Six days of rioting in a Negro
section of Los Angeles...
left behind scenes reminiscent
of war-torn cities.
More than
a hundred square blocks...
were decimated
by fire and looters.
Civil rights leaders
were quick to deplore...
the unbridled lawlessness...
and Martin Luther King vowed
to do all in his power...
to prevent a reoccurrence
in Los Angeles or anywhere.
This is our neighborhood.
This is where we grew up.
We were all kids back then
when this happened...
but we managed to grow
from these ashes.
And this is
where we still live.
Well, if you're drowning
and there's nothing around...
for help
but a board floating...
you're gonna reach out
for that board.
And this was our board.
And from this board...
we floated abroad,
and we built us a big ship.
And we're gonna sail into
the dance world, the art world.
We're gonna take it by storm
because it's our belief.
This is not a trend.
Let me repeat.
This is not a trend.
You better give me a hug.
Give me a hug.
I need a hug.
Give me a hug.
You don't have to dance.
I want a hug from
a pretty girl like you.
You are so pretty.
Come here, girl.
How'd it get started?
Tommy started it in '92. 1992.
He started off
by hisself at first.
What's up, baby?
Come on, you guys.
You guys ready to party?
When he first started out,
he had a little black bucket...
and had his little sign
on the side.
He was just starting out,
but he's come a long way.
All you hear is,
"Tommy, Tommy dancing.
"Tommy this. Tommy that.
I wanna go to Tommy Academy."
I have a ten-year-old son...
that's trying to get
into the academy.
So I think
that it's wonderful...
and he needs to keep up
the good work...
and he needs to be commended for
the things that he's doing...
for the black community,
Hispanics.
He has marvelous parties...
so somebody need to call
and give a party...
'cause he give bomb parties.
Tommy is a ghetto celebrity,
'cause you're gonna see Tommy...
somewhere
in your neighborhood...
in the middle of your streets,
waking you up...
because his music gonna be loud.
When my mom was in jail,
he took me in...
and he made sure
I got to school.
Whatever I needed,
he made sure I was OK.
If I wasn't dancing for Tommy...
I'd probably be doing
some bad things right now.
I fear for him sometimes,
though...
'cause a lot of people
are jealous...
and they're
really hatin' on him.
If something happened to him,
we'd all be right there.
We all gonna suffer.
He screams at us.
He screams, "You in trouble."
He basically,
you know, like a father.
He was really there for me.
And I admire him for that.
I love him for that.
See how you powder like that?
Then you got to get the lips.
You don't want it to smear.
So...
Yep. And that's it.
Once I put the powder on...
then you try to dust off some
of the white of the powder...
and there you have it.
Your color come back.
People always
used to say I act crazy.
I always did silly things.
And this girl,
just out of the blue...
asked can I be a clown
at her birthday party.
And I was, like, "A clown?"
I pull up to
the neighborhood, jump out.
I start dancing,
walking on my hands, flippin'.
Kids would run out the houses.
People would run out the houses.
And I'll give 'em a card.
"If you need a clown
for your birthday party...
"call Tommy the Clown,
the hip-hop dancing clown."
And it start spreadin'.
Happy birthday, Malik!
Y'all ready
to party with Malik...
- somebody say, "That's right."
- That's right!
Y'all ready to have
some fun with Malik...
- say, "You know this, man."
- You know this, man!
Everybody go and give Malik
some birthday hits.
I'm just playin'.
I'm just playin'.
I'm just playin'. Y'all stop.
Y'all better back up.
You have to remember.
I created this on my own.
I started from the ground up.
No one offered me no money.
No one gave me a dime.
But I'm perceived to be
the richest man on Earth...
and ain't got a dime.
You ready for that?
Let me see you break it down.
You ain't gonna break it down?
Back in the days,
I had my share...
of being, I guess you
can say, a drug dealer...
coming out here and
gettin' involved with drugs.
I came out here
to become big time...
because I saved my money...
and was like one
of the big drug dealers...
where I got
my nice cars and stuff.
And I always liked
to show off...
to say, "Man, look what
I have gotten," you know?
That was back then.
I always say God
gave me the opportunity...
'cause either you end up
shot, dead, and killed...
or you go to jail.
And thank God
that I went to jail.
And when I went to jail...
I said, "This is not
the place for me"...
and I changed my life.
I prayed. I asked God
to give me another chance.
I didn't know
I was saving kids' lives.
But if you look at it,
yes, you are...
'cause that kid
come dance with you...
who wouldn't dance with you...
and you were straight
to that kid.
"Hey, I catch you in a gang,
you are in trouble.
"If I catch you
even claiming anything...
"I don't want you
to wear them colors."
And they listen to me,
and they do it.
So I guess you could say
that saved his life...
because if they would've
wore that color...
they would've went over
to that neighborhood...
they would've got shot,
they would've been dead.
It's the bottom line.
Everybody say break it down
Break it down
Say, "Break it down"
Break it down
Say, "Break it down"
Break it down
Bam. OK, it's about to get down,
y'all. Check this out.
As I started gettin' older...
I started lookin'
at the way these kids dance...
and I started grabbin' 'em.
I had another girl,
another guy...
and then it just started
spreading like that.
Larry is, like...
one of the oldest
clown members that I have.
I consider him
to be my right-hand man...
'cause he been with me
through day one.
Tommy is
a father figure to Larry.
Sometimes, when Larry
get off the ringer...
and have the attitudes
and be way-out crazed...
I say, "OK, that's it."
That's my threat.
See, that's my weapon... Tommy.
I say, "OK, that's it.
Let me get the phone.
"Let me call Tommy right now,
see now what time it is.
"No more clowning for you."
I say, "OK, Tommy,
your son is off the ringer."
So I tell him now. Tommy say,
"Yeah, I wanna talk to Larry."
I say, "Well, that's your son.
Holler at him."
'Cause to tell the truth,
he has more control.
Tommy have Larry in the palm
of his hands right now.
I have been
Larry dad for a long time...
to where if he's slippin'
in school and grades...
I have to smash on him
and let him know...
"Hey, come here and do
your homework, homie"...
and if you get to where I say...
"Hey, you can't clown
this weekend and next week"...
it hurts, you know?
'Cause they love to do it.
Hey, I want him to be a Blood
or I want him to be a Crip...
"No, I'm not gonna be either.
I wanna be a Clown."
That's how
he separated hisself...
from all the bullcrap
out here in Holly-Watts.
Most of my family is, like,
on this block, city of Watts.
Man, we... we right here
in the... in the lion's den...
the pit of snakes.
What's up, Little George?
This is my little brother
Little George.
Come here, George.
We have all the gangs
on one side...
and then you have the Clowns
on the other side.
They gonna ask you,
"Who do you dance with?"
Or they gonna be, like,
"What set you from?"
So that's why it's either
a gang or a clown group.
Dance with a clown group,
they go on about their business.
They go about their business,
don't bother you too much.
Larry is over here
with the clowns.
I thank God for that.
George, when you gonna
start dancin'?
You know it's like
a family tradition.
Granny used to be a clown, too.
I'm so glad they came out
with this clown thing...
'cause ain't no tellin' where
the kids would really be...
or what would they be doing.
What else is there to do?
The clown thing
is a big part of L.A.
Everybody want to be a clown.
Everybody... everybody's
into the clownin'.
What is a clown group?
A clown group is...
Birthday parties.
How do I put it?
A clown group is...
Makin' people happy.
Is a group of people
entertaining...
Makin' smiles where
there were no smiles...
laughter where
there was no laughter.
See, a lot of clown groups
don't have the entertainment.
You can't just go out there
and just dance, dance, dance.
People don't wanna see that.
They wanna see a show.
You have to, like,
love doin' it.
You can't just say...
"Uh, I'm gonna do it
'cause I know how to dance."
It's, like, something
you have to have love for.
It's like a getaway.
You know what I mean?
You get to travel
from here to there...
see, meet different people.
And some people don't even
get out their own neighborhood.
People say, "Why you still
dancin' with Tommy the Clown?"
You know what I'm sayin'?
Because I want to.
I like to do this.
I been doin' this
since I was 12.
I'm 18 now, you know?
So I'm gettin' older,
and I like entertaining.
You know what I'm saying?
This is one of my dreams
I wanna pursue...
is to be an entertainer.
I can do my dance thing.
I can be funny.
I can make people laugh.
I can meet new people.
I can...
make myself a name
to where people know who I am...
and give me my respect for just
doing something positive...
and not going negative.
'Cause if I wasn't doin'
this clown shit...
I honestly think
I'd have probably been...
a very, very, very bad person.
Yo, Tommy.
Would you happen
to remember Celestine?
No. Who is this?
I told you he don't remember.
No. How you doin'?
I remember you.
- What you been up to, girl?
- Nothin'.
When they let you out of jail?
Oh, this ain't...
Oh, my bad. I thought...
Ain't this the one?
Well, she look like her.
I wanna see you...
Go, shorty
It's your birthday
We gonna party
like it's your birthday
We gonna sip Bacardi like...
Hold on, baby. Hold on.
No. No, baby. We not gonna
sip no Bacardi, sweetheart.
- Blow it out.
- I know it hurts.
That's all right.
That's all right.
And we gonna sing it for you...
Let it out.
Right here, right now.
And it goes
a little somethin' like this.
Happy birthday
dear Liza
Oh, yes, indeed
I don't need y'all to clap
'Cause we know we can sing, yeah
I'm not talkin' to you... ou... ou
Y'all better clap.
That's the end of the song.
How many clown groups are there?
You have House of Clowns.
This is Homeboy the Clown
Entertainment right here.
Cartoonz Clowns.
This is
Hard 'N' the Paint Clowns.
Check it out.
This is that one and only...
Rocco the Clown
representin' True Clowns.
World Wide Clowns.
Y-K Clowns.
Get Em Up Clowns.
We were Get Em Up Clowns.
Now it's Get Em Up Soldiers.
Just Clownin'. Platinum Clowns.
What's up?
There's No Comparison.
We're Nan Nutta.
Big X, you know what I'm sayin'?
A.k.a. Cereal Man,
you know, Froot Loop Man.
You know what I'm sayin'?
Rice Track Clowns.
Holler back.
Titanium Clowns.
I'd say about 50.
About 50 clown groups.
Different clown groups.
There's, like, over 50.
Basically,
it's a bunch of kids...
that do the stripper dance,
paint their faces like clowns...
and go put on a show
for a birthday party.
What's stripper dance?
What's the stripper dance?
What's the stripper dance?
I don't know where the stripper
dance just came from.
It just jumped into the air.
One day, I didn't even know.
Like, I went to a party...
and that was,
like, the new dance.
The stripper dance is like where
you open both of your legs...
and you bend like this.
And then you gotta be making
your butt bounce like that.
But it really be bouncin'.
It be like a lotta guys
be lookin', like...
"Oh, she's hot. She's bangin'."
So I do the stripper dance...
and I combined it
with a little clownin'...
so I do the stripper,
and I do it like this...
this just stripper plain.
But then I wobble with it,
like, wobble...
and that's the clownin'
and the stripper dance together.
'Cause I'm...
Anybody out in Los Angeles,
you have to be taught it.
Out here, it's a flow.
It's a vibe.
It's like a connection.
Everybody does it.
Everybody sees it.
We do everything.
We'll Harlem shake for you.
We'll bounce.
We'll do our little thing.
We'll do our little swingin'.
We'll put everything in it.
The bleach and
the little African clown walk.
We'll do it all.
The stripper dance
has everything in it.
I've seen some parents
see the little 4-year-olds...
out there poppin'
their booties...
and like, "I would never
let my daughter do that."
"Why? She's out there
having fun.
"She's not doing anything wrong.
She's not being sexual.
"There's nobody
out there with her.
"There's nobody touching her.
"She's out there poppin'.
What's wrong with poppin'?"
You have stripper dancing,
which we do not do.
Twerking.
You have... you have...
you have clown dancing...
and then you have
the krump dancing.
It's like hygiene.
Either you smell good,
or you don't.
Either you krump, or you not.
Basically,
we're from the inner city...
what you would call it
the ghetto...
you know, the lower parts
of Los Angeles...
Watts, east side of L.A.,
Compton, Long Beach.
We don't get the best
of everything.
So what we do, we come together,
and we dance.
We don't have
after-school programs.
When you don't wanna
do football...
because that's pretty much
the only thing...
that you can do
in the inner city.
There's always a football team.
Because in the inner city...
we're all thought of to be
sports players, you know.
Everyone is not a sports player.
Everyone
does not play basketball...
and everybody
does not play football.
There... Is there something
else for us to do?
So what we did is...
is a group of us got together...
and we invented this.
In better neighborhoods...
they have
performing arts schools.
You have ballet,
you have modern...
you have jazz,
you have tap...
and this is all those
prestigious academies...
you can go to.
It's nothing like that
available to you...
when you live where we live.
I grew up around here...
Menlo, Normandie...
I grew up in this area.
It's real hard for kids like me,
'cause, OK, you have school.
You go to school,
but you have gangbangers...
and you can't even wear
certain colors around here.
So you tend to have an outlet...
and sometimes...
well, most of the time...
your outlet is music.
This is where a lot of music...
And you just think
of stuff in your head...
it goes through your mind...
and a lot of times,
dancing comes out.
When you know
that there's a krump session...
me, myself, and I know
a lot of people...
will stop whatever is going on
if there's a gathering...
because it's the spirit
that's there.
There's a spirit in...
In the midst of krumpness...
there is a spirit there,
you know.
A lot of people think
it's just, you know...
"Oh, they're just
a bunch of rowdy...
"you know, just ghetto,
just heathen and thugs."
No. No, what we are
are oppressed.
It's more of the...
not the black sheep...
but just a raw version.
Like, you have organized ball,
then you have street ball.
Krumping is the street ball.
You have a boy who gets krump...
and just coincidentally,
his girlfriend gets krump.
They face off. It's the
classic battle of the sexes.
And that's what makes it like...
"Oh, my God.
Females do this, too?"
It looks like we're
fighting somebody...
but we're not fighting anybody.
Like, you can push somebody,
but they see nothing of it.
Fighting is the last thing
on our mind when we're dancing.
It is the last thing.
The style changes,
believe it or not, every day.
Every day, the style changes.
And if you haven't
danced in two days...
if you come to a krump session,
we're gonna know.
"What did I miss?"
"You've been slacking off.
Go home."
Once you see the real thing...
you're gonna know
it's the real thing.
You're gonna know.
You're gonna be, like, "That has
to be the real thing...
"because I will never see
anything like this again."
When they dance,
you know it's on.
Especially if you have somebody
that's wildin' out like...
krumping themselves out.
It gets the girls more amped...
to get out there
and handle their business.
Some of us may look gritty.
Some of us may not have
the prettiest smiles.
You know what I'm saying?
But we are krumping.
That's the part
of what makes us krump.
It seems
a little bit aggressive...
but it's a good way
to take out your anger...
when you go through stuff
in your personal life.
But say people have problems...
you know, didn't get this,
didn't get that.
Short on this bill.
Short on that bill.
Just the fact
that you can get krump...
you can channel that anger.
Anything negative that has
happened in your life...
you can channel that
into your dancing...
and you can release that
in a positive way...
because you're releasing it
through art, the art of dance.
This is our ghetto ballet.
This is how
we express ourselves.
This is the only way
we see fit of storytelling.
This is the only way of making
ourselves feel like we belong.
If I know someone is looking
at me, it's gonna be hard.
Some people can't dance if they
have someone looking at them.
But if you know there's a mask
sort of covering your face...
you know, then you feel that
it's just you by yourself...
and that your identity
is hidden...
so you can dance
as freely as you want to.
There's not just a bunch
of people acting wild.
This is an art form.
It's just as valid
as your ballet...
as your waltz,
as your tap dance.
Except we wouldn't have
to go to school for this...
'cause it was already
implanted in us... from birth.
Tell us what's happening.
What happened? Tell me.
She just struck.
It's what
we all been waiting on.
Yep.
She has reached...
That's what all of us
been waiting on.
I marked my grandfather.
That was the first battle
I really won.
Before he a preach...
he would sing a song, "Lord,
Lift Me Up and Let Me Stand."
So I just followed
the words to that song...
but I was really dancing to
the song that I was dancing to.
But I was just... In my mind,
I was dancing to those words.
I live with Reverend Turner.
He was always there.
I miss my family...
because that is my family,
my blood family.
But on the other side,
I still...
when I need
a family to go to...
I have my church family
to come to.
Clown groups are,
in a real sense, like families.
We laugh together.
We cry together.
We go through... Whatever
one person goes through...
that whole group
goes through it.
Me and my homie,
Baby Tight Eyez...
we went to school together.
He played instruments,
and I was always dancing.
It was this one performance...
when I got into this whole
clown dancing thing.
I was just beginning.
I seen him perform...
and I was already labeled
as the tightest clown dancer.
I said to myself,
"I want him to be under me.
"I wanted to take him under
my wing so I can train him."
'Cause I think he got potential
to be just as tight as I am...
because I see some
of my characteristics in him.
I knew about his background
before I knew him...
'cause people would tell me,
"This dude has problems.
"He doesn't go to school.
He has no clothes.
"His brother stays
in and out of jail."
I used to be like that.
My moms, she... she in jail.
She in jail 'cause...
she don't wanna live right.
She been smoking dope
for as long as I know...
since I was a baby,
since before I was born.
He's had a lot of obstacles.
His mom, um,
had a drug problem...
and he's had to face a lot of
challenges as a young person...
more so
than the average young person...
who has the advantage
a having a mom who was sober...
or a dad who was sober.
He calls me mom, you know...
but not just his mom,
his play mom...
but I'm proud to be his pastor.
My dad, he was my idol...
'cause I never saw
a man do so much...
and make so much
of the day like he did.
I saw him
as a father figure...
and a role model
at the same time.
He was my friend, also.
I see, like, lights
flashing in the back.
Then my mom comes,
and she's telling me...
she's like, "I'm gonna tell you
your dad committed suicide."
You know...
shot hisself in the head
in the backyard.
You know, came home,
we found him like this.
He was the only child
that kept it...
kind of quietly inside of him.
I felt as if...
I was his only child
that didn't cry...
you know, at the funeral
like everybody else did.
I didn't, you know,
rant and rave.
So for a long time,
I thought, you know,
does that mean
I loved him any less?
And I realized
it doesn't mean that.
It's just that everybody
mourns in a different way.
I've been in a lot
of family situations.
I've been shot
by a family member.
My grandfather
shot me in my arm.
Right here.
Went in through this way
and came out through here.
I was trying to protect
my mom 'cause he was drunk.
And I was looking at my body,
looking at my baby's body...
and I seen blood.
We didn't know where
the blood was coming from.
Chance was standing
on the right side of me.
I don't know how...
how the bullet hit me...
and the gun was pointed directly
to my little brother's back.
She was holding
my little brother.
It must have been God,
'cause turned the bullet...
from when it hit the middle,
it must have turned the bullet.
It ricocheted off
of something...
and went straight
through my arm.
If the bullet
hadn't have turned...
the bullet would have hit
my little baby.
It would have tore him up.
But it turned, and it got him
right in this arm...
and it went in, and it went out.
I had to go to a crackhouse...
to get my mama
out of the crackhouse.
That's not a good sight
to see as a kid.
I don't remember how old I was.
I just remember that vision.
It hurts, yeah, but that's
what I got krumpness for.
That's why I get krump.
Some people don't feel safe
outside of this place.
I mean, I've seen a lot
of people come from Hollywood...
and come and visit
my home and be like...
"How do you live here?
You live in South Central.
"Oh, it's so...
it's so dangerous."
Like... it's not dangerous.
It's life.
A lot of the kids out here...
they don't have
that push or that drive...
to go and be in Hollywood...
because so many people
have knocked them down already.
So their comfort is the 'hood.
It's scary to go to Hollywood...
if you're coming
from the 'hood...
for the simple fact that
everything is so intimidating.
When I first got
my first glance at Hollywood...
everybody seemed
like this to me...
and I felt like this...
Everybody's so uppity.
Everybody has so many things
going for themselves...
and here I am.
And that's how
the kids here feel.
We're just some...
some gutter kids.
Tell me something.
What has your big homie
in the gangbangin' world...
done for you lately?
I don't have no big homie.
In a gangbanging world?
I'm just Baby Tight Eyez.
I walked in a room...
and the boy
socked me in my head.
So I beat him up real, real bad.
That's what I did.
What are you doing on the 5-5...
whatever hood street
you at, anyway?
I went over there with my dad!
Oh. So's your dad gangin' now?
Daddy's been a gangbanger.
He just started back again?
You could say that.
If I had to go in that 'hood,
as dangerous as it is...
and tell them that...
that you not gonna be
a part of this gang, I will.
If I have to go
to your school...
to show that you ain't
a part of this gang, I will.
I know I'm not
a parent or anything...
but I feel like I have
to be an older mentor...
and a positive role model to
keep him on the right track...
'cause I know
that's all he needs.
I know he looks up to me.
In some ways, I look up to him.
I never tell him that, but I do.
So all we gonna do
is show him more love...
and he'll overcome this.
He needs to be somewhere
with me...
whether his dad likes it or not.
'Cause his dad doesn't even
look like he cares about him.
Krumpness is
the closed chapter...
of your life of hurt,
sorrow, anguish...
that people don't know about.
Kids these days
have a whole set of anxieties.
Maybe he's angry that he's
seen me work all my life.
We seem to be
in a standstill pattern.
Maybe he's angry
that he doesn't have a dad.
He'll say,
"I just never envisioned...
"that dad wouldn't be here."
Hey, mama, look at this.
"Baby, you're gonna give
yourself a heart attack!
"You know you got asthma!
Who taught you that?"
Cartoonz, they was krump.
I got a black eye.
They said it looked beautiful.
Mama, that's part of dancin'.
That's part of my moves. See?
They like it out there.
They krump.
I used to be a dancer for Tommy.
I, too, as he said...
used to be one of
Tommy the Clown's dancers.
I thank Tommy the Clown
for doin' what he did...
and startin' the movement...
but what we do now
is totally different.
"I thank Tommy
for startin' the movement...
"but we do it different now."
No, you might do it
a little retarded, you know.
It became boring,
and it's, like, you need more.
You need more.
Stop.
Let me alone.
I wanna get krump.
And everybody that got skills,
I want you to go to the front.
If you're not dancing,
please go to the back.
We need hot dancers
in the front.
You look at gangbanging,
it's a competition.
The Crips go against the Bloods.
They wanna be better than
each other, stuff like that.
So by this clown war
being created...
and the BattleZone
being created...
it's like
that same competition...
but it's on the flip side.
Having so many clown groups,
somebody wants to be the best.
You know, somebody
wants to be number one.
Somebody wants to be number 2.
Somebody wants to be noticed.
So that's how Tommy started
the thing called the BattleZone.
You know how battle-dancin'
was back in the days.
I just brought it back.
With makeup.
- BattleZone.
- BattleZone.
It's like fightin',
like getting out your anger...
but on the dance floor,
with creative moves.
We have the little mama match...
where it's little mamas breakin'
it down, showin' skills.
The community
is, like, "Oh, my God."
We got big boy match.
We bring out the big people.
You don't have
to worry about nothin'...
'cause you can do it, too.
These are matches
that we have inside of a ring...
and the crowd, you be the judge.
The crowd judge.
You know, millions watchin'.
I don't care if you get
out there and blink an eye.
You better blink that eye like
you never blinked it before.
You got to show your skills.
To me, when I'm dancin'...
I don't care if the ugliness
come out or not...
'cause I'm dancin'. It's me.
So that's the difference
between me and her.
It's, like, a big difference
between La Nia and Miss Prissy.
When you say La Nia,
I was, like, "Whoa."
When you say Miss Prissy,
you're thinking of, like...
a pretty girl, like...
you know, like that.
You'll see a side of Miss Prissy
you've never seen before.
I'm gonna be the total opposite
of my name...
but that's how it happens.
I'm prissy all day,
but at night...
it's something
totally different.
I never lost before. I don't
know how it feels to lose.
They tellin' the people
that they better than us...
'cause, uh, they're
not with us no more?
We couldn't be centered anymore.
So you, they, them,
made Tommy? No.
Different style of paint.
November 15.
Different style of dance.
At the Great Western Forum,
baby.
Different style of everything.
You goes down.
I guarantee you that.
Here's your Oscar now.
Tommy's got krump!
El Nio Boy,
you goin' down tonight.
You goin' down. I see you
with your little bodyguards...
but they gonna get beat up, too.
Every time I think
about Larry...
it's like, oh, it's over.
I ain't even started
dancing yet, and it's over.
I want everybody to win.
I want no losses, baby.
Whoever lose...
I repeat: Whoever lose...
is out!
I ain't gonna even
talk about it.
There goes the game! Game over!
Hey, y'all, get ready.
Let's go. Let's line up.
If they beat us,
I'm gonna retire.
What would you do?
Just say it happened.
If they beat me?
Hey, I'll probably be
workin' at Vons with Larry.
Let's get ready to rumble!
Get ready to make some noise!
La Nia, you ready, girl?
We about to kick it off.
Miss Prissy, you ready, girl?
We about to kick it off.
Let's make some noise for...
La Nia!
Do me a favor and make
some noise for Miss Prissy!
And the world-famous, undisputed
champion of the world...
is...
Miss Prissy!
Say, "Larry!"
Larry!
Say, "Larry!"
Larry!
Say, "Larry!"
Larry!
Give it up for Lil Man!
Give it up for Lil Mama!
I cannot believe!
This is ludicrous.
It's all good.
I ain't never got
to practice for nothin'.
I came out there,
danced off my head...
and came up with
a beautiful show, baby.
A beautiful show.
They cheated my cousin.
They cheated all y'all.
That's some bullshit.
That was weak.
All them niggas is weak!
All y'all battle! All y'all!
Battle! Right! Battle!
You all did not win
all of the battles.
I'm gonna tell you that.
You didn't win 'em all...
but you got cheated out
of about 3.
Told y'all we were gonna do it!
That wasn't no BattleZone.
That was a concert for Larry.
And he won.
We won! We won!
We won!
Thank you, Jesus!
How you doin'?
Larry!
He probably worked
his ass off...
for about 3 weeks,
You know what I'm saying?
I'm real with this.
I'm original.
Everything I do is pure.
I don't have to practice it.
I don't have to want it.
I already got it.
You know what I'm sayin'?
And it's done.
I ain't got nothin' to say.
I'm done.
Feel good to wear this, baby.
Be all I am the way I am
'Cause I'm...
Tell us... Tell us what happened.
Somebody done broke into his...
Everything OK?
They just broke...
broke in my house.
While we was on here
at the BattleZone...
they broke in my house.
They thrashed everything.
You try and work hard
for these people...
but people
are always doin' stuff.
Doin' stuff,
and they doin' this stuff.
It's hard, man!
They can't do that.
They can't do that.
Stand over here, sir.
While I was
winnin' the BattleZone...
I was losing
BattleZone over here.
They came in the house...
broke in the house,
and took everything.
The front door is over there?
No, the front door
and this door.
This is the sliding door...
and there's a door through
that washroom over there.
OK. I'm gonna check this out.
You just have to know that...
because you're doing
something right...
this is happening.
OK? These things happen...
only when people do
something positive. OK?
And, you know,
you're trying to do...
something very good
for the children...
for the kids, and this is
unfortunate, but it is...
Hey, baby.
Hi, daddy.
How you doin'?
Fine.
Yeah, I feel you.
Daddy.
Th... there.
There you go, daddy.
Something's missing.
My DVD player gone.
Did you dust the front door?
Because that wouldn't...
We dust the whole house, sir.
We dust the whole house.
Don't trip. Forget this...
'cause we fi'n
to get a mansion.
We're gonna have a mansion
with everything we want in it.
Amen.
They can trash it...
'cause we movin'
to bigger and better things.
Everything happens
for a reason...
and that lets you know
we have to leave.
Right.
We have to get out of here.
That's all that is.
They heard you weren't
movin' fast enough.
They was tryin' to help you.
Everything happens for a reason.
That's how you
got to look at it.
I remember that.
We fi'n to go in a mansion.
We're gonna have a 20-story.
Let's go!
Clownin' is cool,
but the hard part...
is the life outside of clownin'.
This is Inglewood.
So this is Inglewood.
Inglewood is set up
to be a deadly place...
just like South Central.
South Central is a deadly place.
A couple of weeks ago,
we seen a guy get shot.
First time I seen something
like that in my life.
We're drivin'.
I'm in the truck.
I'm drivin' the truck.
Tommy's drivin' the 5.0.
You know, he stops.
He bent over
to pick up somethin'...
and soon as he leans back up,
we hear a shot.
Man, laid out
on the corner right there.
I ain't never seen
nothin' like that.
Head blown all off.
All over the corner.
Drivin' down the street
from a school.
We just finished
doing this preschool.
All the kids, everybody saw it.
It was just... too dramatic.
Ain't nothin' for them
to do but to be bad.
I mean, if you
grew up around people...
that got a kick
out of hurtin' people...
or got a kick out
of robbin' people...
and that's all
around you 24/7 all day...
that means eventually...
you gonna start catching
a feel for it.
It's so much violence
going on...
and, I mean, you know,
shootings, killings, I mean...
you know, the kids just
need somethin' positive.
The way life is out here...
it's hard for you
to walk down a street...
and not know that you're
not gonna get shot today.
You don't even have to be
part of a gang or whatever.
You could just be that person
walking to the store.
Just walking
out in the street...
you could get shot
for no reason.
Just for looking like somebody,
you get shot.
There she goes. There she goes!
Family members of
say she simply
left home last night...
to walk to the store
to buy a soda...
when she was gunned down.
Her 13-year-old friend
who was walking with her...
Demario Moore,
was also shot dead.
Authorities say
for no apparent reason...
known gang members
targeted the kids...
and killed them as they
walked along 54th street...
between Budlong and
Normandie Avenues in south L.A.
She was one of those victims...
an innocent victim,
that go to practice...
that do everything
that you supposed to do...
and was at the wrong place
at the wrong time...
to say hi to somebody
across the light...
when the store is right there.
From crazy people
runnin' the block...
shootin' out of a car, and
don't know who they shootin'.
They shoot old people,
young people, babies.
They didn't care.
They came around the block
just shootin' people.
And she happened to be...
in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
'Cause she had so much to do.
She loved dancin'.
She loved drill team.
She loved cheerleading.
She loved it all.
His father, I think,
was a old gang member, an O.G.
And his father's enemies
was lookin' for somebody...
and they shot at them.
Both of them got killed.
See, that just
make me feel like...
I don't wanna be
in this place no more.
But you just can't leave.
This is my home.
Amazing grace
How sweet
The sound
That saved
A wretch
Like me
I once
Was lost
But now
I'm found
I was blind
But now
I
See
Austin Harris is my name.
Selling caskets is my game.
I've been neighbors
to the clowns about 9 months...
and we all get together
just fine.
Lot of people think...
the old folks the one
all doin' all the dyin'...
but you young folks
beatin' us out of here, boy.
You know that?
You're killin' yourselves.
Don't make sense.
But anyway, to each his own.
You just tell your parents
where I am.
When we throw
our club nights...
Right.
After we throw our clubs...
people be out there
hangin' out and everything...
and drinkin',
whatever they doin'...
and they look in here...
that's like givin'
them a message like...
Right, right, right.
OK, you have fun, but if
you clown around too much...
you're gonna end up right here.
Reality, it sets in.
It will. It will. You know.
You need to come
to the club, though.
I do?
You do, 'cause
I think you still got...
Do a little boogie?
You still doin' a little boogie.
Oh, yeah, well, I need that.
I used to do it.
I mean, I done seen a lot
of things happen in my life.
A whole lot.
And I'm only 20 years old.
Swoop, horrible where he lives.
Horrible, you know?
And it's good that,
you know, he stopped...
'cause he was... he was...
he was in that direction...
but he twisted it,
he changed it, came to clownin'.
Been here ever since,
which was good...
'cause he was there.
He was almost there.
Life is not a game.
That's right. I hear you.
I'm serious.
Take advantage of it
while you can.
Yeah, you better clown right.
I know y'all's
some good clowns...
but y'all better clown right.
'Cause if you don't...
I know where
you're gonna end up.
Right here...
with me.
Go on in. Take a look.
Not now.
No, come on in here.
Come on.
You wanna go in?
Yeah. Find a casket
that's big enough for you.
We can have one special made.
Don't worry.
I used to be... Back in the day,
I was a gangbanger.
My mother and my father
were both addicts...
so the only family I had was
the family in the streets...
that showed me
what I thought was love.
You know what I mean?
It's like, "We loyal to you
and we sisters"...
and we're hangin' out and,
you know, kind of like...
a commitment,
we were down for each other.
And sometimes, unfortunately...
kids that don't get it
at home...
have to go and get it
in the streets.
And when they get it
in the streets...
it's mistaken, because
in the end, nobody's ever there.
On the streets, I found,
like, street mothers...
and street brothers
and street sisters, you know...
that kind of looked out for me.
At least I thought
they looked out for me.
What happened?
Well, I ended up
in some situations where...
where people ran out on me...
when my life took a bad turn,
that they bailed out, you know.
I had a bout
with substance abuse...
for about 15 years, you know.
And nobody was there in the end.
Nobody was there in the end.
And that's
when I had to turn to God.
I just said,
"God, please help me.
"I don't wanna die this way."
When did this happen?
And so Dragon was around...
Dragon was... Dragon took care
of his siblings...
when I went through my bout.
Dragon was father to these kids.
Dragon would cook, clean,
get them to school.
And he was the father.
Statistically,
my kids should be messed up.
My kids are great.
They're obedient.
They're well-disciplined.
They're respectful.
And I got great kids, you know?
Dragon here.
Hey, old bat.
Don't say that.
Oh, Dragon.
Why'd you say that stuff
on the phone to me?
Thank you, Dragon.
The first time
I saw Dragon get krump...
I thought he was on drugs...
or maybe somebody had
given him somethin'.
He was just, like,
runnin' around...
and screamin,
tearin' off his clothes.
And I didn't know
what happened to him.
Then he explained to me...
that it was
a new form of dancing...
that kind of took 'em
back to their roots.
I love it now.
I can krump, too.
I get krump for Christ,
but I get krump.
Is there a difference?
I don't think
there is a difference.
I think when they dance,
they dance from their spirit.
And when I'm... when I'm at
church, I dance from my spirit.
If you go
to a Christian church...
you go to a Pentecostal,
a Methodist, a Baptist church...
these same movements
can be found in church.
Dragon brought me
back to Christ.
One day, we were getting
krump in my garage...
and he told me,
"You'd be a lot better...
"if you start going
back to church."
And I was, like, "Please."
I forgot what
started me on my way...
and it was God,
and it was God telling me...
"My child, this is your gift.
Use it."
We're not gonna be clones of
the commercial hip-hop world...
because that's been seen
for so many years.
Somebody's waitin'
on something different...
another generation of kids
with morals and values...
that they won't need...
what's being commercialized
or tailor-made for them...
custom-made, because I feel
that we're custom-made.
And we're of more value
than any piece of jewelry...
or any car or any big house
that anybody could buy.
I lost my house, got evicted...
and I had to move in
to an apartment.
And where I'm at today, movin'.
If I end up with nothin',
I mean, it hurts...
but it's like... I mean, dang.
It's like start over again.
There's a lot of things I wish
I could change if I could...
if I could start back over.
And after taking a major loss
like losing your house...
Iosing all your money, you got
to start over, and, uh...
yeah, survivin'
in South Central...
where they say
bustin' a cap is fundamental.
When they get to hatin',
start shakin'.
All right. Let's get ready
to rock 'n' roll, baby.
This is it... showtime.
I think I was
the first Caucasian...
to be dancin' like this.
And when I first seen it,
I just loved it.
I mean, I wanted to do it.
It was hard for me to do it,
'cause they was...
"This white boy,
he ain't got no rhythm...
"he ain't doing this,
he ain't gonna do it right."
When I was jumpin' out the car,
they just surprised.
They mouths dropped like...
"Oh, my God, they got a white
boy. What is he gonna do?
"How is he gonna
go about dancin'?"
Yeah, we get respect,
the way we dance out there...
'cause they don't think Asians
dance like black people.
You got a certain talent...
don't be... don't be
afraid to express it.
We have the belief
that we can be somebody...
and that we're
gonna be somebody.
We're gonna... we're gonna rise,
no matter what.
The sky is the limit,
and there is no limit.