Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost (December 4, 1963 – April 3, 2008), also known as The Freeze To Please, was an American
old school hip hop
Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...
b-boy known as a member of the second generation of the hip hop/
breakdancing
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
group,
Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song " (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" (from the group's first studio album ...
.
He was known for his comedic, acrobatic, and inventive style. His trademark move is known as "dead man drop", a move that he created accidentally by attempting a poorly executed backflip and landing on his back.
His was featured in movies such as ''
Flashdance
''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend ...
'', ''
Wild Style'', ''
Style Wars
''Style Wars'' is an American 1983 documentary film on hip hop culture, directed by Tony Silver and produced in collaboration with Henry Chalfant. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although bboying and rapping are covered to a lesser extent ...
'', and ''The Freshest Kids''; he also appeared on the cover of ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' in 1981. He was featured in early hip hop music videos such as
Afrika Bambaataa and The Soulsonic Force's "
Planet Rock" and
Malcolm McLaren's "
Buffalo Gals
"Buffalo Gals" is a traditional American song, written and published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White". The song was widely popular throughout the United States, where minstrels often ...
".
In 2004, he and several other members of The Rock Steady Crew were honored at the
VH-1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...
Hip Hop Honors.
Frosty Freeze resided in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He regularly made appearances at many hip-hop events throughout the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere in the country.
Death
He was stricken with an undisclosed illness during early 2008, went on life support on March 27, and died on April 3, 2008.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeze, Frosty
American breakdancers
People from the Bronx
1963 births
2008 deaths
20th-century American dancers