Ask any bboy about Canadian Bboying and they will no doubt mention Supernaturalz Crew somewhere as they have had a massive influence on the bboying scene and definately paid dues. During a UK tour we caught up with Supernaturalz Crew member Bboy Puzzles for a short interview. Here’s what went down
Please introduce yourself:
Wassup, I’m Puzzles, Supernaturalz Crew, Toronto Canada
How long have you been dancing for?
I’ve been dancing for about 14 years now, going on to 15, so yeah, it’s been a fun journey
How did todays workshop go?
Todays workshop was great, I actually was looking forward to coming to Cambridge because I’ve been told it’s a really like old school, historic part of the UK, so a lot of stuff reminds me of the movie Harry Potter, other than that the bboys they picked stuff up real quick, I moved on very very fast and most of the bboys got it so it was really good overall. It was a dope workshop
On your current tour, which countries are you off to next?
I’m going to Dublin, Ireland next, pretty excited for that and then after that I’m going to belgium for a battle, I’m pretty busy
Have you enjoyed your stay in the UK so far?
Yes, I’ve only met bboys so far but the bboys are super cool, the food’s good, the only thing is I haven’t tried fish and chips yet but I plan to but I’m enjoying UK so far, except the weather, it’s always raining, other than that everything’s cool
What first got you into bboying?
First thing that got me into it was the girls, I hung out with people that were older than me and they told me a good way to get a girls attention was to hit up the school dance and do a little bit of breaking, so I got into it because I wanted to holla at the girls
Whats the bboying and hiphop scene like in Canada?
I can’t speak for all of Canada because I haven’t been to alot of place in Canada but in Toronto it’s dope because what we have in Toronto is a scene that really understands hiphop, so we don’t have a lot of the big stage competitions, we rarely actually do, maybe once a year, but what we have is a lot of hiphop parties. The hiphop parties bboys go, enjoy the music, if they hear a song they like, the cypher breaks out and we just have a good time so I like it, I think a lot of bboys understand hiphop out there, a lot of bboys understand that they’re not in it just for the bboying, they’re in it for the whole music, the whole culture, a lot of them do more than one element, a lot of them dance, a lot of them write, a lot of them DJ and MC, I think it’s a really dope scene
From your experiences, what are your thoughts on the UK breakin scene?
I feel the UK scene is really humble, I feel the bboys here are willing to learn, they work hard and they’re quick to pick stuff up, I haven’t seen much more than a couple of workshops though so I’m really excited to get out there and meet more bboys from what I’ve seen, the attitudes really positive and everyone’s really humble, and if you have those traits you’ll get good real quick
What music do you listen to?
I listen to everything, it just depends on my mood, I listen to funk, hiphop, I got into electro because of my homie from Finland, sometimes I even listen to pop music, just depends on whatever mood I feel, I listen to classical, like Frank Sinatra stuff sometimes, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, I like the classics, James Brown of course. Everything, except heavy metal, I can’t get into that, I tried though
Who are your favourite hiphop artists from the US and also from Canada?
I have a lot, obviously Wu Tang, EPMD, Kriss Kross, like Kanye, Mos Def, KRS One. From Canada K-os, K-os is one of my favourite artists
Have you ever tried, or are you interested in graffiti?
I tried, I’m just real bad at it, one of my crewmates is a graffiti artist, he took me bombing a couple of times but my paint drips so I stick to sketching, I like graffiti though, it’s really dope, you have to be really talented to be able to put that stuff on a wall real quick, it’s a culture that I wanna get into more
Any shoutouts?
I wanna shout out to all the bboys in the UK, keep dancing, keep it funky, have fun. Shout out to my crew Supernaturalz, wanna give a big shout out to homegirl, I call her fanta, her real name is Faizah, just for bringing me out here and setting me up with these workshops, it’s dope and bboys all over the world, just have fun
Interview by Joe Downes
Photo and workshop trailer by bboy Wattsy: www.designsteez.com www.illsessions.co.uk
