For years, poverty has sunk its teeth into the lives of people across the globe. Poverty in itself, in my eyes allows for a new mentality and opportunity. People who don’t have as much as another individual tend to be more appreciative of the little things in life and value things differently. For example, for a wealthy, young kid from Beverly Hills, it may take a lot of fancy material objects to gain a sense of utility or happiness. But for the kid walking down the rough streets of Philadelphia or the poorer areas of Los Angeles, simply finding something; anything, to hold onto and enjoy will be valued. Thus I shall introduce the dance known as “Krumping”. This became the escape for many people in poverty and the less fortunate. Krumping has been built upon certain morals and beliefs while being infused with culture from the streets to create an outlet. Not only is there a newfound sense of security brought to the people dancing, but there is a community everyone can belong to and can be their own choreographer with a positive spiritual energy.
Krumping is an urban art form that reflects the African American expressive culture and street culture. The location of Krumping and its history of violence has propelled the style into a mainstream stage that can be viewed as “the streets”. Krumping got its start in the 1990s in the deep tissues of Los Angeles and the root word “Krump” came from the lyrics of a song in the 1990s. It is sometimes spelled K.R.U.M.P., which is a backronym for “Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise”. This gives krumping the appearance of a faith-based art form. Krumping was created and introduced by mainly two dancers: Jo’Artis “Big Mijo” Ratti and Ceasare “Tight Eyez” Willis in South Central, Los Angeles in the early 2000s. For additional background on krumping and how it got its start, one should look at another form of dance known as clowning. This is the less aggressive predecessor to krumping and was created in 1992 by Thomas “Tommy the Clown” Johnson. Johnson was from Compton, California and in the 1990s, Johnson alongside his dancers known as the Hip Hop Clowns, would paint their faces and perform their art for children at birthday parties or for the general public as a form of entertainment.
In contrast, krumping focuses on highly energetic battles and dramatic movements which can be described as fast-paced, intense, and sharp. Major news corporations who have done stories on krumping such as CBS News have compared the intensity within krumping to what people experience in a mosh pit. “If movement were words, krumping would be a poetry slam” (CBS News). Krumping was not directly created by Tommy the Clown but krumping did grow out of clowning. Ceasare Willis and Jo’Artis Ratti were both experienced, original clown dancers under Johnson but their dancing was considered different. Their styles were looked at as too “rough” and “rugged” for the theme of clowning so they left clowning and created their own style which is now identified as krumping. It is interesting to see this branching out from Willis and Ratti because Johnson eventually opened his own clown dancing academy and started the “Battle Zone” competition at the location of the Great Western Forum. In this competition, krump and clown crews would meet and battle each other in front of an audience built up of their fellow dancers. It was almost as though they were destined to meet again; what better way that to match up their unique dancing styles?
Born in the 1990s from the deep tissues of Los Angeles, krumping blends elements of spiritual and physical energy. Krumping is a prominent, emerging movement that is quite refreshing on the dance scene of things and explodes with positive energy. It comes from a torn world of poverty and oppression. As a spiritual art form it encompasses main elements of its religion and history through its powerful sounds (music usually hip hop) and movements. Through its spirituality, krump transforms its African American dance form to a community form of public art while including its street culture through music. This can be viewed as a creative outlet or escape for the hardships of the urban life people are forced to lead. Each and every element in krump secretes the purest of energy in a unique way that allows each performer to release the pent up frustration built up inside of them. This is done through its highly energetic movements, expressiveness, and the physical toll taken on the performer’s body.
The history of Krump and its unique spiritual energy originates from the hard streets of Southern Los Angeles, California. There is also a way to trace it back to its deepest roots embedded in African tribal culture. Born amongst the 1965 Watts riots and the 1992 Rodney King riots, the dance created an escape for the youth. Being brought up in a community dominated by violence, oppression, and racism left the youth striving to belong to something. Their need for support from their families that were surrounded by substance abuse and violence could never be fulfilled. This made them grow up harder and more mentally closed-off from the rest of the world. Most of the youth would turn to gang life in a desperate attempt to feel compassion. The continuous recruitment by gangs permeated a sense of hopelessness and left the youth trapped in a world of violence. Once this krump dance movement emerged, which stemmed from the dissatisfaction from their daily struggles, krump became the way for troubled young people in the trap to express themselves. It helped them escape their lives ruled by gangs and controlled by violence.
Most may think that since this dance style was not created on a stage in a clean venue that it is an unorganized, disassembled art form with no bounds. It is true that this form of dance does have very flexible boundaries, however there are still structural aspects to this expressive art form. Krumping at its roots shows traces of the African tribal culture where dancers would perform in a circle. This allowed them to assert their sense of community. The circle is an arena in which a warrior flourishes. The ring shouts that of slave times, where slaves would move around in a circle while clapping and stomping. Krump dancers create structured and organized groups or “crews” whose tight-knit loyalty and commitment allow a sense of family that extend beyond dance and overlook the trap situation created by the streets. These dance crews of fellow Krumpers provide the support that many others in their community don’t get to feel from their own families at home. Through their oppressed street life, the culture behind krumping allowed an alternative to the trap created by gang ridden lifestyle.