.M.P., which is a backronym for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise,^[3][4] presenting krumping as a faith-based artform.^[5] Krumping was created by two dancers: Ceasare "Tight Eyez" Willis and Jo'Artis "Big Mijo" Ratti in South Central, Los Angeles, California during the early 2000s.^[2][3][6][7] Clowning is the less aggressive predecessor to krumping and was created in 1992 by Thomas "Tommy the Clown" Johnson in Compton, CA.^[1][3] In the 1990s, Johnson and his dancers, the Hip Hop Clowns, would paint their faces and perform clowning for children at birthday parties or for the general public at other functions as a form of entertainment.^[8] In contrast, krumping focuses on highly energetic battles and dramatic movements^[3] which Tommy describes as intense, fast-paced, and sharp.^[8] CBS news has compared the intensity within krumping to what rockers experience in a mosh pit.^[9] "If movement were words, krumping would be a poetry slam."^[1] Krumping was not directly created by Tommy the Clown; however, krumping did grow out of clowning.^[1][7][10] Ceasare Willis and Jo'Artis Ratti were both originally clown dancers for Johnson but their dancing was considered too "rugged" and "raw" for clowning so they eventually broke away and developed their own style.^[2] This style is now known as krumping. Johnson eventually opened a clown dancing academy and started the Battle Zone competition at the Great Western Forum where krump crews and clown crews could come together and battle each other in front of an audience of their peers.^[3][9]

David LaChapelle's documentary Rize explores the clowning and krumping subculture in Los Angeles. He says of the movement: "What Nirvana was to rock-and-roll in the early '90s is what these kids are to hip-hop. It's the alternative to the bling-bling, tie-in-with-a-designer corporate hip-hop thing."^[11] LaChapelle was first introduced to krump when he was directing Christina Aguilera's music video "Dirrty".^[2] After deciding to make a documentary about the dance, he started by making a short film titled Krumped.^[2] He screened this short at the 2004 Aspen Shortsfest and used the positive reaction from the film to gain more funding for a longer version.^[2] This longer version became Rize which was screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and several other film festivals abroad.^[12]

Aside from Rize, krumping has appeared in several music videos including Madonna's "Hung Up", Missy Elliott's "I'm Really Hot", The Black Eyed Peas' "Hey Mama", and Chemical Brothers "Galvanize".^[8] The dance has also appeared in the movie Bring It On: All or Nothing, the television series Community, and the reality dance competitions So You Think You Can Dance and America's Best Dance Crew. Russell Ferguson, the winner of the sixth season of So You Think You Can Dance, is a krumper. The original web series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers also featured krumping in season one during the fifth episode, "The Lettermakers".

Style[link]

There are four primary moves in krump: jabs, arm swings, chest pops, and stomps.^[6] Krumping is rarely choreographed; it is almost entirely freestyle (improvisational) and is danced most frequently in battles or sessions rather than on a stage. Krumping is different stylistically from other hip-hop dance styles such as b-boying^[8] and turfing. Krumping is very aggressive and is danced upright to upbeat and fast-paced music,^[3] whereas b-boying is more acrobatic and is danced on the floor to break beats. The Oakland dance style turfing is a fusion of popping and mimeing that incorporates storytelling and illusion. Krumping is less precise than these and more freestyle.^[3] Thematically, all these dance styles share common ground including their street origins, their freestyle nature, and the use of battling. These commonalities bring them together under the umbrella of hip-hop dance.

Vocabulary[link]

• Battle: when competitors face-off in a direct dance competition where the use of arm swings and chest movements known as flares and bucks are extremely common.
• Biter: someone who attends sessions or watches battles in order to feed on others' styles and originality so that they can mimic those moves later at another battle and pass them off as coming from their own inventiveness i.e. plagiarism.
• Session: when a group of krumpers form a circle, or cipher in hip-hop context, and one-by-one go into the middle and freestyle.
• Buck: a term used to describe a dancer who excels in krumping.
• Call-Out: when a krumper initiates a battle with another dancer by "call"ing them "out".
• Labbin': when krumpers get together to create new moves and/or adapt their style.
• Kill-Off: when a krumper performs a move that excites the crowd to the point where the battle is over and the crowd surrounds said krumper; the opponent is "killed off."
• Jabs: short, sharp, staccato movements using the arms.
• Swag: the unique style, movement, and character shown by a dancer.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Origins of KRUMP by Tight Eyez & Big Mijo on YouTube
• Krumping in Rize on YouTube

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Thomas Johnson, also known as Tommy the Clown, is an American dancer best known as the inventor of the "clowning" style of dance, which evolved into krumping. Johnson invented the style in 1992 to enhance birthday party clown acts, thereby creating the concept of "hip-hop clowns". Johnson and his followers have performed at birthday parties ranging from inner city communities to celebrities like Madonna, Pamela Anderson, and Cedric the Entertainer.^[1] He achieved international acclaim as focus of David LaChapelle's 2005 documentary RIZE. Tommy the clown also danced with Ray Ray, of Mindless Behavior fame.

Biography[link]

Thomas Johnson was born in Detroit, Michigan and was raised in South Central Los Angeles, California. Growing up, he, as did many of his friends and neighbors in the community, often found himself falling in and out of trouble. After Johnson spent five years in jail he realized that his lifestyle needed a significant change. He acquired a job as a typist clerk until 1992 when he received his first opportunity to perform; a co-worker asked him to be a clown at her child’s birthday celebration because of his entertaining personality. He accepted the job, thus, creating his Tommy the Clown persona. After this event, Tommy the Clown lead the way in the stirring dance movement called “Clowning” and “Krumping”. He also developed this form of dance in response to the 1992 Rodney King riots.^[2] He is now internationally known as the "Father of Krumping".^[3]

Tommy’s performances incorporated the current music and dancing of the time and he encouraged the children to get up and dance with him and he soon developed loyal followers throughout Los Angeles. He used this opportunity to give children the chance to take an interest in dancing rather than drugs or gang activity and established a dance crew called the Hip Hop Clowns who performed with him at parties. His only rules for his crew were as follows: “No gangs, No drugs, Do well in school (grades, attendance and behavior) and be a role model by living a positive lifestyle at all times". ^[4]

By the year 1986, there were over sixty clown crews in Los Angeles. To avoid a clashing of these different groups, Tommy took it upon himself he held weekly dance battles at his former Tommy the Clown Academy where an audience judged who was best. The popularity of these contests flourished and Tommy created and hosted the Battle Zone event—an official dance battle featuring community dancers and celebrity guests. Tommy’s dance phenomenon caught the attention of the acclaimed director and photographer, David LaChapelle. Feeling inclined to capture this movement on film, LaChapelle directed the 2005 Lions Gate Films documentary, RIZE.^[5]
Since then, Tommy the Clown and the Hip Hop Clowns have been traveling the globe performing and making appearances to spread the movement, as well as performing for various celebrities. Tommy has also appeared at numerous schools and colleges across the United States. He has a partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide an in-school Clowning and Krumping workshop based on the California Education Standards. He also provides a variety of youth programs in schools and the community.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Tommy the Clown on Myspace
• Tommy the Clown at the Internet Movie Database
• Tommy the Clown at Dance Channel TV

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