DETERMINED: Bboy Hakoomy urges everyone to read about the history of hip-hop, evaluate their values, and understand what they represent.
Local hip hop talent Bboy Hakoomy tells Rubina Singh why hip hop is misunderstood
and how students in their workshops are learning much more than dance
The recent Arab Hip-Hop festival that took place in Doha saw among others, performances from break-dance, funk, hip-hop routines, an open-mic night and live battles, with music that had everyone in the audience grooving. Organised by The Youth Company, the festival ran over three days, welcoming experts from the industry, a sheer delight for hip hop fans.
Yet, in spite of its numerous benefits and international popularity, the Middle East still looks at this art form with some misgivings.
“While it wasn’t the first hip hop event to take place in Doha, it was certainly the first hip hop festival of its kind, and that too is a great leap forward” says Abdelhakim Omar with unmistakable enthusiasm.
Bboy Hakoomy — as he is better known — is one of the founding members of The Mighty Jokerz — a much sought after hip-hop group. Undoubtedly, the most highly recognised name in the b-boy scene in Doha, The Mighty Jokerz crew was first formed in 2008 in Cairo, Egypt. From very humble beginnings, they have now moved on to making a name for themselves, internationally, in the world of hip hop.
The original founders of The Mighty Jokerz – Hakoomy, Adda, lil’c and Mansoury – were friends much before they were a group and though with time, the crew is moving on to bigger and better competitions, their friendship still comes first, says Hakoomy.
Truly international in character, the crew members hail from many different nationalities but have stuck with determination to a very democratic way of functioning. Decisions are strictly taken collectively.
Even though the group funds its own expenses, including airfares for participating in international competitions, they do not charge any money if they perform in a charity event. Community support certainly takes precedence over personal profit.
Arguably, the first hip hop dance crew in Doha, The Mighty Jokerz have been invited to perform in many of the biggest events, festivals and special events around Doha, inspiring spectators with their high energy performances.
More importantly, they are not just amazing performers they are also reliable, well respected professionals, some with more than a decade of experience and hundreds of satisfied clients to their credit. They take great pride in their reputation as one of the highly esteemed performing groups working in Doha, a reputation that has been hard earned and equally hard to come by!
A member of Qatar Academy management noticed their performance at the Tribecca Film Festival and seeing the potential benefits of both, personality development and physical exercise, invited them to coach students of Qatar Academy. The group charges nothing yet feels amply repaid in kind.
Finding a venue to practise has been one of the big challenges in their journey and with that taken care of with support from QA they are looking forward to generating more enthusiasm for this genre in the wider community.
Parents of children in the workshops are beginning to recognise that dance and exercise, although important in themself, aren’t the only benefits gained and consequently, the regard and popularity for these workshops is growing rapidly.
Apart from their love of dance, it is their profound desire to correct the misconception surrounding this dance form that drives their passion. The aspiration to build a self sustaining industry and promote a culture of hip hop as an esteemed art is their inspiration.
What were some of the hurdles
The first few years were very challenging, owing primarily to the misapprehension surrounding Hip-Hop in this region, generated to a large extent by images of guns and provocative girls in commercial Hip Hop music videos. The inherently demure and reserved Middle Eastern culture often looks dubiously towards dance, even as an art form. Until support from Qatar Academy came along, it was always a struggle to find a venue to practise, which sometimes forced us to practise on the streets.
Hip hop is not just a dance; it is an attitude, a lifestyle! In time people discovered the positive side of what we do.
None of us smoke or drink and when we coach our students we are not only teaching them dancing but endeavour to groom their personality as well as share the true essence of hip hop culture. Children who come to learn hip hop often look up to us as role models.
Hence we are very particular that our manner of coaching and interacting with them, as well as amongst ourselves, highlight virtues such as punctuality, persistence, patience. Responsibility, discipline, respect, team work and sportsmanship, and importantly strength of body and mind are an inherent part of the b-boying culture that The Mighty Jokerz crew hopes to affirm through our workshops. To be a good dancer, you also need to be fit which comes from following a healthy lifestyle and a regular workout and this is what we teach our students. So, it isn’t just dancing, it is a full package!
Considering your crew primarily consists of professionals holding full time jobs taking out time to travel to participate in competitions cannot be easy. Why are these competitions so important?
When I first attended one of these major competitions in Holland, I had already been b-boying for about ten years. But when I attended this competition that was really the beginning of my journey! Real dance for me, started at this junction when I experienced the B-boy culture in real! Experiences like these widen our horizons, especially when you meet b-boys who you have admired.
Some of my own heroes are now my friends. For example, one of the legends in break-dance Gurkan, was one of the first to start break-ing in France. He used to be our idol and now he is one of our own team members and lives and works in Doha. He has been a great help and inspiration, always pushing us and inspiring us to better ourselves.
To travel and experience the real hip hop scene is an important learning experience and it also paves the way towards progress. For the last four years, I have been competing in one of the major competitions namely IBE – Heerlen in The Netherlands and now this year I will be working with them. None of this would have happened if not for travelling to competitions.
In a country that passionately loves all forms of artistic expression, why do you think support for this has been slow to come?
Without delving deeply to find out the history of the hip-hop culture, parents sometimes block their children from participating. Yet some of our biggest supporters now, are also parents!
When we teach little children in Qatar Academy, their parents are also watching and with time, have observed the difference in their child’s development not only as a dancer or its accompanying health benefits, but also in soft skills important for life in the real world.
Hip Hop dance originated in the United States in the early 70s with the aim of giving young people an alternative to channel their frustration with the social economic conditions into a more positive direction. The idea was simple: instead of fighting and competing why not dance and compete!
The b-boy culture was to a great extent also inspired by James Brown, his music and his moves. He was one of the first b-boys, the first to create this kind of footwork. Some of the footwork was also inspired by the boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
Media has also contributed in generating this fallacy, although inadvertently. Hip hop came to the Middle East in the wrong way. And we are trying to remove that misconception, one person at a time.
What kind of support will be helpful in promoting it?
Support from the community, government associations and corporate organisations to sponsor events and organise competitions will go a long way in developing this art in Qatar. In countries like Korea, break-dance classes are a part of the school curriculum and are given as much importance as any other sport. It has also received a lot of support in countries like Holland, France, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and more. Governments in a lot of countries, France for example, support break dance because they believe in its positive influence.
Considering the prevalent misconception, did you face opposition from your parents when you started off?
On the contrary, my parents were extremely supportive. They saw how my involvement had changed me as a person. I was a double smoker and weighed 120kg. Dancing took all the negative energy out of me and they were able to see the positive repercussions rippling through my life. Now my younger brother is also in our group. In fact, during exam time, although he isn’t allowed to go out anywhere so he focuses on studying, yet my parents happily allow him to go out if he has to perform somewhere.
Have you received support from any organisations?
Red Bull was the first to support the scene with their events and international qualifiers for world championships. Recently, we received huge support from Qatar Academy. Interestingly, we were invited to participate in a show in 2009 where the Korean Embassy in Doha brought a break-dance crew to represent the Korean culture — such is the acknowledgement of its universal benefits.
Things are also improving in Qatar but we still have to get the right department interested and we are looking forward to the time when we can achieve this.
Your message to the community...
Before you judge, investigate. Read about the history of hip-hop, evaluate our values, and understand what we represent. A b-boy’s passion is no less than that of a football player!