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 ''

Ready for Battle ''Ready for Battle'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop group the Rock Steady Crew. It was released in 1984 via Virgin Records. Production was handled by Budd "Blue Soldier" Dixon and Stephen Hague. The album peaked at #19 on the VG-li ...

'') peaked at No. 6 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and reached the top 10 in many European countries. Members of Rock Steady Crew featured in the films ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...

'', which ignited international interest in the b-boy subculture.

History

The group was initially formed in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1977 by b-boys Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee. The

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

branch was created by Crazy Legs and B-Boy Fresh. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the Rock Steady Crew "the foremost

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 ...

group in the world today."

Notable members

* Crazy Legs * DJ Cucumber Slice *

DJ Qbert Richard Quitevis (born October 7, 1969) known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is an American turntablist and composer. He was awarded America's Best DJ in 2010, was DMC USA Champion 1991 (solo) and achieved titles as DMC World Champion in ...

Fever One Carter "Fever One" McGlasson is a breakdancer and DJ originally from Seattle, Washington who relocated to New York City in 1997, and eventually joined the world-famous Rock Steady Crew. He is most well known for his 'gunzblazin' style which he de ...

Madchild Shane Bunting (born October 21, 1975), better known by his stage name Madchild, is a Canadian rapper. He is part of the Vancouver-based hip hop group Swollen Members. In 2009, he released a solo EP titled ''The Madchild EP''. In 2012, he rele ...

Mr. Wiggles Steffan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente is a street dancer, noted for his popping skills. He is a member of the Rock Steady Crew, The Electric Boogaloos, Tribal Click, Zulu Nation, and TC5, also known as The Cool Five or The Crazy Five. Wiggles has bee ...

Q-Unique Anthony Quiles (born June 27, 1972), better known by his stage name Q-Unique, is an American rapper, record producer and a member of rap group Arsonists and the hard rock band StillWell. He also contributed vocals for dance/hip-hop group C+C Mu ...

Rahzel Rozell Manely Brown (born October 6, 1964) is an American beatboxer and rapper, formerly a member of the Roots. Rahzel is known for an ability to sing or rap while simultaneously beatboxing, as evidenced in his performances of "Iron Man" and his ...

Tony Touch Joseph Anthony Hernandez (born July 2, 1969), professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent. Career Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance ...

Former members

Frosty Freeze Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost (December 4, 1963 – April 3, 2008), also known as The Freeze To Please, was an American old school hip hop b-boy known as a member of the second generation of the hip hop/breakdancing group, Rock Steady Crew. He was k ...

Mix Master Mike Michael Schwartz (born April 4, 1970), better known by his stage name Mix Master Mike, is an American turntablist best known for his work with Beastie Boys. Life and career Born in San Francisco, California, Mix Master Mike is of German and Fili ...

* Ken Swift *

Rhettmatic DJ Rhettmatic (born Nazareth Nirza) is a producer, DJ and member and part creator of Southern California's first turntable band, the Beat Junkies. Rhettmatic began his DJ career in 1983, with Double Platinum, a DJ group based out of Cerritos, C ...

*Daisy Castro (a.k.a. Baby Love) - lead vocals on "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew"

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (Virgin Records, 1984) * '' 30 Years to the Day'' (Truelements Music, 2007)

Singles

Appearances in feature films

* ''

Wild Style ''Wild Style'' is a 1983 American hip hop film directed and produced by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, The Rock Stea ...

'' (1982) * ''

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. T ...

'' (1983) * ''

'' (1984) * ''

Moonwalker ''Moonwalker'' is a 1988 American experimental anthology musical film starring Michael Jackson. Rather than featuring one continuous narrative, the film expresses the influence of fandom and innocence through a collection of short films about J ...

'' (1988) * '' Streets Is Watching'' (1998)

References

Sources

* ''The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy'' (

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

, 2002. * ''Hip-Hop (Korean Comic)'' (

Manhwa (; ) is the general Korean language, Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to South Korea, South Korean comics. is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its rea ...

), IQ Jump Comics, 1998-2004.

External links

* * {{Authority control American breakdancing groups American hip hop dance groups Organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1979