Suga Pop

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[edit] Background Information

Suga Pop is a dancer who hails from New Zealand and the Samoan island of ‘Upolu. He is excellent at executing the dance skills of popping, locking and strutting that are characteristics of Los Angeles, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area.[1]

[edit] History

In his early years, Suga Pop moved back and forth between the island of Upolu in Samoa and New Zealand. As a teenager he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to attend Kaimuki High School. In Honolulu Suga Pop quickly built a reputation for himself as a dancer which followed him to Los Angeles later in life, where he became associated with the dance moves of "popping and locking".[2] In an interview with Dance Channel TV, Suga Pop attests that up until 1978 "there was only locking." Popping came later.[3] Suga Pop moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and early 1980s movement of popping.[4] He received instruction in this type of dance from the inaugurators of the dance itself: the Electric Boogaloos.[5] Accordingly, Suga Pop ended up making a stay in New York to examine the Electric Boogaloos’ popping techniques. He was a dancer for Sesame Street and this gig moved him from the West Coast to the East Coast.[6] While in New York, he also learned to b-boy.[7] At age 18, he appeared in music videos with Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, and Prince.[8] Eventually, Suga Pop would return to California to perpetuate the practice of popping and locking. Suga Pop's collaboration with percussionist Sheila E encouraged him to think about the music that spurred his dancing career.[9] The world of dance encouraged Suga Pop to become a musician himself, and he began to learn many instruments throughout his dancing career.[10]

[edit] Legacy

Poppin' and lockin'! This Samoan dancer is recognized as one of the means by which East Coast dancers in the United States would learn the dance practices of West Coast dancers. Suga Pop formed a band called Pop's Cool Love, which released an album, A Man, in 1991.[11] In the United States, Suga Pop has produced his recordings and managed those of others. He has been recognized as one of the key contributors in the international street dancing scene.[12] The group that Suga Pop formerly managed, The Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E, has also heavily influenced the Samoan hip-hop scene.[13]

[edit] References

Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200

Culture Moves: Suga Pop. 2005. Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 09 April 2008. <http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/dance/gallery/suga-pop.htm>

  1. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200.
  2. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 2000.
  3. ^ Interview with Suga Pop and Popin' Pete. Dance Channel TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzwS-ycF7ds
  4. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200.
  5. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200.
  6. ^ Culture Moves: Suga Pop. 2005. Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 09 April 2008. http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/dance/gallery/suga-pop.htm
  7. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200.
  8. ^ Culture Moves: Suga Pop. 2005. HELLO!Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 09 April 2008. http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/dance/gallery/suga-pop.htm
  9. ^ Culture Moves: Suga Pop. 2005. Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 09 April 2008. http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/dance/gallery/suga-pop.htm
  10. ^ Culture Moves: Suga Pop. 2005. Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 09 April 2008. http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/dance/gallery/suga-pop.htm
  11. ^ Culture Moves: Suga Pop. 2005. Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 09 April 2008.
  12. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200.
  13. ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200.