Horse racing is not an Olympic sport, but there’s still need for a jockey — except it won’t be a rider. This one will be a disc jockey — born in Columbia and raised in Baltimore — spinning records for the Olympics’ newest competition.
The newly introduced sport is called “breaking.” Popularly known as “breakdancing,” breaking or “b-boying” and “b-girling” is a form of dancing that originated in the 1980s and is one of the most important elements of hip-hop. The judged competition beginning Friday will pit dancers, or “breakers,” against each other as they spin and flip to the music selected by Stephen Fleg, known as DJ Fleg.
Fleg, 38, has been a breaker for 25 years. He grew up loving hip-hop in the 1990s, hearing it on the radio and while watching skate videos on VHS. His curiosity and passion for hip-hop caused him to explore all avenues of the culture, eventually leading him to learn how to produce the sound he was dancing to.
Fleg spoke with The Banner about what he has planned for the Olympic competition (which takes place Friday and Saturday), representing hip-hop at one of the highest levels and more.
This competition will be on one of the grandest stages. Can you speak on the importance of that for the culture of hip-hop?
It’s kind of a win for us all. It especially is for people that are into the elemental portions of hip-hop like lyricism, beat-making, scratching and DJing in this form and not in the TikTok-ready form. So I think this is a cool way of bringing that back to center stage, quite literally on the biggest stage in the world, to be able to show there are DJs that are actually scratching and looping records.
Most importantly, what I’m doing out there is playing the backbone for the dancers. The DJ should always be there as the backbone for the dancers, not as a spectacle for themselves. There’s a respect for the DJ, but the real emphasis is on the dancers and that’s where it always should be.
While the emphasis will be on the dancers, you will still have a significant amount of spotlight because you’re the most integral piece for them. Are you nervous?
There’s always that feeling for any event, but I’m also trying to stay focused on what it is that I need to do. I have experience doing this in the Olympic qualifiers and they take even longer, so I think I just have to focus on like 32 battles total. It’s relatively not too much work. It’s just a matter of continuing to practice in the days leading up to it and then dialing in once I get there. Luckily, I have experience DJing internationally as I’ve been flown out to places like Europe, Asia and South America.
Where are some of your favorite places to DJ?
This really isn’t an attempt to gain the goodwill of anyone for any reason, but spinning in Baltimore for sure. Having a diverse crowd of different ages, races, et cetera. But really having that backbone of black folks in Baltimore that knew all of the classics and knew all of these other things because I would learn things from them and they party the most. The way that everyone in Baltimore get down and react to music is some of the best moments I’ve had DJing in general.
What type of music do you plan on playing for the dancers?
I think the type of music is going to be interesting for people. It’s not going to be just hip-hop; it’s not going to be just beats. It’s going to be a lot of funk music. You’re going to hear, like, a James Brown. You’re going to hear Kool & The Gang. You’re going to hear ’90s hip-hop because dances evolved. You’ll even hear some newer tracks. One of them that you’ll probably hear has Ill Conscious, and he’s a Baltimore rapper. There’s stuff that’s updated for each generation.
Were you always interested in the Olympics?
I always just like watching the Olympics. I was able to go to the ’96 Olympics in Atlanta. I don’t remember all of the events that we got to see because I was a bit young, but I know we watched track.
Do you have any sports that you’re looking forward to watching this year while you’re there?
I definitely want to see the gymnastics. I know we weren’t able to see it when I went in ’96. Obviously it’s a lot of similarities between that and breaking, if not the exact same moves sometimes. So gymnastics and track for sure. I like watching diving. Then of course I’m excited for the USA men’s basketball team even though Steph Curry being known for the past number of years has messed up the pronunciation for us Stephens.
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