Crazy Legs is a name as indelibly printed on the wall of hip hop legends as Cazals, Grandmaster Flash or Adidas Shelltoes are. In many ways Crazy Legs - one of the original cast of the Rocksteady Crew - represents the consummate Bboy, the man who was there from the very start, at the centre of the scene, and who never fell off or felt the niggling, age-born doubt which steers so many people off the road of true passion.

Steal-Life caught up with this hip hop icon at this year’s hotly contested Bboy championships at Brixton Academy.

You've been in the b-boy game for going on three decades now, can you give us a quick run down of your history - how you got into b-boy, what you were doing before and how you’ve stayed in the game?
“Actually it's just under 3 decades and please don't remind me of my age. Ha ha. I got in to Hip Hop while living in the South Bronx in 1977 after my cousin Lenny Len brought me to a jam in a park. I was ten years old and in to boxing, baseball as well as what ever ghetto games existed at the time”.

In the time that b-boy has been around, how do you think that it has changed?
“It's definitely evolved in terms of difficulty level. A lot of the acrobatic type movement that exist now was not around in the seventies and eighties. For a moment the very basic element of the dance was getting lost, but I've seen a recent return to the essence of this dance being done with the acrobatic movement as well. There seems to be some hope left for this generation. That's a good thing. I would hate for the soul of the dance to be lost”.

Do you think that there's a finite amount of moves and styles and that there has to be a point which the scene can’t go beyond?
“No! This is more about expression before anything else. It's about life style. It's about being an individual in a society that tries to make you conform to what is supposed to be the norm in the media. The will to be an individual will always stimulate creativity in this dance”.

Out of all the associated dances, popping, locking, electric boogie etc. why do you think it's Breaking in particular that seems to have stood the test of time?
“Excuse me for correcting you, but Electric Boogie isn't the proper name of the dance. The term Electric Boogie came from NYC while watching a group called The Electric Boogaloos dancing on Soul Train. NYC mistakenly label the dance the wrong thing. Popping, Locking, Boogaloo, Struttin etc. are the proper terms.

As for this dance being so strong? I would have to say that we've chosen to be more active in promoting it and throwing events. Within RSC we like to make sure that we are active in passing it on to a protégé as well”.

Was there ever a move that you wanted to master but could never quite get?
“hmmmmm. Lemme see. Probably the Turtle. That shit is HARD AS HELL”.

Do you still b-boy now? If so, are you still learning new stuff?
“I still dance and I'm always learning and creating. There are many Bboys in the new generation that inspire me to continue, even though I feel like I should have stopped a long time ago. It's very hard to stop doing something that you've devoted your life to”.

You were an original member of the Rocksteady Crew, did you ever get involved in any of the other facets of the hip hop culture - DJing, rapping, graffiti?
“Yes. I used to tag up when I was a kid and now I like to spin break beats and classic soul”.

How different is the b-boy scene in the UK from the scene in the States?
“ I think I would have to spend more time out here to answer that. However, Hooch is doing a great job by throwing the Playstation UK Bboy Championships. I hope that people in the UK see it as more than just a spectator event and get involved”.

How important do you think martial arts such as Capoeira have been in pushing the b-boy scene forward?
“Not anymore than Kung Fu or Gymnastics. The first time I ever even heard of Capoeira was 1991. I think that people are under the idea that Bboying came from Capoeira. That's definitely not the case”.

Over the years you’ve worked with a lot of people (Afrika Bambaataa etc.) in pushing the hip hop scene forward - who do you see as the new ambassadors of hip hop?
“Although I feel that the new members are doing a great job, that's a hard one to answer right now. I would have to spend time on that one. Get back to me”.

What do you see for the future of the scene as a whole?
“ I would like to see more crews throw events in their local areas and become more self sufficient, by making money doing what they love and giving back to the community. I would also like to see real Hip Hop movies, with realistic stories”.

Do you really think Korea won the team battle?....
“Definitely not!!!”.